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Description

Unfortunately because of the vitriol surrounding The Last Jedi, I am not comfortable opening comments on this stamp...sorry.

(Also...here's a little music I feel goes with Luke's story well: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBn67v… )

But I wanted to show my support of Luke Skywalker's entire story--all the way to his brightest moment in The Return of the Jedi when he helped light the way to Vader's redemption, to his darkest moment when the trauma of the past overwhelmed him and by the time he came back to himself and realized it was his nephew he had almost struck down, it was too late.

I know this is a very controversial thing to support in the Star Wars fandom right now. And I know sources indicate this was a tough experience for the actor, Mark Hamill, who had a very different vision than Rian Johnson. But I have to say it, whatever difficulties existed behind the scenes, and whatever flack Rian Johnson is getting for this particular plotline, I felt Mr. Hamill's acting of it was absolutely dead on.

As someone who has experienced severe depression in my life, Mr. Hamill truly brought to life what it is to be in such a fragile and near-defeated state. I know this is uncomfortable to see in a character we last left in The Return of the Jedi as one of the greatest heroes in fiction. But we shouldn't forget the immense trauma Luke suffered through that process, which I believe scarred him and left him with post-traumatic stress disorder that, in his case, ended up having grave consequences since the way of the Jedi never offers a path forward for those suffering emotional scars, other than the path of repression.

And that is the other thing it is easy to forget, but that was validated in TLJ: what we saw in the Prequels shows very clearly that the Jedi did not deserve to continue. Attempting to revive a shallow and bankrupt philosophy such as theirs was going to backfire somehow...unfortunately it did so in the absolute worst way possible.

And then there is the moment...the one in which Luke made the gravest mistake possible, the one nearly successful preemptive strike that has almost sealed the very fate he thought he would prevent. I have seen a lot of people complain that this is severely out of character--but let us not forget what happened with Vader, that Luke almost gave in there too, and only stopped after inflicting a wound that happened to parallel his own too much. It is furthermore my contention that what Luke sensed in the darkest moment in TLJ was amplified tremendously by Snoke, and that what Luke encountered was far more comparable to Palpatine than the one he once loved.

I sincerely believe that Luke--whose PTSD had gone untreated for years (because sadly there seems to be no recognition of the need for mental health treatment for the Force-sensitive in the SW universe)--had a flashback and lost touch with where he was and who exactly he was about to strike at. And by the time he came back into himself and got control enough to stop what he was doing, he had been seen and sensed, and it was too late.

As for what happened after that...I think his reactions make sense. He was clearly near suicidal--but as it is with many who deal with such terrible emotions, a small part of him was still crying out for help, hence leaving the map behind even though what the largest part of him wanted was to die. Yes, he contradicted himself in that. But so it often is when a person is suffering such a severe mental health crisis, that we are a mess of conflicting impulses, the part with no hope left, and the part that still has some spark in it.

I understand what fans wanted. I used to look up to the character of Luke Skywalker as well. We wanted him to be the one that would walk Anakin's path but this time get it right. But it was Obi-Wan Kenobi's footsteps he ultimately walked in instead...sacrificing himself as the last of a failed philosophy, but this time, unlike Obi-Wan, understanding exactly what had failed and why. He would not be the one to save Kylo Ren; he knows he has burnt that bridge forever.

But there IS still some of the old hope left--the part that recognized that even if it couldn't be him to prove it in the end, that no one is ever really gone.

Feel free to use this stamp if you, too, support ALL of Luke Skywalker's story, not just the Original Trilogy.

Description

Unfortunately because of the vitriol surrounding The Last Jedi, I am not comfortable opening comments on this stamp...sorry.

(Also...here's a little music I feel goes with Luke's story well: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBn67v… )

But I wanted to show my support of Luke Skywalker's entire story--all the way to his brightest moment in The Return of the Jedi when he helped light the way to Vader's redemption, to his darkest moment when the trauma of the past overwhelmed him and by the time he came back to himself and realized it was his nephew he had almost struck down, it was too late.

I know this is a very controversial thing to support in the Star Wars fandom right now. And I know sources indicate this was a tough experience for the actor, Mark Hamill, who had a very different vision than Rian Johnson. But I have to say it, whatever difficulties existed behind the scenes, and whatever flack Rian Johnson is getting for this particular plotline, I felt Mr. Hamill's acting of it was absolutely dead on.

As someone who has experienced severe depression in my life, Mr. Hamill truly brought to life what it is to be in such a fragile and near-defeated state. I know this is uncomfortable to see in a character we last left in The Return of the Jedi as one of the greatest heroes in fiction. But we shouldn't forget the immense trauma Luke suffered through that process, which I believe scarred him and left him with post-traumatic stress disorder that, in his case, ended up having grave consequences since the way of the Jedi never offers a path forward for those suffering emotional scars, other than the path of repression.

And that is the other thing it is easy to forget, but that was validated in TLJ: what we saw in the Prequels shows very clearly that the Jedi did not deserve to continue. Attempting to revive a shallow and bankrupt philosophy such as theirs was going to backfire somehow...unfortunately it did so in the absolute worst way possible.

And then there is the moment...the one in which Luke made the gravest mistake possible, the one nearly successful preemptive strike that has almost sealed the very fate he thought he would prevent. I have seen a lot of people complain that this is severely out of character--but let us not forget what happened with Vader, that Luke almost gave in there too, and only stopped after inflicting a wound that happened to parallel his own too much. It is furthermore my contention that what Luke sensed in the darkest moment in TLJ was amplified tremendously by Snoke, and that what Luke encountered was far more comparable to Palpatine than the one he once loved.

I sincerely believe that Luke--whose PTSD had gone untreated for years (because sadly there seems to be no recognition of the need for mental health treatment for the Force-sensitive in the SW universe)--had a flashback and lost touch with where he was and who exactly he was about to strike at. And by the time he came back into himself and got control enough to stop what he was doing, he had been seen and sensed, and it was too late.

As for what happened after that...I think his reactions make sense. He was clearly near suicidal--but as it is with many who deal with such terrible emotions, a small part of him was still crying out for help, hence leaving the map behind even though what the largest part of him wanted was to die. Yes, he contradicted himself in that. But so it often is when a person is suffering such a severe mental health crisis, that we are a mess of conflicting impulses, the part with no hope left, and the part that still has some spark in it.

I understand what fans wanted. I used to look up to the character of Luke Skywalker as well. We wanted him to be the one that would walk Anakin's path but this time get it right. But it was Obi-Wan Kenobi's footsteps he ultimately walked in instead...sacrificing himself as the last of a failed philosophy, but this time, unlike Obi-Wan, understanding exactly what had failed and why. He would not be the one to save Kylo Ren; he knows he has burnt that bridge forever.

But there IS still some of the old hope left--the part that recognized that even if it couldn't be him to prove it in the end, that no one is ever really gone.

Feel free to use this stamp if you, too, support ALL of Luke Skywalker's story, not just the Original Trilogy.