I swear I’m not asking this as a fanboy who calls Rey a Mary Sue, I’m just genuinely curious about her character in a mythological perspective... was Rey ever wrong? Has she ever messed up? Will she ever do something that isn’t motivated by the best of intentions? Because if not... how she’s the protagonist of this story if it solves around Ben Solo’s life and conflicts?
Ok I’ll take this question like you’re genuinely asking. But I think we need to clear up some things if you genuinely want to understand. This question of “did she do anything wrong” makes me think you’re coming from a video like “Rey is the worst Mary sue” and you might have internalized that. Please try to leave that at the door bc it’s not the point of these movies. Also a lot of times, people who disliked these movies watched them only once and then talked about them for years, remembering them in a skewed way. But especially TLJ is incredibly rich with mythic imagery and deserves multiple viewings. Watch all of her scenes in a row carefully, openly, and really look at what her story in particular is. It’s something different, something we’re not used to watching, something exciting and gratifying to women, and it’s place on screen is very important to both women and men. If you don’t understand her story, it’s because half of humanity’s experience has been sequestered away from you for your whole life. You deserve to know about the internal lives of women, and if you are open to it, it will help you in your own life. Don’t let YouTube bros keep you from understanding a story meant for half of humanity.
Rey’s story is that of the Heroine’s Journey, which is a deeper and more internal dive than the Hero’s Journey. It isn’t about overcoming outward dangers like slaying a dragon, it’s about accepting who you are internally as a woman. To find the True Self in the Heroine’s Journey is Balance, which is why they keep talking about balance. The reward of the Heroine is internal and spiritual, not great outward riches or accolades. That’s why TLJ is so internal and contemplative.
Her “failures” are that of the failures of the Heroine’s Journey. Her spiritual aridity at the beginning of TFA, treading water because she is “separated from the feminine” aka has no mother, is alone and living a ‘masculine’ life in a barren world. That’s an image that women resonate with.
Feelings of abandonment, feelings of alienation, looking outside herself to be told what to do, feelings of being denied a male role, her “searching everywhere for a father,” searching for outward validation and training, getting things wrong, even looking inside her own deep unconscious (the cave) and bravely traveling to the underworld in a coffin in search of answers outside herself… before ultimately realizing that the power and answers lie within herself and not outside? All of these images and struggles resound in women’s experience. These are the next few steps in the Heroine’s Journey, mapped out perfectly. This will continue in the next movie.
So those are the 3 things to clear up:
1) her story is for women (but will deeply help men as well if they are open to it, just as women have been inspired by male protagonists for hundreds of years)
2) She is on the Heroine’s Journey, which is a story specifically about helping girls grow into women. If it seems alien to you, it’s because you’ve been taught (to your own harm) that this is a lesser story. It is not. If you read the last steps of the Heroine’s Journey, it spoils the plot of IX.
3) Rey and Kylo are “two halves of one protagonist” — this is not just some side love story in an Indiana Jones movie, this is the plot. This relationship is a mythic, psychological metaphor for a woman accepting and integrating the Wounded Masculine within herself, and a man integrating the Feminine within himself, to become stable people. This is a very internal and psychological story, partly about growing into adulthood and accepting devalued parts of our own selves to become whole. It will be more obvious after the last movie.
It is a mistake to think that Rey is undermined by Ben Solo’s plot importance. The story is her POV, this is from her gaze. Like in the Hero’s Journey, as he gains strength, she only gets stronger. They are tied to each other as characters, and can only succeed together. (metaphorically, she cannot succeed until she finds her place in the world, accepts and forgives the feminine part of herself and heals the masculine part (embodied in her animus Kylo Ren)). So she does need him, but it’s metaphorical and a guide for our own lives.
Also, if you (as a man) are looking for the Hero’s Journey as a guide for young boys growing up in the ST? That’s what Finn and Kylo are for. Young boys have many examples to identity with as they overcome their fathers and kill dragons and win love. They are writing very lovingly for young boys in this ST as well, and especially after IX and the full story of the Healed Masculine is unveiled, Kylo will be a very helpful cathartic character for young boys to identify with.
Hope that helped. Listen to the episode on the Heroine’s Journey by What the Force podcast to understand more of these Feminine Mysteries. Read Maureen Murdocks’s book The Heroine’s Journey, or read some articles about it. It’s good stuff, and it’s important for Star Wars to become a universal cultural touchstone for everyone.
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