Rian Johnson Was “Hoping” That ‘The Last Jedi’ Would Cause Massive Outrage: “The Worst Sin Is To Handle ‘Star Wars’ With Kid Gloves”
Though his Star Wars outing sparked one of the biggest and move explosive waves of backlash ever seen towards a piece of fictional media, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson says that this reaction was exactly what he was “hoping” to elicit with his various changes to and twists on the franchise’s longstanding mythos.
The director provided this retroactive insight into his infamous visit to a galaxy far, far away while speaking with Polygon’s Tasha Robinson on the topic of Wake Up Dead Man, his recently released third entry in his Knives Out film series.
Starring another ensemble cast whose notable members include Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, and Jeremy Renner, Wake Up Dead Man sees series protagonist Benoit Blanc, as played by Daniel Craig, lending his talents to solving the murder of Monsignor Wicks, the leader of a rural Catholic parish in upstate New York whose vitriolic interpretation of the Christian word had been a major source of turmoil and division among his ever-dwindling flock.
Observing a similarity between Knives Out‘s Monsignor Wicks and The Last Jedi‘s take on Luke Skywalker, with both men falling into that age old trap of caring more about observing their respective religion’s traditions than following their actual principles (the latter having even been specifically chided for doing so by Yoda’s Force Ghost), Robinson pressed the director as to whether or not both films were meant to “convey similar messages about belief and religious practice”, to which Johnson confirmed, “Absolutely, on a couple of different levels.”
“Anyone who grew up with Star Wars deeply rooted in their childhood — it’s almost a cliché to say it feels like a religion. That can be used to cut both ways. But for me, there is something very fundamental about it. It’s a fundamental myth that we grew up with, from childhood. I grew up very Christian, so when I was a kid, I was parsing Star Wars through my faith and through my Christianity. It’s all tied up in that. Very naturally, if I’m telling that story, it’s going to be filtered through the values I grew up with.”
“There is overlap between those two scenes — both are very much about, Get out of your theories, get out of your theology, get out of your head and look at the need right in front of your eyes. Get back to human empathy. Who is hurting right in front of you? Who needs your help?’ Ultimately, that’s what Christ did, that’s what Christ taught.”
Subsequently asked as to whether he had ever felt nervous or fearful that his criticizing of Star Wars‘ sacrosanctity would draw negative reactions, the Knives Out creator admitted, “I was hoping for that — I wasn’t afraid of it per se.”
“Having grown up a Star Wars fan, I know that thing where something challenges it, and I know the recoil against that. I know how there can be infighting in the world of Star Wars. But I also know that the worst sin is to handle it with kid gloves. The worst sin is to be afraid of doing anything that shakes it up. Because every Star Wars movie going back to Empire and onward shook the box and rattled fans, and got them angry, and got them fighting, and got them talking about it. And then for a lot of them, got them loving it and coming around on it eventually.”
“The same thing goes for religion, for me. People who are raised outside of faith sometimes think it’s this touchy thing that you have to handle with kid gloves. I grew up very Christian. It was a very personal thing for me. I’m not a believer anymore. I’m no longer a Christian. But when I was… You’re constantly rattling the box for yourself. You’re constantly being offended by things. But then it’s not like that just shuts off [the real world and how it challenges your beliefs].”
“It’s just like being a Star Wars fan and seeing a twist where you’re like, ‘Oh God, that doesn’t make me feel great, because that’s not what I expected.’ As a Christian, the world is constantly throwing that at you. It’s just your daily life. Assimilating that is how you grow. That’s part of the purpose of both [fandom and religion] — it’s only alive when it’s interacting with the world.”
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is now available to solve via either Netflix or its currently-ongoing, limited theatrical release.
