The Star Wars Fandom
Since Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker is releasing very soon and I put out a tweet early in the week, that blew up more than what I expected, Talking about how most of the Star Wars Fandom thinks Rey is a Mary Sue but not thinking that Baby Yoda isn’t.
Rey: Struggles using the force but gets it right soon after
Fans: what a Mary Sue, she sucks
Baby Yoda: ”Hold my Milk” uses the force to pick up a rhino first try
Fans: OMG he’s so cute and a badass I love him
Me: Something doesn’t add up here 🤔🤔#StarWarsFandom #StarWars pic.twitter.com/sOJjtBrItQ
— AJ Fairnot (@AJ_GeekVibes) November 16, 2019
Rey is not a Mary Sue. Let me emphasize this before I start. It is okay not to like the character of Rey; that is not my argument, but giving a weak answer saying, Rey is a Mary Sue.” By definition, that is wrong and a lazy argument. Here are some cases I have heard about Rey’s character.
Rey Is A Mary Sue
Many people have argued that Rey is a Mary Sue because she learned how to fight out of know where. First, she learned how to fight/survive by living on Jakku by herself. The next complaint will be, “but we did not see it on camera; we need to see it on camera.” Not everything has to be shown on camera. (it’s called exposition for a reason)
This is where the hypocrisy in the fandom comes into play. If you think Rey is a Mary Sue because she fights well without having a past sequence where she learned how to fight, then by that, you should be asking Dave Filoni or Jon Favreau, “hey, where is the scene with Baby Yoda learning how to use the force?” But instead, we get this from the fandom, “aww he’s so cute and a badass, we want more.”
Rey Beating Kylo in The Force Awakens
“How did Rey beat Kylo In the first movie? Kylo has indeed trained with the Force longer than Rey has and trained with the lightsaber than she has. I’m not going to argue that. But, my question is, have all seen a real fight? In a fight, the fighter that wins is usually the one that stays more composed and tries to find the best way to win. In Kylo’s case, his sense of judgment was off, which made his strikes weaker, and if he can’t focus, he can’t use the Force properly, and throughout Star Wars history, you need to focus on maintaining the Force properly. Any Star Wars fan should know that, but apparently not.
In Rey’s case, she was off-balance, too, but in the end, she focused her mind, meaning the Force was more in tune with her more so than Kylo at that moment, and that is the reason she won. Also, keep in mind that Kylo wanted Rey alive, so he had a considerable disadvantage. If your answer is, well, that is dumb, then answer me this. Why did Obi-Wan beat Anakin on Mustafar? It is stated that Anakin was stronger than Obi-Wan and a better fighter than Obi-Wann at this point. But like I said, Obi-Wan was more focused than Anakin, and that is why Anakin lost.
Someone might say that Obi-Wan is an experienced fighter, which is true, but Rey learned to survive at a young age, so she had to learn how to protect her self by learning self-defense. This is why she is good with a weapon, and beating two thugs by herself was a hint of that skill.
Rey Is Perfect
First off, what movie were you watching? Because it was not The Force Awakens or Last Jedi. In the Force Awakens, she was captured by Kylo by using the Force. If she were the perfect character you all speak off, then she would not have been captured, and she would be strong enough to cancel Force Stun but nope. In Last Jedi, she believes that Kylo could be turned, but in reality, she was blinded by the past, remembering that Luke changed Darth Vader the last moment. She makes mistakes throughout these films, but people choose to ignore them because it is not what you all wanted.
Rey Has No Character Arc
Once again, please watch the Star Wars movies. If you think Rey has little to no character arc, then you might as well consider the Luke has little to no character arc or even Anakin and we all know that is not true. Let me also state that there is a difference between an overall character arc when it comes to multiple films vs. just one movie. When you have a trilogy, the overall character arc needs to carry over until the last film. For Luke, it was a farm boy that wanted to be apart of the resistance to “I am a Jedi like my father before me.” (Return of the Jedi)
In Force Awakens Rey’s arc is wanting to go back to Jakku to I will bring Luke Skywalker back so he can help the resistance.
In The Last Jedi, Rey’s arc is wanting to know who she and what is her purpose. She still doesn’t understand who she is by the end of the film, but she has found a purpose. And that purpose is to continue the legacy of the Jedi.
For Rise of Skywalker, they should answer the question of who she and where she comes from and at the same time have a bigger purpose. Not just continuing the legacy but passing it down to the future. Much like what Luke did.
The point is that Rey has a character arc, just because you don’t like the way it is playing out does not make it any less of a character arc. So the argument of saying, “Rey has little to no character arc,” Is invalid. Now saying you do not like her character arc, that is completely fine. Just do not be lazy and say, “oh, she did not have a character arc,” at least without proving it.
Rey Using The Force Without Any Training/Teacher
This argument honestly baffles my mind because we have seen people/heard stories of people teaching themselves how to do things on their own for thousands of years. Whether it is learning to cook, making a movie, understanding math, or fighting, just because you do not have a physical teacher that is willing to help you, does not mean you can not learn. In Rey’s case, just the feeling of Kylo within her mind that could have awakened something inside her. Also, I want to mention the first force move she did was the same move Kylo did to her. All she had to do is replicate that same feeling.
This is not easy to do, but much like in the real world, some are talented enough to pull it off, and in this case, Rey has that talent to at least replicate that same force power.
There is a difference between skillfully using the force and accessing the force by accident. In The Force Awakens, it was just raw-power that overpowered Kylo in the interrogation room, not skill. That is why she had some problems using the mind trick on the trooper because she is starting to get used to the power she discovered. That is why Kylo says, “The longer it takes to find her, the more dangerous she becomes.” Now in Last Jedi, she is skilled with the force because of the training with Luke gave her. So people saying she is a Mary Sue because she needed no training is false because she had training to have better control over the force.
I already know that someone is going to argue, “Well, Star Wars is not real.” Okay, but Star Wars is based off things from the real world from religion to fighting style, etcetera.
Rey Able To Use The Millennium Falcon Better Than Han Solo
Okay, first, all she did was bypass the compressor that Unkar Plutt put on the Millennium Falcon. For those that do not know who Unkar Plutt is, he is the alien who was trading food for parts to Rey and was the alien in her vision when she was a child. While Rey was on Jakku, she was taught to be a scavenger so she could eat. And for those that do not know, Scavengers do not destroy vehicles or ships. They only salvage what they need. Meaning scavengers need to know information about as many ships and vehicles. And guess what is on Jakku about the time Rey is learning to be a scavenger? That is right, the Millennium Falcon.
So it is safe to assume that Rey has been on the Millennium Falcon before, and in The Force Awakens, you can tell she was familiar with the Millennium Falcon by the way she said, “That one is garbage.” and “This Ship hasn’t flown in years.” Also, once they entered The Millennium Falcon, she knew where everything was and how the controls worked. Just because her past was not shown on screen does not mean it did not happen. Like I said earlier, we have exposition for a reason.
What are your thoughts do you agree with me or disagree with me? Let me know in the comments below or at AJ_GeekVibes.
DC Fanboy! Superman is the greatest comic book character of all time. Favorite movies are Man of Steel, Goonies, Back To the Future