‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’: Frank Oz Weighs in on Yoda’s Change of “Character” in Fan Debate

More than a year after it hit theaters, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is being analyzed and discussed by fans across the internet and embracing its many achievements. Over on Twitter, a group of fans began sharing their appreciation of the scene in which Yoda appeared to Luke, with the two characters discussing various elements of the Jedi Order. While the sequence mirrored the ways in which Star Wars fans consider the original films to be sacred texts by depicting Luke as feeling precious over the ancient tomes, only for Yoda to dismiss the notion, some fans voiced their critiques over the scenes and their depiction of Yoda. Frank Oz, who has performed Yoda since 1980, chimed in with his own opinions.

During the social media discussion, one fan pointed out that Yoda’s behavior in the scene, largely the Jedi Master’s manic attitude, was out of character from what we saw in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Oz, on the other hand, noted, “I kind of have pretty intimate knowledge of who Yoda is, and I don’t feel it was out of character at all.”

Despite Oz having help create the character and having interpreted him multiple times in the decades since, some fans still tried to claim ownership over Yoda and the character’s true nature. Understandably, some fans were perplexed by how a fan, no matter how devout, could know more about a character than a person who helped define the character.

Oz then succinctly pointed out the common trend among most The Last Jedi detractors, claiming, “In my opinion what may be happening is psyhological (sic) projection, not interpretation.”

In other words, many of the viewers who claimed that various events in The Last Jedi which were deemed “out of character” might have been misinterpreting not only that film, but the decades of history surrounding the saga and its characters. One of the biggest difficulties of such a perspective is subjective interpretation being regarded as objective truth. By trying to definitively classify a personal interpretation as the artist’s intent, a viewer is precluding others from drawing their own conclusions, in addition to attempting to tell an artist what their intent was.

Regardless of a viewer’s opinion on The Last Jedi, Oz brought up crucial points about the analysis not only of this film,but also of all pieces of art.

What do you think about Oz’s remarks? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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