One of the best parts of this trilogy, in my opinion, is showing that your heroes aren't always perfect. They do have their insecurities and they do, on occasion, fail. That doesn't make them any less a hero. It makes them relatable.
Is Disney "Star Wars" universe imploding?
- Thread starter starsuperion
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One of the best parts of this trilogy, in my opinion, is showing that your heroes aren't always perfect. They do have their insecurities and they do, on occasion, fail. That doesn't make them any less a hero. It makes them relatable.
It makes them more a hero in my head....
Yes it is. Everyone can pilot, it's just the norm.
Whereas Luke didn't even have the dodgy take off.
Yes, Rey was a scavenger. A scavenger on a planet of crashed spaceships left over from the Galactic Civil War. Spaceships she had to know the parts and technical specifications of and how they worked in order to know what was worth salvaging from them or not.
Yes, Rey was a scavenger. A scavenger who worked and traded at a spaceport run by the guy who acquired the Millennium Falcon from the people who stole it from Han, and who Rey was allegedly sold to by her parents. A guy who owned and controlled multiple spacecraft like the Falcon and Quadrunner whose repair status and performance capabilities were well known by his on again off again employee Rey, almost as if she had spent most of her life parking them, flying them around to make deliveries, and caring for the ships in his spaceport in exchange for food portions and better shelter than her current AT-AT home, before trying to go out on her own as a scavenger.
Yes, Rey was a scavenger. A scavenger who knew how to repair and operate spacecraft with great skill, as if she had been working on them her whole life in the spaceport, which she had.
Yes, Rey was a scavenger. A scavenger who grew up on stories of the space adventures of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, two of the best pilots in the galaxy. I wonder if that might have inspired her to learn piloting herself?
Yes, Rey was a scavenger. A scavenger whose parents abandoned her on the planet and whom she was desperate to find, leaving her two options: wait on Jakku for them to come back, which she did for years, or learn to fly so she could go look for them. Don't you think she probably covered her bases by doing both?
Yes, Rey is a scavenger. A scavenger in a universe where learning to fly a spaceship is no more complex or uncommon than a teenager learning to drive a car is to us, and maybe less sophisticated than even that. It's second nature to them. This is also a universe where most people are seemingly multilingual at a young age and possess a wide skillset, and where young teens are elected world leaders and galactic senators and act as warrior monk spacecops, so there may be greater improvements in early childhood education (especially with droids) and memory retention.
Yes, Rey is a scavenger. A scavenger who is shown and explicitly stated to be very strong with the Force, which has been shown to grant one intuitive mechanical aptitude and piloting skill on numerous occasions.
So there were plenty of references to Rey's knowledgability as a starship pilot, mechanic, and parts salvager, without any need for comparison to anyone else if you were paying attention, though the parallels to the upbringing, powers, and skillsets of both Luke and Anakin (and even Han to a lesser extent) are complerely obvious and valid to make to anyone willing to be consistent and not hold a bias. It's not "whataboutism" to point out a clear through-line of shared traits between the three primary protagonists of the three main trilogies. It's simply observation.
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Boom.
She can, but as so heavily illustrated by @Campe98, @Spot261, and @Locutus of Bored that is not the case. the simple fact is that Luke states he is a pilot, Anakin states he can pod race, and Rey says she is a pilot. Then all three follow it up with unbelievable demonstration of skill. That is a part of Star Wars.
You know, if you're going to fault any Star Wars writing, I think it should be this.
In ROTJ, you have Obi-Wan stating, "When I first knew him, your father was already a great pilot." I don't necessarily believe Kasdan and Lucas intended that Anakin was supposed to be 9 years old when they wrote TPM back in 1981/2, but in this universe, I can accept the idea that someone that young could be a good pilot. Fine. Whatever. But when you compound TPM on all of this and add the whole idea that Anakin is the only human who could podrace? You want to talk about Mary Sue-isms? Yikes!
But again, its a sci-fi/fantasy film. The Anakin character in this movie was designed, not only to be the introduction of Darth Vader, but also to appeal to kids of about that age, showing someone young, kind and talented. I can accept the idea that he can do all of these things because its something for those kids to look up to. Just like I believe that Rey being able to fly is something important for girls to be able to have as a figure to look up to.
That's pretty much my point. All the objections thrown at Rey can equally be thrown at Anakin and Luke, largely because they go through similar arcs. Now, I'm going to put it out there that Rey has a more convincing backstory for her familiarity with ships and piloting and fighting. Anakin is a nine year old slave who can build a droid and pod race. Rey is actually shown surviving on Jakku, while still dreaming of a life outside of hers. We see the fear in her eyes that she'll end up dying on Jakku before having her adventure.
People can say all they want about the ST, but the visual storytelling cues are there.
I think all chosen-ones face the accusation of being Mary Sues because it's inherently contrived.
If you want to talk about skillz, though, think about how this was handled in The Last Starfighter. Alex Rogan wasn't so much as chosen as he was awarded chosen-one status because of his high score on the game. He woodshed on it until he beat it. Meritocracy.
Or what about Willy Wonka? You see the other kids try to sort of game the system for their golden tickets. Charlie just got lucky. Yes, it's providence, but that and his ultimate gift of the factory is an award for goodness of heart.
Compare that to, for instance, Kirk's fast-track to command in Trek 2009. Cheats on his tests. Displays arrogance and chauvanism. And yet is told that he's destined for greatness anyway and the plot sort of hands command to him on a silver platter. Mary Sue.
And it's no coincidence that The Force Awakens, another JJ vehicle, suffers from this entitlement effect.
Rey isn't as much of an a-hole as Kirk, but she does not woodshed. She is given mad-skillz(tm) out of the ether.
It's always hard to root for a character who gets handed things on a silver platter rather than having to work for it and suffer various setbacks.
There are examples of female heroes who woodshed. Mulan, for instance, or Beatrix Kiddo. They're simply more compelling than Rey.
This is what life is really like. You have to invest your 10,000 hours ala Malcolm Gladwell. Anything less than this is a junkfood fantasy.
Rey did invest her "10,000 hours". it was her entire childhood and teen years doing skillz acquiring odd jobs and fighting on planet Junkyard to survive. Just because we didn't get an 80s musical training montage set to Eye of the Wampa doesn't mean it wasn't alluded to repeatedly, as has been pointed out in the thread.
I'd buy that for $1.29 on iTunes.
Nope. Her entire childhood is torture and longing and hard work. We just don't see it. It's alluded to, and reflective of the pain she has endured.
Kirk in 09 is similar and his arc continues forward so I struggle with that as well.
It's the Eye of the Wampa
It's the chill of the ice
It's the Eye of the Wampa, it's the pull of the Light
Risin' up to challenge the totally not Empire
And an ass named Kylo Force stalks Rey in his high-waisted tights
And he's tempting her fall with the Eye of the Wampa
I think all chosen-ones face the accusation of being Mary Sues because it's inherently contrived.
If you want to talk about skillz, though, think about how this was handled in The Last Starfighter. Alex Rogan wasn't so much as chosen as he was awarded chosen-one status because of his high score on the game. He woodshed on it until he beat it. Meritocracy.
Or what about Willy Wonka? You see the other kids try to sort of game the system for their golden tickets. Charlie just got lucky. Yes, it's providence, but that and his ultimate gift of the factory is an award for goodness of heart.
Compare that to, for instance, Kirk's fast-track to command in Trek 2009. Cheats on his tests. Displays arrogance and chauvanism. And yet is told that he's destined for greatness anyway and the plot sort of hands command to him on a silver platter. Mary Sue.
And it's no coincidence that The Force Awakens, another JJ vehicle, suffers from this entitlement effect.
Rey isn't as much of an a-hole as Kirk, but she does not woodshed. She is given mad-skillz(tm) out of the ether.
It's always hard to root for a character who gets handed things on a silver platter rather than having to work for it and suffer various setbacks.
There are examples of female heroes who woodshed. Mulan, for instance, or Beatrix Kiddo. They're simply more compelling than Rey.
This is what life is really like. You have to invest your 10,000 hours ala Malcolm Gladwell. Anything less than this is a junkfood fantasy.
nope
can't help but think you are having a laugh
Rey was only ever 'competent' at the things she was shown to have learned in order
And I'm willing to bet you figured all this out without a 200 IQ.
