Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Buried Lightsaber. (On Disney Plus)

Spoiler Alert: You might want to come back later if you haven't seen it already. 

I thought the Obi-Wan Kenobi new series on Disney+ was great. However, I was surprised when I scrolled through a thread on Facebook about it. There were more people complaining than those saying anything good about it.  

I wondered if some people didn't watch the entire series. This is because at the beginning, Kenobi is similar to Luke in Star Wars 7-9. He starts out living in cave, not using the force or even wanting to use it. He lives what he calls a "normal life" working in some sort of meat factory. At the end of the day, he rode a camel-like creature home. Meanwhile, the empire was hunting and killing anyone who could use the force. Yet, Kenobi wouldn't help any of those people. The only thing he did was to guard young Luke from a distance. It seems that the Jedi are at high risk for living in remote areas like caves and swamps. This left me wondering if he was going to be like Luke who refused to do anything most of Star Wars 7-9. Had they not learned anything? 

I'm glad I watched all the way through because Kenobi does not refuse the mission when young Leia is captured. He goes off to save her, despite the fact that this puts his life in danger. How can that not be hookish? 

One thing that I thought was very symbolic, was how he had buried his light saber in the middle of a dessert. This is comparable to any person who had a love of doing something, became a master at it, and ended up failing for whatever reason. Frustrated and broken, the person buries that dream in his or her heart. They give it up and try to be content with a "normal life." To me, this demonstrates what not to do. Many people have done this, including me. 

Another thing I liked about Kenobi was how they tied it in well with Star Wars 1-3, showing scenes of Kenobi with Anakin. It seemed to really give closure to those movies and created a connection.

Yet, another fun thing was the confrontations Kenobi had with Darth Vader because the two get into some awesome fights. Kenobi's use of the force is weak at first from lack of use, but I enjoyed how he kept getting it back. Also, it was awesome to see more of Vader in action.    

So about these complaints... 

One person commented that there is no crying in Star Wars. As if Kenobi was crying just because his eyes got a bit moist? He wasn't crying, but he was shocked and devastated. How is he supposed to react when he finds out his friend, that he raised, is now some sort of monster? Is he supposed to be cold about it? His reactions to discovering Darth Vader made sense to me. Who wouldn't be devastated? Some men really seem to have a problem seeing another man cry. Yet, they can and do in real life. 

The other complaint I noticed was that the quality of the series was not up to usual Star Wars standards. I suppose they were referring to the sets and special effects. Yes, it was a bit downgraded, but this wasn't a movie on the big screen. It was made for TV. I don't see this as a problem. The story, plot and characterization are the priority for me. 

Anyway, I enjoyed it and I hope there will be more, someday. 

1 comment:

  1. The only thing I wonder about the lightsaber thing is didn't he have Anakin's too? Did he bury that one too?

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