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Hats off to the folks who think Rey is a Mary Sue power fantasy and somehow don’t think the EU was.
(And this has been bugging me since I posted that screenshot: EXPANDED Universe. It’s the EXPANDED Universe. Yeesh.)
If you haven’t been following me for a while, you might be interested in this thread, which goes a little deeper into my thoughts about the EU and TLJ:
Since the original tweet has popped off. lemme address a few things. I don't generally use the term "Mary Sue." It has a technical meaning, that being a particular kind of self-insert fanfic character, but folks mostly use it to mean "wish fulfillment for girls."
There's nothing wrong with wish fulfillment. Star Wars is all about wish fulfillment. Luke is a callow farmboy who learns he has a great destiny, is handed a fighter when he's never been in space, outflies everyone (by not dying), and saves the day with a one in a million shot.
That's his natural Force ability. Vader comments on it: "The Force is strong with this one." He gets no training before Force-pulling his lightsaber and taking down an AT-AT on Hoth, then leaves Yoda before his training is complete to dire warnings, holds his own against Vader...
...builds a lightsaber, uses the Jedi mind trick without training, returns to Dagobah to complete his training but is told he has nothing more to learn, then defeats Vader and becomes a Jedi. Training is bollocks. Luke is absolute pure wish fulfillment. Buuuuut he's a boy.
(Aside: yes, Luke does hold his own against Vader on Cloud City. Vader's first goal is to put Luke in carbonite; Luke ends that encounter by knocking Vader off a ledge. He loses their second encounter, when Vader is trying to turn him directly, when Vader throws the room at him.)
Rey's story is pretty similar. She has more raw power than Luke (as Luke says), because the Force has lifted her up as a bright counter to Kylo. It leads her to waste her life on Jakku waiting for belonging, and lets her fall for Snoke's tricks, but she also gets to do fun stuff.
And that's okay! She gets to have cool lightsaber battles, fly a ship though she's never been to space, lift rocks (see GIF)...because she's a pulp fantasy wish fulfillment character. She struggles against dark forces, and gets to be powerful. Buuuut she's a girl.
A lot of dudes are so used to seeing themselves in the wish fulfillment role that seeing a lady fulfill the audience's wishes looks like cheating. Every step is overscrutinized, every cost totted up, when boys are just assumed to be able to save the day. Girls need to earn it.
Wish fulfillment is not bad! Everybody gets pandered to, and it's fun! It's why we see movies, in part. Where it goes wrong, and where I think the EU went wrong with "Grey Jedi" and so on, is when the wish being fulfilled is "great power without great responsibility."
A lot of (mostly) dudes like stories in which (mostly) dudes acquire power that they can use without moral or ethical restraint, as long as they brood or suffer while they do it. That's wish fufillment, but it replaces the positive morals of Star Wars with adolescent angst.
The EU threw that by double handsful at (mostly) dudes who'd grown beyond Star Wars but still liked the trappings of Sith and Boba Fett and so on. You can have all the power you want! It's okay, because you're suffering! That's fine, if you like it, but it's #NotMyStarWars.
So! I don't think Rey is a Mary Sue, because she's just Luke with more power but different limits and responsibilities, but her gender makes that hard for some to see. I think Starkiller is silly because he's just Luke with more power and NO limits or responsibilities. That's it.
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