Specter of Reason

This post contains spoilers for the film, The Neon Demon. Hollywood excels at masking the shallow as profound. It is ironic, then, that a film offering a profound critique of Hollywood is widely seen as shallow. The film is Nicolas Winding Refn’s  The Neon Demon , and its surface is so stunning that  some critics  assume that’s all there is. Yet,   there is a familiar alienation and darkness beneath its skin, just  as the grotesque lurks beneath the seductive glitz and glamour of a  decadent party from  The Great Gatsby . In fact, Refn's stylized portrait of Hollywood is strikingly reminiscent of F. Scott Fitzgerald's  New York. Both  explore the romanticization of a corrupt narcissist while exposing the depraved society that consumes him--or her, as the case may be. Though many view  The Great Gatsby as a tragic love story between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan,  Fitzgerald’s novel is primarily about Nick Carraway,  the...

My second viewing of The Force Awakens only reinforced my admiration.  I'm very impressed by Rey as a character, and so I want to respond to the prevalent criticism that she does not have a satisfying character arc.  I think she stands up better than many people think.  To prove it, let's compare her arc to Luke's in the original Star Wars, Episode 4: A New Hope.   Luke and Rey each have two inner conflicts dealing with the themes of loyalty and trust, but in Rey's case, the conflicts converge and are developed in a more dramatic and I think satisfying way. At the start of Episode IV: A New Hope , Luke wants to be loyal to his aunt and uncle, but also wants to follow his own dreams.  This is his first inner conflict.  His dreams are somewhat vague at first: He wants to get off Tatooine, join the academy, be heroic, etc.  When Ben Kenobi tells him his father was a Jedi Knight killed by Darth Vader, his motivation becomes more focused: He wants to joi...