“[Rian Johnson] tells us that after reading The Force Awakens’ script and watching Abrams’ dailies, he realised that there was a follow-up story that he wanted to tell: ‘It makes me very happy that [The Last Jedi] felt unexpected to the actors,’ Johnson says. ‘That to me is a compliment, but I don’t think it would ever be good to start a storytelling process by saying ‘let’s be unexpected, what will they never see coming?’ That’s never where you want to begin. I think, to me, unexpectedness is a byproduct of telling a story honestly. So I started with the characters and I said: ‘Where does it make sense for these characters to go in my mind?’ And that’s going to lead you in unexpected places if you let it. But hopefully, when it leads you to unexpected places, it’s the sort of thing like in life where you never could have predicted it but it seems inevitable after it happens.’“
imo that would possibly be worse for the story than her being palpatines granddaughter… like… at least rey palpatine would be a good parallel to the whole ben solo becoming kylo ren thing. if its not important or connected then i feel it should have been resolved in episode 7. like thats not a plot twist because it wouldnt be Unexpected it would just be unwanted the percentage of the audience that actually Wants her to be from a random family is really small. personally im kind of on the fence with it because i think it could have worked if they’d set up for it but they really havent they’re set up for rey to be a Skywalker legacy by blood of some kind.
there was the speculation maybe rey was the child of luke students/luke killed her parents/kylo killed her parents. but im so uninspired by those options who in the audience wants see that their hero luke skywalker has orphaned children – no one. (then again i guess that doesnt rule out the possibility)
Cant decide what the merit of these options are though because making her a skywalker/solo is obviously the most emotionally rich option if we look at who shes having to deal with in these movies aka all the skywalker/solos that are left. ‘my brother killed my father and now im possibly going to have to kill him and my mum wants my uncle to come home and help but hes lost the will to fight and i cant leave him like this because I Need Him to teach me and i promised to do this for my mum and i as a protagonist and the audiences focal point am very emotionally invested in all of this because i have always wanted a family just turns out my family is a Darn Mess !!’ is a hell of a lot richer than ‘this emo villain murdered this nice dude i knew for a day and now this jedi master is being a dick to me which is a bummer why am i bothering i dont even know the nice lady general who asked me to do this that well anyway? why am i not with finn who i actually have a connection to? in this scenario am i doing this purely because a short orange alien in goggles told me i should? thats crazy.’
I’m really uncomfortable with this idea that Rey being as strong in the Force as Killoren supports Reheelo rather than Rey Skywalker/Solo. I mean, does that strike anyone else as uncomfortably eugenic? Of course, the idea of a kind of divine lineage (which just happens to be white/white-passing) deciding the fate of the universe already lends itself to illiberal interpretations. See David Brin’s “Star Wars” despots vs. “Star Trek” populists on this point.
However, the idea that Rey is Force-destined to marry Kul-de-sac, a man she hates, so they can have a new generation of super-strong Skywalker babies takes this already problematic premise to new and disturbing lows. Rey’s own feelings of disgust and pain from her interactions with Kal are brushed aside or outright romanticized in this process, making the way this pairing is shipped frequently misogynistic as well. And let’s not even get into the blatant misapplication of the concept of a Force bond making them love each other against their will. The Force is not a date rape drug, damn it.
If Rey is a Skywalker or Solo, on the other hand, it makes sense within the existing canon that she would be as strong in the Force as her cousin or brother. It also preserves the recurring theme of choice, that one’s moral choices matter more than blood, making this canon palatable. As others have pointed out, Rey and Krill being the opposite ends of Anakin Skywalker’s legacy both underlines that theme and neatly ties off the three trilogies. To me they’re the only parentage theories that make thematic sense and make for a satisfying conclusion.
I know JJ isn’t everyone’s favourite but I’m pretty relieved he’s taking over Ep 9. This idea of every film having a different director and writer always seemed idiotic to me. Having the guy who set everyinhg in motion wrap everything up makes sense to me.
JJ championed John Boyega, gave us Finn, Rey and Finn’s dynamic, made Rey Luke’s daughter and set up Finn to be Force sensitive. And since it’s the final film he can’t inflict more mystery box crap on us.
I’m pretty hopeful about the ST right now.
“Relieved” exactly describes my reaction, too. Look, I don’t expect a cinematic masterpiece. I’m sure I’ll find plenty to be annoyed with in JJ’s Episode IX. It could even be a piece of shit, but at least it won’t be a fascist-glorifying piece of shit. I also have a lot more hope for Finn, Rey, and Poe getting their due than have under any other director (e.g. Rian Johnson). To me the ST is JJ’s vision and I’m happy that he’ll be the one to close it out.
reylos remain the creatively and narratively most boring, uncreative group of people I have had the misfortune to know of. they have so little clue about how to make a character conflict in anyone who isn’t a straight, white man, I constantly suffer massive second hand embarrassment just from having to see those so called metas
Saaaame. As a fellow writer of obsessive long-ass fannish essays I feel positively insulted by what canon Reylos churn out. No that is not how you logic- that screenshot doesn’t support what you just- HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MOVIE?
That’s not even going into their issues with racism and antisemitism. It haunts me that the massively antisemitic reylo meta on Reddit that completely ignores Finn’ s existence and assumes Kylo Ren is the hero went pretty much unchallenged.
Oh dear, if it was only their analytical abilities that was a mess. I’ve seen enough bad analysis in academia through my life that I’ve build up a certain tolerance for it. I’d still snark about it though.
Nah, it’s their complete inabilities to build, or see the possibility in building, a character progression for anyone that doesn’t center around Kylo. Like someone wrote a 1k+ of… idek what the term for this is because meta barely applies, of why ReySky would mean that Rey’s character would have to remain static throughout TLJ.
Of course, ReySky almost certainly means that Rey’s feelings for Kylo remains more or less static, or takes a negative turn in TLJ and that’s all that really matters to this crowd. So I’m not surprised at all.
I’m more amused that they think Rey has any chance of developing romantic feelings for Kyle if they’re not related. What kind of toxic heteronormative bullshit…
Last chance to come on The Fordcast Podcast and talk about your “Rey Theory” we have an open spot for people who think Rey is Luke Skywalker’s daughter. You will Skype into the show and make your case to our hosts Lauren and Rachel. The episode will drop in November and you will share the show with other Rey theories, ut will be recording throughout October
L.J.'s Obsessions 