How 'The Last Jedi' Showed Us There Are No Good Guys In 'Star Wars'
Image Source: Star Wars News Net
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi is considered by a great part of the fanbase as arguably one of the worst movies of the saga. Directed by Rian Johnson, the movie took a different turn than J.J. Abrams intended when he was in charge of The Force Awakens. Horrible character arcs, the huge space “car chase”, killing off Luke Skywalker, and severely downplaying Finn’s role in the Resistance can be highlighted as some of the critiques of the movie.
Even though its 3rd and 4th acts were extremely rushed in my opinion, DJ (Benício Del Toro) stands out in a positive way. Of course, he is introduced to the public in a strange fashion - making a living in the equivalent of Last Vegas but in a Galaxy far, far away.
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This doesn’t matter to the overall plot, but his ideals do. DJ’s name - an acronym for “Don’t Join” - tells us what he is all about. Previous to meeting Finn and Rose in Canto Bight’s jail, DJ had been working as a thief and slicer. He made his skills really useful in the city’s casino, where high rollers from all over the universe threw their money away for fun. Why not take part of it, right? After fleeing Canto Bight using a stolen vessel, the three of them spent some time together on the ship. The thing is, the one they stole to get out of the planet didn’t belong to some random being.
DJ quickly realizes that, showing a hologram of both Resistance and First Order ships to Finn and Rose. The owner was a manager of a company that sold weapons to both sides. This is what we aim to discuss in this article.
Image Source: Star Wars Official Databank
The “black and white” way of seeing life is surely interesting. Most of us want to believe in the existence of good and evil, heroes and villains. That is where the issues show up. There is no such thing in the real world. People - no matter who or where - are driven by interest. Since we live in a capitalist society (well, most of the world at least) this is what makes people wake up in the morning, go to work, come back home and live this hamster wheel life. DJ is a mere reflection of our reality and what moves us towards our ultimate goals, don’t matter what they are.
A good example of this is the outcome of World War II. The Nazi regime was defeated by the allied forces in Europe, the decolonization movement started throughout several African and Asian countries. But most importantly, the United States took over as the hegemonic nation after the conflict. The Nazi regime, although extremely brutal in its actions towards the European Jewish population and POWs, had expert scientists for what was needed.
The U.S. government seized the opportunity during the final stages of the war and initiated “Operation Paperclip”, kidnapping these people to work for the American government. Thus, the U.S. didn’t care whether the Nazi scientists were involved or not in crimes against humanity, like those shown in the Nuremberg trials (1945 - 1946).
Image Source: Space Flight Insider
The only thing that mattered in the international system post-WWII was matching and overcoming the imminent Soviet threat. American presidents earned a lot of leniencies during the Cold War (1945 - 1991). Their powers also increased considerably in comparison to the ones they have nowadays. By recruiting highly skilled individuals that had expertise in the aerospace sector - one that the Nazi regime had been developing fast but lacked the funds and time to accomplish - the U.S. had a special kind of project in mind.
The focus was on creating a thermonuclear bomb before the Soviets did, thus kicking start the space race. Going to space was never just about blasting away to the stars, the main goal was to improve rocket technology for nukes. This is what both Americans and Soviets wanted, just like the Resistance and First Order were working to accomplish.
The point is: good and evil are constructions. They only exist through the viewers’ eyes and how they understand the world. The Last Jedi showed that people like DJ don’t care who they work for and the means to do it. Through his vision and the Canto Bight escape it is possible seeing this. Both the Resistance and the First Order buy weapons and ships from the same people. These brokers don’t have a moral compass pointing toward being good, but to profit.
It doesn’t matter who they sell to if the buyer has the credits. The same can be said for the example given previously. The American government could care less who they were hiring. The fact that those people had the abilities required for the job is what made them relevant. Crimes were forgotten and never looked upon again after that.
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Source(s): History