Rian Johnson: Twitter & Tradition

I (unashamedly) love The Last Jedi. Granted, I also remember loving Star Wars Episode I when it first came out. But unlike the prequels, The Last Jedi gets better the more I consider it. Yet until recently I could not articulate why it resonated so deeply with me, a life-long & committed Star Wars nerd. The answer came from a surprising place: Rian Johnson's (the director's) Twitter page.

About two weeks ago, Johnson tweeted a telescopic series of pictures. The first showed a double-tiered bookshelf along a ceiling. The second zoomed onto one particular shelf, containing both The Path of the Jedi & Book of the Sith. (It also held Aristotle's Poetics, but perhaps more on that later.) The third photo singled out The Path of the Jedi. Finally, under the section "Advanced Force Techniques", the following entry was revealed:

Doppelganger, or Similfuturus, permits a Jedi to create a short-lived duplicate of himself or herself as an external object that is visually indistinguishable from the real item.

Presumably, Rian Johnson posted this as a counter to the confusion & criticism he earned for (SPOILER ALERT) the scenes in The Last Jedi where Luke Skywalker uses the Force to duplicate himself & fight Kylo Ren from planets away. Why was this Twitter thread & appeal to The Path of the Jedi a big deal? Please allow me to elaborate, because whether you are a Star Wars fan or not, I believe there is an important lesson to be discovered.

The Path of the Jedi came out in 2010, years before Episode VIII The Last Jedi was ever a film. But more importantly, since the late 1970's, Star Wars fans have been writing & contributing to a shared project: explaining & expanding the Star Wars universe. Beyond the original Trilogy, the Prequels, and the new Disney take on Star Wars, there is an entire world of Star Wars board games, video games, books, articles, TV shows, & websites devoted to exclusively Star Wars. There is a full-on Star Wars tradition. Why? Because fans loved the world & wanted to contribute to it. The danger of this tradition is evident. It includes zombie storm troopers and Jar-Jar Binks.

One of my heroes Alasdair MacIntyre defines a tradition, saying, "A tradition is an argument extended through time in which certain fundamental agreements are defined and redefined," namely, through internal & external crises (Whose Justice? Which Rationality?). To be fair, MacIntyre has primarily in mind traditions within politics, religion, academia, & science. However, it seems abundantly evident to me that what has developed among Star Wars fans amounts to a proper tradition. There are fundamental agreements regarding the reality of the Force, Light & Darkness, balance, & that deep down everyone wants a real lightsaber.

To see the Star Wars tradition in practice, look to all the articles written before and after the releases of Episodes VII & VIII. J. J. Abrams treated the Star Wars story with reverence & respect, aiming to earn the trust of dubious fans concerned that Disney was, in essence, going to throw out 40+ years of tradition. Then came the backlash against Rian Johnson in The Last Jedi for some clearly risky moves in the storyline. However, in that brief Twitter thread, Rian Johnson did the one thing that could earn my trust. He appealed to the Star Wars tradition. He appealed to the work of tons of Star Wars fans over several decades as the inspiration and standard for aspects of the story. Rian Johnson was, in effect, doing what all good Star Wars fans do. He appealed to the project we've all been working on. He pointed without, not to the director's chair.

Believe it or not, Star Wars "Knights of the Old Republic" was the video game that sparked a friendship with a girl who would later become my wife. There are even aspects of The Last Jedi that I could swear are nods to "Knights of the Old Republic." In the end, I loved Star Wars The Last Jedi because it's appealing to something greater than just one movie. I can see the intention of a director who, though taking creative risks, is appealing to a tradition of fans. There's a common vision, a common love, a common project we are all, in a sense, participating in together. That's the beauty of standing in a tradition.

G.K. Chesterton said that tradition is the democracy of the dead. It's the voice of not just one person, but a group of people building something together. Traditions are constantly forming, in-forming, & re-forming. The Last Jedi is the most recent chapter in a larger project where a bunch of Star Wars nerds, and everyday people who like a good story, appeal to something we all want to see the best in. So take a minute and ask what traditions you are standing in. What voices from the past do you need to hear? What situations in the present demand your attention? What concerns for the future do you want to speak into? Tradition is a gift, so stand in it and contribute to it.