• February 24, 2017

Mary Sue Characters: Is Rey TOO Strong with the Force? – Troped!

Mary Sue Characters: Is Rey TOO Strong with the Force? – Troped!
Subscribe: // TIMESTAMPS BELOW ———————– CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF WATCHMOJO WITH OUR SPECIAL EDITION MAGAZINE, LINKS BELOW!

When Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens was released to mostly positive reviews, some people were less than pleased with the film’s lead character, Rey. Their main problem: she’s too good with the Force too quickly. Some even went as far as to call her a Mary Sue, to which most people replied “what’s a Mary Sue?” On this episode of WatchMojo’s Troped, we try to get to the root of this term to find out what, if anything, Mary Sue actually mean, and if it be used to accurately describe Rey.

Our Magazine!! Learn the inner workings of WatchMojo and meet the voices behind the videos, articles by our specialists from gaming, film, tv, anime and more. VIEW INSTANTLY:

WatchMojo’s Social Media Pages

Get WatchMojo merchandise at shop.watchmojo.com

WatchMojo’s ten thousand videos on Top 10 lists, Origins, Biographies, Tips, How To’s, Reviews, Commentary and more on Pop Culture, Celebrity, Movies, Music, TV, Film, Video Games, Politics, News, Comics, Superheroes. Your trusted authority on ranking Pop Culture.

10 thoughts on “Mary Sue Characters: Is Rey TOO Strong with the Force? – Troped!

  1. Okay… I just want to see if I’ve got this straight.

    Luke’s “Training” in a nutshell —

    Obi-wan hands Luke his father’s lightsaber and Luke somehow knows intuitively how to turn it on.

    Luke then witnesses the Jedi Mind Trick in Mos Eisley, but is never really taught by Ben how to use it.

    On the Falcon, Luke receives about twenty minutes of training with a flying whiffle ball, gets his ass kicked, but is told to put the blast shield down and trust his feelings, and within SECONDS is able to fend off a number of blasts. Ben then literally tells him, “You’ve taken your FIRST steps into a larger world.”

    Training Session Ends.

    Luke then somehow makes it through the Death Star.

    His teacher DIES during that time.

    After barely understanding the concept of hyperdrive earlier in the film — which Han explains to him — he ends up gunning a piece of hardware different from a T-16 and takes out 2 TIE Fighters.

    He returns to Yaavin, and is handed a million dollar piece of equipment to fly on the Rebellion’s greatest mission — despite not getting the concept of something simple like hyperdrive hours earlier.

    He manages to OUTMANEUVER his Ace-Pilot dad with decades of experience — with BOTH WINGMEN GONE — turn off his targeting computer, and score the Galaxy saving shot that the head of the squadron — with YEARS more experience than Luke — couldn’t hit. Like Rey in Force Awakens, piloting skills are MENTIONED, but NEVER SHOWN till dramatically convenient.

    On Hoth, Luke is able to retrieve his lightsaber with the Force, even though no one taught him how to do that either.

    On Dagobah, Yoda doesn’t even want to train him! After failing some key tests, Luke leaves DESPITE his training not being complete. Training time? Depending on who you talk to, either a few days, weeks, or months. But certainly not since a “Youngling” like Jedi are supposed to be.

    On Bespin, he fends off an attack from a guy who’s been sabering since a child, DOES get his ass kicked, but lives to fight another day after calling Leia (a skill never shown in-film before).

    In Jedi, he builds his lightsaber SOMEHOW, uses the mind trick (who did Yoda teach him to practice that on? The swamp frogs?), and defeats a Rancor without even using the Force (why pick a rock up when you can Force chuck it?).

    He then goes back to Dagobah and Yoda says HIS TRAINING IS SOMEHOW COMPLETE!

    He then goes to Endor and convinces a bunch of Killer Teddy Bears to enlist with the help of his droid.

    Then he goes to Death Star II and BESTS his dad with decades of experience, including the CLONE WARS — all based on a few months of Yoda’s training which INITIALLY FAILED in Empire, and with NO ADDITIONAL TRAINING since then.

    He then pilots out of the exploding space station in JUST the knick of time.

    Conclusion?

    Luke is obviously a well rounded character who had nothing come easy to him.

    Rey is a Mary Sue.

    __________________

    Don’t get me wrong. Claiming Rey is a Mary Sue is NOT the issue here. You could make that argument.

    But the second you try to use Luke’s journey as some sort of higher standard, your argument completely invalidates itself and falls apart like a shoddy house of cards.

    Of COURSE Luke is a Gary Stu. And that’s okay. Why?

    BECAUSE IT’S A F@#$%ING SPACE FANTASY WITH NEBULOUS SPACE MAGIC AND GODDAM LASER SWORDS.

    The only true well rounded character might just be Lando. And how did that work out for Billy Dee Williams? How many fans gave him shit in public because he was the realistic flawed one who made the nasty choice?

    Those looking for logic here are just losing themselves down the rabbit hole. Luke is nothing more than an adventurous male fantasy come to life. At best, merely an archetype. (Spoilers from here on out) Rey is the female equivalent: unappreciated genius held back by society gets to use her intuition to fight back alien and male oppressors (Kylo Ren).

    Why we’re treating this new film like it’s supposed to be some gritty Miramax film or great feminist tome is beyond me. Take off the rose colored nostalgia goggles and try applying these same unrealistic standards to New Hope and just see what happens.

    There was never anything there — or here — but bare bones storytelling going back to the campfires of cavemen spinning mythological yarns. That’s the appeal. Joseph Campbell shit. And guess what? A lot of great myths START with heroes and warriors of immense powers — who rise further or fall in further tales.

    But hey, we can’t have that in our “realistic” world with a nebulous Force that STILL has yet to be really defined by any true set of rules.

    Apologies to those who take Star Wars WAY too seriously, but we never left the realm of mythic fantasy. It’s wish fulfillment for the child in all of us. No different from a farmboy going from zero-to-hero in 120 minutes, or a child going from slave-to-hero in the same amount of time. The only thing that changed is Rey’s background is different. Think about that: we’ve gone from slave, to peasant, to desert warrior. From tutored, to barely tutored, to school of hard knocks. And all of them have approached the Force in their own unique ways. What’s with the rigid rules? Yes, the starting points and journeys are slightly different, but that’s half the fun.

    Take a second and wonder. If this is Rey NOW–? Damn. I can only imagine where they’re going from here. If this is Kylo NOT YET FULLY TRAINED?

    Who knows?

    Maybe we’ll see some Force chucking of planets by the time we’re through.

    After all — with space magic — “Size matters not.”

    To hell with labels and litmus tests.

    I think it’s exciting.

  2. WHAT THE FUCKK???!!U talk here nonsence!!!!!!Rey is NOT TOO strong!!!!!She is just Strong!!!!!We not much seen of her force yet,to talk “she is too strong “!!!!!You mojo-ridiculous!!!!!& Rey ofcuz is NOT Mary Sue !!!!!

Leave a Reply

Pin It on Pinterest