Why I Dislike Rey from "The Force Awakens"
So I was having a conversation about Nerd stuff. Specifically Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I mentioned in this conversation that I did not like the Character of Rey as I thought about the story and the way she was presented. I enjoyed the movie when I left the theater, but subsequent views and the passage of time has diminished my views regarding the 7th entry in the Star Wars franchise.
What do you mean you don't like me? Are you sexist? Yeah, that's it!
Why is that? Well it comes down to story and the way JJ Abrams structures his "Mysteries". I hate it. I hate his brand of mystery because I feel it is a cheap way of creating hype and manipulating the audience in order to sell more tickets. In a TED talk he mentions his concept of the "Mystery Box".
This... is just bad story telling. I know. JJ Abrams makes millions writing stories that entertains millions and I only entertain 6 Dungeons and Dragons players at a table with mine.
But the idea that you will withhold information intentionally from the audience in order to create mystery, I think, is a cheap way of making mystery. Part of the fun of "mystery", from a story telling perspective, is giving the audience just the right amount of clues in order to solve the mystery for themselves. This is also why I have come to dislike the show "Sherlock". Frequently on Sherlock, we are presented with a mystery and often times, Sherlock solves the mystery by using information we, the audience, are not privy to. The fun with the original Sherlock stories was having all of the clues in front of you and being engaged in the story as you try to solve the mystery along side the detective. Then, Sherlock would present the solution and you would go "Oh yeah! How could I miss that?! All of this was right in front of me!"
Perhaps this a problem specific to film that literature and writing (or tabletop roleplaying) has an easier time doing "correctly". I don't know. What I do know is that the Abrams mystery box method is not a method for really creating mystery so much as creating hype. Hype sells movie tickets too.
Let us think about the original Star Wars film. The first one. This is a self contained story. There isn't a cliff hanger and the loose threads are pretty tightly dealt with in the movie. Sure, this was probably because Lucas wasn't sure he would get a sequel, and really, that's probably a blessing in disguise because it forced a more concise story to be made. Let's look at another Star Wars story with a parental mystery. The Empire Strikes Back. We go in with a mystery as to who Luke's father is THEN THE QUESTION IS ANSWERED IN THE SAME FILM. There is no, "Buy more movie tickets to the sequel next year so that you can get an answer to the first film!" There are no purposefully ambiguous "visions" or flashbacks that give you useless clues. That would be cheap and manipulative story telling. Maybe I'm alone in this, but I don't like to be manipulated.
Does the mystery of Jon Snow's parentage, which we all know the answer to with 99% certainty, make the mystery any less fun? No. In fact, we eagerly await the official reveal to know that we are indeed right because Martin gave us enough clues through out the story for the eagle eyed reader to figure it out for themselves.
A great mystery is one that gives the perfect amount of clues to make people feel certain but still have a nagging doubt in the back of their minds. That is a great mystery. Case in point, H.P. Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is a story littered with info where the reader begins to put the clues together until they are told, at the very end of the story, how those clues are put together. And the conclusion is put together by using the same clues available to the reader without injecting clues hidden behind a curtain the reader never had access to. That is a great mystery that is also satisfying.
Instead, with episode 7, we are given a character that has special powers and we are not told why. We are left to wildly speculate based on the inadequate clues which creates hype, not mystery. We have a character that is magically good at everything without a solid, self contained reason as to why. And I have a feeling the explanation is going to be no better than the prequel explanation for Anakin being "force Jesus". It's poor character creation and development and poor story telling. If it wasn't within the Star Wars franchise, people would be pissed.
The last thing I will say about this is that I have been accused of being "sexist" because I dislike Rey as she is presented. Clearly, based on the reasons I have listed above, that isn't the case at all. But we live in a hyper sensitive culture where, clearly, if you question a female character you must be a sexist.
It just seems to me that quality story telling is being lost.
I'd like to end by talking about two of my favorite television shows that challenge the viewer and create great mystery. Westworld and Twin Peaks. Westworld had my wife an I hooked from the beginning, and about halfway through, I figured out the timeline and who the man in black was. When my theory was confirmed in the final episode, it felt good! The show did a great job of solving mysteries and then leaving us with a reasonable cliff hanger because it resolved much of the mystery of the first season (ironically, Abrams was involved with Westworld).
I like Twin Peaks for its weirdness. And to the average viewer, it may be random and not even a mystery, especially the third season. But if you understand the influences of Lynch, those being esoteric occultism, masonry, mythology, and Crowlian philosophy, you start to pick up on the symbolism in the show and the story comes together. Even the weirdness of Season 3 Episode 8 makes PERFECT sense when you understand these influences. And the mystery becomes fun.
Star Wars episode 7 has none of this intelligence. It's just a cheap withholding of information to create hype. But that is just my opinion and that isn't the kind of mystery I like. I like a mystery where I solve it while it's happening rather than waiting passively for the mystery to be solved for me thanks to information the writers deliberately withheld from me.
But what do you think?
NEEERRRRRD!
I'm in full agreement though, I tend to avoid the Mary Sue topic so i really appreciate you keeping this a little more concise.
Well I had to be sure I wouldn't be accused of "Sexism" haha.
Rey as a character never bothered me, it was the plot itself. I agree with you about the "mystery" that was bestowed upon us. It was garbage. I mean really, she has to be a Skywalker of some sort or the sequels completely deviate from the rest of the saga. My biggest issue with Ep 7, was Kylo Ren "Ben Solo". I thought the casting was bad, and the character himself just seemed like a bad joke to me. I also wasn't too keen on what they did to Han. But, what do I know??
Yeah, there is a good way to make characters develop and then there is the way we are presented with in EP 7. Really, they are trying to push a plot twist as a "mystery". Those two things are not always the same thing and often times function VERY differently. JJ Abrams seems to like to confuse what these two things are in a lot of his work though.
i love your article and you have a really good taste in tv shows. i do believe that episode 7 tries to bring back the elements that made u love the original triology. like south park said with the memberberries. Now i see it has a clear 3act structure, very similar to episode 4... with a clear goal and without too much complications. I think the problem is the fear... we all know that fear is the path to the dark side :')... fear to be as hated as the prequels so they wanted to play safe. i think Rey is a interesting Character, in the star wars saga where theres just 2 main female characters and one of them is a dancel in distress (Padme) is nice to have a strong female lead who noone expected to be the Jedi, i'm more than open to give her a shot
I just hope they start creating real mysteries rather than "mystery boxes". I have no issue with a strong independent female character. I just want that character to be done justice and portrayed well. And I was just not thrilled with our introduction to Rey in EP 7.
Also i´m gonna follow you because i play rollplaying games since i'm 10, and now days i'm even playing at roll20 and i have designed my own game with its own world and system. Is always fun to have Role player DM to talk about this stuffs xD
Thanks! Yeah, I mostly talk about Roleplaying and art. I do freelance concept art for a living and I'm an avid gamer so it's nice to meet another fellow roleplayer!
I don't think your beef is with Rey, per se. It's with the plot line itself, or Abrahams. The character isn't choosing what to show you or not because she is just as bemused as we are. We'll find out when she does and that may be even more annoying, I don't know.
Yeah, my beef isn't with the character completely. I just hate the way she is presented and developed. I think they should have given us more answers at least in EP 7. Or given us better clues.
The thing is that writing a good mystery is really hard. It's far from easy. But I feel the structure of 7 was created as a hype machine as opposed to a solid story.
Yeah, they are playing it for the "come and watch the next movie" as though they even had to do that.
Seriously. As I pointed out, the Original star wars, which was unknown and "doomed to fail" according to critics, did nothing to rely on "come and see a sequel" and it took the world by storm.
I think it's fine to have mystery and a few unanswered questions, but they just didn't answer enough in the film to where I felt like it was a gimmick and I was being cheated to come see the sequel.
Nice post :)
Thank you!