This is such a brilliant analysis of the Poe Dameron/Vice Admiral Holdo relationship, and our perceptions of how the storyline unfolds between them onscreen…
The problem that I have with this interpretation is that it is relies on what I see as an inherently false assumption about the mechanics of military information-sharing, when it’s valuable, and what a typical military attitude towards secrecy actually is.
In-universe, the Rebellion/Resistance isn’t known for formality. Promotions are ad-hoc, someone’s random wild idea for a suicide run is more likely to be entertained than not, there’s a general air of informality and wide information sharing. This makes sense if you consider that they stand in opposition to a fascist government; presumably, the idea that a commander doesn’t have to tell soldiers shit and they should just shut up and follow orders is one that a radical anti-authoritarian splinter group would have trouble accepting as true. But, on top of that, Holdo didn’t tell Poe that her plan wasn’t open for discussion; she refused to tell anyone her plan, even when it became obvious that her secrecy and everyone’s unfamiliarity with her was contributing to a sense of unease that was already pretty fucking bad given the dangerous situation they were in.
It’s established, both in-universe and in real-world military contexts, that if someone above you gives you an order, you have to follow it. But even real-world militaries acknowledge limits on this. You are still commanding people. If Holdo had said, “this is my plan and it’s not up for debate”, and Poe had continued to push, then it would reflect the above meta. As-is, she’s not telling Poe to follow orders and not try to debate her plan; she’s telling him that she is not going to tell him what the plan is. She’s asking an entire ship full of people who are unfamiliar with her to just take it on faith that she’s not screwing them over, in a desperate situation where the crew is justifiably concerned they are all about to die. That’s a recipe for mutiny, and it’s a total own-goal on Holdo’s part. There is no reason given in the actual movie for why she can’t just tell people they plan to cut and run. There are any number of fanwanks you could apply to make it make sense, but the movie doesn’t seem to even realize any explanation for her secrecy is needed. That’s a toxic interpretation of how military command works that is very, very rarely held up in reality nowadays.
Here is an article from the US Army on information sharing. It’s in the context of sharing information across international troops, but I think it’s valuable in that it gives a window into how much commanders in modern militaries think about the psychology of people they’re commanding. Everyone knows mutinies are bad, but again: you are still commanding people. If your reaction to a mutiny is “well just follow orders, that’s what you’re supposed to do, IN THE MILITARY, no matter what”, you’re advocating an authoritarian military structure. Actual military writing/thinking/education has recognized the importance of good leadership to prevent mutinies for a long-ass time, think Age of Sail long. Holdo’s big mistake was withholding information in an incredibly tense situation where she had a minimum of trust from her brand new crew; that doesn’t mean an impulsive mutiny was the best choice, but it does muddle the waters regarding Poe’s actions.
tl;dr this was actually bad writing because it all hinges on Holdo’s secrecy, and we’re given no actual rational explanation for that secrecy aside from “military rah rah”, which is not a real explanation historically or in context.
honestly, im done with all those articles that blame the fans for not liking the last jedi, like ‘fans didnt like the movie bc the things they personally wanted to see didnt happen’ no. i didnt like the movie because i expect some good story and writing and not a mediocre one shot fanfiction by rian johnson.
This has definitely been a premeditated and organized play. I’m sorry, but I’ve seen so many articles stating the exact same thing: that fans are just mad that they didn’t get what they wanted, or else that the only people who didn’t like TLJ disliked it because of racist/sexist/political reasons. And in my opinion, it stretches belief a little too far for these different critics and separate sources to have all arrived at those very drastic and specific conclusions separately. I’m not saying that money was being passed around but…
Wait yes I am.
Disney/Lucasfilm is currently faced with a reality wherein audience ratings of the film are unprecedentedly low. The movie is doing consistently worse than did TFA in the box office.
So what do they do? First, they immediately discredit fans. At once. They try to take control of the narrative and influence public thought: spread it around that it wasn’t our fault, it’s the FANS’ fault for being so entitled. Any RATIONAL fan obviously LOVES the movie. It’s only these ungrateful, impossible-to-please fans who disliked the film, because, as stated, they’re impossible to please. That, or the fans who hate TLJ only hate it because—yes, we’ll say that they’re upset because we included so much representation and racial diversity and women!!! Those fans are just mad because they’re ignorant, sexist/racist people!! That way we make ourselves seem even better and progressive and the complaining fans won’t be able to criticize us without seeming racist or sexist.
By creating this rhetoric, no fans with legitimate criticism are taken seriously. It is a deliberate manipulation of viewers—trying to persuade people to ignore any negative reviews they hear or read by planting it in their minds that any negative stance is unwarranted and invalid because there’s nothing to possibly dislike about the film.
You’ll notice that many of us are in fact shouting ourselves hoarse about the character assassination of Luke Skywalker, the implications of “humanizing” a nazi murderer, the misogyny in writing a woman who is enticed by the man who tortured and assaulted her, and the racist implications of prioritizing this villainous white character while demoting the black male lead to a subplot and saddling all three POC characters with poorly developed, poorly executed plots. But none of those actual criticisms are being discussed. In fact, they are being deliberately ignored.
And the thing is that this strategy is—to a degree—working. Maybe not as well as Disney/Lucasfilm might have hoped—the box office numbers are evidently now almost half what TFA was making at this point, but it is certainly working here on tumblr. It’s particularly eye-opening how many people are parroting Rian Johnson’s exact sentiments about fans whining about disproven theories and unmet personal desires. How very interesting that this response is used as a be-all-end-all argument when not one of those people is actually addressing our very real points.
I could literally write a five page essay with citations painstakingly explaining why I feel The Last Jedi is incompatible with the preceding films as a continuation of the episodic saga, and STILL the only responses I’d get would be “you’re just mad you didn’t get what you wanted.”
Um, yes. I am mad. I’m mad that the story no longer makes sense. I’m mad that it’s inconsistent. I’m mad that the moral implications of the Star Wars universe are now, ahem, going down a path I can’t follow. But no one seems willing or able to respond to those criticisms, are they? To actually engage in an analytical conversation regarding our criticisms.
Instead they’re sticking their fingers in their ears screaming about fan entitlement.
Which is exactly what Disney and Lucasfilm were hoping they’d do.
The boy has never had anything nice and the second he gets his hands on some money he tries to buy a fucking solid gold cauldron like started from the bottom now we here I love him so much
Honestly Hagrid saved Harry from so much embarrassment. Can you imagine him turning up to his first potions lesson with a fucking solid gold cauldron??? Like Snape already hated Harry think about what he would have said if Harry just plonked that on his desk
I think he would have said fuck it to his promise to dumbledore and murdered Harry on the spot
AGAIN WITH THE SOLID GOLD POSSESSIONS HARRY. I’m surprised he never replaced his glasses with solid gold ones the boy clearly has a taste for the finer things in life. Or when he had his bones removed by Lockhart in second year, he probably had to stop himself from asking Pomfrey to just fill his arm up with gold instead of bones.
NO WONDER HE CAN SEE THE FUCKIN SNITCH SO WELL HE’S ON THE HUNT FOR GOLD
It amuses me that the Istari were specifically handpicked by the Valar to go to Middle Earth and defend it against Sauron. They were essentially the Wizard Avengers. They had one job to do.
But ffs two of them just wander off for no reason; they just disappear and no one knows where they went or what happened to them.
Radagast just sits around in his forests, only chipping in when Gandalf asks him for help.
Saruman turns on everyone and becomes Sauron’s lackey.
So what I’m saying is, Gandalf is that one guy in the group project that does all the work because everyone is either absent, lazy, or picking fights with the rest of the group. So yeah I don’t blame Gandalf for being so goddamn grumpy all the time.
Not to mention, Gandalf didn’t even want to go in the first place. He was volen-told by Manwe.
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