Before we get any further in: SPOILER ALERT. If you have not seen the new Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi, then move along; these are not the thoughts you’re looking for. I do hope you’ll come back once you have seen the movie. You know I’m a Star Wars fan, already biased, but it was a good movie even if you’re relatively new to the story.
Not kidding. If you haven’t seen The Last Jedi, STOP. This is your last chance. Turn back now.
Spoilers and post start here:
I don’t have to remind you of the scene. Our Resistance heroes have escaped the First Order’s fleet due to Admiral Holdo’s heroic last act. The Resistance has lost most of their ships and pilots, and only six transports made it to the old Rebel base on Crait (filmed in Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni). They’ve sent out a message asking for reinforcements; nobody answers their call. The Resistance is trapped inside the base behind a heavy door, but the First Order has brought in a huge seige cannon. In order to protect what is left of the Resistance our heroes must try to destroy the cannon, prevent Kylo Ren, General Hux, and their First Order minions from gaining access to the old base, or the few who are left will be lost.
Finn (John Boyega), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), and a handful of others jump into old ski speeders and take out after the battering ram canon.
With no other options left to prevent the First Order from getting through the door and into the base, Finn ignores the order to retreat and heads straight for the cannon. I might have misunderstood, but it seems to me that he’s making one last attempt to destroy the cannon knowing he will die and knowing it might be too late; it might not work. There are no other options at this point; he must keep the First Order from getting to the few remaining members of the Resistance.
Rose hits Finn’s speeder with her own to keep him from going into the cannon. She saves his life but is badly injured in the process. Finn jumps out of his speeder and runs to her, asking her why she stopped him. Rose tells Finn that she saved him and that the Resistance won’t win by fighting the things they hate—
This scene has bothered me since the first time I saw it. It’s not just that Finn made a desperate decision based on the information they had. As an adult, it’s up to him to make that decision; as far as he knows, if they don’t destroy the cannon all is lost anyway so why not take that chance? It’s not even that Rose suddenly has the hots for Finn (out of nowhere as far as we know). I go in a dozen directions when I think of this scene. I guess it’s mostly that Finn found his courage, his purpose, and he was trying to save them all, all the people he loved (except Rey and Chewbacca who were in the Falcon); Rose saving him could have meant all else was lost.
My mind wanders to the scene in The Wrath of Khan (1982) when Spock says, “Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Captain Kirk answers, “Or the one.” No, it wasn’t a fairly sure thing that Finn’s action would save the others. He probably wouldn’t have gotten there in time, but he’d made up his mind to try; it looked like it was their only hope (see what I did there?).
I just. . . I want us to take our time, think things out. There were so few Resistance left at that point in The Last Jedi that every one of them was precious in a way we only grasp if we’ve been watching these movies for 40 years. We, as Americans in the Resistance, aren’t risking our lives to join. Hell, we’re risking our lives if we don’t join. The object, in the end, is to save us all and to rid ourselves of the corruption and greed in our current administration. We aim to restore regular order, respect for our Constitution, for our institutions, and the system of checks and balances. We want to get everyone insured, starting with the children, and we want everyone to have equal opportunities to realize their potential. We want everyone to be confident that they’ll have their Social Security and Medicare when the time comes, that Medicaid and other programs will be there for those in need.
Every member of the Resistance is precious. We’re all individuals, voters, citizens, making our own decisions, but we are working for each other as much as for ourselves. Our strength comes from us joining together, our efforts and our voices, toward common goals. We mean to apply pressure to affect change, in our society and our government, using peaceful means. Let us remember why each of us joined but also let us remember our reasons aren’t the only ones. None of us can afford to throw everything and everyone else away because one person or one issue is most important to us, personally. We will not gain our freedom until we gain it for everyone. We do that by saving what we love, what we all love.
We still have to do the work. If we don’t, who will? This post is the second of two parts. Happy New Year! May 2018 bring us love, unity, and prosperity. *hugs*
Link: You Are The Hero – by E. Brooks at Gray Matters. First part. Don’t wait for someone else to save you; you are the hero you’ve been waiting for.
Link: Work On That Pitch – by E. Brooks at Gray Matters. Don’t just tell me I’m not doing enough. Tell me what you want that I’m not already doing.
Link: Only Love – by E. Brooks at Gray Matters. Love, not hate, can get us back on track.
Link: Through – by E. Brooks at Gray Matters. The only way out is through.
Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was a poet and essayist who gave voice to issues of race, gender, and sexuality.
I do not have the credit information for the photo in the meme at the top. In the photo are Rey and Finn after he came to Starkiller Base to rescue Rey from her kidnapper in The Force Awakens.
Photo of the ski speeders at the Battle of Crait from The Last Jedi from Wookieepedia.
“We’re going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.” – Rose Tico in The Last Jedi
#SaveWhatWeLove #OnlyLove #StrongerTogether #Resist #Resistance #BeKind