ST Rey Skywalker/Daisy Ridley Discussion Thread

While Finn does serve as a truly interesting deuteragonist/co-protagonist of The Force Awakens, with tons of potential, I do think that after the development and focus Kylo received, he is the overall deuteragonist of the Sequel Trilogy.

 

Kylo Ren is the main antagonist, who has the narrative giving him special treatment because of his bloodline, and not because of anything else. We care about Kylo simply because we care about Han, Leia and Luke and not because he's an actually well written character in his own right. He doesn't do anything to make me as an audience member care about him on his own.

The movies give Kylo all this special treatment because we love his parents and uncle, while at the same time trying to pretend Rey's blood doesn't matter to the story. Kylo Ren as a character goes against everything the story is trying to have Rey's be, IMO. Now if Kylo Ren had remained unredeemed, then I'd have bought the "blood doesn't matter" narrative a lot better, but they want to give Kylo Ren the bloodline sympathy while also trying to say Rey's blood isn't important. That gives you people who think Rey should've been a blood Skywalker, or Ben Solo should've been the main protagonist, because the stories they gave us with Rey and Ben clash against each other.

 

I think he was close to the focus a deuteragonist has in The Last Jedi, though Luke was present. But I would say that he developed, as he does become Supreme Leader. He regresses, but still.

Rian Johnson did describe him and Rey in The Last Jedi as "dual protagonists" and that's not for nothing.

 

The issue issue is the character has no actual development in terms of being a character through the story we don't understand his motivations and actions besides wanting more power and him becoming the Supreme Leader. Kylo get's development in terms of his position in the story but he gets 0 actual meaningful character development except for the redemption scene in TROS. This really hurts Rey as a character and others because he is sucking the air out of the room when it comes to having actual progression and development for all of the characters in the ST. Now they could have done a great job with Kylo they just started him off at the wrong place for where they wanted to end and by just basically making Rey an after thought because of it really hurt her character and story.

 

Arguably because the conflict in the sequel trilogy post-TFA became too centered in LightVsDark with Rey and Kylo being the embodiment of these two sides. If they had avoided this trap or giving more engaging storylines to Finn and Poe's arcs, they might have avoided this altogether. But KyloVsRey sucked up all the screentime partially because it was the plot that was the most engaging to both the writers and the movie audience. In contrast neither Finn and Poe's storylines in TLJ really resonated and they barely tried with those two in TROS.

 

well in the case of SW name =/=blood....I'd normally argue sure she could earn the title, but not at the cost of a real, in both name and blood, Skywalker. Takes away her legitimacy, that.

 

I disagree. i think they really tried with Finn and Poe. The only way to say they didn't try is to assume there is a certain direction they needed to go to resonate with the audience. infact i still say Finn had a much better role in TLJ then he did TROS. just because he was with Rey on the adventure meant nothing really.

Id argue the biggest issue with the ST in general is it's so influenced by the OT. whether its trying to mimic it, whether its trying to defy it. there always seemed to this feeling that it should be a love letter to it with as many similarities to it as possible.

 

Yes @Daxon101. The mirroring thing was clever in the PT but in the ST it started to feel overdone and predictable to me.

 

That's on LFL for choosing not to make her a blood Skywalker, which she should've been. They're the ones who chose to kill the OT3 and make their only living child an evil murdering dark sider. What did they expect?

 

It's not about the direction, but how these plotlines tie back into the central conflicts and themes in the movie and what these characters represent. How does Finn's plotline (with Rose and DJ) or Poe's (with Leia and Holdo) speak to the larger conflict of the Empire/First Order vs Resistance/Rebellion? If anything, the writers on TROS and TLJ were not able to crack these two characters and connect their storylines due to the overarching narrative. Instead they were given b-plots that were there to buy time until the finale with the Battle of Crait. At least Rey's conflict with Kylo represents the conflict between JediVsDarkSide and part of the the Jedi's journey, which is straight from the OT and one of the building blocks in the sequel trilogy.

 

I haven't been around for a while, so apologies in jumping back quite a few posts, but wanted to highlight this (above)...

I think that Rey's introduction is nothing short of masterful - truly. In a few minutes, you get a sense of who she is, or at least, who she could be (if the scripts had developed this further). You get a sense of her isolation, her self-reliance, the toughness of her life, and also of her innate goodness despite having a lot of chances to have become hardened or cold or ruthless given the hand life has dealt her to this point. The scene of her sittng near her "hovel", trying on the helmet, sad, moving, child-like in a way.. there is so MUCH suggested in these introductory scenes (including a possibility that she has some romantic ideas about "the rebellion", the Rebels, about the Luke/Han/Leia glory days). You also get a sense of her hopefulness, her optimism, the idea that she has never "given up" - depending on your outlook, you can see this a sad survival mechanism, a vain delusion, OR you can see it as something more heroic. And of course, given that we have every reason to suspect she will be drawn into events of great consequence, and play a central role in them.... there is SO MUCH potential there. I'd argue that her intro is great - all the more so for how it shows us all this, suggests all this, with very few words, in a very short time.

(Incidentally, I feel much the same for Finn's intro, although since this is a Rey-centered thread I won't dwell on that here... the raid on the village at the start of TFA is dark and brutal; there is nothing funny or buffoonish about these storm troopers! The brutality of the massacre, Kylo's ruthless brutality, the long lingering gaze he gives the traumatized Finn - wow. So much is established here, quickly, succinctly, effectively - there was so MUCH to build on, that COULD have been built upon).

 

Even though I disliked almost everything about TFA, those were the nuggets that kept me interested in the story going forward. There was still so much potential left for the new characters, and while I don't think Abrams is an extraordinary filmmaker, I think people use TROS to totally discredit him when years earlier they were praising him for a few legitimately masterful decisions in TFA.

I can't stay mad at TFA when I go back to it, it's just an enjoyable adventure with just a tiny handful of truly exceptional moments and ideas, like the Falcon chase, the X-Wings on the lake, the intros of Rey and Finn, and the brutal, atmospheric final duel.

 

Reylo has been announced as the most popular ship of 2020! Finn/Poe at #25. FinnRey no where to be found

https://www.insider.com/star-wars-r...op-ship-2020-12?amp&__twitter_impression=true

 

Quite the contrary. There was no language in my post about changing someone’s mind. Everybody here has the same viewpoints and ends up running off anybody with an opposing. You’re really not taking a stand on this site saying you don’t like Reylo. I’m just here to provide that balance and an opposing POV

 

Yeah. Reylo is my go-to for defining "cringe". If it works for you, to each his or her own, but for me ((((SHUDDER))) absolutely not .

 

I mean it’s obvious I’m not doing it for the hell of it as I’ve had the same viewpoint before TROS even came out. The ST side of the site just needs some balance, which is near impossible with the herding that’s goes on in here.

 

Why address it in a way that I think is trying to contrast against FinnRey and such?

Does it need balance on that?

 

GIA! I’ve been gone a while, when did you get the Mod tag back? Good to have the sheriff back in town.