Well I don't create topics often, but I figure there's enough Star Wars fans here that it could deserve its own thread; especially since there's way more to the franchise than just movies.
Feel free to discuss The Force Awakens here, but please use spoiler tags, at least until the Blu-ray/DVD is released, just in case.
(I should've created this weeks ago when it was still really new but oh well)
To start things off... what do you guys think of Rey?
Spoiler
Brace yourselves, this is gonna get a little ramble-y.
First time I saw the movie I was a bit irritated by her character because she seemed like a Mary Sue; no flaws and skilled at literally everything she did. Independent-woman-who-don't-need-no-man, amazing piloting of the Falcon which she had never flown in her life previously, oh and apparently this legendary lightsaber is "calling" to her (gee, wonder why Luke never had any such sort of experience?) The final straw was when she used a Jedi mind trick (which I always interpreted as being extremely difficult to do, thus why it "only works on the weak-minded", and rarely) completely out of the blue. How did she even know to do that, if to her the Jedi have always just been a legend? There was a part of me that was annoyed that we actually got a LEAD female character, and she's suffocatingly, unrealistically, perfect. And fans love her for it. (And then there's the few random people I've seen who seem to think this is the first strong female character in Star Wars? Okay, yeah, let's just pretend that Leia and Padmé never existed...)
Then in the week following, I spent some time discussing the movie with my family and reading up on some fan theories, and realized that there's several obvious possibilities I stupidly ignored. Of course the popular opinion is that Rey is Luke's daughter... which definitely is possible, and would continue the Skywalker family theme better than if Kylo Ren/Ben were the only relative. But it seems to obvious, too easy, and I don't want it to be true. Having the two grandchildren of Anakin Skywalker be the main characters of the trilogy just seems... so fanfiction-y. And there's soooo many people in the Star Wars universe, so many options for new characters, that it would seem odd to me if we acted like the Skywalkers-Solos are the only important people in the galaxy, and it reeks of unoriginality. (More on this at another time.)
In any case, I have decided on one thing for sure (or at least that I WANT to believe), that Rey had training at Luke's academy prior to her being left on Jakku, and that she had repressed the memory (or had it repressed for her? if Kylo can pull things out of peoples' minds, surely he can push things back). Upon watching the film a second time, I saw Rey in a different light; that she had probably been using the Force her whole life without even realizing it, and it gave her some skill in certain areas, like flying (similar to Anakin). And the flashback from the lightsaber wasn't some prophetic vision of the Force; it was her memories returning. From this perspective she didn't seem so bad, not at all.
I'm still torn now, because no matter what way you look at her -- as a Skywalker, Kenobi, former jedi trainee, or even just a total nobody -- she still lacks any sort of real character flaw. I just can't bring myself to love her as much as so many people seem to... but I think if they give her some kind of struggle in the upcoming film(s), that could change. I don't know WHAT to think of her because I don't really know anything about her... but that just makes me more excited to find out.
First time I saw the movie I was a bit irritated by her character because she seemed like a Mary Sue; no flaws and skilled at literally everything she did. Independent-woman-who-don't-need-no-man, amazing piloting of the Falcon which she had never flown in her life previously, oh and apparently this legendary lightsaber is "calling" to her (gee, wonder why Luke never had any such sort of experience?) The final straw was when she used a Jedi mind trick (which I always interpreted as being extremely difficult to do, thus why it "only works on the weak-minded", and rarely) completely out of the blue. How did she even know to do that, if to her the Jedi have always just been a legend? There was a part of me that was annoyed that we actually got a LEAD female character, and she's suffocatingly, unrealistically, perfect. And fans love her for it. (And then there's the few random people I've seen who seem to think this is the first strong female character in Star Wars? Okay, yeah, let's just pretend that Leia and Padmé never existed...)
Then in the week following, I spent some time discussing the movie with my family and reading up on some fan theories, and realized that there's several obvious possibilities I stupidly ignored. Of course the popular opinion is that Rey is Luke's daughter... which definitely is possible, and would continue the Skywalker family theme better than if Kylo Ren/Ben were the only relative. But it seems to obvious, too easy, and I don't want it to be true. Having the two grandchildren of Anakin Skywalker be the main characters of the trilogy just seems... so fanfiction-y. And there's soooo many people in the Star Wars universe, so many options for new characters, that it would seem odd to me if we acted like the Skywalkers-Solos are the only important people in the galaxy, and it reeks of unoriginality. (More on this at another time.)
In any case, I have decided on one thing for sure (or at least that I WANT to believe), that Rey had training at Luke's academy prior to her being left on Jakku, and that she had repressed the memory (or had it repressed for her? if Kylo can pull things out of peoples' minds, surely he can push things back). Upon watching the film a second time, I saw Rey in a different light; that she had probably been using the Force her whole life without even realizing it, and it gave her some skill in certain areas, like flying (similar to Anakin). And the flashback from the lightsaber wasn't some prophetic vision of the Force; it was her memories returning. From this perspective she didn't seem so bad, not at all.
I'm still torn now, because no matter what way you look at her -- as a Skywalker, Kenobi, former jedi trainee, or even just a total nobody -- she still lacks any sort of real character flaw. I just can't bring myself to love her as much as so many people seem to... but I think if they give her some kind of struggle in the upcoming film(s), that could change. I don't know WHAT to think of her because I don't really know anything about her... but that just makes me more excited to find out.