Last hours of decade...

[davetheanalyzer]

The end of another year and this time the end of a decade. Though that sometimes confuses me, since some don’t count a new set of numbers have started until it has turned into one, like 11, 2021, etc. Anyway, I believe I have changed a lot this past decade and made mistakes that I hope not to repeat again. I apologized for more than a few major and minor ones, though there are one or two I might have been better off letting time heal any annoyances or wounds. Unless someone approaches for the above or other errors I did in the past, maybe I should not just suddenly bring it up, as that can be intrusive unwelcome reminders of those times.

Anyway, I finished classes a week or two ago. Checking the grades, I got more A’s. I will be enjoying my vacation but it won’t be for long, as I will back doing the final classes of Master Project on the 15^th next month. I already talked to the professor about how I would go about the pace of writing original novel material but he said he would get back to that later. I can wait. Unfortunately, I mightn’t be able to update We Will Hold On Forever this month either. Editing down scenes is slow work and I sometimes distract myself by looking at my phone even though I put my laptop in airplane mode. I don’t know if I’ll be able to post before my spring classes start but I hope I can at least write on weekends and post the next chapters before I really dive into writing original work.

I saw two movies this month. Queen & Slim was the first. I thought it would be a more indie film and I would have to go to a more distant theater to see it but when I checked my local theater site, it said would be airing there. Due to scheduling restraints and not wanting to miss the film in case it left theaters quick, I was dropped off to see the film by myself. It was good. It dealt with struggle, mutual support, and being flawed and multidimensional while living in a racist and sexist society. The article “What ‘Queen & Slim’ Gets Right About Black Women” (Warning for account wall) covers those aspects better, so I won’t reference it much other than to remind myself of forgotten details. The characters didn’t have their actual names revealed until the end, they aren’t even called Queen and Slim, but for the sake of simplicity, I’ll be calling them by their actual names.

Earnest Hines and Angela Johnson are serendipitous strangers who met on a Tinder date and due to the dubious chemistry, they probably would have gone their separate ways if a stop by a racist officer didn’t throw their lives upside down. After killing the officer in self-defense, they understandably panic and barely keep ahead of law enforcement. Yet it is through that adversity that their bond deepens. Earnest Hines lives up to his given name in some respects. Ordinary, friendly, and honest, even when in danger of being on the lamb, he makes risks to find joy wherever he could and asks Angela to do the same. I can’t remember all the details but when they accidentally hit a father to stay ahead of the police, they do drive him and his son to the hospital, enforcing Earnest’s good nature. I also liked the moment when he quietly contacts his father, so he could hear his father’s voice and take the chance to say they love each other.

Angela Johnson is more cautious and cynical, having initiated the Tinder date to get away from the stresses of being a lawyer – her client being given the death penalty. She took initiative to check the officer’s intrusive stop and planned how to go on the lamb after the self-defense killing. Admittedly, she has seen a lot in life to make her grim. She had drifted from her formerly close relationship with her mother, which she regretted after the mother’s death, her first job as a criminal defense attorney was to defend her uncle for that accidental death (How legal is it to be a defense attorney for someone you know?), and that job has her see a lot of the bad sides of criminal justice in general. Yet Earnest encouraging them to take chances for the joys of life like going dancing seems to open her up. She in turn initiates risks to enjoy riding a horse and hanging out of a car while driving. Forced to endure adversity together makes them close and accept each other, regrets and scars and all, to the point they genuinely come to love each other.

Though the pair are relieved those who recognize them, mostly black folks, cover for them, I’m under the impression they have mixed feelings about the admiration of their actions against the racist cop. When they later learned the boy they met for a day who was a fan of them had shot a cop and got killed in turn in a protest supporting them, they struggle with it. The shots of the scenery are very beautiful and, though I can’t put it into words, they complement the story and its themes. The film did tension well. I kind of had a suspicion they wouldn’t make it to Cuba by the end of the film but when I saw the police cars pulling up as they walked to the plane, my heart sank. I put my fingers in front of my eyes as they just stood holding hands ignoring the orders to surrender. Their final words to each other about her being his legacy and him affirming it felt just right. After Angela is killed, Earnest carrying her to the cops before being gunned down was…only “sad” comes to mind but I feel like I should think of some other descriptor. I like that we saw shots of everyone Earnest and Angela touched in their journey, and how most of them were present for their funeral. They likely didn’t intend to leave such an impact but they had an impact and, though villainized by the media, they would be remembered positively by much the African American community. I heard that barely anyone showed up to see the film for Golden Globes screening and that’s outrageous. It was a good film and should be respected. Hopefully, it would get that respect for other awards.

As for the second film, I saw Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker. I saw it didn’t get much positive press and glimpsed some spoilers or allusions to them that I didn’t like. Still, I saw it with my parents when the opportunity presented itself. I didn’t hate it, there were things I liked, but I had mixed feelings. For starters, Palpatine being back. I like him being his usual hammy self but I’m unsure of him being behind the rise of the First Order all this time. It takes away a bit how other old hands and new blood might want to bring back fascism on their own. It aligned with how the Sequel Trilogy accidentally took in the current climate with fascists and Neo-Nazis really coming back into the fore. I also didn’t like how Rose Tico’s screentime was so reduced. It would have been interesting to see her go along with adventures with the trio and how her relationships develop with others. Even if she had to stay behind with Leia’s base, she could have had some more character moments and be of more prominent use to the plot. I heard she was going to have some of that in her interactions with Leia but special effects issues integrating Leia into those scenes cut them out. But then I heard a comment contradicting that? I wished they found some other ways to make her important if there were complications.

As for things I liked…well, the trio finally having screentime together. Rey and Poe’s arguing seems natural and he and Finn continue to have their good, shippy chemistry. They separate for a lot of the second half of the movie but at least they had their hug at the end to show how close they’ve become. Poe continues to take risky maneuvers yet give off the sense he isn’t doing them completely by ear. It was interesting to see hints of his pre-resistance backstory, even if it contradicts EU material. He appeared to be in some dubious gray if not black market activity but his heart for justice made him join the Resistance, and he didn’t part well with his old connections. I did like he had doubts about leading the Resistance in the latter half but his thoughts that others would answer the call this time came true. Finn continues to be lovely, warm and willing to reach out for his friends and others during struggle but not above joining in the snark and teasing. I did wonder what he had to say to Rey but if that wasn’t going to be resolved why bring it up? Since JJ Abrams reveals it was about Force Sensitivity, I feel like that should be of some importance in the story. I did like his chemistry with Jannah and that they relate as being Stormtrooper defectors but that only brought back the movies not addressing moral conflict of killing kidnapped and brainwashed soldiers, at least trying to turn some of the Stormtroopers around before defending themselves. Still, knowing there are others who also refused seemed to buoy Finn. With his chemistry with four characters, he seems the most shippable character in terms of potential. With his lead status in the first film, I wished that his role in the finale film had a similar level of importance.

And there is Rey. I did like she healed the creature they were with in the quicksand tunnels, that felt like it gelled with her development. I felt anxiety when I heard her humble backstory from Last Jedi was retconned and thought she would be a Luke descendent after all. I was a bit surprised she was related to Palpatine. I’m not a fan of being related to famous characters but if it must be so, it might as well be infamous ones, if only for the anxiety and struggle of if you are bad because you are related to bad people (Spoilers: You’re not). That the events around this might make Rey a bit more reckless and wavering I can kind of buy but I’m unsure about it. I’m also unsure about her bond with Kylo Ren. They went through a lot of intense matters, matters Kylo Ren often initiated on Rey himself, so I can understand the connection but any love, I don’t know. It’s understandable after the scares of her family revelation and the recklessness that resulted from it, that she would want to isolate herself but I’m glad Luke set her straight and she took the fight to Palpatine.

As for Kylo Ren, it seems having yet another enemy like Palpatine around was needed to prod him to stop from being naughty. He really wanted Rey to defect to his side, but didn’t consider much about her views. He didn’t seem to display much doubts about the First Order cause or what he wanted from Rey in this film that I remember but he still had some connection with his mother, as when he feels Leia call to him and then die, he falls down and comes to throw his lightsaber away. I wish Leia didn’t have to die for that, since her actress had passed away and I wished the character had lived with a happier life. It’s a general pity that the circumstances of Carrie Fisher’s passing meant more couldn’t be done with how they might have interacted and even confronted each other. At least he finally got his crud together enough to do the right thing, though thankfully he didn’t steal the spotlight too much from Rey. I have mixed feelings about him dying. It’s a kind of repeat of Vader and it would have been interesting for him to face and repent for the consequences of his actions. Granted, that would have tugged a lot of story attention to him when how other the other characters react and cope should have just as much focus in that scenario.

Finally, I did like the little we saw of Jannah and the hint that she might be related to Lando. I liked her bravery, loyalty, and friendliness with Finn and the others. I felt that hint of her and Lando’s potential relation didn’t need to be explained as much but I thought it could have been expanded upon a bit more. Speaking of Lando, I was glad he was part of the film (Even if I’m dubious about his actor due to an apparent past incident of domestic violence, which, while looking it up, led me to discover Thanos’ actor also had such a incident, though in both cases, there might have been some reconciliation?) and was warm and supportive to our heroes and helped out in the ending fight. I was amused that Hux was the spy for the Resistance not out of any sense of regret or anything but out of sheer spite to Kylo Ren. I’m glad that Leia took up force and lightsaber training in the past, even if she continued her career path as a politician and resistance fighter. I’m unsure about Rey burying the lightsabers at Luke’s Tatooine home, but I like her cool yellow lightsaber and that she sort of adopted herself into the Skywalker family. I hope she and the other heroes live lives, that, though might contain some struggle, are ultimately long and happy in the end.

That’s all for this year. I’ve been up all night, so after I edit and post this, I’m going to bed. Happy New Year, and see you at the end of January.