When "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" came out over a year ago, it took the world by storm. It grossed over two billion dollars over its theatrical run and received mostly positive reviews by critics. However, the film did have some flaws. None of these flaws ruined the movie, but they are noticeable. The flaw that everyone seems to be fixated on is how derivative this film's story structure is to "Star Wars: A New Hope". While I don't see reusing story structure as an inherently bad thing (familiar stories can still be good if they are told well enough) it is a fair criticism and I can understand people having a problem with it. However, another criticism that I often see given toward "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is one that I just can't wrap my head around.
This criticism revolves around the character Rey (Daisy Ridley). Many believe that this character is, what is called in fiction, a "Mary Sue". A "Mary Sue" is a fictional character (usually a female character) that is depicted so ideally, competent, and good that they are considered unrealistic. In theory, this lack of realism creates a disconnect with the audience. Many say these characters are too "perfect" and due to them not having any flaws and we, the audience, can't relate to them. This, in theory, makes the character boring and uninteresting. While this idea does hold some merit, characters that are shown as being overly competent and always in control are often infuriating to me and they often remove a sense of tension and danger from the film, I feel that this description does not apply to Rey at all.
I often hear people complain about her ability to fly the Millennium Falcon so flawlessly. Did these people not see the film? One, the film hints that she has pilot experience not just through her dialog, but visually by showing her wearing the pilot's helmet and looking longingly at a leaving spaceship. Two, she doesn't fly the Falcon flawlessly. When she first tries to fly the thing she keeps accidentally dragging it on the ground and even smashes it into a gate. They say that she's too good at firing blaster, which she's never used. However, when she first tries to use the blaster Han (Harrison Ford) gave her she forgets the safety is on and gives her position away to the Stormtroopers and misses several times at first. People complain that she was too good in the final fight against Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), an experienced force user, and her inexperience should have kept her from winning the battle.
I have several answers to that last one. First, while Kylo Ren is an experienced force user, he was also injured twice during the lightsaber fight with Finn (John Boyega) who wasn't even a force user. Two Kylo was very mentally and emotionally distraught over what had happened prior to this scene (you'll know what I mean when you watch the film), he was not in right of mind, and was unfocused which lead to his loss. Finally, just like all the other times, Rey is not immediately good at fighting of Kylo. At first she is only able to barely keep up with with him and fend off his attacks. She only starts to beat him when she accepts the force and uses its power in the battle. We also establish that Rey learned to fight with a staff so the film can establish how she knows how to fight with a lightsaber.
Rey is not a "Mary Sue" to me. She is a very competent character who constantly makes mistakes, but learns from them to make her more competent. This is why I relate to Rey as a character. We all make mistakes in our lives, but we often learn from those mistakes to make us more competent and skilled people. It's how our species has survived and evolved to become the dominant species of the planet. It's how Rey has learned to survive in the harsh conditions of Jakku; she adapts to the situation and learns quickly in order to survive. Rey is a survivalist, that's what makes her interesting to me.
She also has this fun-loving and almost child-like personality to her that I find very appealing and makes her likable and charismatic. Her story also has a hint a tragedy behind it and I feel more for her character because of it. I really don't understand how people can complain about Rey being a boring "Mary Sue" when Batman, a character many love and adore (myself included), is a massive "Mary Sue" who due to his endless skills and money he is almost always one step ahead of any villain. However, we like Batman due to his personality and backstory. We like him as a character and many like Rey as a character. Sometimes it doesn't matter how competent a character is, but how that competence is presented and how the character's competence fits in to the themes and narrative about the character. However, there is an example of a bad "Mary Sue" character in a certain movie franchise today, but that is a story for next time.
