I chose to follow John Stossel, a prevalent and famous columnist known for his libertarian views on political matters.

John Stossel, born March 6, 1947, has appeared as a columnist and libertarian pundit both on ABC News and Fox Business Channel. Following his education at Princeton, Stossel went on to work as a researcher for KGW-TV. Afterwards, Stossel proceeded to be a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City, and then became a consumer editor and reporter on Good Morning America on ABC News. Eventually, he became co-anchor of the news program 20/20. From 2009-2016, Stossel worked as the host of his own news show on Fox Business, the self-titled Stossel. Following his departure from Fox TV, Stossel decided to create a series of short videos, with the intent to teach young people about the advantages of a free market and decreased government intervention. Along with his television works, Stossel also wrote three books in 2004, 2007, and 2012, titled “Give Me A Break”, “Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity”, and “No They Can’t! Why Government Fails but Individuals Succeed”, respectively.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, is the newest film in the Star Wars franchise. The film is being widely regarded as a divisive one within the Star Wars fanbase. I decided to interview three self proclaimed fans of the franchise to get their thoughts on the most recent film’s developments.

David Delgado, the first of my interviewees, had the following to say about the film:

“I personally thought it was a good movie but not a wholesome ending for the end of what I’d call possibly the greatest franchise of all time”.

Gabriel Lopez, another of my interviewees, said the following:

“It was the end to a 9 film 40+ year saga and none of its plot beats or elements felt earned. It seemed desperate to just please you on the most basic level and get it over with rather than provide anything truly substantial or meaningful”.

My final interviewee, Gary Cardenas, said:

“While I enjoyed the movie as a whole, I couldn’t help but feel like it could’ve been better. I remember seeing the very first Star Wars and to have this movie be the ‘ending’ of that feels kind of underwhelming”.

Overall, my interviewees seem more disappointed with the film’s lack of creativity and risk taking, rather than outraged with the final result, as many fans have been. Hopefully these interviews have provided some new viewpoints to those less critical of the franchise.

Because of my passion for Star Wars, I decided to critique some blogs which addressed the most recent of the Star Wars films, The Rise Of Skywalker. I found all of the blogs I read to be well written and captivating. The first blog I encountered, Onscreen Review: “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” by Ken Jones, criticized the film for its rushed tone, desperate attempts at pandering to casual fans and blatant disregard for previously established story elements. I very much agreed with this sentiment, and, despite enjoying the movie, could not help but notice these shortcomings. The second blog I read, The Rise of Skywalker: Stronger Than Blood by Stephen Danley, touched on director JJ Abram’s nervous energy being made evident in the final product of the film, and once again I find myself wholeheartedly agreeing with the blog post. Due to mounting pressure from the previous two films of the saga, Abrams found himself sacrificing creativity and artistic integrity, as well as respect for previously established story hooks and plot points, in exchange for a lackluster, play-it-safe style affair. While the film was by no means awful, it’s potential to be something better is extremely obvious. My final article, Rey Deserved Better: The Failures of The Rise of Skywalker, Part 1 by BJ Priester, examines the way in which Rey, one of the main characters of the trilogy, found her character arc diminished by the film’s lack of narrative risk taking. In turn, the quality of her character suffered, harming the film overall. While I believe Rey is at her most interesting in this film, I can’t help but imagine how much better she could have been had JJ Abrams taken bigger risks. Overall, I think the film could have very much benefitted from greater creative risks on Abrams’ part.