Michele and I saw Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker the other night, more out of obligation than anything else. Spoiler Alert…Michele and I have seen the first eight and I thought VIII was a turn away from the force being about elitist royalty with Rey being a nobody and the broom kid at the end but, what I didn’t know was that VIII was an anomaly (because, I keep reading, too many fans complained). It turns out that Rey is a Palentine and the whole saga is just a squabble between a couple of powerful groups, sort of the Capulets and Montagues of space.

It reminded me how right-wing – for lack of a better word, I don’t want to say fascist although that may be more accurate – most Science Fiction is with the heroes being royalty or the richest men in the Universe. They are always engaged in a climactic battle with the other side which is unadulterated evil. There do not seem to be any Rosencrantzs or Guildensterns – or nuance, for that matter – in space as far as Science Fiction is concerned although, strangely enough, the opposite is usually true in the subset of Alternate Histories.

Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker has all the proper Star Wars tropes and I think how much somebody likes it depends on much they want to see a “greatest hit” movie as opposed to new material. The craftsmanship of the film is spectacular, however, and I’m glad we saw it on the big screen.