TLJ 15: Brechtian Ben Swolo (Minutes 71-75 with Takeo Rivera)

Uh oh, is that a "Dies Irae"? In minutes 71-75 of The Last Jedi, Luke makes an incipient Force connection, Rey faces her infinite reflection, and Kylo Ren definitely does not put a cowl on. Joining me today is my favorite playwright-professor, Takeo Rivera, here to suffuse my musical observations with his literary insights! We talk magical realism, postmodernism, Brecht, musical recalls, and much more.

Discussion topics/Highlights:

• "Dies Irae" (Day of Wrath) melody/Gregorian chant
• Magical realism in The Last Jedi
• Brecht, Sophocles, postmodernism, and other literary references
• John Williams didn't have spotting sessions for this film
• Structures of Feeling (Raymond Williams): https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100538488
• Sound details in Rey's cave reflection scene

Themes Referenced (in order of appearance): Force theme

Takeo Rivera:

• Faculty page (Boston University): https://www.bu.edu/english/profile/takeo-rivera/
• Academia.edu page: https://bu.academia.edu/TakeoRivera
• New Play Exchange: https://newplayexchange.org/users/20558/takeo-rivera
• Look out for his forthcoming book Model Minority Masochism published by Oxford University Press

  (edit: It’s out now! https://global.oup.com/academic/product/model-minority-masochism-9780197557495?)

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