Since TFA came out, arguments about Rey have raged within the fandom. This is to be expected. The SW fandom is one of the largest fandoms in the world and it has no shortage of people with insanely passionate and idiosyncratic opinions. Unfortunately, as we all know, many of these opinions can be hostile.Let's ignore the politically based backlash against Rey and just focus on the main criticisms you often hear about her from fans: She's a Mary Sue and she's too powerful without proper reasoning or justification. This is essentially what all of the issues with Rey boil down to among the fandom.In my opinion, I feel that many fans have a fundamental misunderstanding of how Rey is portrayed and what her character is. I feel many fans want and expect her to just be Luke 2.0 instead of her own person, and it shows with 99% of the criticism. People are so hung up on comparing Rey to the OT and the PT they completely skip over the fact they are supposed to be seeing Rey on her terms in the context of her own story.So much of the criticism of Rey begins with "In the OT, Luke did *fill in the blank* thing."No no no. This is not how you're supposed to see Rey.The story of Rey isn't supposed to follow the same Hero's Journey beats as Luke's. It's not a story of a young person slowly gaining power through training and mentoring. It's the story of a person with innate power already present with no direction on how to process it and how to find their place in the world.Rey's strength in the Force without "proper training" is exactly the point. The Force isn't something you need a decade of training from a Jedi to tap into and harness. It never has been. It's something you feel, something you allow inside of you. So all this talk of "no training!" just seems to totally miss the point. The Force is instinct. Training as a Jedi or Sith is merely a way to hone your gift.Rey's intro in TFA is a clear, obvious example of "show not tell" in filmmaking. Y'know, the writing tool film buffs everywhere say they appreciate in storytelling but always seem to miss when discussing Star Wars?We first meet Rey when she's in the middle of scavenging. She's in the guts of a downed Star Destroyer, picking parts. We see she's tethered high up on rope, possibly hundreds of feet in the air. Right from the beginning we are shown Rey knows what she's doing. We're shown she's good with her hands, knows machinery, and is resourceful. She is resourceful because she NEEDS to be to survive. Jakku is an every man for themselves situation, and for Rey to have survived since being a little girl, she had to adapt.Right off the bat, her skills in areas of fighting and mechanics are clearly established with no more or less detail than Luke before her. Her ability to fight decently with a lightsaber is often brought up as being inexplicable due to the, you guess it, "no training" mantra. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but there is nothing IN THE FILM canon (or EU/Legends canon - that I've read) that states one MUST be formally trained to wield a lightsaber. It's not some totemic, mystical weapon only special people can use. It's simply the preferred weapon of the Jedi and Sith - just as the katana is the preferred weapon of the Samurai. You aren't going to magically explode or cut off your head with a lightsaber just because you aren't a Jedi or Sith. It's utterly reasonable to assume Rey's skills with her staff can translate to being able to sufficiently wield a lightsaber.You COULD argue that fighting with a staff and a sword is totally different. But this is Star Wars - a space fantasy about wizards and aliens and an invisible lifeforce that surrounds all living things. This is hardly some one to one analogy to real life. So either you buy that Rey with her staff skills can wield a lightsaber in defense, or you don't buy it. I think the film does more than enough to justify this.Rey's introduction is a wonderful clinic in distilling the essence of a character with little to no dialogue. I hate to compare her to Luke when I just got done chastising haters for the same thing, but I think it helps support my argument. We know that Luke is a farmer with dreams of becoming a pilot. We know he's good with mechanics, and a good pilot...because we're told and shown this. Same with Rey and her array of skills and traits. I find it funny people lambast TFA for Rey being able to pilot the Falcon but totally ignore the fact Luke can fly a military vehicle (X-Wing) on the most important mission ever without any other explanation given from the film aside from the fact he's "a good pilot" and "bullseyed womprats." If anything, Luke becoming an X-Wing pilot for a military strike is MORE unbelievable than Rey being able to pilot the Falcon after finding out she can fly, but hasn't been off planet.And no, I'm not actually criticizing ANH with that last point - so don't misunderstand me. I have no problems at all with the storytelling in ANH. I'm merely using this an example to further highlight my points.Star Wars (at least the OT) is praised for its world building and lack of extensive use of blatant exposition. This visual storytelling is present with TFA and TLJ, yet many detractors completely ignore this in favor of simply comparing Rey to Luke as if she's meant to be the same kind of character.Luke's arc is a more straightforward representation of the heroes journey. Rey's arc is more internal than that. Not to say that Luke's isn't internal, but the point of Rey isn't to become the archetypal hero ala Luke. It's not just about her finding her power and actualizing it. It's more about her finding HERSELF and and deciding once and for all what her purpose is. Her being so Force strong is just the method of delivering her arc. Her being so powerful without some in0depth explanation filled with lore and fanwank doesn't make her a Mary Sue and it isn't lazy. These films, so far, are saying that "Hey, she's powerful in the Force. But that's not the point. That's not the journey. This isn't Luke. Look harder."Rey is an orphan living in the quite literal bones of the past. She's on the outskirts of the galaxy, fighting to survive and dreaming of the age of heroes and villains where people fought for what was right. She's lonely, hoping beyond hope her family will return and take her away. She grew up with the false hope that one day, she'll learn she has a purpose, a path. That's why she's so naive and latches onto anybody who will give her a chance. Han became a defacto father figure. Luke was the mythic hero she heard about her whole life only to be let down by reality.Rey is a Mary Sue? Then why is she so gullible and naive? Every turn she takes, reality is thrown into her face. Her first promise of stability with Han is violently taken from her. Her chance to meet her hero and finally feel like she has a purpose, a direction, is dashed when she finds Luke a broken man who doesn't want to give her the time of day. Throughout her time with Luke, Rey is seduced by Kylo because he's able to get to the heart of what she feels inside, what she wants. If she can't change Luke, she can damn sure change Kylo. But as we all know, that hope is dashed as well when Kylo asks her to join him in conquest.For being a Mary Sue, Rey sure is an unfocused, easily manipulated and dangerously headstrong individual. What good does being so powerful in the Force do when you have no idea where you stand? What good does being so powerful in the Force do when you feel so lost even when you thought you may finally find a direction?So as I said: Rey is not Luke. She's not meant to be Luke. That is not her arc. I urge some of Rey's more fervent haters to reframe their mindset on who she is and how she is portrayed. Open your mind a little. If you still think she's a badly written character and will forever be a badly written character, so be it. I can't change your mind. You feel how you feel. But I still find it very restricted and narrow-minded that all I really ever see and hear about Rey from her haters is that "she's too powerful" and "she's a Mary Sue."Look at her motivations. Look at her background. Pay attention to how her powers are defined and used. It's far more nuanced than you think it is. via /r/StarWars https://ift.tt/2OKRzru
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