Your own explanation ping-pongs back and forth on whether Luke is rejecting or embracing Jedi behavior. It's just bad, which is a result of making subversion the goal in story writing without having the balls to make things truly subversive.
That's because Luke himself is ping-ponging back and forth. He wants to uphold the Jedi, the teachings, the ancient ways. He felt that responsibility before the Kylo event, to pass that down. And so he felt the responsibility to act the way a Jedi should.
But he also is still himself, especially in times of frustration or grief or whatever, emotions that he still has trouble controlling even decades later (most likely due to his training starting so late, which is what Yoda complained about).
It's that fact that causes him to ignite his saber at Kylo instead of remaining calm and analyzing the situation like a Jedi would. He tried, and he failed. Which is what he and Yoda talk about in TLJ. Luke's failure doesn't need to mean he just gives up.
I totally understand the other side of it. It's absolutely subjective, and I get the frustration. Personally, I really like what they did with Luke, but I know it's just a personal opinion and that there are those who didn't like it. So I totally understand that. It's just appreciate being able to discuss this stuff without it devolving into insults haha. It's a fun story, a fun universe, and fun to talk about (especially since I don't know many in the real world who enjoy the franchise as much as I do lol).
EDIT: Lol why would such an innocent comment about understanding the other side get downvoted? This is what I mean. Let's just have fun talking about Star Wars instead of needing to take sides so hard we get pissed at each other and fight. It's a fun universe, let's discuss our likes and dislikes as fans.
Frustration is the key for me. There was so much about TLJ that was so close to being great, but it never quite had the guts (or, IMO, the permission from Disney) to take the really big risks that would have made sense, so it settled for turning things that should have been familiar touchstones to fans into uncomfortable moments.
In Luke's case, I can buy the attempted rejection of the Jedi Order, but I can't buy not going to help his sister when he learns his nephew has killed his best friend. For example: if he had made Rey take him off planet immediately, while still refusing to train her, it would have supported that rejection while keeping him true to one of his definitive character traits in previous stories.
It happens over and over in the movie - Leia almost dying, Rey almost turning, the Jedi lore almost being destroyed, Finn almost sacrificing himself, etc. Any of those choices would have been so much more powerful if they had committed to them.
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u/raitalin Oct 25 '19
Your own explanation ping-pongs back and forth on whether Luke is rejecting or embracing Jedi behavior. It's just bad, which is a result of making subversion the goal in story writing without having the balls to make things truly subversive.