I Want Kylo Ren to Lose!
Who was behind the mask in the end? No one (waitwhatyoudon'tlikethatOKthenhereyougoshe'saPalpatinelol) The urge toward subversion, often through the infusion of “radical” politics, is a troublesome feature of today's genre fiction. One gets the sense that every writer feels embarrassed to be in it, as if grown-ups ought not to be writing space opera and fantasy. Everyone dreams of “elevating” the material, and of showing intellectual superiority to wider fandom. In short, everybody wants to be Alan Moore. But only Alan Moore is Alan Moore. Lesser men’s efforts at subversion and deconstruction are never so masterful. This is one of the (many) woes besetting the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The obvious example is Rian Johnson’s TLJ, and the “Rey as no-one” revelation in particular. A subversion of the famous “I am your father” line, Johnson shows that you don’t need to be of great lineage to be a hero. Many critics have praised this decision, calling it a “ radical...
