I kinda got a “punishing him for being everyone’s fave” vibe from TROS wrt Ben too?? Not even “fave” bc he’s too polarizing for that but just being the character most people are invested in, good or bad (whether they wanted his redemption or harbored visceral hatred because he killed Han). TROS kinda feels like they were trying to retcon in some of the most interesting parts of Ben’s character into Rey’s, like they were desperately trying to shift interest off him and into her
They very literally siphoned off his narrative and emotional importance and attempted to inject it into her. They tried to make her the spiritual child of the OT trio, they tried to make her the one to heal and carry Anakin’s legacy, they tried to give her his conflict as someone born under a secret darkness who struggles to reconcile his identity. They gave her everything that properly belonged to him up to and including his literal life force.
What confuses me about this is... why? How did this happen? If you wanted Rey to be this perpetual child perfect heir who collects legacies like Pokemon so bad- write that! Don’t invent Ben Solo. I just cannot fathom that they’re such abject morons that they didn’t understand the arc they were writing for him. Like, it’s actually impossible that the groundwork laid in TFA was an accident. Impossible. And Rian developed the story on exactly the lines which were set up and left them to just resolve it (and Rian is an intelligent person with clear objectives who consulted with the story group and collaborated, so it’s not like anyone could misunderstand his intentions).
And setting aside How Movies Work, how can they be so fucking delusional as to imagine the audience won’t care about the last Skywalker scion, the only son of Han and Leia, the only character in the ST with ORGANIC TIES to the OT who is literally the only narrative thread which allows this to be called a sequel and part of the same story????
Sometimes they talk about him like they really do think of him as Generic Villain who we have no emotional investment in. But I don’t FUCKING BUY THAT because I have all the receipts from when they fully acknowledged who he is and what he means what his arc was clearly intended to be. I have Kennedy talking about him as a touchstone for lost children who is coming of age. I have the now very embarrassing fact that they doggedly pursued Adam Driver to take this part, which there is no way on God’s green earth they would ever have done or succeeded in doing if they didn’t fully intend for him to play Sad Woobie Lost Space Prince Ben Solo, love interest and obvious redemption arc who will honour and fulfil the original themes of SW.
No one, NO ONE is such an idiot malignant sociopath they would conceive of what the ST ultimately ends up being on purpose with clear-eyed intent. If for no other reason than that it isn’t profitable.
Ben’s birthright (as beloved child, as hope, as the possibility of redemption) hangs over him the entire story as a truth he must face and reconcile with, then we’re told it was never his in the first place and actually all the villains were right that his only inheritance is a curse. All the villains were right that love is weakness and power is everything. Ben doesn’t have to reclaim or reconcile with his identity, denial is fine, pouring out his life blood was fine, he just needed to pour it out for the cause instead of in search of love or acceptance. His mistake was ever thinking he could have love or acceptance. He needed to give up literally everything and commit suicide, just like every other member of his family.
Not for any actual victory or gain or ethos or lesson about leadership, just so the unchoosing, unburdened Deserving Blank Slate could be instated instead.
The level of disorganisation and lack of integrity necessary for this to have happened is genuinely staggering. The total lack of respect for the story, for the SW legacy, for Lucas, for Rian’s work, for the actors, and above all for the audience.
turnnoffyourmind
snowghoul
jbbartram-illu
germansingergirl
