Why the Season 2 finale of “The Mandalorian” matters to so many of us
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By Kent R. Kroeger (December 27, 2020)
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“As in the case of many great films, maybe all of them, we don’t keep going back for the plot.” — Martin Scorsese
“I don’t care about the subject matter; I don’t care about the acting; but I do care about the pieces of film and the photography and the soundtrack and all of the technical ingredients that made the audience scream. I feel it’s tremendously satisfying for us to be able to use the cinematic art to achieve something of a mass emotion.” — Alfred Hitchcock
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After over 55-plus years, I can count on two hands and a couple of toes the number of times I’ve cried watching a movie or TV program.
I cried when Mary Tyler Moore turned off that lights at WJM-TV.
I cried when Radar O’Reilly announced Colonel Henry Blake’s death.
I cried when the U.S. Olympic hockey team beat the Soviets in 1980.
I cried when Howard Cosell told us that John Lennon had been killed.
I cried when ET said goodbye to Elliot.
I cried when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.
I cried when baby Jessica was pulled from a 22-foot well.
I cried when Mandy Moore’s character dies at the end of “A Walk to Remember.”
I cried when Harry Potter and his wife sent their son off to Hogwarts.
I cried when Barack Obama became our 44th president.
I cried when the 33 Chilean miners were rescued.
I cried when the Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series.
But I can’t remember crying harder than while watching this season’s final episode of Disney’s “The Mandalorian,” when Luke Skywalker rescues Grogu (more popularly known as ‘Baby Yoda’) from the Empire’s indefatigable, post-Return of the Jedi remnants.
Since its December 18th release on Disney+, YouTube has been flooded with “reaction” videos of Star Wars fans as they watched a CGI-version of a young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) remove his hood…
