#watching tlj drunk for the win | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

the-pull-to-the-light · 5 years ago

Text

As I while away the last few hours before I see TROS, I’m going to spit out one last rant about why Ben must be redeemed. It’s nothing a million people haven’t said before, nothing groundbreaking, nothing even particularly well organized, but I have to ramble.

20 Reasons Why Ben Solo Must Be Redeemed

1. Lucas, Abrams, and others have repeatedly stated that the core message of SW is hope. Saying "Oh, except for that guy. He's beyond hope" would end the nine-movie arc with a giant fart sound instead of playing into that theme.

2. He is named after the man Leia called her "only hope" in perhaps the second-most famous line of dialogue in the original trilogy (second only to "I am your father.")

3. Speaking of fathers, if Ben isn't redeemed it makes Han's sacrifice meaningless. He laid down his life in an attempt to bring his son back to the Light, and with his dying gesture caressed Ben's face in a forgiving gesture. Han did not die hating his son.

Ben staying evil would also cheapen Luke's final act. He used up the last of his life force to face his nephew one last time, to give him one final lesson and warning.

Considering how vocal the fans are who dislike how the original cast were killed off in the sequel trilogy, a surprising number of them want their favorites’ deaths to be futile.

4. It would vindicate all the fans who have seen the hints and successfully predicted so much of the trilogy already, despite being the target of vicious harassment by a certain, toxic segment of the fandom.

5. The prodigal son is an ancient trope, and it’s survived for thousands of years because it’s a satisfying story that speaks to a primal need for acceptance and reconciliation. SW has always drunk deeply from the well of mythology.

6. Ben remaining on the Dark Side would leave Rey without the companionship of the one person who truly understands her. Through their Force Bond they know each other with a level of intimacy only a select few ever have. Rey is the main hero of this trilogy, and heroes in fairy tales get happy endings.

7. Speaking of fairy tales, that is what the SW saga has been called repeatedly by Lucas and others in the know. Fairy tales do not end in nihilistic, tragic fashion (at least, not the versions that are widely known and beloved in modern times.)

8. What message would it send for Ben to stay on the Dark Side? "Once you do a bad thing, you're tainted forever and might as well not even try to be better"? Yeah, that sounds like a message Disney would be behind...

9. Ben has canonically suffered mental abuse since he was born (possibly even in utero). His character resonates with real-life abuse survivors. Again, this would send a terrible message to viewers: "Abuse makes you evil and you can never rise above it." It also means that he did not choose the Dark Side entirely of his own free will. He was groomed and lured into it. It doesn’t absolve him of all responsibility for his actions, obviously, but it does throw a whole lot of gray into the mix, and makes us yearn to know what he would be like without that influence.

10. It would give Palpatine a victory. The most evil being in the galaxy would win--if not the war, then a very significant battle.

11. The Force would remain imbalanced.

12. Characters are supposed to grow, change, and evolve throughout a story. If a character ends a trilogy in essentially the same place as they began, that's unsatisfying and, frankly, bad writing.

13. It would render all the previous movies pointless. They are the story of the Skywalker family, and if we watched three generations struggle over nine movies only for the result to be “and then their last scion died in disgrace” that would feel like a colossal waste of time. This is not a Shakespearean tragedy, where such a thing would be fitting; again, it’s a fairy tale.

14. The movies hit us upside the head with lines like “Nobody’s ever really gone,” “I feel it again, the pull to the light,” and Snoke pointing out that even patricide couldn’t expunge the Light from Ben. The camera cuts to his face when the word “hope” is spoken. There are many, many examples of these subtle and not-so-subtle hints.

15. The books and other expanded universe materials have given us scenes of Ben as a small child, doing and saying cute kid things that make us go “aww.” That doesn’t strike me as “You should hate this character and cheer for his death.”

16. Adam’s amazing acting has telegraphed the deep conflict, pain, and suffering of his character time and time again. How many times did we see him on the verge of tears? He is utterly miserable on the Dark Side, and even in his moment of supposed victory at the end of TLJ he was clearly broken and devastated. He is not a cartoon villain cackling madly about the heroes’ downfall. (That’s Palpatine. Heh.)

17. Adam is an artist of great skill and sensitivity who selects his roles with care. He is not some shallow actor in it for the money. They talked him into taking the role because of the depth of the character, and the nuance of his journey. If the ending was “and then he doesn’t learn anything and just dies” I highly doubt Adam would have been interested.

18. As fandom likes to say, “the man is a walking spoiler,” and it’s so obvious that he is at the heart of the biggest, deepest story beats based on how little we see of him in the trailers and promos. We see him fighting with a lightsaber, because that’s expected and doesn’t give away the plot, but the significant moments (”But I do” and the bit with Palpatine’s voices) are few and far between.

19. Perhaps the most important of all: Leia. She is one of the most beloved characters in modern cinema, and she earnestly, devoutly, passionately, desperately wants her son back. Whether her character survives Episode IX or not, to have her left heartbroken about her only child would be unthinkable. If for no other reason than for Leia's peace of mind, Ben must return to the Light.

20. On a personal note, I’m still smarting all these years later from how disappointing the conclusion of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy was (the most kickass woman I’d ever seen on screen ended up literally barefoot and pregnant). That left a gouge in my heart that will never heal. After years of deep meta analysis and fangirling, for Elizabeth to end up that way, and for the sizzling chemistry between her and Jack to amount to nothing, was devastating. I dread the thought of a trilogy I’m this invested in dropping the ball that badly again. Game of Thrones ended up as a dumpster fire, too. Even the last Harry Potter book was disappointing to me, although not as badly as the previous examples. Anyway, the point is that I’ve been let down by other franchises in the past several years, and I refuse to see it happen again.

#i typed something

0 notes