DJ From 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Is The Least Star Wars-Y Character To Ever Appear In A 'Star Wars' Film

To remember DJ, you have to remember Canto Bight, which means recalling Finn and Rose's doomed mission to get rid of a pesky tracking device the First Order is using to stay on top of the Resistance as they make their way to Crait. As I said above, I do not wish to make a case for or against The Last Jedi here, but I will say it is one of the more thematically-probing Star Wars films and Canto Bight is where a whole lot of that probing takes place.In a galaxy where every planet is defined by one thing (usually a climate feature) it's pretty hilarious we eventually got one known for big-money gambling. It honestly does not feel very Star Wars – class and money seem a bit beyond this series – but perhaps that is the point Rian Johnson meant to inject into our big space opera. Canto Bight is just one city on the planet Cantonica. Maybe they don't gamble on the entire desert planet, but it is fancy enough worldwide to have its own artificial ocean. And it's classified as a part of Star Wars' "Corporate Sector" of planets, so let's just assume it's a money-driven place pole-to-pole.Rose and Finn visit Canto Bight in search of a legendary code breaker/slicer. They do not find this person. Instead they find DJ, locked up in a jail cell. They strike a deal: in exchange for his freedom, he'll help them out with their tracking device issue. First they have to get off-planet, which they do in a stolen ship (unknown to Finn and Rose, but also were they going to buy one or something?) which they discover used to belong to an arms dealer. It is here we learn a lot about DJ and how his philosophy fits into the Star Wars Galaxy.Essentially, DJ (which is actually just stands for for "Don't Join") does not believe in good or evil or anything so refreshingly childish as that. It's quite a departure from the black and white morality of Star Wars, but we also live in complicated times where such a lesson could be appreciated. Through DJ and Canto Bight, we see a side of Star Wars never considered: commerce. The same arms dealer sells weapons to both the First Order and the Resistance. This person does not have a moral stake in the outcome, just the money to be made or lost, which is probably what's driving the 99.99% of the galaxy not involved in the war.So maybe not joining is the ultimate smart side to take? As this new trilogy makes apparent, war between good and evil will remain eternal. Unlike with the Empire and the Rebellion, we never had much understanding of the strife between the First Order and the Resistance. They seem to be at odds arbitrarily. So why not make a buck? Sure, Rose and Finn have good hearts and believe in something bigger than themselves, but DJ does make viewers wonder if maybe they're suckers.The film doesn't really give us an optimistic answer, either. DJ helps the heroes and does seem to like them. Then when it's convenient, he sells them out. But, in perhaps the film's boldest statement on the matter, he walks away from the whole deal without consequence. He even gets paid.

So the idea is Rose and Finn need someone to knock out the First Order's tracking system, which DJ does. But they all end up on Crait anyway because DJ snitches, so the mission kind of feels like a failure top to bottom that nearly gets Rose and Finn executed. Again, though, this seems in keeping with The Last Jedi's entire mission statement to subvert normal heroics. And you know what? We learned some interesting things along the way. But just in regards to plot, he might not have been the most necessary character.