Why do people hate Rey? ;_;

[Pan]

I mean, it's just a point I was mentioning casually. My entire point was that I think she's a boring character, so we can agree to move on from that particular debate since you feel strongly that it's irrelevant.

[jensrichard77]

Another good story could be that Ray was the one saving Kylo from Luke.

Then all hell broke out at the academy.

She could still be a nobody. But the one to fight the good fight now that the Skywalker had turned bad against themselves.

[mrtoontastic]

Rey HAD a proper chance to be likable AND make her own decisions. The Force Awakens really makes her feel like "Yeah, she's got all these powers, she's just realizing how much she has," so I (and many old fans) thought that at least that movie or The Last Jedi, was going to show her being trained and her struggling. You know... like how real characters do. You don't just get all these special powers and NOT struggle. In ways, Rey is just fine when she's acrobatic swinging her bow-staff, but that kind of skill does not translate to wielding a lightsaber. I've seen many characters, both male and female in the Star Wars universe go through, or shown they already have gone through a multitude of training before becoming Jedi Masters. Aayla Secura, Asajj Ventress, Luke Skywalker, my boy Mace Windu (played by the one and only Samuel L. Jackson), Obi-Wan Kenobi when he was a Jedi Knight, and of course, Ahsoka Tano (the newest female Jedi before Rey). Hell, there's LOADS of other awesome characters from the Novels and Video Games too that are a lot better (good or bad) that Rey can't compare to, like Kyle Katarn or Mara Jade.

The one main reason why Rey escalates to such a level of Mary Sue is because she is NEVER shown to have any proper struggle. Sure, she's lost in Jakku and only found her way around to the First Order AND she doesn't know who her family was, but on the other side of that, we are never given any full reason to connect with her. We're just following her to the beginning and end while she's treated like this master of all Jedi Order when she has never even properly learned how to use her saber and all of the Force's special abilities. Everyone just suddenly runs to Rey when they're in trouble when everyone of them are specifically capable to handling things by themselves or as a team. And even if she DOES do something new and better in Rise of the Skywalker, it's only a half-hearted attempt in giving us a semblance of character in a time when she should have been expanded upon from the first movie. And we haven't gotten any side stories or comics or games or television shows that expand on Rey's backstory (which is where a huge glut of Star Wars has survived on since the end of both the Original Trilogy AND the Prequels). Rey feels like a hollow shell while everyone else is either moronic, killed off too soon, or just an outright fool who caused an entire fleet to be eradicated before hiding out in "Hoth 2" only to then be screwed over when Finn's attempted sacrifice was stopped by Rose Tico for no reason except "for who you love."

In the newest movies alone (the Rebels cartoon is different and alot better), Jyn Erso, is the only modern female Star Wars character I can say that I liked a lot despite her dying in Rogue One. Jyn came from a family who's dad was an engineer for the Empire, but when he disobeyed and ran off to hiding, Jyn had that weight hanging over her head for years to come. She lived nothing but a Rogue lifestyle, and it wasn't until having a run-in with the Rebels where she slowly had a change of heart during a mission to save her father. Then when he was assassinated by the General, that's when her Hope slowly died, but would rebuild when she and the others garnered the plans for the then-in-production Death Star. She was never in your face about who she was. She wasn't a baby having all of these destructive powers and never knowing how to use them or train, she was human. She acted like a real human being. Heck, even Princess Leia was more of a real character than Rey and she's not even a Jedi.

A lot of people hate Rey because for someone we're supposed to follow through a trilogy of movies as THE HERO, she's certainly not behaving, or being trained to be one. Personally, by the time Rise of the Skywalker comes around, I rather they just lift the curtain from over our eyes and tell us that Rey was a Sith Lord the entire time. THAT would change all our minds instead.

To me, Jar Jar Binks is a much better character than Rey, and he's been the punching bag for years. And that says a lot when a gangly, Jamaican-knockoff that fumbles around alot is better than this "newfound force user."

There is no feeling of Projecting ourselves into these characters here. This is the case of poorly-placed character development of a character who SOUNDED good on paper, but executed terribly in an overarching story that feels more disjointed than any comic continuity Marvel or DC could EVER put out.

[vfinnigan]

Who said Leia had no training? Are you assuming that 30 years went by and she did nothing with her own Force talent?

[vfinnigan]

You might have to speak for yourself, because a lot of people identify with Rey, particularly abuse survivors.

[TAMAnnoying]

The writers said so! :v not even sure why, at least as watchers we could assume she had training but then JJ and rian where like “nah fam”

[vfinnigan]

No, the writers said she wasn't a Jedi, not that she had zero training.

[TAMAnnoying]

See this is what i mean by the magic system has been destroyed, I have no idea how to interpret that since BEFORE i would agree with you and say "yeah there are many OTHER religions that involve the force and learning to use the force." But since the last jedi i have NO idea what the writers mean when they say "shes not a jedi" since THEY seem to be under the impression that jedi are force users and not just a force religion. So sorry but I cant accept that as an excuse cause I have no citations of value for that statement anymore.

[Cricketreadscomics]

The part that comes from trolls and misogynists and die-hard fans who are too scared of change to even entertain any new ideas.

^ pretty much it

[jurinova]

I did not like Rey for the reasons others have already explained: she felt blank, boring, too good too fast, not enough motivation for the things she did etc. For me she just felt completely like a tool...

BUT I think she wasn't the only badly written character in these movies. She got the biggest part, so the flaws in her writing were more obvious but other characters were written purely as tools, too. For example Poe was a really boring characters and in the first movie mostly just a plot device for Finn. Rose? Plot device for Finn. These characters all lack proper character because the writing in these movies is not about building characters but working on moving the plot forward. It's the type of writing that reduces characters into stereotypes or mere actions that they have to perform.

This is the problem with the new movies for me. The OT had it's problems but it managed to give us memorable characters who had personality, personal goals and great flaws. And they had great moments together! It wasn't all about making funny jokes and fast action or dramatic moments. The best moments were often the calm ones, like Leia and Luke talking about their mother.

I feel like they got so stuck on Rey being a hero that they kinda forgot to make her human. To let her be weak and break down, so she can rise up. She's also constantly on the move, so her connection with other characters seem weak and unexplored. I think they didn't plan her well enough and have a clear view in mind about what they want to do with her, which also weakens her character.

Three movies should be long enough to give a character a proper story but I think they failed already with Rey, and the final movie probably cannot salvage her. For me there's nothing I'd want to see from her because there is no proper goal in the distance she has been struggling towards in the previous movies.

[vfinnigan]

I don't know where you're getting the idea that the Jedi has a monopoly on the Force, since that's pretty much the opposite of what Luke's said.

[Cricketreadscomics]

Marty Stus,

i thought it was Gary Stu...
not that it matters it rlly doesn't

[TAMAnnoying]

He said that that’s what the JEDI where saying which wasn’t even true to beginning with but because rian is big brain boi Aparently that’s the story now. I’m telling you what’s in the movies and what the writers are telling us. Luke never trainer leia as a Jedi or as a force user. The writers are making us write the script for them because they didn’t wanna bother. They rewrote the story because they just wanted to rehash it and not do any work for all the profits. That’s why people are not happy with this trilogy. It’s just not well written.

[vfinnigan]

And then there are people who dislike her for being too weak, for not gracefully accepting that her parents are nobodies and not coming back to her, and crying because the hope that sustained her for years (even if she knew subconsciously was a fantasy) was rather rudely dashed. She has been weak, but the one saving grace is that she hasn't let that break her down.

She's still finding herself, though. And that's something people who've been abused or neglected usually have a hard time with.

[vfinnigan]

Also just because there were other Force religions doesn't mean that their members were Force users.

[TAMAnnoying]

Why are you talking about those people? Your talking to us. We dislike her for the reasons stated and your not listening “because these people are sexist” we know there are stupid people out their that hate her for no reason. We’re telling you there are sane people who hate her cause she’s the catalyst of the bad writing of this entire new series along with all the other new characters that where supposed to get arch’s and instead got nothing like poor fin who rian turned into the token funny black guy instead of an ex storm trooper dealing with the fact he defected from his original life.

[mrtoontastic]

So have many other Star Wars characters, particularly Darth Maul who we all thought was DEAD once his lower half was chopped off by Obi-Wan. Rey is no exception, nor is she any kind of newfound innovation.

[vfinnigan]

Comparing getting wounded in a fight you started to having been abused and neglected from childhood is entirely out of order.

[mrtoontastic]

True, but Maul has lived through an age of neglect, abuse, and betrayal from childhood, even when he was promised greatness. Years later he would be treated less as a person and more as a weapon living only through hate. That's his real life of abuse. I haven't seen much out of Rey that justifies that "yeah, I wasn't abused. But I connect with her."

[vfinnigan]

Then you apparently prefer less subtle storytelling than I do. And that's OK with me. I don't mind that people don't like Rey, but I also don't like specious reasoning that's unsupported by the evidence. I also don't like the obsession some people seem to have with tearing down characters or movies other people like.

If it sparks genuine joy in some people, you don't have to like or understand it. Just let it be.