Poll Is Rey a Mary Sue?

[-Brett-]

Rey was inserted into the original story by someone other than the original author for the sole purpose of tearing down, one-upping, and replacing the original protagonist. She's a better Jedi than Luke, a better pilot and mechanic than Han, a better protocol droid than C-3PO, and a better senate than Palpatine. She has no flaws, overcomes no adversity, suffers no losses. She never learns or grows becase she already knows everthing and can do everything.

I suppose I'll give some benefit of the doubt and assume that she's not Kennedy's self insert, but she probably is.

If Rey isn't a Mary Sue, then no character is.

 

[BillJ]

Rey was inserted into the original story by someone other than the original author for the sole purpose of tearing down, one-upping, and replacing the original protagonist. She's a better Jedi than Luke, a better pilot and mechanic than Han, a better protocol droid than C-3PO, and a better senate than Palpatine. She has no flaws, overcomes no adversity, suffers no losses. She never learns or grows becase she already knows everthing and can do everything.

I suppose I'll give some benefit of the doubt and assume that she's not Kennedy's self insert, but she probably is.

If Rey isn't a Mary Sue, then no character is.

Wow. This is complete and utter bullshit. Feels like another person afraid that the white man is being torn down. Did you even see the movie?

 

[Kor]

I'm guessing that was tongue in cheek, what with the stuff about protocol droid and senators??

Kor

 

[fireproof78]

She's a better Jedi than Luke

Um, no, actually.

a better pilot and mechanic than Han

Nope.

a better protocol droid than C-3PO

Not even sure what this means.

and a better senate than Palpatine

And this is pure nonsense. Palpatine is the Senate.

She has no flaws, overcomes no adversity, suffers no losses

No, no, and no.

Honestly, this feels less like an argument against the movie and more of an argument of someone's interpretation of the movie.

 

[crookeddy]

I think this was satire.

 

[Skipper]

I think this was satire.

Because, otherwise, it would be very sad that there are people who feel their masculinity threatened by a movie.

 

[Tuskin38]

Yeah that seems obviously to be satire.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Luke was a shit fighter.

Yoda did not teach him how to fight?

We didn't know any better, becuase we hadn't seen the prequels yet.

 

[Kor]

Luke was a more straightforward fighter. The PT-era Jedi had these intricate flowery flourishes, kind of a visible indication of how they had gotten far from their roots over the centuries and were more about style than substance, losing sight of the essence of the Jedi way.

Kor

 

[fireproof78]

Yeah that seems obviously to be satire.

Sorry that I missed the joke.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Not even sure what this means.

Rey is fluent in over seven million forms of communication?

 

[The Wormhole]

Rey is fluent in over seven million forms of communication?

What a Mary Sue! How can I honestly be expected to realistically believe someone without a penis could possibly be fluent in over-
*takes notice of C-3PO's crotch*
-oh, what a minute, it doesn't look like there's a...

 

[Shawnster]

I've not read the 36 previous pages. Yes, Rey is a Mary Sue. Of course, I'm not all that crazy about Episodes I-III, VII, VIII and don't hold much hope for IX. I'm a grumpy old man. Rey had potential in the first few minutes of TFA, but I lost that spark by the end of the movie.

I prefer Jyn Erso and mourn her death. Rogue One is my third favorite movie in the franchise

I love me some Q'ira and would greatly appreciate seeing her in further adventures. Solo is my fourth favorite movie in the franchise.

Hera, Sabine, and Asoka are awesome. More, please!

 

[UssGlenn]

I prefer Jyn Erso and mourn her death.
I love me some Q'ira
Hera, Sabine, and Asoka are awesome. More, please!

As your list shows, it's not like Star Wars is incapable of producing new and widely beloved female characters. Asoka in particular was widely disliked upon her debut, mostly for being annoying, but her character grew over time and now she's one of the greats.

 

[crookeddy]

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker-leia-george-lucas

Abrams also briefly touched on fan criticism that Rey was too much of a natural when it came to picking up the Force, unlike Luke.

"Yeah, spooky, right?" he said with a smile. "It’s a fair point. It’s not an accident."

So here we've been arguing that she really is no better then Luke or Anakin... and turns out that she really was written to be better?

That's a very big plot point Abrams just dropped.

 

[JD]

I was just about to post IGN's article on the same interview. The quotes on IGN also make it sound like having a woman as the main character was also at least partly his idea, not just Kathleen Kennedy's.

 

[Campe]

Go read The Art of The Force Awakens. It was actually an idea from George to have a female protagonist.

 

[crookeddy]

Yes and it sounds like the whole Mary Sue debate will actually be a plot point. Her being powerful is not an accident, as JJ said.

If they go this route, will all the Mary Sue people apologize for jumping the gun without having the whole picture?

 

[fireproof78]

Anakin was powerful too. Should that require an apology as well?

 

[BillJ]

If they go this route, will all the Mary Sue people apologize for jumping the gun without having the whole picture?

No. Because when comparing the movies, she hasn’t done anything Luke and Anakin couldn’t do. Abrams could just be taking the proverbial piss here. Tossing something out to get people talking.

Plus, if there were an actual story reason, then she wouldn’t be a Mary Sue anyway.