Star Wars Speculation: Is Rey A Mary Sue?

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and I'm not talking about Christmas. Yes folks, we're merely four days away from Star Wars: The Last Jedi (or three, if you're gonna get technical about Thursday night premieres)! I'll be working at light speed to ensure my review is uploaded as soon as possible, so I'd say to expect it to surface online somewhere in the ballpark of Late Thursday night- sometime Saturday. It really just depends on what I'll want to talk about, and how I can best communicate those thoughts without spoiling anything. Anyways, this week I'm keeping up my streak of posts defending common criticisms towards The Force Awakens with my take on the Mary Sue dilemma.

As for other developments, I've laid out some semblance of a schedule for releasing my drafted reviews of more recent releases. I recently let you, the reader, vote for the reviews you would be most interested in reading, and I got enough responses to determine a general consensus. Coco was the clear winner, followed by Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Lady Bird, Justice League, and lastly Thor: Ragnarok. I had Blade Runner 2049 listed on the poll, but it was recently announced that the film would be released on digital December 26th, so you can expect to read my thoughts then. Otherwise, I'll see where I can fit other films in to try and avoid releasing more than one film review a day, but there may be some occasional overlap due to the mass influx that's about to it theaters in these last few weeks of December.

Is Rey A Mary Sue?

So, just what exactly is a "Mary Sue?" Well, I'm glad you asked. 

A Mary Sue is an idealized and seemingly perfect fictional character who is usually female, although there's a male term as well (Gary Stu). The reason I'm even invoking this discussion to begin with is because the character of Rey from The Force Awakens came under abrupt attacks for seemingly fitting the mold. 

I, however, venture to disagree with that opinion and feel I have sufficient evidence to do so! 

How is Rey so skilled at so many things?

At the start of the film, Rey has been alone on Jakku for many years. Just taking a gander at Rey's skillset, we know she's a scavenger who knows how to fight with a staff, can speak multiple languages, has some piloting experience, and can repair things. While that may seem like some "perfect person," it only makes sense that she would have picked up various skills in order to survive, especially considering she's force sensitive...

Yes, that's the clincher. Rey is strong with the Force. While that's not my only evidence as to why she's so skilled, I believe it's a contributing factor to her exceptional abilities. I know most people don't like the Prequels, but if you look to that trilogy and The Clone Wars, almost every Jedi in that era has a fairly well-rounded skillset. If you'd rather not look there, Star Wars Rebels and the Original Trilogy also offer plenty of force users with a rather robust skillset. 

But how did she...?

1) Fly the Millennium Falcon

2) Use a Jedi Mind trick

3) Defeat Kylo Ren

These are perhaps the three most cited examples that Rey is a Mary Sue, and I believe all of them can be quickly answered because they're slightly self-explanatory, but I'll break them down one-by-one:

1) How did Rey fly the Millennium Falcon so well through a crashed Star Destroyer?

First of all, Rey mentions that she's flown a Quad Jumper, which just evidences that she has piloting experience.

Secondly, if you're paying any attention at all, you'll notice that the ride's a little bumpy at first as she adjusts to the Falcon's controls having never flown it before.

So, how did she expertly traverse through a crashed Star Destroyer then? Well, as I just mentioned, she has piloting experience and clearly got the hang of things amidst the chase, but there's another piece to the puzzle that's often forgotten by those seeking to whine and complain for the purposes of whining and complaining.

Rey isn't just navigating through some random crashed Star Destroyer. She's flying through a vessel that's been there for the entirety of her life. I'd like to think she knows it like the back of her hand considering she's probably spent years inside the thing scavenging for parts. So I'd imagine her familiarity gave her a huge edge in that chase. Skills and experience truly come in handy when combined, don't they?

2) How did Rey use a Jedi Mind Trick?

I think this one just comes down to the fact that Rey was strong in the Force. Supreme Leader Snoke and Kylo Ren even say just that in their conversations after Kylo Ren's interrogated her. I don't believe a force user "requires" training in order to exhibit their abilities. They have the capacity to do these things without the training. The training, to me, is for the purposes of expanding and refining your abilities. It's not the sole determiner of your ability to do something. 

Luke used the Force to destroy the Death Star when he had hardly learned a thing from Obi Wan at the time. Of course, the training naturally helps, but I think it's reasonable to say that a force user strong in the Force can tap into it fairly easily once they set their mind to it. It's a matter of self-motivation rather than having to learn, per say.

For Rey, I believe she simply had a mental block till that point. She had no idea how powerful she was till Kylo Ren opened her eyes to her potential whilst interrogating her. 

Another question related to this that I commonly see crop up is "How could Rey have possibly known about Jedi Mind Tricks when the Jedi Order of old is long gone?" I think the answer is quite simple. Just because the Jedi are gone doesn't mean the legend surrounding them has vanished. Just look to A New Hope, where Han Solo, Luke, and numerous Imperials see the Jedi as a myth and hokey religion (I could cite various quotes, but I won't for the sake of length). When The Force Awakens opens, it's been several years since the Jedi Purge (Order 66) and Luke Skywalker has gone into hiding, so the Jedi practically are just a myth to the average person in the galaxy.

Rey clearly had heard stories of the Rebellion and Luke Skywalker based on her reaction to hearing Han Solo discuss everything. Therefore, I don't think it's a stretch to say she may have heard about the Jedi Mind Trick and just decided to test it out upon learning she was force sensitive to see if the stories were true. On top of that, she wasn't even successful on her first attempt so she's not exactly perfect...

3) How did Rey defeat Kylo Ren?

This is, without a doubt, the most annoying grievance of them all. There are so many contributing factors to this that I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just run through all of Kylo Ren disadvantages.

Does no one remember Kylo Ren getting shot in the gut by Chewbacca's crossbow in Chewbacca's epic fit of rage?

Keep in mind, this is after we've seen the thing blow away Stormtroopers and Han Solo has commented on its power. This hit Kylo Ren directly in the gut... which probably left more than a mark.

While it can certainly be argued that Kylo Ren used this to his advantage by pounding his chest to increase the pain and his connection to the Dark Side, there's no arguing against the fact he was bleeding out and dying. 

That's not to add that right before he dueled Rey, he was fighting Finn. Even though he easily disposed of Finn, he took a nasty blow to his shoulder. So before he's even had a chance to fight Rey, he's already critically wounded.

Oh, and let's not forget that he was under orders to capture Rey and bring her to Snoke alive. Now that we've acknowledged everything going against Kylo Ren in this fight, let's talk about Rey's advantages...

While it may be true that this was her first time ever wielding a lightsaber, she's pretty proficient with that staff of hers, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that the fighting styles would line up closely. Plus, we've already seen she's quick to adapt to things as she fared well piloting the Falcon for the first time.

And once again, her strong connection to the Force was especially critical in this fight. She's only just awakened to this newfound strength in the Force, so it's fair to say she had a slight edge there as well.

None of this is to say that Kylo Ren isn't adept with his saber, because that's obviously not the case. I'm merely supporting why Rey would be able to fight so well with a saber and why Kylo Ren wasn't at his A-game. Also, this wasn't some quick and easy duel for either side. It was a genuine, hard-fought struggle for both of them.

Now that I've offered my insight into how Rey could possibly be so proficient in many areas, I think it's time I defend against the belief she's some perfect character with absolutely no character flaws and who's never been defeated. 

Rey's flawed traits

Rey exhibits two particular personality traits that I believe make her inherently flawed (which is actually a good thing because you don't want a "perfect" character). She's naive in regards to thinking her family will return to Jakku and she's also afraid to embrace the unknown. When the lightsaber shows her various Force visions, she runs as far away as she can get because she's scared to take up some greater calling and become a hero. That's not how Rey pictures herself, but it seems to be her destiny, and she initially avoids it at all costs.

If Rey were truly a Mary Sue, I think she would have been far less reluctant to take up the saber and fight the First Order head on. She would have embraced the calling and experienced no internal conflict. 

Her moments of weakness

For my last hoo-rah against the "Rey is a Mary Sue" complaints, I offer examples of her major moments of weakness...

It's probably easy to forget, but Rey was the one who unintentionally released the Rathtars (the large round aliens from Han Solo's frigate). I don't think a "Mary Sue" would have made that mistake...

The most obvious example of Rey being caught in a moment of weakness though would be when she's easily apprehended by Kylo Ren on Takodana. Kylo Ren uses the Force to freeze her and make her unconscious so he can take her prisoner and interrogate her to learn of Luke's location. She was hardly able to resist whatsoever... 

Conclusion

Ultimately, the reason people are so passionate about whether Rey qualifies as a Mary Sue or not is because fictional characters should ideally not be perfect. Of course, I disagree with the Mary Sue claims, and feel I've reasoned enough of an elaborate explanation as to why Rey is not a Mary Sue that I'm extremely satisfied with her as a character. In fact, she and Kylo Ren are my two favorite new characters in this sequel trilogy if you couldn't glimpse that from this post and my Inferiority Complex of Kylo Ren write-up. So, of course we still don't know what the future holds for Rey, but we'll finally get a taste of that this weekend when Star Wars: The Last Jedi finally hits theaters!!

-As always, May the Force be with you!