Beoric
8, 8, I forget what is for
Achilles, Beowulf and Arthur all died. Achilles was a whiny asshole, so good riddance. IIRC, Beowulf and Arthur defeated their enemies and protected their kingdoms, but suffered mortal wounds in the process; this is probably technically a tragedy but not really one in my books, especially since they were both well past their prime at that point (Beowulf was likely in his 70s), and Arthur went to Avalon and may return.I really appreciate the thoughtful responses guys! Well worth the time it took out of my Sunday-get-caught-up-with-work minutes for the initial post. Thank you!
Didn't Achilles, Beowulf and Arthur's stories ultimately end tragically for the heroes? (Not a rhetorical question, I am fuzzy).
If that narrative was still en vogue, even as in Shane or Eastwood's Pale Rider, I think today's movies would be more nuanced and appeal (to me) more than the current, quite childish, winner-takes-all mode. Logan (2017), which emulated Shane, stood out to me for exactly that same fatalistic melancholy. I'm not saying the hero always has to die, but there should be a price to pay for access to power.
Even in the original Star Wars arc, Luke was never triumphant. Using the Force (aptly named) to "force" a solution was ultimately a trap---the one Anakin fell into, but Luke did not.
Wait, didn't you hate Rogue One? That fits the heroic sacrifice trope pretty closely.
Logan is a good example of how the best comic book movies often aren't comic book movies, but drift into other genres.
The Star Wars movies (well, the ones I watched, episodes I-VII) are mostly about faith. Luke's faith in the Force wins the day in Episode IV, and arguably informed Luke's decision not to join the dark side in VI. Anakin's lack of faith causes him to lash out rather than trusting that things will work out. Interestingly, the Jedi's religious creed of avoiding attachments, while Lucas seemed pretty enamored of it, is discredited in many ways throughout various Star Wars properties, including when Vader turn on Sidious to save his son.
Off topic, but one beef I had with the films I saw is that nobody actually seemed any worse off under the Empire other than the aristocracy. For example, Anakin was a slave under the Republic, which was clearly a slave culture served by both natural and artificial sentient slaves. The Republic is also clearly an empire, for reasons I will not describe to avoid the wrath of Prince, other than to point out it is expansionist and resource-extracting. The animated and live action series have retconned this to a degree, making the Empire overtly (and often unreasonably) oppressive to common people.