inappropriate bathos - continual breaks in mood. Always undercutting any serious situation with a joke. Would have been if Vader made a dad joke after telling Luke he was his father
It is an ironic detachment. Self-referential jokes made to excuse the fact that the story is poorly written. “Cant think of a better plot point than a giant space laser, again?
Just make a self-referential joke about it & move on with the rehashed plot.”
