The New Star Wars Trailer Won't Ruin The Movie For You, So Go Ahead And Watch It
The first full-length trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi was just released, to as much fanfare and social media convulsion as you might expect. And while most fans didn’t hesitate to watch the trailer, others have been more reserved about it, because of this tweet by Rian Johnson, the film’s director:
I a legitimately torn. If you want to come in clean, absolutely avoid it.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) October 8, 2017
But it’s gooooood..... https://t.co/Y29K5yz8i4
Johnson tweeted this ahead of the trailer’s reveal, so it had enough time to make its rounds on the internet. Naturally, the information took on a life of its own, and some headlines were more extreme than others:
Nope, I did not. Seems to be a whole bunch of clickbaity jiggery pokery going around. cc @FilmClickbait https://t.co/0xl4n3ZB6i
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) October 9, 2017
“Jiggery pokery,” here, refers to the headline that was skewed with a little sensationalism—he actually did say that if you wanted to “come in clean,” you should “absolutely avoid it.” But without context, it seems a little more extreme than it should be.
The new trailer does reveal a lot about The Last Jedi and its main plot points, but nothing that you wouldn’t have expected, and certainly nothing that would damage your experience of the film.
We now know that Luke will have to manage the immense power he senses in Rey. Kylo Ren may have to struggle with a decision to shoot Leia’s ship down. Snoke might get a hold of Rey. Rey might seek a mentor in Kylo Ren. We know that the movie will deal with all of these emotional struggles between its characters. And we know that the Porgs are really cute. Anyone who’s passionate enough about Star Wars to want to “come in clean” would have already expected these. And if anything, the information should enhance your experience of the movie by building up your excitement for it.
Rian Johnson himself admitted as much eventually:
FWIW: I love that there are folks who want to come into a movie clean, I think that’s awesome. Me, I’m a weak man. I watch ALL THE TRAILERS
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) October 9, 2017
FORGET EVERYTHING I SAID AND WATCH IT WATCH IT WATCH IT https://t.co/itreyIVN8A
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) October 10, 2017
So go ahead. Watch this trailer and all the trailers to come. Disney wouldn’t put out a trailer that could hurt your experience of the movie anyway. And you’d have a difficult time shutting all that information out of your life—we live in the goddamn information age, after all. Just try not to fall for all the “jiggery pokery.”
