Guest Recipe: Rey's Portion Bread and The Last Jedi

Change of scenery, but I think Ravi would approve.

A year or two ago, I had an intense craving for a microwaveable chocolate cake that I had made at a friend's house in 11th grade. She was a latchkey kid with Torchwood on DVR and a good friend. This was a little Duncan Hines cake with it's own little microwaveable dish and chocolate sauce.

I went to the grocery store and could not find them. I asked one person who looked at me like I was crazy. Then I found a guy closer to my age and I sparked a memory in him. "Oh yeah! I remember those! What happened to those?" "So you don't have them?" "Well, let's look."

We continued to stare at the grocery store shelf, willing it to change, but not luck.

When I looked up Rey's portion bread, I found that it is very much a microwaveable cake. I found a recipe from a girl who could very well be my rival except that she's an adorable baker and I'm a writer. The important thing is I'm learning how to cook, I'm not about to be inventing recipes.

I made a few adjustments, including a major one (Changing the blog title from brain Food to Brains on a Budget).

Matcha powder is intensely expensive. Like no. So, I bought green tea matcha latte powder and used that thinking it will likely sweeten the cake. Then I researched how to turn regular old flour into "self-rising" flour. I feel like that's the Jedi way, anyway.

I sifted instead of using cake flour. I bought flour a year ago thinking I would bake...and I don't, so I'm not about to get specific "cake flour" or self-rising flour, certainly not both!

Then it asked for an egg at "room temperature", so I stuffed it into my bra because I didn't read the instructions before beginning.

So, let's review:

Sift together 1/2 cup white flour, .75 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt

Measure out 5 tbl spoons of that

+1 Tbl spoon matcha latte powder

+2 Tbl Sugar

+ Another pinch of salt

+ One egg formerly stuffed into bra (hoping it wouldn't break everytime you bent over)

+ Melt some coconut oil, put 2 tbl spoons into mug, rub the rest on your thighs or wherever you're ashy

+2 tbl spoons milk that's about to expire

Then STIR

Then microwave for 1.5-2 minutes. Other blog said 1.5, I did it for 2 because it hadn't risen all the way. it still fell a little bit.

It's not bad!

I heard from a friend it was barely edible. But Rey and I have a common theme...waiting around eating cheap food while hoping someone might change their life. Before I get into the depth of my geekery...I think that's why I love Rey so goddamn much.

---

She's a total badass just waiting around for her family to come back and let her life begin. She gets thrust into a situation with a rebel and a droid and she learns to be responsible for her own destiny. That's always what Star Wars has been about. CHOOSING your destiny. I think people get hung up on Luke being the chosen one, but forget that he forsakes his own destiny.

Luke doesn't follow the path of his parents and neither does Rey. It's the same archetype, but more nuanced because that's the kind of hero we---okay, I--- need right now.

---------------------------------SPOILER ZONE---------------------------------------

I've been thinking a lot about Star Wars. As per usual, but I've been thinking deeper because I do believe, above all, art imitates life.

I enjoyed The Last Jedi. And as you know if you read my blog, I am not a critic. I've been much happier able to enjoy movies for what they are, especially when they're just trying to be a fun time. Like Pitch Perfect or Pacific Rim. Not everything's about winning awards or being deep.

That being said, The Last Jedi is a raucous good time, but it's also deep. Something I think some people are neglecting to realize. Everyone has their own opinions, understood. But I'm on the side of attributing negative reviews to people who did not have their personal theories come true. I've been reading criticisms and I have to disagree. Agree to disagree. I'm going to address some of these criticisms, though they may not be yours, but I picked the ones that had to do with theme rather than writing.

Though long-winded, The Last Jedi is one of the more complex Star Wars films.

The original trilogy is more complex than I think people realize---maybe because they discount Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader when they consider Star Wars. I don't think that Star Wars ever had a black and white view of morality, but the Last Jedi is the one that comes out right and says it. People complain about the villains, Rey's heritage, and that it is no longer about good and evil, but about less good and even less good. I would say Star Wars has always been about power, not good vs. evil. Yes, there's heroic battles and morality, but the archetype is worn.

What I love about these new movies is that they seem to be a current and mature version of Star Wars. Like every fairytale we love that grows dark as we grow older...just as Harry Potter and countless other series matures with it's readers...Star Wars has matured with it's times.

This new Star Wars is for a new country. A country well aware of the man behind the curtain who is running our government and pulling the strings. Evil has a name and a face in these films, and it's unbearably human and a little ugly. There's no deceitful emperor Palpatine, no twist on who the villain is. It's plain to see.

Luke was a simple farm boy and though he grew up simple, he does have royal blood (in a sense). Luke is the little girl who dreams of being a princess only to find she was taken away at birth and actually IS a princess! He gets to live out his Jedi princess dream and save the galaxy from his oppressive father. Is this actually starting to sound like A Little Mermaid? He sees a vision of a girl, sacrifices everything to go find her....battles his father and a sea witch? No Sea Witch? Okay...just Jabba.

Yes, Luke was technically working class, but that is not the spirit of the original trilogy. Luke was handed his birth right....something very few of us can relate to.

What I see in TFA and The Last Jedi is a working class Star Wars. And not just because of the women and the other minorities. I love the character of Finn more than I can express. One reason I love him is because of his relationship with Phasma, his line "I'm in charge now, Phasma!" and of course their close to fatal battle in the new film. I love these moments because I had an oppressive boss I really hated. And in my successive jobs since then, I have been appreciated and even promoted. I now am somewhat of a boss, and I want to go back to my old boss and yell "I'M IN CHARGE NOW!" and throw him in a garbage chute.

I'm not an evil person, but I am someone who has been oppressed by a corporation. It wasn't the First Order, but we were treated wrongfully and illegally. They were sued and I got a nice check, but I didn't get to throw anyone in a garbage chute.

Poe has a very similar story about standing up against authority, doubting authority. Much like we'll see Kylo Ren and Rey do below. Doubting authority or being disappointed by it is a huge theme for this movie...I wonder why that would possibly show up in a movie released in America in 2017? Take a look at your life, take a look at your choices....

What I like about Poe's story is that he's so sure he's doing the right thing, and then when Laura Dern's character's plan is fully revealed, we see her so sure she's doing the right thing. What is the best course of action right now? What is the right way to protest? What can we do? What I love about this movie is being dazzled about every moment and never knowing what would happen next. I only get that feeling once. I can't remember not knowing every line of dialogue and plot point in the original trilogy. I'm exaggerating, but still. This movie reminded me of my future and my uncertainty. Those moments before you do something daring, not knowing if it will change your life, or break your heart, or make so much as a ripple in the pond. I want more of these moments in my own life...not the near-death stuff, but the unpredictable. Or maybe I don't. Maybe I want security while I daydream about unpredictable.

ANYWAYS,

Now, let's take a look at Kylo Ren, who, in true Star Wars fashion, kills his father, but then turns on his boss. He turns on the person telling him what to do, trying to control him, and then tries to make his own path. People have said that Kylo Ren is less conflicted in this movie, but I see him as all the more so. Kylo is acting on impulse. He destroys his mask to separate himself from his grandfather, he destroys Snoke, he tries to destroy Luke, he can't destroy his mother---he doesn't know what he wants anymore, and I see that as way more human than a brat with a temper tantrum. In TFA we know he's conflicted because he says it in his dialogue, but we only see him act out Snoke's wishes. In this movie, we actually see him ACT conflicted, which I think is great progress for his character development.

Let's step back and talk about the working class again and how it pertains to what may be the truth about Rey. I'm going to start by saying we shouldn't take any of the force visions at face value. We know that Snoke manipulated both Rey and Kylo's minds, and that he possibly planted a false prediction in Rey as a trap. Anyway, we hear the truth about her parents in dialogue. We do not see it. But I am a fan, unlike many people, about this truth. Because remember what I don't relate to? The princess who's born a princess. I like the girl who works her ass off, has no friends, and makes her own destiny. I see Rey as modern feminism in a lot of ways. I also see her as flawed and interesting. As Luke points out, she doesn't even fight the Dark Side for a second, she's so greedy for knowledge. If Rey turned out to be a Skywalker, that means that somehow they abandoned her even though they all suffer pain from abandonment themselves. Dick move. It would also feel cheap to me. It just would. This version of the truth, and remember it's all a matter of perspective, reminds me a lot of my favorite scenes in the new BladeRunner. Also a very thematically-relevant film. Watch it. There's something so current about that idea, and that's what I see Rey possibly being. She's not the next generation of Skywalker or the culmination of a prophecy. She's just a girl from nowhere. Like many of us.

Now let's talk about Luke. Because honestly, I never liked Luke Skywalker and his pure heart. I don't think he's still pure at the end of Return of the Jedi, either. I think that particular film plays with the idea of black and white very well. What I like about the story of him and Kylo is how human it was. Luke's never been on that human level for me. He's been a disney princess. Now, he has emotions, impulses and he sometimes acts on them and has regrets. Do I think he had it in him to kill? NO. Don't we all feel like we could wring someone's neck at times? Do we do and say things we don't mean when we're afraid or angry? That's the crux of Star Wars right there. Power and fear do not go well together. Luke has had power for a very long time. And Kylo scared him. He reacted. And maybe by doing so, he made his vision come true.

Is Rey the first person in 2017 to be disappointed by her hero? Welcome to Hell. Rey is disappointed when she meets him, and he continues to disappoint...so there's tension between her boss and herself in a sense, too. She has to take control of her situation. Yoda forces Luke to lift rocks for days in a swamp. Rey is forced to learn to lift rocks on her own in situational danger. Again, I think Rey has the spirit of a modern hero.

So yes, it breaks from hero of a thousand faces in a couple ways, but that's what I think makes it so relevant.

People also said things about the men being portrayed as weak and flawed while they women were perfect. I disagree. I think Laura Dern was extremely flawed. Maybe some of the women are running circles around the men, but it's about damn time.

Upon my second watching. I noticed more. I have a great appreciation for the dreadful Casino scene that I know so many people complained about. Including me on first watching. Even though there's one in every movie. People said it didn't move the plot. But I looked closer. Rose is a fantastic character. We need more of her. What I love about the Casino scene is that Rose gets to put her fist through that town, just like she wanted. And it's glorious when you think about it that way. Look closer again. Rose said these people were the worst in the galaxy and why was that? These are the complacent, the do-nothing-ers. They are not the villains, but they are just as bad. Because they see suffering and they profit off of it. They're worse than the unacting bystanders actually. But I prefer to see them as the people who shrug at The First Order and then get on with their lives. They worry about them. When tax season comes, they'll start worrying about what the government is doing, but until then, they'll sit back.

People think the moral greyness of the movie defeated the whole purpose of what Star Wars is. I think it's time we all grew up.

People think the light side and the dark side is supposed to be balanced, with little ambiguity. Might I remind you: The light side is something you made up. There was only the Jedi and the Sith. The dark side of the force only described unlimited power and it's corrupting influence. I think power corrupts always, and we see that in everyone, every scene in this movie down to Chewbacca eating a porg. If you think the movie was themeless and unrelated, you're wrong.

Woah...that was a lot of Star Wars and a strong ending statement! I don't know how to comment on these pages, but I'm curious as to what you think!