Thread by @JosiahDeGraaf

Comparing this shot from the new #EpisodeIX trailer with this one from Episode 8 says a lot about Abrams' & Johnson's different approaches to symbolism--and why I prefer Abrams' use over Johnson's, even though Johnson's is arguably deeper. (THREAD)

Just look at that scene of Rey, Poe, and Finn overlooking the shattered Death Star there. Bask in it for a moment and feel the ominousness seeping through the setting. A /ton/ of emotions are being conveyed through that 3-second shot. 2/

Abrams understands something important about well-done symbols: namely, how much they can set the tone of a scene and emotionally move an audience just by being there. 3/

See also these shots from Episode 7. A whole ton of atmosphere is being conveyed here. Yeah, part of it is the fact that I kind of have a thing for cool shots of destroyed architecture. But there's something deeper going on. 4/

Adams' settings feel lived in. There's a history to each of the locations and Adams pays attention to cultivating the worldbuilding. More importantly, though, Adams understands the /emotions/ conveyed by different parts of the worldbuilding and how to use them. 5/

Yes, sometimes it's just #nostalgiabait and redoing the originals (see: the Planet-Death-Star-or-whatever-that-thing-was-called-in-Episode-7 along with pretty much the entire plot of the film). 6/

But taken as a whole, while Abrams' use of symbolism sometimes retreads old ground, for the most part--whether it's the star destroyer wrecks, burnt Vader helmet, or even Luke's lightsaber (one of the weaker ones)--all of his symbols have an emotional /weight/ to them. 7/

Now let's talk about Johnson. 8/

I have a lot of thoughts about Episode 8. I'm not one of the haters and appreciate what he's doing with it thematically (see here: josiahdegraaf.com/why-the-last-j…), but on the emotional level the film kind of fell flat for me. His symbols form an interesting study of /why/ that is. 9/

The first thing to note is that Johnson... doesn't really re-use many symbols? Probably the biggest symbol is the tree library (more on this in a bit), but as a whole his settings have a lot fewer re-used elements. 10/

Some would cite this as a positive (less #nostalgiabait!). But honestly? It also makes his settings feel less lived-in. You don't feel the history of the settings that you get in The Force Awakens. Histories are present--but you don't /feel/ the emotional weight of them. 11/

Why is this? I would argue it's due to the fact that Johnson doesn't value the history of the settings. They're window-dressing--and the history isn't meant to have an emotional impact. This is largely intentional due to the film's point that "the past doesn't matter!" 12/

However, there are ways to critique the past while still acknowledging its importance. This was one of the problems I had with the infamous lightsaber-toss Luke does at the beginning of the film: it's flippant, it's jolting... and it could have been so much more. 13/

The flipping of the lightsaber is a /big/ moment for an important symbol. It's necessary for the point of the film (like it or not), and because Luke's lightsaber is important, it deserves to be a big scene with a lot of build-up leading up to it. 14/

But what do we get instead? The flipping is one of the first scenes in the film, and without the build-up, it just feels like a big middle finger to the audience. It's not just that Luke doesn't value it... one wonders if the filmmakers really value it either. 15/

Compare this to the later scene in the film when the same lightsaber is snapped in two. This is a /much/ better scene because while a similar symbolical point is made (the past is dead), it's done in a dramatic way that /values/ and even /builds/ on the symbol's weight. 16/

That latter scene and the smashing of Ren's helmet are the two symbolical scenes in #TheLastJedi that I felt really understood the weight of the symbols being used. Unfortunately, many of the others do not. 17/

So now let's finally look at that burning tree library I started this thread with. 18/

Here's the problem with this scene: it should be a big moment in the film. Luke is intentionally trying to destroy the past (a culmination of his character shift) and Rian clearly wants the burning to be symbolic. Yet I'm not really emotionally impacted by this scene. 19/

Why? Because the tree has no emotional weight to it. Johnson makes the setting symbolic... but he doesn't really give the right emotional weight (whether via music, camera framing, or dialogue). 20/

Just watch the first scene in the tree: It gives off a dark, mysterious vibe... which is really not the appropriate vibe for the hope Rey is looking for in the Jedi order. It may be how Luke views the Jedi. But it's not how Rey (or we) view them yet. 21/

As a result, we're not left with an emotional attachment to this tree that's supposed to symbolize the past. It's a new setting/symbol and we're only in it a couple of times. So when it burns? Intellectually I know it's important, but as a viewer, I have a hard time caring. 22/

This is the problem when your settings lack emotional weight. I don't mind Johnson's theme of destroying the past. But he could have had that theme while giving weight to the destroyed past. Instead, the film treats the past flippantly in its dialogue, actions, and symbolism. 23/

Flippant symbolism leads to a lack of emotional care for the symbolism. When stories are built off of emotional attachments and I'm not emotionally attached to your symbols... your story isn't going to have the emotional impact on me that it could have. 24/

Johnson certainly /does/ more with his symbols in The Last Jedi than Abrams does. As a result, I have a greater intellectual appreciation for E8 than E7. But I /enjoy/ watching E7 more than E8 because Abrams uses the emotional weight of good symbolism more than Johnson does. 25/

As a result, a 3-second shot in the #EpisodeIX trailer has a lot more of an emotional impact on me than one of the (arguably) most important scenes in The Last Jedi has. 26/26

@threadreaderapp unroll