A Letter to Mark Hamill

Dear Mark Hamill,

I’m writing because I think we need to have a conversation about Luke Skywalker. I doubt I can change your mind about how you have always viewed him, but I hope you take a moment to hear me out.

I was raised on Star Wars. It’s the first movie I ever remember seeing. Rumor has it that I saw every single movie in the theater, even though I wasn’t even a year old in the summer of 1977. In 1980 I remember walking out of Empire strikes back at the age of 3 because it was “Too loud.” We went back another time with ear protection from my dad’s workshop.

I saw Return of the Jedi in theaters nine times during Kindergarten. I rarely missed a showing of the movies when they would appear in theaters over the years, and I was highly disappointed in the changes Lucas made to the original three with digital additions. Not all changes were bad, I feel as though the update to the Emperor in Empire was a good choice, but the change of voice for Boba Fet was clumsy and sad (especially considering the prequels were so utterly disappointing).

My grandmother of all people collected all the toys and kept them neatly in their packaging. When she passed away, I got them in hand and was able to look at and appreciate them before I had to sell them so I could continue to make rent and keep a roof over my head – something I know she would have approved of, even if it was a sad moment for me.

Whenever we made the drive from Fort Collins to Pueblo, we’d watch Star Wars, at least one of them, and whenever I had the chance after Jedi was available to rent, I would rent it at the local Curtis Mathis video rental location.

I cannot tell you how much I loved those movies and how much of an impact Luke Skywalker had on me starting as a child. I wanted to be Luke, I wanted a green lightsaber, I wanted to be able to use the force in the way that Luke was able to use it. I wanted to turn Vader so that he would fight by my side and we could save the galaxy as Father and Son.

When you returned to the screen in The Last Jedi I was so antsy to see Luke Skywalker again. I was so excited to learn what had become of him. I purposefully avoided all trailers, all news articles, and all spoilers. I walked into the movie knowing nothing about it, and having no expectations as to what I would see.

I loved it.

As a Star Wars fan, I loved it.

As a fan of Luke Skywalker, I loved it.

As a movie fan in general, I loved it.

As my awestruck excitement ebbed a little, I began to see the articles and opinions that threw vitriol at the film, some of that even coming from you, and I was forced to wonder why. I dug further into it and read opinion pieces that tore into the movie as the worst of the Start Wars movies (this is impossible, and I present you with The Phantom Menace and The Clone Wars as my exhibits). I also saw critics who praised it as being one of the best – and this is where I fall. This was one of the best Star Wars films ever made, and Luke Skywalker was exactly where he should have been.

You can trace his failure back to the cave on Dagobah. He faces the phantom Vader, cuts his head off and sees his own face looking back at him. While some may have seen this as just a foreshadowing of his relationship to Vader, there was also the very strong indication that his own hubris was his weakness. His own belief that he was the only one who could destroy the Death Star, save Vader from the dark side, and then recreate the Jedi Order from nothing.

As Luke said himself, “because I am Luke Skywalker. Legend.”

Of course he was going to mess up. Of course he was going to take that mistake and turn it into something huge. You see Luke give up so many times over the course of the original movies that it’s hard not to see it happen after such a devastating error on his part. He wants to go with Obi Wan, but is defeated by his belief that his aunt and uncle need him, instead of allowing himself to follow into something that could save an entire galaxy of people. He’s being selfish here in many ways. He only goes with Obi Wan because the Empire kills his aunt and uncle.

Later, on Dagobah, he gets frustrated looking for Yoda, then he gives up trying to lift the X-Wing from the swamp telling Yoda that it is impossible.

In every one of those instances, Luke needs somebody to show him, because he can’t believe it if he can’t see it.

By the time Return of the Jedi comes around, Luke has become outwardly very confident in his ability, and very arrogant in his approach to things. But more importantly, we see that moment where he is walking the razor’s edge of turning to the Dark Side when the Emperor tells him:

“Take your weapon, strike me down with it and your journey toward the Dark Side will be complete.”

Luke takes the weapon in anger and attempts to strike down the emperor, but is stopped by Vader.

It should also be noted that Luke completely loses his composure in the final battle with Vader and only beats him because he goes completely dark, using his anger as fuel to repeatedly strike at Vader until he is able to remove Vader’s hand.

“Your hate has made you powerful,” the Emperor tells him. He is not wrong.

Now in that moment, Luke realizes he just kind of stepped in it, but is able to shake it off and back away and responds by saying that he is now a Jedi, like his father before him.

The Emperor then attempts to kill Skywalker, who responds by begging his father to save him, which seems like the last thing a Jedi would ever do.

The battle had turned, the Rebellion was going to win and destroy the Death Star and the Emperor with it. But Luke spends his time begging on the off chance that he could get dear old dad back, and to hell with the rest of the galaxy should his plan go south and the bad guys somehow manage to escape.

By the time the second Death Star blows up, Luke has pretty much become a legend. He’s seemingly (but not in reality) singlehandedly defeated two Death Stars, saved Vader from himself, defeated the Emperor, and turned the tide in favor of the Rebellion.

He is no longer Luke Skywalker, but he is now Luke Skywalker, Jedi!

So he builds a Jedi temple and goes hunting for recruits. He alone is going to save the Galaxy and bring back Balance to the Force.

It is his own arrogance and hubris (remember his failure in the cave?) that become his downfall yet again. He senses a power akin to that of Vader and the Emperor, he feels the danger that the galaxy will face if Ben Solo is allowed to continue down the path to the dark, and in a moment of weakness (because we are all human and we all have those moments), he makes the decision to kill Ben, but it passes like a shadow and is gone from his mind, but the damage is done.

Truth be told, I don’t know if I could have put down that lightsaber if I were in Luke’s shoes. Nephew or not, seeing somebody with the potential to become another Vader would not be worth the risk – but Luke is a better person than I am.

When Luke fails, when Ben turns, of course Luke runs. It’s what he does, and what the Jedi seem to do in general (Yoda ran to Dagobah, Obi Wan ran to Tatooine). Here’s the thing, in the past Luke has always had somebody there to talk sense back into him, to bring him out of his funk and back into the fray, but this time he disappears, not wanting anybody to talk him out of his decision, regardless of how bad it is for himself or the rest of the galaxy. His fallen legend status destroys him. He does not want to be found to have sense talked back into him, but eventually he is found and somebody does manage to talk sense into him (a combination of Rey and R2-D2 and Yoda).

In the end, the old Luke was there. He’d become something more, and when he became one with the Force, it was truly to become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.

You did a great thing, Mark. You brought Luke to life in a way I never thought possible. You helped to turn him into somebody more relatable, more human, and less of a legend – and all these things are a compliment. I know you don’t agree with what Rian did, but as a lifelong fan of Luke, it was the right choice to have made.

Thank you for seeing it through, and I hope that one day you can see how it all fits together so beautifully.

Thank you for being my Jedi.

May the Force be with you, always.

Sincerely,

Micah