Rey: The Most Wasted Character in Film History | Star Wars Video Essay

When The Force Awakens was being written, Rey and Finn had so much potential to bring to the Star Wars franchise. A kidnapped child slave soldier escaping to freedom, and an orphaned lonely girl desperate for a family; these characters could have been absolutely groundbreaking had they been done correctly. Let's explore how these characters should have been written, and the way their character arcs should actually have progressed.
#starwars #videoessay
SOURCES:
please let me know if I missed crediting anyone and I'll add you!
Rey alone young art: thehermitsacedia.tumblr.com/p...
Rey art: / dearmisskitty
Rey bo staff fan art: www.artstation.com/artwork/lrb4o
Rey and Finn fan art: www.deviantart.com/yinza/art/...
Rey art by Ian McCaig / 1
SKYWALKER'S APPRENTICE (2019 Star Wars Fan Film) • SKYWALKER'S APPRENTICE...
themighty.com/2017/06/childho...
themighty.com/2018/01/hidden-...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...
www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...
www.mreinfo.com/mres/
www.rainn.org/statistics/vict...
www.fatherly.com/health-scien...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...
www.nytimes.com/2018/07/10/us...
www.popsci.com/blog-network/k...
Social Isolation: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...
Social Isolation Reddit comment: www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/c...
WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...
Music:
Saving the World by Aaron Kenny (Royalty Free Music Track-KZbin Music Library)
Forever Yours/A Quiet Thought by Wayne Jones Music
Apex/The Rising/Arms of Heaven/Serenity/Waterfall/Spirit of the Dead by Aakash Gandhi
To Be a Ball of Light/Run Until Your Wings Grow/When We Found the Horizon/
All I've Ever Felt at Once by Late Night Feeler/Jesse Cale
Fall of the Dynasty by Asher Fulero
Tragic Story by Myuu
Luminous One by Aaron Lieberman
Soaring High by Biz Baz Studio
Procession by Geographer
Millicent by Max Surla/Media Right Productions
First Time Experience by Nate Blaze
Big Screen by Silent Partner
Side Path by Kevin MacLeod
The Story Unfolds by Jingle Punks
Satya Yoda by Jesse Gallagher
Solo Cello Passion by Doug Maxwell/Media Right Productions
Wistful Harp by Andrew Huang
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[@billyb501stlegion5]

My God you blew it out of the park again, your analysis are just as good as star wars theory, you deserve more attention, as matter of rey indeed she had the potential to be the anakin or even greatest jedi of the new star wars Era, also I wanted another character like that jedi turned inquisitor turned rebel fighter, that women from the game jedi fallan order i forgot her name , that character should of taught rey everything about the force, his/her story of betrayal of his/her brethren and redeeming them selves giving rey a feeling of a purpose in an galaxy

[@georgespiggott5615]

honestly this isn't just a good star wars analysis, it's good writing advice in general

[@Raleyg]

Could have been, should have been, that's the entire story of the sequel trilogy

[@silverstarlightproductions1292]

Finally, someone agrees that Finn and Rey should have ended up together.

[@Mgauge]

So much wasted potential for the sake of lazy writing to get quick bucks.

[@dislikebomb6680]

I knew Rey's character was wasted, but you really hit the nail on the head. Looking forward to part 2

[@virgovirtuoso]

So glad to hear a reinterpretation of Rey's crying spells, seeing Rey unapologetically cry, do so often, and still be able to go get shit done really spoke to me. After hearing the takes of my peers be either laziness (reverting to sexism) or intentional sexism to gain hate views and controversy, it was becoming almost laborious to imagine that being "prone-to-crying-spells" (as my mother would say) wasn't the near full extent of giving Rey a character flaw.

[@gunjantripathi3340]

I am not a big fan of sequels but the picture you painted made finn and rey's story so beautiful.

[@GR8KIDMAN1]

I feel like the fact that she was a hurt and abandoned child that learns to trust and becomes a confident and powerful jedi could have been a great combination with the fact that she was a decendant to Palpatine. Had she come to fight against her blood and perhaps what could have been her destiny and overcome it, it could be a nice contrast to Anakin who fought against destiny, only for him to play unti it's hands. It took Mauler's deep dive into TFA to realize how much of a wasted potential Rey had, and this video just cements that feeling

[@michaelbaker2552]

These are excellent points! I was thinking of Tarzan. He was lost in the jungle as a child. He did not know how to read or right and the only language he spoke was with animals. He was all about survival and when found was still this way. Jane had to teach him literally everything. He had been a traumatized child, had learned to survive and, when attacked, killed. Rey should have been the same way!

[@MoviesRemastered]

Damn, I clicked because of star wars and left learning/understanding more about myself own past. Incredible analyse of childhood trauma and ptsd. Thank you for such a well thought out video.

[@patrickmulder2450]

Holy shit dude, this video was better written then the entire sequel trilogy! This was the first video I've seen by you, won't be the last. Subscribed.

[@LadyDoomsinger]

Struggling with chronic depression and a personality disorder myself, I love watching tragic characters with psychological issues face their trauma and overcome it, through effort, willpower, and persistence (or even just the helpful intervention of others). It gives me hope to see characters face adversity (even when they fail), because it makes me believe I can face mine too.

[@richardharrison4762]

I believe that in the sequel trilogy, the core is there but the execution could have done with a little polishing.

[@ShamanMcLamie]

I don't know if you've watched his videos, but David Stewart had some great analysis about Star Wars and the Sequel Trilogy and in one video he describes the Sequels as a sort of Fan Fantasy/Dream Sequence where the audience is reliving the events of the Original Trilogy, but not quite. Something in the vein of a dream. One point he makes is that Rey is effectively an audience Avatar. It's why she so virtuous and noble from the outset, it's why she's good in the force and flying and fighting and speaks various languages. It's why all the characters like her and she gets all their cool stuff. It's because you as the audience are Rey and through Rey you'll live your dream Star Wars experience. While I know the term is often overused and abused these days, the word Mary Sue very much describes Rey. As I watched The Force Awakens the first time I very much had the impression Rey was a Star Wars fan living in the Star Wars universe, and then she went on to bend the rules of that universe around her. It's the heart of the trope.

[@saltyandthebeefcracker4863]

A direct decendent of a Sith Lord.

[@expleatifdelited982]

You’re right. Could’ve been epic. The seeds were all there.

[@AustinCDavis]

As foster parents, my wife and I have seen this food obsession multiple times. We would have kids for months, giving them full meals and snacks between, with the understanding that they can eat whenever they’re hungry, and we would still find food hidden in their rooms. And Darth’d is right that we constantly had to deal with selfishness and fears of trauma. They don’t overcome these things just by meeting one friendly person.

[@cellytron]

I haven’t even watched the sequels and this still made me emotional, because the Rey you painted would have been such an amazing character.

[@mikalontheobliterator]

This video is easily the best analysis of Rey I have seen and your channel has some of the best critiques of the sequel trilogy to ever lbe found on KZbin, on par with So Uncivilized's "Anti-Trilogy" and Empire Wreckers' video on the story development for TRoS ("How bad movies are made"). You made me realize that problems with Rey character extend vastly beyond the Mary Sue trope (even though Rey IS still overpowered and faces very little obstacles during her "journey") and her behavior, her actions during latter two acts of TFA and entirity of TLJ and TRoS actually don't make any sense given her backstory.