The Last Jedi Who Is the Protagonist?

[Spider-Aziz]

I've been thinking about it, and I'm not sure who should be considered the actual protagonist of the story.

Rey has been mostly on an island with Luke, proactive in the action for a few scenes, and force talks to Ben Solo a few times.

Finn and Rose seem to have a more vital role than Rey did.

Po Dameron was assuming command and assisting good plans while vice admiral useless with a forgettable name was useless until she died.

Leia was unconscious for more than half of the movie.

Luke was sulking on his island planet until the final act.


None of them has enough memorable screen time to be looked at as a protagonist. Who am I supposed to see as the protagonist of the story?

 

[wampa1]

It's Rey and Kylo.

 

[BatLobster]

Yeah, I see Rey and Kylo as the dual protagonists of this trilogy. That's what sets the ST apart.

The PT was the story of the tragic hero who falls.

The OT is the classic hero's journey.

The ST is exploring the two sides of the coin with two characters on parallel, intersecting journeys, representing the dark and light side.

 

[wampa1]

Yeah, I see Rey and Kylo as the dual protagonists of this trilogy. That's what sets the ST apart.

The PT was the story of the tragic hero who falls.

The OT is the classic hero's journey.

The ST is exploring the two sides of the coin with two characters on parallel, intersecting journeys, representing the dark and light side.

wampa1 likes this.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Second movie in the previous two trilogies look like they want you to know the protagonist of the story before and during the final act, with plenty of attention to the character we're supposed to root for the most.

This second entry of this trilogy doesn't feel the same.

 

[wampa1]

This second entry of this trilogy doesn't feel the same.

Good : )

 

[Mjölnir]

Good : )

What's good about not developing the protagonists well before the climax?

His point wasn't that the stories are the same but that the second installments delved deeper into the characters. As it is Rey is still nothing more than a bland copy of Luke, and Kylo had all his nuance removed during TLJ.

 

[Last Skywalker]

What's good about not developing the protagonists well before the climax?

His point wasn't that the stories are the same but that the second installments delved deeper into the characters. As it is Rey is still nothing more than a bland copy of Luke, and Kylo had all his nuance removed during TLJ.

You forgot Huxley McHuckleberry being turned into a caricature and Snoke becoming half the man he used to be.

 

[godisawesome]

I think Rey has the most solid case for being the intended protagonist for the ST as whole, possibly paired with Kylo as her opposite number. I'm hesitant to really label Kylo as the protagonist even in a shared sense because of both how little more cut a lot creed time he gets in comparison to the heroes, and because he's not nearly as dynamic as any of the heroes. I think Kylo honestly is more of an antagonistic foil for the heroes than a protagonist, and even though TLJ kind if features him in a pseudo-protagonist role, he still doesn't go through that much character growth past crushing his helmet, and arguably the scene with Rey is more about how she's perceiving changes and sympathetic elements that just aren't really there. And I'll say that TFA does a better job highlighting Rey's role as a series protagonist, while TLJ just mishandles and underwrites her to service Kylo and Luke's stories.

I also think, however, that a strong argument can be made that as individual films, TFA's main protagonist of Finn, while TLJ's is Luke. While Rey has the most overall screen time in both films, I'd say that Finn is more dynamic and central to TFA's plot, since Rey doesn't really start her growth until the second half of the film while his story has started from the first five minutes, and Luke not only has a dynamic character arc, but his personal arc serves as the climax for the film, *not* Rey's.

 

[writer0327]

It's Rey's story first and Kylo Ren's second as they are the main characters that push the story forward.

 

[Aximili86]

Rey and Kylo, of course.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

It's supposed to be Rey, but Johnson was just too incompetent and uncaring and drawn to the dark haired criminal white dude like in all his movies so Rey is primarily a sounding board for Kylo Ren and Luke to barf their dialogue and backstory out to and they want you to think her backstory is meaningless. And nobody at Lucasfilm was minding the store. Rey and Finn end up losing 13-14 minutes of screen time versus TFA and their percentage significantly dropped...it's easily the messiest SW movie since The Phantom Menace that way.

 

[Breogan]

I've been thinking about it, and I'm not sure who should be considered the actual protagonist of the story.

Rey has been mostly on an island with Luke, proactive in the action for a few scenes, and force talks to Ben Solo a few times.

Finn and Rose seem to have a more vital role than Rey did.

Po Dameron was assuming command and assisting good plans while vice admiral useless with a forgettable name was useless until she died.

Leia was unconscious for more than half of the movie.

Luke was sulking on his island planet until the final act.


None of them has enough memorable screen time to be looked at as a protagonist. Who am I supposed to see as the protagonist of the story?

Obviously that guy who saves his own ass and walks away with all the cash, and a slick new ship!
He's horrible, but in the end I find he's the only one I respect in the whole film. Everyone else really sucked in this movie.

Next spin-off should be the adventures of DJ and Roundy. Out for themselves.

 

[batman1]

Chewie. He's been threw the most.

 

[Grootster]

I've been asking myself this question since TFA.

 

[XStreme Skins]

It's Rey's story first and Kylo Ren's second as they are the main characters that push the story forward.

I agree with this somewhat. I would say though they're both the leads but Rey is 1A where Kylo is 1B. Their story is intertwined and incomplete without the other.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I've been asking myself this question since TFA.

I could tell that the journey of TFA is more focused on Rey than it is on Finn or anyone else.