One problem that some felt ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ had that many complained about was that Rey was being a “Mary Sue” and actress Daisy Ridley is opening up about that complaint. For those unfamiliar with the term, a “Mary Sue” is assigned to an actress who often will “save the day through unrealistic abilities” and while usually assigned to a woman, it can be applied to any gender. That being said, the fact that Rey was so quick to pick up the force or fix and pilot the Millenium Falcon didn’t seem right to many.
Honestly, as someone who clearly worked on fixing things and was so emotionally fragile it seemed like the stage was set for everything aside from the lightsaber battle with Kylo Ren which JJ Abrams had already explained.
So what does Ridley think about how others have perceived her character?
“The Mary Sue thing in itself is sexist because it’s the name of a woman. Everyone was saying that Luke had the exact same [capabilities]. I think Rey is incredibly vulnerable, and nothing she’s doing is for the greater good. She’s just doing what she thinks is the right thing. And she doesn’t want to do some of it, but she feels compelled to do it. So for me, I was just confused.”
If she does prove to be Skywalker’s child it would seem that the franchise is borrowing another aspect from ‘Dune’ where the child is more powerful than the parent. Either way, this is a label that really wasn’t justified to be here.
Are you glad that Ridley has addressed the “Mary Sue” criticism or do you think that Rey was too powerful in the film? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Cinema Blend
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
