Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Editor's Note: This entry contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi; read at your own caution.

About

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the ninth film in the Star Wars saga and the second film in the sequel trilogy. The film was released on December 14th, 2017, the film was written and directed by Rian Johnson and stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels and Gwendoline Christie.

History

On October 30th, 2012, The Walt Disney Company announced in a press release^[1] that it had acquired the production company Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. Within the press release, the company promised to be releasing a new trilogy of Star Wars films, beginning with 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Two years later, on June 20th, 2014, Deadline^[2] reported that Rian Johnson would direct the following two films in the series. However, it was later clarified that Johnson would be working with the Episode IX director to maintain consistency in the films but wouldn't be directing. In January 2015, the film was announced for a May 2017 release, before being moved to December 2017.^[3]

Title Reveal

On January 23rd, 2017, the official Star Wars website^[4] announced the title of the new film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. That day, when the title and logo were released on the official Star Wars Twitter ^[5] account, the announcement received more than 185,000 retweets and 216,000 likes in less than a year.

Release

On December 14th, 2017, Star Wars: The Last Jedi was released. Within two days, the film had made a worldwide gross of $473 million.^[8]

Reception

The Last Jedi received a positive reception from critics. On the review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, ^[9] the film recieved more a 93% fresh rating (based on 317 reviews), making it "Certified Fresh." In their critical assessment, the site notes, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi honors the saga's rich legacy while adding some surprising twists -- and delivering all the emotion-rich action fans could hope for."

The review aggregate Metacritic,^[10] the film received "Universal acclaim based on 54 critics," giving the film a score of 86.

Additionally, the audience appeal measurement site CinemaScore^[11] gave the film an A rating.

Backlash

After the film was released, the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes dropped significantly. While the critical assessment was positive, the audience score was 55%. The website Vox^[12] that many fans on the site complained about the depiction of male characters as well as the humorous tone of the film and several key plot points, which some found unsatisfying.

On December 14th, Change.org^[18] user Henry Walsh started a petition to "Have Disney strike Star Wars Episode VIII from the official canon." The petition, as of December 19th, received more than 20,000 signatures of its 25,000 goal.

Director Rian Johnson responded to the criticism in an interview with Business Insider.^[12]

"I'm aware through my own experience that, first of all, the fans are so passionate, they care so deeply -- sometimes they care very violently at me on Twitter. But it's because they care about these things, and it hurts when you're expecting something specific and you don't get it from something that you love. It always hurts, so I don't take it personally if a fan reacts negatively and lashes out on me on Twitter. That's fine. It's my job to be there for that. Like you said, every fan has a list of stuff they want a Star Wars movie to be and they don't want a Star Wars movie to be. You're going to find very few fans out there whose lists line up."

Despite several media outlets covering the "backlash," including Business Insider,^[13] Polygon,^[14] Vanity Fair,^[15] Slate^[16] and more, many argued that it may have been overblown. On December 17th, the Facebook ^[17] group "Down With Disney’s Treatment of Franchises and its Fanboys" claimed responsibility for the low audience approval score using bots. They wrote, "Yes, it was me who caused this[…]Thanks to friends of mine who taught me a thing or two about Bot Accounts, I used them to create this audience score through Facebook accounts created that subsequently logged into Rotten Tomatoes who rigged this score and still keep it dropping." The post (shown below) received more than 70 reactions, 30 shares and 160 comments in two days.

The Last Jedi: De-Feminized Fanedit (aka The Chauvinist Cut)

On January 14th, 2017, an anonymous Pirate Bay user posted a video entitled "The Last Jedi: De-Feminized Fanedit (aka The Chauvinist Cut).^[19]" The file is a 46-minute edit of the film Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which reframes the movie around the male characters and removes nearly all the female ones. The user describes the edit and the changes in the post. They write:

"Here's a short rundown of changes (spoilers! full list in description.txt):
- No whiny/reluctant/murderous psycho Luke.
- NO HALDO! She simply doesn't exist. Her whole subplot doesn't exist. The Kamikaze is carried out by Poe. ( = Poe dies.)
- Leia never scolds, questions nor demotes Poe.
- Lea dies. Kylo kills her.
- Kylo is more badass and much less conflicted and volatile.
- Kylo takes on more of Snoke's guards, Rey struggles with a single one.
- No bomber heroism by china girl in the beginning.
- No Canto Bight.
- No superpowered Rey.
- Luke is not a semi-force-ghost and is smashed by the first laser cannon shot. (sorry, I just had to!)
- Phasma is finished after the first blow by Finn. (Women are naturally weaker than men, she isn't force-sensitive, and we know nothing about any exo-skeleton in her suit)
- Asian chick speaks less, doesn't bully Finn, Finn doesn't try to escape, she is never formally introduced. She is just there and occasionally smiles at Finn or screams "Finn!". She has no sister. Serves her right for all the heinous stuff she did.
- Lots of little cuts reducing the number of female facial shots. Too many to count. (Pun intended.)
- Quite a few scenes rearranged so that the flow of the shortened movie is still somewhat coherent."

Shortly after description was posted on the /r/moviescirclejerk^[20] subreddit by Redditor MagooRobbie on January 15th, Twitter user @BBW_BFF posted a screenshot from a a Pedestrian article about the edit. She commented, "ahhaahahahhahahahahahhahahhahahahahhahhhhhaaaahahahha." The post (shown below) received more than 4,000 retweets and 19,000 likes in two days.

That day, Last Jedi director Rian Johnson retweeted^[21] @BBW_BFF's tweeted and added more laughter to her tweet. Johnson's response (shown below, left) received more than 10,000 retweets and 45,000 likes in 48 hours. Star Wars star Mark Hamill replied to Johnson's tweet with laughing emoji faces. Within 24 hours, the tweet (shown below, center) received more than 6,000 retweets and 36,000 likes.

Finally, Star Wars star John Boyega retweeted Hamill's response and replied with more cry laughing emoji faces.^[22][23][24] The post (Shown below, right) received more than 8,000 retweets and 43,000 likes in 24 hours.

Several media outlets reported on the edit, including Uproxx,^[25] The AV Club,^[26] The Washington Post,^[27] Polygon^[28] and more.

Remake The Last Jedi Campaign

On June 14th, 2018, a Twitter account devoted to a campaign of "producers" remaking The Last Jedi began tweeting.^[41] The campaign's website^[42] reads:

This is a campaign to provide Disney an opportunity to course correct with the Star Wars franchise. The fans are completely divided and the core goal of Star Wars has been abandoned. The goal is to not make one half of the fandom happy over the other, it is to make a film that the fandom in general as a whole enjoys.
The hero archetype's of the original films is what made these so great, it made characters that everyone could relate to regardless of their background and beliefs. No longer having this core element along with poor storytelling, has made the franchise divisive and in disarray.

The campaign claims it will be consulting with Star Wars fans in order to make the film as accepted as possible. They stated their team of producers was already willing to cover the cost it would take to make the film, which is over $20 million. Rian Johnson baited the creators in a tweet repeating the word "please" (shown below).

The campaign was covered by CNET^[43] and Indiewire.^[44] Online, Twitter users joked about the campaign by imagining what such a remake would look like (examples shown below).

Hologram Luke

Among some of the criticisms a subset of fans have made about The Last Jedi, the film's ending, in which Luke Skywalker distracts Kylo Ren with a force-created simulation of himself, was one of the most frequently made. On Twitter, fans made their posted complaints (examples below). Some fans criticized the moment as being "inconsistent" with the previous films.

On January 19th, director Rian Johnson weighed in on the controversy in a Twitter^[29] thread. In the thread (excerpts below), Johnson pulls the book The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force from a bookshelf. The book, written by Daniel Wallace, is a reference book about the studies of the force for the Jedi.^[30] Johnson opens to a page in the section on Advanced Jedi Techniques called "Doppleganger." The entry states that "Doppelganger, or Similfuturus, permits a jedi to create a short-lived duplicate of himself or herself or an external object that is visually indistinguishable from the real item. Those who have perfected this ability can create phantoms of any person of their choosing or trick an enemy into seeing more objects, such as droids, than are actually present." Johnson ended the thread with a gif of Homer Backs Into Things. Within 12 hours, the thread received more than 3,600 retweets and 8,000 likes.

People online reacted positively to Johnson's thread. Twitter user @paul_mcq tweeted^[32] a gif of Luke Skywalker brushing his shoulder off and on his should is a Twitter logo. The tweet (shown below) received more than 500 retweets and 3,000 likes in 24 hours.

That day, Twitter^[31] published a Moments page dedicated to the response and reaction to Johnson's thread.

Kelly Marie Tran Instagram Harassment

For several months following the release of the film, Kelly Marie Tran, the actor who portrays Rose Tico in The Last Jedi has been the target of racist and sexist harassment, trolling and abuse. In December 2017, HuffPost^[35] reported that trolls edited entry for Rose on the Star Wars-focused wiki Wookieepedia to reflect racist view points, changing the character's name to "Ching Chong Wing Tong" and calling her "stupid, autistic and retarded." Additionally, the character quote includes references to Adolf Hitler.

On June 4th, 2018, the Twitter^[33] account @SWTweets aka "Star Wars Facts" tweeted, "Kelly Marie Tran has deleted all the posts off her Instagram due to months of harassment she has received for her character Rose in #TheLastJedi." The post (shown below, center) received more than 3,200 retweets and 6,000 likes in 24 hours.^[34]

As of June 5th, Tran's Instagram account is empty (shown below, right).

Online, people supported Kelly Marie Tran, stating that simply not liking a film is not reason enough to harass a person. That day, Twitter^[36] tweeted, "Hi if you think Kelly Marie Tran / Rose Tico's presence in Star Wars changed the franchise for the better, please RT so we can drown out the manbabies." The post (shown below) received more than 8,000 retweets and 6,000 likes in 24 hours.

Twitter^[37] user @fangirlJeanne tweeted, "This isn’t just 'hate of the character.' This is sexism and racism. They don’t like Rose because she isn’t a racist stereotype of Asian women. She’s not sexually objectified, not demure, and she doesn’t have purple streaks in her hair. They resent her being a actual person." The post (shown below, left) received more than 410 retweets and 1,000 likes in 24 hours. Twitter user @NicholasJLevi tweeted,^[38] "This is the fanbase that: •Drove Jake Lloyd insane
•Made Hayden Christianson quit acting •Made George Lucas not want to make any more movies •Made Daisy Ridley delete her Instagram •And recently made Kelly Marie Tran leave Instagram I love Star Wars but fuck the fans." The post (shown below, center) received more than 10,000 retweets and 30,000 likes in 24 hours.

Twitter^[39] user @ compared the situation to the racist trolling of comedian Leslie Jones, who starred in 2016's Ghostbusters. They wrote, "weird that the person they went after from Ghostbusters was Leslie Jones. weird that the person they went after from Star Wars was Kelly Marie Tran. what on earth could explain this." The post (shown below, right) received more than 1,000 retweets and 3,000 likes in 24 hours.

Last Jedi-director Rian Johnson tweeted,^[40] "On social media a few unhealthy people can cast a big shadow on the wall, but over the past 4 years I’ve met lots of real fellow SW fans. We like & dislike stuff but we do it with humor, love & respect. We’re the VAST majority, we’re having fun & doing just fine." The post (shown below) received more than 1,000 retweets and 10,000 likes in 24 hours.

Tran's Response

On August 21st, 2018, Tran responded to the controversy in an editorial in the New York Times.^[47] In the aritlce, she described her life as a Vietnamese woman living in a white-dominated society, reflecting on experiences with racism and marginalization. She wrote:

And as much as I hate to admit it, I started blaming myself. I thought, “Oh, maybe if I was thinner” or “Maybe if I grow out my hair” and, worst of all, “Maybe if I wasn’t Asian.” For months, I went down a spiral of self-hate, into the darkest recesses of my mind, places where I tore myself apart, where I put their words above my own self-worth.

And it was then that I realized I had been lied to.

I had been brainwashed into believing that my existence was limited to the boundaries of another person’s approval. I had been tricked into thinking that my body was not my own, that I was beautiful only if someone else believed it, regardless of my own opinion. I had been told and retold this by everyone: by the media, by Hollywood, by companies that profited from my insecurities, manipulating me so that I would buy their clothes, their makeup, their shoes, in order to fill a void that was perpetuated by them in the first place.

[…]

I want to live in a world where children of color don’t spend their entire adolescence wishing to be white. I want to live in a world where women are not subjected to scrutiny for their appearance, or their actions, or their general existence. I want to live in a world where people of all races, religions, socioeconomic classes, sexual orientations, gender identities and abilities are seen as what they have always been: human beings.

Additionally, in the article, Tran refers to herself by her birth name, Loan.

Online, Tran's fans expressed their support for the actor (examples below).

Rian Johnson Deletes Tweets

On July 25th, 2018, Last Jedi director Rian Johnson deleted some 20,000 tweets. Some speculated that the purge was in response to Disney's firing of Guardians of the Galaxy-director James Gunn, who was removed from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after a series of offensive tweets resurfaced due to an article published by the conservative news site The Daily Caller.

That day, the media outlet The Mary Sue tweeted,^[45] "#TheLastJedi director @RianJohnson deleted 20,000 tweets… so you probably know what that means by now." Johnson responded,^[46] "No official directive at all, and I don’t think I’ve ever tweeted anything that bad. But it’s nine years of stuff written largely off the cuff as ephemera, if trolls scrutinizing it for ammunition is the new normal, this seems like a 'why not?' move." The post (shown below) received more than 415 retweets and 5,300 likes in two days.

Online Presence

On February 15th, 2016, the official Star Wars YouTube account uploaded a video announcing the start of filming. The video (shown below), which features director Rian Johnson filming a scene, received more than 15 million views in a year and a half.

The following year, on April 14th, 2017 the account published the first teaser trailer for the film. Within a year, the teaser (shown below, left) had received more than 41 million views. Six months later, on October 9th, a full trailer for the film was released on the YouTube account. The video (shown below, right) received more than 9.7 million views in less than 24 hours. The trailer's release set off a surge of online conversation about characters, new and old. That evening, Twitter published a Moments page about Kylo Renn's new scar^[6] and the new characters known as Porgs.^[7]

Related Memes

Porgs

Porgs are small, puffin-like creatures found on the planet Ahch-To in the film Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Since the release of behind-the-scenes and preview footage of the film, porgs have been a topic of conversation, jokes and memes, particularly one shot of a porg screaming, which has been used in various reaction images and photoshops (examples below).

Shirtless Kylo Renn

Shirtless Kylo Ren refers to a series of jokes about and references to a scene in the film in which the character Kylo Ren appears without a shirt on (examples below).

External References