What’s the Problem with Rey?

For the most part, audiences fell in love with Rey in The Force Awakens. Daisy Ridley brought an irrepressible charm and energy to the role. Over the holidays, people were frustrated by the lack of Rey merchandising available in stores. But there have been questions about her development as a character. For example, screenwriter Max Landis calls Rey too perfect and unrealistic. I admit, I initially agreed with this critique – after all, Rey does master many new skills with relative ease. However, I started to realize that this might be the point. Rey’s story isn’t about learning new skills, but rather the complications that arise in being so powerful.

It’s helpful to compare Luke and Rey’s character arc over the course of their first films in order to better understand Landis’ critique. When we first meet Luke on Tatooine, several characters refer to him as a good pilot. He even sent an application to the Imperial Academy. The film later makes clear that Luke can hit a target the size of the Death Star exhaust because he used to “bull’s-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home.” In short, Luke had put in his “10,000 hours” of training before the opening crawl. By the time Luke is in the Death Star trench, the audience knows that Luke possesses the skills necessary to succeed.

What isn’t clear, is if he has the confidence to. Luke had been frustrated with his life on Tatooine and the lack of opportunities. Even after meeting Obi-Wan Kenobi and learning about the force, Luke’s powers are pretty limited. He doesn’t fight with a lightsaber, levitate objects, or perform gravity-defying acrobatics. Rather, at the critical moment in the Death Star trench, Obi-Wan’s spirit calls to Luke and tells him to trust himself. The culmination of Luke’s character arc is about gaining confidence in the skills he already possesses.

By contrast, in The Force Awakens, Rey can pilot the Milennium Falcon, repair any mechanical problem, shoot a blaster accurately, perform a mind trick, and defeat a trained Dark Side user with a lightsaber. We don’t get much context as to how she developed those skills. In some cases, the film drops hints. For example, Rey mentions that she’s piloted a freighter before, but that doesn’t prepare viewers for the death-defying stunts she pulls with the Falcon.* Furthermore, on Jakku, we see Rey’s fighting prowess with a staff, but this doesn’t necessarily imply that she’d be any good with a lightsaber.** Moreover, the film makes it clear, Rey has no prior knowledge of how to shoot a blaster or perform a mind trick, yet manages to do both.

The most likely explanation for Rey’s exceptional gifts is that she’s so strong in the force she absorbs new skills and knowledge like a sponge. Fans have even argued that Kylo Ren’s attempt to read her mind backfired, allowing her to read his mind (and learn the mind trick). It’s also possible that Episode VIII will reveal that she had in fact been trained in the force at a younger age at Luke’s Jedi Academy. But as it stands there is no canonical explanation for Rey’s powers in the film itself.

Why does this matter? In the book , science fiction author David Brin claims that the prequel trilogy exhibits signs of elitism. According to his argument, the prequels creates a division between two classes of people: elites who can use the force and those who can’t. Unlike the original Star Wars, which emphasizes the spiritual aspects of the force, The Phantom Menace provides a biological explanation in midichlorians. In the original trilogy, we see Luke working hard to become a Jedi, whereas in the prequels Anakin is proclaimed the “chosen one” by virtue of his blood. Brin argues that this is the wrong message for stories to tell because it is inherently anti-democratic. Instead, stories should praise the capacity of ordinary people and virtues of hard work.

This was my concern with Rey’s character the first time I saw The Force Awakens. Does Rey tell kids today that to succeed you don’t have to work hard, just be naturally talented? Fortunately, a few days later, I happened to rewatch the Harry Potter movies and was immediately struck by the similarities between Rey and Harry. In the earlier movies, Harry Potter is declared a chosen one and succeeds at nearly everything he does on his first try. He can fly a broom so well on his first attempt that he becomes the youngest seeker on Gryffindor’s Quidditch in over a century. He defeats a troll, finds the sorcerer’s stone, and even confronts Voldemort (granted, with assists from Hermione and Ron). My initial reaction to Harry mirrored Landis’ critique of Rey – he was too perfect and unrealistic.

Then something interesting happened on the way to Azkaban… Harry became an interesting character. Harry Potter isn’t a story about a boy learning to use his superpowers, but rather about a boy who happens to have superpowers coming to grips with his humanity. The most important struggles Harry faces aren’t against evil wizards and monsters – he defeats them quite easily – but rather against his own feelings of grief and anger. In The Order of the Phoenix, after Death Eaters kill Sirius Black, Harry even considers searching for ways to cheat death (sound familiar?). Ultimately, he must learn to live with the world as it is and accept both the tragedies and the triumphs. As part of this process, he begins to take pity on the less fortunate. By the end of the series, far from being a symbol of elitism, Harry exemplifies the virtues of humility and wisdom.

Harry’s character arc gives me hope for Rey. While I might have preferred if The Force Awakens had given Rey’s powers more context, I can also realize that even a character who possesses superpowers isn’t necessarily perfect. Despite Daisy Ridley’s cheerful performance, this is a character with a lot of emotional baggage (especially abandonment issues). Alan Dean Foster’s novelization suggests that, in her battle against Kylo Ren, Rey was treading dangerously close to the Dark Side. She even hears Supreme Leader Snoke’s voice urging her to kill Kylo. Actor John Boyega claims Episode VIII will be darker, which could portend darker times for Rey as well. In short, despite Rey’s exceptional powers, there’s a lot of potential for the character. Even if she learned to use the force at an accelerated rate, her emotional journey has only just begun.

* Greg Rucka’s Before the Awakening covers this incident in more detail. The book also reveals that Rey practiced on flight simulators, which shows where Rey put in her “10,000 hours.”

** I’ve fought with a bo and a sword in real life, so believe me, there’s a difference.

Dom Nardi is a guest blogger. In his real life, he has worked as a political scientist and as a consultant throughout Southeast Asia. In addition, he writes occasionally about politics in Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. You can find more of his writing at NardiViews.

The Cantina Cast

The wretched hive your Jedi Master warned you about!