It’s so weird sometimes reading discourse about media outside of tumblr, because there is this barrier that comes from refusing to see social justice implications that are so god damn apparent. Like when I see people elsewhere saying over and over that Kylo Ren is hugely disappointing because he seemed like a scary badass and it turns out he’s a whiny kid throwing a tantrum, I’m baffled. Because that’s the point???
Because entitlement is terrifying and hurting people isn’t actually cool or manly. Doing horrible grimdark things doesn’t make you an awesome badass; most of the time it makes you a tantrum-throwing child fixated on your own preciousness. The movie just presents that without comment and it’s SO CRAZY to me how many people could watch that and come away from it without understanding what’s so evident.
Like I’m sorry the last several years of television and movies have programmed you to believe that the white boy villain all in black is such a necessary and important fixture that he must be the coolest thing in the entire story, but the fact that Kylo takes his mask off when he’s facing down Rey is not a misstep along the way, it’s the fucking destination. The entire fucking POINT is that he is small and weak while she is awesome and strong. Being a shitty person doesn’t make you more grown up and more of a badass. Doing the right thing makes you awesome in the face of other people’s fuckery.
It’s just so strange that there are people who need to have this explained, I don’t GET it. It feels so fucking blatant.