We Are What They Grow Beyond: The Coming of Age for a New Star Wars [Contributor: Melanie]

Warning: Spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi lie ahead.

The thing about this series is that it spans 40 years. That’s a long time to keep something going, to hand it down from one generation to the next. But Star Wars endures and with Rian Johnson’s addition to the series it does more than that. It thrives. It’s a tale that has always ever been a story told in the traditions of epics and legends of our world. It was a story of spaceships and laser swords rooted in the human tradition of a call to adventure, a meeting with a mentor, and face down with that which holds the most power in life of our hero. The Last Jedi does not break this tradition, no story ever could. It’s encoded in the DNA of our storytelling that we walk through the steps of a Hero’s Journey but Johnson’s film does everything it can to make you second guess the clean and quick nature of this story telling method and ask yourself… well, where do you want the story to go?

“Why are you here, Rey from nowhere?” 

The fact of the matter is, I’m not entirely convinced that they didn’t change Rey’s backstory during the mysterious rewrite period in early 2016 when filming was delayed so Rian Johnson could rework the script. I saw this because a lot of supplementary material pointed to Rey having an actual plot connection to Kylo Ren and what happened at the temple. But, if she ever was a Skywalker or Kenobi, it’s evidently been tossed in favor of the story of Rey from Nowhere. She is a King Arthur, complete with her own proverbial sword she pulled from a proverbial stone, but no Uther Pendragon to gift her a birthright, no connection or obvious place to the story she’s inhabiting. (That is, assuming, we take Kylo Ren at his word. After all, we didn’t find out about the twins until Episode VII and that was after an uncomfortable twincest scene in Empire so fake outs happen...).

Is it such a bad thing? We all, myself loudly included, wanted a heritage story with a fight for the Skywalker legacy (or even the Kenobi one). And we still might get it. Perhaps the story of Rey’s shrouded heritage isn’t over. But let’s assume it is, what does it mean for Rey? We know she has major abandonment issues. That apparently lead to some identity issues as well. Maybe she herself was hoping to find herself a member of the Skywalker family. What she learns is that her parents were anonymous drunks who traded away their child for money and died in some anonymous graves in the desert (again, according to Kylo Ren).

There’s more weight to her choices now. Being a Skywalker is about reacting, making a choice under a predetermined context of good and evil. They all faced the same forked path: darkness or light. Rey is a blank slate. She comes from nothing, her heritage does not matter, so all that matters is what she chooses to do. And it’s clear her choices are not about Sith or Jedi, darkness or light, but simply about what is the right thing to do. She’s setting up her own Skywalker legacy and the black and white of the original films and prequel trilogy faded away with Luke Skywalker under the twin suns. Rey’s not picking sides or worrying about making one wrong move and letting it “forever dominate (her) destiny.” She’s just trying to protect her friends.

So why is Rey from Nowhere here? Well she’s got a job to do, people who are counting on her, and friends to protect. And I’m kind of super on board with that. The Jedi did not own the Force, though they behaved as though they did. If the failures of the Jedi and the failures of Anakin Skywalker are to be purged from the new narrative, it will have to center on someone untainted by a connection to either of those things. Or at least someone who believes she is unconnected to it all.

This film did not paint our hero in a gray light so much as it painted her in a human one. The Jedi asked for perfection and instilled it since birth in their disciples. The result was a group of warrior monks for hire who thought their moral high ground and perceived control of the Force put them above others. The Order is gone. But a single Jedi - the last Jed i- someone who utilizes their connection to the Force for protection and light, got away on Crait.

“It surrounds us, and binds us…”

We know from scientific over explanation in the prequels that the ability of certain individuals to feel and manipulate the Force happens at the cellular level, something present in the DNA. Which makes it sound infinitely less cool but let’s run with this for a second. Traits are handed down, eye color, allergies, cheekbones. But on the macro level we hand down generational attributes. All humans became bipedal, became hairless, became intelligent. And we all know we come from the same family tree. The Force, I imagine, will act in the same way. It’s a genetic trait, a rare mutation. But it’s also something connecting the entirety of life in the galaxy. The Force is in everyone, with a select few who can actually wield the abilities it offers. We see at the very end of the film there will be others, a future generation of Jedi under Rey’s tutelage.

But… if everyone’s super, then no one is.

Perhaps it’s the converse to the Rey Nobody argument. The Skywalkers were a unique bunch. The Jedi were already rare but the Skywalkers, a family line literally born out the Force itself were even more unique. And we all want our characters to be special, to be the chosen one. Rey is the person who happened upon Anakin’s lightsaber. It may have well happened to any one of those children we saw in the last seconds of the movie who show apparent Force sensitivity.

There’s a cultural need for our heroes to be divinely ordained. Odysseus was favored by the gods. King Arthur was chosen by the Lady of the Lake. Even Harry became the subject of prophecy because he was literally chosen to be the one it referred to by Voldemort. We want to believe there is a cosmic purpose to our heroes, the possibility of superhuman uniqueness. So was it the will of the Force that BB-8 came across Rey and the adventure began? Or was it just luck?

For all of Rey’s importance in The Force Awakens, this movie strikes down everything about herself she thought might be special. Ben is the only Skywalker. Snoke simply wants to use her to get to Luke. Luke himself does not consider even her unique and powerful abilities worth teaching. She wrestles with that lack of importance in the scene in the cave. When Luke entered his own cave to face down the demons in his head, it was Vader and the possibility of himself becoming him that he fought against. When Rey did it, it was the repetition of seemingly millions of exact copies of herself, painting her as one of thousands who could wear her face, do what she does. It was her fear of no identity that she looked down in the mirror.

But the film paints this as a good thing. Yes, anyone could be standing where she is. Anyone could have found the lightsaber. But she is the one standing there. She was the one the lightsaber obeyed when it was called by both her and the grandson of its original owner. And with our young friends at the end of the movie, showing us there are still allies in the galaxy for the Resistance and a future for the Jedi, show that, as Maz says, hope is not lost today - not in Rey’s underwhelming personal truth nor in Luke’s departure - it is found - in Rey’s natural inclination to care for her friends and the sense of fellowship that bonds the Resistance.

“Heir apparent to Darth Vader.”

*snort*

Anyway… Kylo Ren does have a lot in common with his grandfather including emotionally manipulative relationships with the women in their lives and a thirst for control of the galaxy. In Anakin’s story, at least he thought he was doing something good. It was misguided and stupid, but he believed politics and the Jedi both to be corrupt and wanted to establish peace and order. Kylo Ren basically just wants to prove that his dumb af choices weren’t made for nothing. He got himself up his own creek with SEVERAL paddles thrown at him but decided to ignore them all and see this thing through. Where Anakin asked Padme to join him because his entire effed up decision making process was based on protecting her, Kylo asks Rey to join him simply because he wants attention from someone who he thinks will understand him.

And Rey is having none of that.

A story that could have so easily slipped into a damaging tale of siphoning emotions for the sake “saving” our bad boy with a good heart, Rey literally slams the door on his face. This is especially good considering it was a HIGHKEY problematic move to have Kylo Ren tell Rey that he, essentially, was the only person who would ever find her important. Her terms were clear: she came to recruit him to the Resistance, not redeem him, not save his soul, or any other bs like that. When he refused to be an ally, she noped out of that situation and went back to help her friends. She pities him, she does want to help him, but only if he will help himself. If he’s not going to meet her halfway, she’s got more important things to do.

Ultimately, Kylo Ren’s story is about a bratty kid who took his temper tantrum a bit too far and now doesn’t know how to pump the breaks. He grew up in a busy household, we know that Han and Leia both had careers to attend to and sent him to Luke in the hopes that Luke could give him the attention and training he needed. But Leia checked in regularly at the Jedi temple, we know from Bloodlines. She received holos from her brother and son until, one day, they stopped coming. For his part, Luke made a very poor snap decision and Ben’s actions to defend himself turned into an act of violence that murdered dozens of innocent students. He then went on to murder an entire village on Jakku, play party to the creation of a devastating weapon of mass destruction that destroyed an entire system, and murdered his own father.

He’s a piece of crap. But he’s a complicated piece of crap.

Is he worth saving? Probably not. He seemed to have made his choice here when Rey offered to help him several times. He was pretty quick to flip the switch then, angrily ordering her ship to be blasted out of the sky when he spots her again. Are we done with this line of thinking though? Doubtful.

The Force Awakens was about a return to our familiar world. The Last Jedi was about crossing the threshold and leaving that world behind. This is a character-driven Star Wars trilogy that, as look warned us, doesn’t always go the way we think.

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The Last Jedi: A Hero's Journey With a Dark Core [Contributor: Melanie]

“This isn’t going to go the way you think.”

That might as well been directed right at the Internet, who has spent the past two years coming up with theories and speculations and 12-minute long YouTube videos where they claimed to have the definitive answer to all the questions posed at the end of The Force Awakens. The final trailer for The Last Jedi dropped this week (while we were all forced to watch the most boring football game in history), and it appears we’re leaving a good deal of the camp and fun behind in this installment in favor of a sinister look at the dark side of the Hero’s Journey.

Star Wars has always prided itself on roots in mythos. Whether we’re equating the Skywalker lightsaber’s call to Rey with the Sword in the Stone and a young King Arthur, or Darth Vader with Paradise Lost’s rendition of a fallen Lucifer, this series has always been one about the epicness of storytelling. And now, it seems we’re getting a darker look at what there is to face in the journey of a warrior hero.

But, let’s break the trailer down in bits shall we? There are some questions left to be answered and some opened up by the two and a half minutes of of scream-worthy shots in the trailer.

What is Rey?

“I need someone to show me my place in all this.”

And you thought asking yourself if she was a Skywalker was complicated enough. It looks like might be in for a bigger question than we realized. After all, director Rian Johnson spoke positively of the story behind Rey’s parents and the subsequent importance she has in the galaxy as a whole, saying “she deserves it.” Luke, it seems, wants little to do with her but Snoke seems to be very interested in what she has to offer — if the blip of what appears to be a torture scene at the end of the trailer is any indication.

I stand by my belief that Rey is a relative of the Skywalker family, though this trailer might have pushed me back in the direction of camp Solo. Ren and Rey are compared a few times in this trailer, — most notably for their equal “raw strength” that even Luke notes is rare among Jedi. Sharing the same Force-sensitive mother might be one answer to this riddle. Leia has always been stronger with the mystical elements of the Force than her brother, who was all for saber arts.

It is still highly likely that Luke is her father (the battle between the son of the daughter and the daughter of the son would make for an epic cousin showdown), in which case he will be up at that podium with his own father to accept the award for Worst Parent Ever. Did he purposely abandon Rey because of her power? Did he hope it would go unknown the rest of her life?

A neat little tidbit to add to this is the consequences of the planet of Jakku in her life and the very likely possibility that whoever left her there chose that planet with a purpose in mind. Jakku, according to the Aftermath novels I’ll reference again below, is a very precarious place. It had an ancient history as a lush place that somehow went sour, a Sith presence on the planet, and a Force that seemed to radiate Light side energy from something Palpatine referred to as a “spark of life.” Rey may have soaked up all those good vibes (literally) during her coming-of-age on the planet not unlike young Kal-El soaking up the Sun’s radiation in his formative years and becoming Superman as an adult.

We can also see in the trailer, as part of her journey, she’ll be studying the fabled Journal of the Whills — a document that, in behind-the-scenes land, goes back to the very first drafts of A New Hope. In universe, it deals with the nature of the Force. Most notably, it contains this poem:

First comes the day
Then comes the night.
After the darkness
Shines through the light.
The difference, they say,
Is only made right
By the resolving of gray
Through refined Jedi sight.

No matter what, the trailer has underpinned this much: where she comes from — whether it’s Skywalkers, no-name parents, or the Force itself (ha, revenge of the midichlorian plotline) — matters.

Becoming Kylo Ren

“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.”

Just when you thought patricide was enough for Ben Solo, this piece of trash continues to amaze. In his journey to the Dark side, he now has his sights set on his own mother — with what looks like a lot more conflict and hesitation on his part. The tie-in novel Bloodline hints that Luke and Leia being outed as Vader’s children was, in some way, directly connected to Ben betraying his uncle and turning to Snoke. While we never get to see his reaction (for obvious reasons), Leia is consistently concerned throughout the back half of the novel over what he’s going to think or do with the information.

Turns out, not anything good. As Kylo was forced to sever ties with his own father, he’s now left with his mother, who is standing on the opposite side of a literal and political battlefield to him. There were rumors a while back that the film would feature an assassination attempt on Leia, which still might be possible, but it looks like Kylo is taking a direct root in targeting his last true connection to the Skywalker past. But being the mama’s boy he probably is, it’s not so easy. On top of that, she is the reason he’s connected to Vader in the first place, so even in the context of his twisted logic, her murder is a tough sell. Some dialogue from Kylo in Battlefront II hinted that things would go this way (“I’ll handle the princess”). But it’s clear this won’t be as easy as offing the father he never felt a connection to in the first place.

Black and White

“When I find you, I saw raw, untamed power. And beyond that... something truly special.”

I’m going to start this one out with calling MAJOR B.S. I see you, editors, and your ability to mismatch two scenes that have similar enough lighting to trick me. I’m 99% sure Rey’s voiceover is an extension of her speech to Luke, earlier in the trailer, asking for help. While the immediate shot of Ren holding his hand out to her looks close enough, I also know there is no version of any event in the history or past that would make Rey say: “Gee, I wonder if I should ask Kylo’s opinion on all this?”

But don’t worry: the Reylo fans won’t be shutting up any time soon, thanks to this clever bit of editing. Even though non-consensual invasion of the mind and mansplaining should be enough to say no thank you to shipping those two — on top of their likely blood relation — I really don’t think that’s what the trailer was aiming for. But we live in a world where Tumblr treats ships like religious ideology, so prepare for a war over there.

But in the context of what could be meant with all the comparisons of Ren and Rey? About a week or so ago, Rian Johnson was quoted in an interview with the New York Times saying: “Rey and Kylo are almost two halves of our protagonist.” Leia says there’s light hiding somewhere in Kylo, and it seems like we’ll find Rey has a hidden darkness. But I don’t think that means we’re in for some sort of villain-hero role reversal. Rey’s been tempted by the Dark side once and come through on her own, while Kylo has had several chances to turn back and hasn’t. However, the Jedi and Sith operating as the only two options for a millenia didn’t work out so great for anyone in the end, so we probably won’t get clear-cut moral lines this time around.

Yes, we know somewhere — under all of that — Kylo is a tortured, MCR-blasting Ben Solo wanting to return home. Not nearly as deep or invisible in Rey is a small psychopath ready to not hold back. The Jedi principles were meant to protect people around them from the possibility of someone abusing their power. The Sith principles focused entirely on personal gain by using the Force. Somewhere in the middle, is Rey and Ren. The Jedi, for all that they were, were an institution, and turning a spirituality and ideal into a strict set of dogma never goes well. So when the Sith offered the young, chaffing Anakin Skywalker freedom to pursue his own happiness with his wife, of course he took it. And when Snoke came to Ben, who was likely having an identity crisis between his poor relationship with his barely-there father and the knowledge that his grandfather was once the most feared person in the galaxy (and possibly a bit of jealousy over a budding younger sister or cousin?), of course he jumped on an offer to find himself.

Snoke is, of course, using Kylo and he is — of course — too dumb to understand that. But Snoke seems to also want to use Rey too. In a perfect world, Rey will beat some sense into her cousin/brother/unrelated associate, drag him back to apologize to his mother, and then maybe together they can take on Snoke and his plans.

Or maybe she’ll punch him in the face and walk away into the sunset. I’m fine with either.

What Does Snoke Want?

“Fulfill your destiny.”

Where have I heard that one before? Canonical tie-in information points to Snoke being a lot older than we think. In fact, he might be Star Wars’ own version of the First Evil in Buffy. He’s confirmed to not be a Sith, but indeed a powerful Dark side user. It’s possible he was among the first Dark side users. In Chuck Wendig’s final novel in the Aftermath series, Palpatine turns his eyes to Jakku after hearing a voice call out to him and believes the planet, which had once been the site of an event of great importance centuries ago, would become important again in the future. He sets up an Imperial base there tasked with discovering the secrets of this voice and the Dark side temple once located on the planet. Possibly Snoke was slumbering there, Cthulhu style? As it turns out, Jakku’s core also boasts that “spark of life” we talked about that “disgusted” Palpatine. The planet may be both the source of Snoke’s return and Rey’s adept use of the Force, which ties those two together as well.

The Skywalkers are a unique bunch. Like or hate it, the prequels tell us Anakin was burgeoned by the will of the Force itself, having no father. This makes his descendents equally as tied to the will of the Force. Snoke may be very interested in utilizing that close connection to the Force and the power within. Some of Leia’s bits in tie-in material suggest that Snoke was after Kylo Ren’s mixture of Dark and Light and that he was seeking the right balance (he had apprentices in the past). If Ren and Rey are meant to be two halves of something, as Johnson says, Snoke might be after using them both.

All in all, it’s most likely that Rey and Ren are being used for something we don’t have enough information to fully speculate on yet. All we know is that he’s old, he apparently used to be a looker before the Dark side screwed him up big time, and that we’ll get to see him in the flesh (and really doing a number on Rey).

And finally...

PORGS!

What a freaking gift.

Prognosis

Well apart from the fact that this is going to be a LONG two months, there are some interesting points in the works. Luke turning his back on Rey out of fear of her potential can — obviously — only end well for a girl with major abandonment issues. There’s some plot rumors that Leia’s connection to Vader (and to Kylo Ren) might be called up as a way to discredit her as a leader by rivals in her own camp (rivals like Amilyn Haldo, played by Laura Dern, who is basically the Luna Lovegood of space and a fellow teen senator from Leia’s childhood). We didn’t get much Finn but we do know he’s still on the run away-with-Rey train of thought (though it appears he might be going undercover in the First Order). More plot rumors suggest there may be a First Order bounty on his head.

December 15th (technically 7 P.M. on December 14th for me) is a little over 60 days away. We’re in the final countdown kids! May the Force be with you.

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The End of The Force Dicotomy in The Last Jedi and Other Questions [Contributor: Melanie]

Hold on just one second, kids...

ANYWAY.

After months and months of patiently waiting, our prayers were answered in the form of The Last Jedi’s first teaser trailer ahead of its December 15th release. And it had a lot more to say on the topic of the film’s content than I expected. There’s a lot to pick apart in each frame (and I have) but the overarching theme the trailer is presenting is one of the most complicated arguments fans have made over the years: the possibility of a morally dubious view of the Jedi.

When we first hear the word Jedi, it’s through the mouth of Obi-Wan — the quintessential perfect Jedi who pushes the party line that the Jedi were the protectors of peace and prosperity. They used their abilities to serve the Republic as protectors, warriors, and spiritual guardians. Or they were bounty hunters often contracted by the senate for violent odd jobs. However you you want to put it. Potato, potahto. In that same thread they were a cult that brainwashed members from an early age, separating them completely and permanently from their families, banishing emotion, teaching ultimate selflessness and duty to the Jedi Order.

And, despite what they wanted you to think, they had the same flaw as their Sith counterparts: a polarizing view of the Force. Light or Dark. Passion or neutrality. Self or others. There was no in between. If you weren’t controlling your emotions completely, meditating on peace, and rejecting personal gain then you were probably off plotting the destruction of the galaxy and Using Your Powers For Evil™.

In the trailer Luke and Rey seem to focus on the inclusion of both sides of the Force: “The light... the dark... the balance.” This is quickly followed by Luke proclaiming the Jedi must end. It’s a shocking statement, but likely one. And like all great lines in trailers, probably taken out of context. The teachings of the Jedi Order resulted in their own destruction. The stoked the fires of Anakin’s frustrations by refusing to mend any of their beliefs to help reach him. And they were essentially so far up their own butts they couldn’t even see real threats in the form of Darth Sideous. Yoda puts it a bit more eloquently, noting they were prideful and blind to not see the entire Republic had fallen under the thrall of a Sith Lord. Again, the potato thing.

So, what Luke is likely saying (hopefully) is that the Jedi and their Spartan doctrine have lived out their relevance. The Jedi mindset belongs to an ancient order more interested in creating obedient warrior monks. The fact of the matter is, we’re talking about living, breathing people who have these natural gifts to sense the Force around them. Both people and the Force are inherently mixed in their morality, their goodness, their selfishness, their passion, and their ability to control all these things. If you try to create the perfect Jedi, you have a man (Obi-Wan) who was blind to how best help his best friend from turning into a monster. If you preach only Sith ideology of self and passion you get a guy who enslaves the entire galaxy and kills a lot of people.

Let’s get some Gilgamesh up in here and point out that all things ultimately go back to the id, the ego, and the superego (and they all go back to Gilgamesh too). The Sith is the id, the emotional identity that does nothing but crave. The Jedi are the ego, the consuming need for selflessness. Somewhere in the middle of this (and in the middle of all of us) is the superego, the part of the grand design that acknowledges the desires, knows the cost, and finds the balance in between.

Or something. I don’t know.

Apparent from the deep analytical goodies, the trailer also brought into the spotlight some questions we desperately want answered:

1) Who is Rey?

The most popular theory out there is, of course, that Rey is a Skywalker. It’s not that far-fetched, considering Luke had a wife and offspring in the original Star Wars Expanded Universe (re: Star Wars Legends). Contextually it also makes the most sense considering the main saga has always been about the Skywalker family. But, on the flipside, the new trilogy seems to be interested in reinventing itself, to some extent. Perhaps we will leave the Skywalkers behind and pass the torch...

Yeah, I didn’t think so either.

No matter what, her identity is pivotal to the story. This is made clear in the novelization of The Force Awakens where Kylo Ren makes it clear he knows who Rey is and has, apparently, been on the hunt for her.

2) What is the fate of Finn?

A small but pivotal line from The Force Awakens makes mention that the current breed of Stormtroopers are subjected to conditioning from childhood, Unsullied style, for complete obedience. The trailer seems to show Finn in a med pod, very much still comatose. A while back in another post, I flirted with the possibility that Finn may find his training and conditioning trigger and revamped from his injuries, perhaps waking up still trapped inside the mind of a sculpted soldier. It would be quite the test of friendship for Rey and Poe to find themselves challenged with bringing their friend back from the dark side...

Tragic? Painful? Excellent, let’s do it.

3) Will Luke die?

Since the title was revealed, fans have been panicking that it suggests Luke is going to bite it. The fact of the matter is, the German and French translations of the title prove Jedi is meant plural in this sense. So if he’s dying, it has nothing to do with the title. But, as all great monomyths go, a mentor needs to die. And though Rey found a father figure in Han Solo and dealt with the pain of losing him, she’ll likely find something much stronger and deeper in Luke (who might also be her ACTUAL space dad).

4) Who is Snoke, and do I really care?

Honestly, there is so much interpersonal drama that I forgot Snoke was a factor. In hindsight, he’s probably the weakest part of The Force Awakens. Unless he turns out somehow personally connect to the Kardashian-level drama that is the Skywalker family, he will likely remain the weakest part of the whole thing. As of right now, he’s an outside element, an environmental factor responsible for some roadblocks, but Kylo Ren’s personal connection to Rey and his own inner turmoil seem like the much bigger antagonists.

Maybe Snoke matters. Some people have theorized he’s some time-traveling version of Kylo Ren himself. Maybe he’s important. Maybe he has an uncontrollable twitter handle and won his seat of power by dubious means. I don’t know, I’m not psychic.

Get hype, kids. It may be April, but the countdown for Episode VIII starts now.

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All Aboard the Millennium Falcon: Searching for the New Han Solo [Contributor: Megan Mann]

In 2013, nerds around the world felt their hearts travel warp speed to a galaxy far, far away when it was announced that genre genius J.J. Abrams would be helming Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. But it wasn’t just the super fans that were busting out their gear. Hollywood was in a tizzy wondering what roles needed to be cast and if they would be the lucky actor or actress to find themselves in one of the most coveted film franchises of all time.

Now, still fresh off the film's release, it is a different tale within the Star Wars universe that has Hollywood buzzing: the Han Solo origin story.

For fans of the original series, Han Solo is not only one of the most crucial characters to the story but one you simply cannot help but love. The rugged thief with the furry sidekick who had a smirk to die for, the life of Han Solo is synonymous with the man who played him. Harrison Ford shot to superstardom playing the scoundrel-turned-paramour of Princess Leia, and has been part of the upper echelon of the movie industry ever since, even going on to star in another colossal franchise (Indiana Jones).

It is not surprising then that after seeing Harrison step back into that costume and pilot the Millennium Falcon that young Hollywood would seize the opportunity to portray the younger version of Han Solo. After all, it was this role that catapulted him to success, opening the door to a variety of roles for Ford. Actors would be silly to not want to step into Han’s boots in the hopes that they too would be able to cultivate such a stellar career.

But the problem with young Han Solo being such a coveted role is that everyone wants to throw their hat into the ring. Very rarely does a major star have the power to jump between major franchises as a leading role and be able to blend so perfectly into each character that the audience forgets the other role while watching the one on the screen. Jennifer Lawrence managed to do it with X-Men and The Hunger Games, while Harrison did that by bringing a little bit of humor and sass to both Indiana Jones and Han Solo and still managing to make them distinctly different.

It is not a feat that many actors are capable of doing, which makes me sad to admit that half of the young men who were auditioning for the role would not be skilled as of yet to make that jump. Note, I said "as of yet" since these fine young thespians have the talent but do not have the distinction to break free of previous roles just yet.

Take Tom Felton for instance. It is incredibly difficult for our generation to distinguish virtually the entire cast of the Harry Potter series, save for perhaps Emma Watson, from their iconic characters. While they’ve all gone on to do many things and performed beautifully in whatever roles they’ve taken on, it is hard for us not to say, “Hermione did so well!” or “Harry, why are you doing a sex scene right now?” While I absolutely loved watching Daniel Radcliffe on Broadway, there was still that little voice in the back of my head screaming, “That’s Harry! That’s Harry Potter on that stage!”

It would be equally as difficult to walk into a movie theater to see the origin story of such an iconic character lead by Draco Malfoy. Tom is a terrific actor who has certainly found a wide array of projects since ditching the bleached blonde locks, but it would be hard for the new viewers to disassociate him with the character that launched his career. He was, after all, a perfect Draco Malfoy, and played the dichotomy of Draco’s feelings in the last three movies brilliantly and nothing can take that away from him.

Even the wonderful Logan Lerman proved in The Perks of Being a Wallflower that he is capable of doing a treasured story justice, but he too would be jumping over from the Percy Jackson franchise. Sure, he is of the few who could carry a film of this magnitude on his back, but would fans that associate him with Percy welcome him aboard the Millennium Falcon?

The same can be said for another actor who made the short list for this spinoff: Ansel Elgort. While his career is still relatively new, he has managed to make a name for himself with The Fault in Our Stars and the Divergent series. From portraying one iconic character to being a major player in a franchise with two installments left to release, it would be hard for audiences to see him step into Han’s boots.

His co-star Miles Teller would also be in a similar position. Audiences do not want to see a dark, twisted character one day and then see that person as suave and charming the next. It wouldn’t add up, and with how fickle audiences are these days and the importance of such a role, fans would eat these young men alive.

Take away the franchise bit and, I do not think he has the chops to fill those shoes. While you want to respect Harrison Ford and the four films that came before, it is still important to make this role fresh while still maintaining the qualities that make Han Solo so great. Do I really think that Miles Teller can pull off that snark and smirk? I do not.

Franchise-jumping aside, the other actors that have made the short list for a young Han Solo have careers still in relative infancy, which could either help or hinder them. Scott Eastwood, for instance, has had very few credits but also already has a pretty big legacy because of his last name. Sure, he has a pretty face and I suppose I could see him growing up into the dashingly handsome Harrison Ford, but does he have the ability? By having been in so few films, this relative anonymity could possibly be something that would benefit him and add to the fun of Han Solo. But that lack of resume can also hinder him as this role is a fan favorite and has to be done right.

It could also be said that Dave Franco is not right for the role. Many younger viewers see him as the best friend, sidekick, or lesser role in comedies such as Neighbors and 21 Jump Street. He has very few dramatic credits to his name and nary a starring role. However, his lack of drama can certainly help him in this case. Although he does not exactly have the right look to play a younger Han, he does have the ability to blend the two sides of Han; the soft and the humorous. With his comedic skills, he would be able to deliver lines that aren’t leg-slappers, but still funny in their subtlety. But the lack of a starring role does ask the question: is he at the point in his career where he can carry a film on his own? And not just any film, but an origin story of a four-decades-old fan favorite?

Each of these actors begs a list of pros and cons. While some would be able to bring the fluidity that Harrison brought to the character, it would be hard to believe some would be able to deliver both the sour and the sweet. It is possible for some to carry the film, but would the audience be able to discern between the iconic character they portrayed in one franchise and the one they would portray in this?

There is a clear-cut choice that Hollywood is overlooking. The best fit for this role is simply Anthony Ingruber. An actor with very few credits to his name, it has already been proven in the 2014 film The Age of Adaline that he is capable of stepping into an ensemble and sweet-talking his way through the galaxy.

In the film, Ingruber literally plays a younger version of Harrison Ford: the one when Adaline first meets him. When the trailer first came out for the film, I assumed that they had pulled a Captain America and used the same CGI that they had used on Chris Evans to take Harrison back to his younger days. But I was wrong. It was, in fact, a young actor who not only looked like a Ford doppelganger, but sounded like him as well. While Harrison’s voice has changed over the course of time and many action film screaming has turned it slightly gravelly, Ingruber's voice matched that of 1977 Ford. He looked and sounded so much like him that it was astonishing. As I said before, you want to make the part your own, like Jennifer Lawrence did with Mystique or Chris Pine did with Captain Kirk, while still being conscious of the character and what made him or her so special in the first place.

Sure, he is a relative unknown, but that is what sets him apart from the other contenders. Harrison Ford had very few more-than-three-lines roles before being cast in Star Wars. We knew nothing of Ford then as we know equally as much about Ingruber now. With the short list, it is easy for fans and critics to pick them apart not only for their body of work, but also for their personal lives. With Ingruber, we know virtually nothing and can neither tie him to another iconic role nor to any sort of headline. It makes it easy for him, as it was for Harrison before him, to step into a role and give it life.

What drew fans of the original trilogy to Solo was his outlaw with a heart of gold, his talk-my-way-out-of-anything attitude except when it came to his feelings about Leia. There was depth there. From his work in Adaline, Ingruber proved that not only could he look and sound like Harrison, but he could also play a role just like he could. He was equal parts sweet and sad. It’s that polarity that’s needed to keep what’s inherent about the character alive while putting a new face to it.

So as the short list competes to take the sting out of our hearts from The Force Awakens, I urge Hollywood to reconsider and think of Anthony Ingruber. I urge them to remember what made casting Harrison Ford, a man of relative anonymity, in the original films so special, and what is making the new trilogy lead Daisy Ridley just as special. I urge them to look beyond the names on current movie posters and see what made the casting choices for Episode VII so special to audiences just last month. I urge them to continue bringing new names to our beloved galaxy far, far away.

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This is Our Star Wars: Ladies Rule the Galaxy This Time Around [Contributor: Melanie]

The Force isn’t the only thing that’s woken up.

Ever since The Hunger Games came on the scene with an “unconventional” female lead who had gritty realness and a leadership position, ladies have been on the rise in media. I suppose if we are giving real due, a lot is owed to Joss Whedon, as Buffy the Vampire Slayer made it their personal mission to subvert archetypes and tropes when it came to women in media and specifically action stories. Fast forward to things like Kim Possible and Legend of Korra and we have a healthy dose of awesome female characters (I have a vendetta against the phrase “strong female character” for its insinuation that female characters are inherently less than) in childrens' narratives. But in Star Wars, Rey smashes her own glass ceiling a little differently.

What Rey represents is a change in a time-honored narrative structure and the way we inherently gender a hero. Admit it: when you hear the word “hero,” a very specific image comes to mind; an image that women are not really a part of.

I am guilty of this as well. Back when I read His Dark Materials for the first time, I was actually asking myself why Pullman chose a female protagonist and how annoying that must have been to write. I now want to smack both past-Mel and society for teaching me to view myself as less and my stories as inherently invalid next to the possibility of a man’s. And honestly, we’ve all had to turn off our feminist ideals for a few hours to enjoy most of the blockbuster and Oscar-nominated films we take in. But Rey is a character born out of an awareness of that (proof in the marketing tactic to hide her true role in the film as all TV spots and trailers showed Finn battling Kylo Ren).

The key to Rey’s success as a hero is the subversion of this trained concept. And it goes about it in multiple instances.

I’ve said that phrase a lot recently and I apologize, but it’s a key ingredient in Star Wars and narrative at large. The Hero With a Thousand Faces is a heavily-utilized text when it comes to applying monomyth lenses to media (and it works every time, trust me). But that formula is based on far more ancient traditions and stories about men being called to greatness (Achilles, Arjuna, King Arthur, Odysseus, and so on). And it proliferates to this day in heroes like Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, and Jon Snow. This is a male-dominant lens, and a nearly universal one.

But our hero — who, in any other story, might have been Finn or Poe — is Rey. A young woman plucked from obscurity and called to greatness by the will of the universe and the forces of destiny (yada, yada). When is the last time that happened in mainstream media, or, moreover, in one of the biggest films of all time? The “chosen one” tropes are always a boy, prophecies always refer to future men born to do big things. How many times was a woman chosen by the aforementioned powers that be?

Rey is very much a product of a post-Buffy world where the credentials to be the chosen one were simple — be a woman. Rey is a successor to this change in the rules as Finn waffles with the lightsaber and drops it (twice), Kylo Ren attempts to take it for himself, but it chooses only Rey who beats Ren into submission with it and carries it out of the battlefield of victory.

And that scene also stole away an overused trope in adventure entertainment: the sword in the stone. Just as Harry pulled the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter, Azor Ahai burgeoned the sword Lightbringer to destroy the White Walkers in Game of Thrones, and a young Arthur pulled a sword from a stone, affirming his divine right to the crown, Rey has been chosen by a mythical weapon. It was probably the most reacted to moment in the theatre as of my three viewings: Kylo Ren attempts to call Anakin’s lightsaber to him but it doesn’t budge, until it does. And Rey comes away with the lightsaber in hand and forces (ha, puns) Ren to submit, breaking his lightsaber in the process and permanently scarring him. And the metaphor continues as Rey travels to the hideaway of her own personal Merlin — Luke Skywalker — to guide her and train her toward destiny.

Was there another woman in mainstream entertainment who so overtly reused and reclaimed male-oriented narrative elements?

And this development feels almost like an apology for Star Wars of the past, where Leia, as much a child of Anakin as Luke, was denied the right to the title of Jedi despite her apparent, if untrained, abilities in the Force. Furthermore, thanks to the use of Padme Amidala, the only two (yes there were only two) female main characters in the franchise were some form of royalty, giving out orders and being escorted constantly by bodyguards. Though Leia got chances to shine in later films, she felt like the “extra” when it came to the Skywalker twins. And while I’m still quite irritated by her lack of participation in the mythical sides of the plot, Rey is — if nothing else — a worthy character to serve as our first prominent woman Jedi.

Another thing I want to point out here (less to do with Rey and more to do with direction) is that no one comments on Rey’s gender status. Han Solo makes no remarks on a teenage girl being able to pilot his ship. Instead, he offers her a job. When Ren kidnaps Rey and interrogates her, he was offended at her status as a poor scavenger, not that a girl was able to best him. Even Supreme Leader Snoke didn’t remark on her gender, and insisted Ren bring her before him as he desired to use her for her power as he did with him. And it’s really awesome to not have “she’s not like other girls” shoved down your throat. She’s just as dangerous as a man, no questions asked... not even by the dark side.

Ultimately, Rey is putting women back in the narrative of — well — narrative. She’s someone I wish I had as a child when I was relegated to watching my male friends go as Anakin or Obi-Wan as Halloween and playing with lightsabers in my backyard was considered a boyish game to play. And now Rey’s here, not only to save the life of her male counterpart, but also bested a more highly-trained (albeit wounded) man with little fear.

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#LadiesSupportingLadies Podcast: Episode 1 -- Just About 'Star Wars' [Contributors: Lynnie, Chelsea, and Melanie]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been an evident box office hit. With record-breaking sales, it has become not only a resurgence for the franchise but has introduced a lot of new viewers to the world created throughout the films. What is important, of course, about this film could be defined in various articles (and has been, especially at our site by some of the brilliant writing staff!). But sometimes feelings and opinions cannot only be contained to the written word, and must be expanded into spoken word too.

Some of our staff members decided to take to a podcast in order to explain exactly what it was about The Force Awakens that struck them as not only as important and worth celebrating, but also essential (we'll give you a heads up: female characters are extremely important to us all).

Listen to the podcast in its entirety below and hear from Lynnie, Chelsea, and Melanie! And be sure to share with your friends on social media if you enjoy!

(Also: stay tuned for more podcasts from our staff members in the future, especially if you're fans of the musical Hamilton. We have a LOT of feelings about that one.)
 

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7 Questions and Theories We Have After Watching "The Force Awakens" [Contributor: Melanie]

The Force Awakens has completely decimated the box office and blown minds; but now, it is time to look ahead. Production has already begun on Episode VIII, with sequences being filmed in Ireland, principal photography beginning in March, and Daisy Ridley already being asked her thoughts on the script by interviewers. The wait for this one will be far shorter than the typical three-year interval that happened with past films, as the movie is slated for release in March 2017. And like, thank the maker, amirite?

So, after viewing the film a grand total of three times (that’s a lie, it’ll be four after I make one more friend go), and poking around on the Internet, I’ve accumulated my thoughts on where we are going from here. Below you will find several questions that are at the forefront of my mind, and some possible answers we might see next spring.

1. Who are Rey’s parents?

This is easily the first question everyone has walking out of the theatre. The presentation of Rey’s anonymous parentage amounts to what’s known as a Chekov’s Gun — a plot point that is introduced to the audience early and then quietly pushed aside to be “fired” by the end of the story. Maz Kanata had a good point that Rey’s hunt for belonging (note the choice word of belonging over family) must look forward, not backward. This suggests that her found family is more important than the ones who left her behind years ago.

And this question about parentage is going to go one of two ways: either she will be revealed to be the child of the other twin (somehow we all forgot she could be Luke’s daughter as well with all the talk of Leia’s offspring) or her parents could be just as unimportant as they seemed to be by the end. Perhaps they come back into her life, create strife with the family she has formed, and present her with a choice. But, just as Maz used the word “belonging,” she also made a point that the lightsaber calling to her “belonged to Luke and his father before him” so the inheritance of it seems intentional. Also, she looks a lot like Natalie Portman.

Novelization note: I theorized this after seeing the movie, but the novel proves Ren has met Rey before and that she feels he “knew things about her she did not.” This lends credence to the theory that she was possibly one of the children training with Luke, Luke’s own daughter, and/or hidden on Jakku from Ren.

2. What’s next for Finn?

I mean, besides the whole coma thing, I’m curious if he’ll wake up the same. We know the Stormtroopers were conditioned from an early age, so it might be possible that something got reset in his head that he’ll have to fight. Or perhaps even a fancy little triggerable safety switch that resets his “programing.” I’m kind of hung up on this possibility because everyone seemed to take Finn being a Stormtrooper in stride. There’s no need for redemption and his shame has already been absolved thanks to his relationship with Rey. So let’s make this complicated and create some tragic tension as Finn falls back into trooper mode and Rey has to figure out exactly what to do about that.

3. What does Snoke have planned for Kylo Ren?

At the conclusion of Rey and Ren’s duel, Snoke commanded General Hux to retrieve Ren and bring him to Snoke so he could complete his training. It seems as though Snoke was holding Ren back until he managed to kill his father, which Snoke referred to as a “test.” And we know Ren was waffling about what to do, feeling the “pull to the light” just as Anakin felt it towards the dark. I’m curious to see what this new training will be, but one thing is for sure: in their next duel, Rey will lose.

4. Will Rey be tempted by the dark side? 

It is a Skywalker family tradition to have the allure of power dangled in front of you — from Anakin’s slip into Palpatine’s thrall, Luke’s near falter to Vader’s goading, and Vader’s threat to turn Leia if given the chance. They all go through it. It’s like their version of puberty. Ren failed the test, taking up the dark side legacy of Vader with pride. So, it follows that Rey, though still an unconfirmed member of the family tree, will face the same temptations.

Or will she? Apart from the phonetic connotation of her name (ray of light much?), she’s already been tempted once. As their duel nears its conclusion, Ren backs Rey up to a chasm and gives her a choice: “You need a teacher. I could show you the ways of the Force.” And faintly heard is the Sith music cue that denotes moments when temptation is presented. And then Rey rejects his offer, calling on the Force herself and besting him. And it’s important to note this moment was one of Rey’s most emotional — fearful for her life, angry at Ren for the death of Solo and his critical wounding of Finn. Had it been another Skywalker, it might have been a recipe for disaster, but she rejected it. So perhaps her journey has less to do within inner dark and light, and more to do with acceptance, given that last shot seemed to be Rey pleading with Luke to take the burden from her, or help her bear it.

Novelization note: In the official novelization, Rey is in fact tempted to kill Ren by “a voice” in her head. She resists, however.

5. What’s with the map? 

Everyone’s super confused as to what the deal was with that map. Who made it? Why did they make it? Why did everyone only have pieces of it? How did R2 have the rest? My theory on this is Luke made the map himself and purposely scattered it. To what end, who knows. Maybe it was a Holy Grail type situation where only the worthy could complete the quest (in that case, you certainly think highly of yourself, Luke), or perhaps it was an accident and he wanted to help ensure he was never found.

Considering Luke was parked at the first Jedi temple, then it’s entirely possibly the map is actually directions to that (which would make the separate pieces of it a lot more understandable). I doubt we’re going to get an explanation on this, but who knows — it might end up being important.

6. What is the extent of Rey’s powers?

Just like Kylo Ren, we were all quite interested to see what Rey could do with her abilities. Like Anakin’s they were untrained and unnoticed, but powerful, making up for the lack of buffing with some good old fashioned do-it-until-it-works. Ren seems threatened by Rey's powers and abilities, even as the most untrained of novices, so that makes it interesting since last time we had someone shockingly strong with the Force they turned into Darth Vader. One nifty theory on the Internet suggested Rey might have some Jedi Tai-Chi going on, able to “reverse engineer” her opponents' attacks. That would make for some very cool showdowns with Ren, who is nothing but aggression and anger and would be essentially giving Rey ammo the entire time. This is just a theory to help explain her quickly-growing powers. But then again, she’s probably just that powerful.

7. Who is Snoke? 

I personally think it’s entirely possibly Snoke is very much a man-behind-the-curtain type of character. I’d go as far to suggest he’s not even a Force sensitive. We’ve seen, in the past, non-Force sensitives can use lightsabers and have an understanding of the Force, even if they can’t utilize it the way Jedi do.

Han mentions Snoke is using Ren for his power, so it’s possibly Snoke has none of his own. He also seems to be in the business of “collecting” Force sensitives between the hunt for Luke and his demand that Ren bring Rey before him when he learned of her power. Also, is he really that big? Come on.

What are some of the things you've been thinking about that happened in The Force Awakens? Do you have any theories as to what the upcoming installment might hold? Hit up the comments below and let us know!

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A New Hope Awakens: A Review of 'Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens' [Contributor: Lynnie Purcell]

THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. 

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

In 1977, Star Wars: A New Hope opened in theaters. It created stars out of its leads characters, has been seen by millions of people around the world, has had books, comics, games, and animated shows done in its name, and is one of those iconic films that everyone has heard of at least once in their lives.

Now it is back with a new installment that is blowing everyone’s minds.

The Force Awakens opens with a pilot, who gives off Han Solo sass vibes, named Poe (Oscar Isaac). He is looking for a super-secret map on the desert planet Jakku — a map that will show the Resistance where Luke Skywalker is hiding out. Leia is tracking him down to chide him for forgetting their birthday. Or she needs him to stop the rising threat that is The First Order. ... probably the second one.

Darkness never dies. It simply sleeps for a little while, giving us the illusion of safety in the light. The force surrounds us all — that does not preclude the guys with big blowy-uppy planets and a fondness for the color red. The dark forces — led by a guy in a Vader-light mask named Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) — track down Poe as he is given a gris-gris bag filled with an old-timey USB drive that holds the key to Luke’s location, and the plot point that carries the heroes throughout the film.

Trying his hand at playing Princess Leia, Poe sends his faithful robot R2— er, BB-8 into the desert to hide from the First Order. Poe is then captured and taken to Kylo’s torture dungeon, where he then gives away the secret of BB and the USB drive. But not before an entire village is murdered and a Storm Trooper shows the first real bit of emotion outside of Luke seeing his sister for the first time.

The Storm Trooper FN-2187 (John Boyega), in a surprising display of humanity, is given a circumstance that should not bother him. He is thrust into battle, where his friend dies and his comrades then murder an entire unarmed village. Yet he does not fire. He cannot be the robot drone that the First Order wants him to be. There are two awakenings in this film. The first is this Storm Trooper, without whom the entire movie would end with the First Order capturing the BB-8 and blowing up all the galaxies — because blowing up a single planet was just so three decades ago.

The Stormtrooper decides to escape, knowing that he cannot keep up the charade. He is unwilling to go through reprogramming because he wants to live. The only problem is that he needs a pilot for this escape to work. Enter Poe, who is wasting away in the torture dungeon. The Stormtrooper saves him and, together, they escape, leaving lots of banter and a bromance for the ages in their wake — only to crash land back on Jakku. In the fire and flame, FN-2187 is reborn as Finn, and a hero begins his journey. The ship carrying Finn and Poe crashes, and with Poe presumed dead, Finn begins his journey across the desert planet.

The greatest thing the film did with Finn was give him a mixture of fear, doubt, and sass. They allowed him to be running, to be terrified of the First Order, to lie just so he could escape Jakku and get as far from his old ship as possible. He’s not perfect, nor does he want to be a hero, but he cares. His heart shines through in every scene.

Rey (Daisy Ridley) is a scavenger. She finds parts on old Imperial Cruisers and sells them to a space douche for food and water. It is clear from Rey’s opening scenes that she is a survivor — resourceful, strong, and willing to do whatever she can to stay alive. It is also clear that she is waiting on someone. Even after years of abandonment, she holds out hope that the family who abandoned her on the planet is coming back. Unlike Luke in A New Hope, she does not want to leave her planet for fear she will miss her family when they return for her. She is certain her family is coming back, and she marks the days on the haul of a wrecked AT-AT Walker. She cannot help but do what she can for BB-8, though, refusing to sell him, even though she would receive an enormous amount of food rations. Because despite Rey's reluctance to leave, her heart is full of love and compassion. Being abandoned did not harden her — it made her more willing to see the good in others and to help those who are alone and in need of a friendly face.

In the tiny settlement that Rey has called home, she encounters Finn, whom she immediately chases down and beats up with a stick, because she is all sorts of fierce. The fear on Finn’s face when he sees her chasing him is perfect. In fact, all of Finn’s comedic moments are perfect. They are a highlight of the film. Rey and Finn play off each other very well, exuding a natural chemistry that cannot be taught. They play, they argue, they do both at the same time, and it becomes clear very quickly that Finn imprints on Rey. Moreover, they seem to genuinely care about each other fast. I take this as a reflection of the fact that both have large hearts and a light that cannot be dimmed no matter how much the dark side tries to assert dominance.

The moment that had everyone cheering was when Rey and Finn are in desperate need of a ride off Jakku and stumble upon a garbage ship that turns out to be the Millennium Falcon. It’s even more of a piece of crap than it was when Han owned it, but, like always, it gets the job done –— right up until they are locked down and the ship is pulled into a First Order ship.

All seems lost until Han Solo (a more delightful than ever Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) appear. Han is back to his old ways — smuggling, lying, and cheating, and Chewbacca doesn’t look a day over thirty. (He must moisturize.) Han and Chewbacca kick-start a running field of emotions, nostalgia, and incredibly funny moments. Chewbacca is funnier in this film than he was the previous ones, and he plays off Finn and Han very well.

Together, they decide to try to return BB-8, pure Star Wars cuteness and genius, to the Alliance. They go to pirate Maz Kanata's (Lupita Nyong'o) droid-friendly cantina for her help in getting BB-8 back, and Finn and Rey get more from her than what they were expecting. Finn decides to get on a pirate ship off the planet to the outer rim. It is then that the second awakening of the film happens, this time to Rey. In a cool dream-like sequence, it becomes clear that she has powers outside of the normal. The Force is drawing her to Luke, guiding her steps towards the light side.

Then, in true Star Wars fashion, the temple is attacked and utter chaos ensues. Finn ends up fighting with Luke’s lightsaber — a first for a non-Force user — and Rey is taken captive by Kylo. Finn finds his bravery and determination. He was willing to run when it was only his life on the line, but now it’s Rey’s and he will do whatever he can to get her back. He has someone to fight for.

They go to the Rebel base (where no one seems all that upset about four planets blowing up) and we finally get to see C3PO (Anthony Daniels) and General Leia (Carrie Fisher). Leia is still the boss of all the galaxies, the tension between her and Han is as strong as it ever was, and their history together is fuller and richer, but marked by sorrow.

Also, Poe’s not dead, and he just sort of pops up with a one line explanation of how he’s not dead — shrug emoji implied. This does not in any way keep Poe from being awesome. With General Leia, he comes up with a plan to destroy Death Star 5.0 and has a brotherly bonding moment with Finn when they are reunited.

It is revealed throughout the narrative that Kylo is really Ben Solo, Han and Leia’s son. He was seduced to the dark side by the evil lip-sewing god, Supreme Leader Sudoku... Snoke (Andy Serkis, once again hitting that motion capture). Luke — like the dramatic, responsible adult he is — abandoned the Alliance to Snoke and Kylo after his failure at keeping Kylo from the dark side. Luke then went into hiding. The Alliance is in a tailspin, and Han and Leia are marked by the figurative death of their son.

Hope is not dead, however, because Rey lives. In a great scene that reveals Rey’s power, strength, and is a continuation of her determination to survive, Kylo and Rey have a confrontation in Kylo’s torture dungeon. Kylo starts extracting information from Rey using the Force. He’s peeling away all of her layers.

Until Rey decides to fight back. She is a novice, completely untrained, but she still manages to break through to Kylo’s mind and get to the root of his fear. He wants to be like his grandfather. (He’s doing a really good job of being the whiny youthful version.)

I appreciate that the writers allowed Kylo to have a backstory that is not hidden, to give him moments of humanity and doubt. They kept him from being a faceless monster. This is great in a narrative sense, but it did feel like Kylo was less of a threat than he could have been. What was menacing was that scene. You know the scene. It was the one that plucked out our hearts, set them on fire, and left us gasping for air.

It’s official. Han Solo is dead. He was struck down in Oedipus fashion — the son murdering the father. Kylo’s reasoning was that Han was keeping him tied to the light. And maybe he was right. All I know is that you don’t kill Han Solo without there being a reckoning.

And he gets one in the short term, delivered to him by the very person he thought he could control.

Another great thing about Rey is that she is fully formed in her fighting ability. She does not need the training Luke needed to wield the lightsaber. She fought on the mean streets of Jakku to survive. The fight between her and Kylo is cinematic — pure movie magic — dramatic, full of sorrow and rage, and a culmination of all of Kylo’s evil and Rey’s growing heroism and burgeoning leadership. She manages to use the Force to draw the lightsaber to her instead of Kylo. And then she summarily hands him his pride on a platter. She beats him. She uses the Force to center herself, in a way that the rage-burdened Kylo cannot.

And she wins. It’s unclear if she would have killed him for killing Han — the only father figure who has ever showed her irascible kindness, respect, and pride — because the ground splits open and they are separated. Chewie rescues Rey and an injured Finn from the Death Star 5.0 and they return to the alliance as heroes, weighted with their friend’s death and determined to find Luke once for all.

Then, miraculously, the droid we’ve all been looking for wakes from his droid nap and the map to Luke is revealed. R2D2, BB-8, and C3PO have a scene together and it is magic. I know they have offshoots planned, but I would take a movie of C3PO getting offended and exasperated by BB-8’s and R2D2’s continued insults and misadventures. Hear me, J.J., for I have spoken.

Rey leaves the Alliance, promising Finn she’ll see him again, and goes off to a planet she has dreamed about more than once in order to find Luke. The movie ends with the woman who managed to do everything by herself — to be resourceful and a loner throughout her life — reaching her hand out to Luke. She offers him the lightsaber that was the source of her awakening; she reaches out her hand in acknowledgement of who she is and who she is becoming. She silently askes Luke for help and Luke hesitates, his failure with Kylo on his face.

The Force Awakens had great moments — the humor was always spot-on, the sound and practical effects blew my mind, the pacing by J.J. Abrams was solid, and though the writing felt as if it had too much attention to the past, creating scenes that had already been done, everything kept moving forward in a way that did not feel tiresome or boring. It left this Star Wars fan feeling giddy and eager for the next installment.

Stray Thoughts

• Rey is the hero we all deserve. (Chelsea is planning her proposal to Daisy Ridley at this very moment.)
• Finn trying to go to Rey’s aid when first he sees her, only for her to kick butt and then look at him like she wants to do the same and he takes off running? That is a first for any film I’ve ever seen, and it was perfect.
• Finn’s humanity in the wake of complete evil is AWESOME.
• Finn and Poe's cute escape and banter though.
• Chewbacca being completely unimpressed with Han Solo being a war hero is the best.
• There was more attention paid to making the characters feel real and their worlds lived-in.
• The humor was also very real and very important to the narrative, breaking up the drama in a way that made everything so much better. This film is practically half comedy.
• When Kylo is temper tantrum-ing and the Stormtroopers back away slowly in a total, “Nope,” moment I laughed. I knew it was coming and I still loved it.
• “Why do you keep doing that? Gesturing with your chin? What is that?”
• Rey rescuing herself and being the entire reason everything gets done is what I’m here for.
• “You’re cold?”
• Rey and Finn bickering, pushing on each other, being scared together, and Finn taking Rey’s hand and her being irritated by it and shouting at him. I hope the hand thing turns into a running gag, because it is super cute.
• That fight scene was perfection and I will defend it to the end.
• BB-8 and R2D2 are the droids we deserve to be honest.
• Luke’s beard must stay floofy by the power of the Force, because I didn’t see a shower on that secret island.

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Back to Basics With a Worthy Awakening of the Force [Contributor: Melanie]

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. 

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

“Rey, these are your first steps...” the voice of Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) whispers to Rey as she lays eyes on a lightsaber once belonging to Anakin Skywalker.

And just like that, I’m sold. Back in the early days of this movie’s development, I was hesitant about what seemed like a continuation of the Star Wars series just for the sake of continuing it. The fear only worsened with the announcement of the title (a little on the nose, no?); the pain of the prequels and everything that went wrong there is still fresh. But J.J. Abrams has managed to bottle exactly what it was that made Star Wars great, above all the politics, battle scenes, and dubious amounts of history — the Force and all it entails.

It stands extremely simplistic, but the mysticism and themes surrounding the concept of the Force is the beating heart of Star Wars. And beyond the fact that I am over the moon at finally seeing a female Jedi take center stage on the big screen (and the amount of female extras as pilots, Storm Troopers, soldiers, etc., throughout the movie), I’m incredibly moved once again by the Force, its heroes, and its villains. While past iterations showcasing this universe complicated the Force, and gave it strict rules, this film sets it free and allows the characters to interact with the mysticism and the destiny without stricture.

THERE IS ONLY LIGHT AND DARK

First things first: this film reiterates what the conflict between the Jedi and Sith sought to dictate — in the world, as in the Force, there is not right and wrong or good and evil; there is only light and dark. What we see in this film is use of the Force and the skills that go with it born out of emotions: Rey’s desire to protect her friends and Kylo Ren’s anger are what shape their abilities and their choices. There is no cackling emperor in a black cloak toasting the Sith’s rule of the galaxy and telling Vader how evil he’ll become. In fact, the dichotomy of the Jedi and Sith is brushed away by some quick lines about how they are simply one face of a more ancient struggle. Furthermore, Ren is explicitly stated to be conflicted, begging his shrine to Vader for guidance and admitting to his father how “torn apart” he feels by the pull from both Snoke and his family.

And that is a million times better to watch than men in light robes yelling at men in dark robes about good and evil. Not to mention, the ridiculous rules of the Jedi Order the prequels set up about monastic lives and incredibly control of oneself are — thankfully — nowhere to be seen. It was an attempt to expand its scope and make the Jedi more accessible, but it (along with the stupid midichlorians dialogue) takes away from the magic that audience feels when confronted with the mysterious will of the Force. And here, there are no rules or guidelines, only feelings and reactions as Rey tests her powers and, in what is possibly my new favorite scene the entire franchise, fights Ren as they both attempt to summon Anakin’s lightsaber before it ultimately chooses her.

"AND THAT'S ALL YOU NEED. NO PROPHECIES OR 'YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE' NONSENSE TO JUSTIFY WHY [REY] IS SO IMPORTANT. JUST THE WILL OF THE FORCE BECKONING HER AS IT DID TO LUKE."

Which brings me to my next point: the “chosen one” mumbo jumbo (to borrow Han’s words). In the prequels, we’re informed of a rather explicit prophecy surrounding Anakin and his destiny to “restore balance to the Force.” Now, that bit wasn’t all bad because, like with this film, it wasn’t clear-cut and Anakin was the reason the Force had to be brought back into balance to begin with. And balance is such an ambiguous term in the world of black and white morality that I’m willing to get behind it. But again, too much explaining and not enough happening.

In the middle of the movie, we see Rey beckoned down to a chest that contains the lightsaber cut from Luke’s hand and built by his father. When she touches it, she sees flashes of the future and the past, and Maz Kanata tells her the lightsaber is now “calling” to her. And of course, there’s that scene where she and Ren battle for control of the lightsaber before it falls to her and an amazing saber duel begins. And that’s all you need. No prophecies or “you were the chosen one” nonsense to justify why this character is important. Just the will of the Force beckoning to her as it did to Luke.

But not quite like Luke.

Another point that’s interesting to note — as of right now, Rey has no affiliation with the Skywalker family. Though it could easily be revealed in the next two films that she is Luke’s child (she does look an awful lot like Natalie Portman), and the mystery of her vanishing family does kind of linger in the brain, for now she is simply a lonely orphan girl who’s been chosen by the Force. And that’s pretty rad. It gives Rey agency in her own destiny that previous iterations of heroes did not have. Anakin’s entire existence was engineered by the Force and Luke’s pull into the conflict was the result of his overt parentage.

Rey, currently, has no such ties, which has a twofold purpose: first, it creates a situation where her importance seems elevated as being an outsider to the traditionally Force-dominant family, and two, it creates a more dangerous enemy in Kylo Ren, who finds himself extremely jealous of and angry at the prospect of his own grandfather’s lightsaber choosing her over him. As I said, she could be revealed to be Luke’s daughter in the future, considering the final shot of the film is the two standing face-to-face, with Anakin’s lightsaber between them as “The Light of the Force” theme swells. But even then, with one entire movie of Rey Insert-Last-Name-Here coming into the Force of her own decision is an incredibly strong choice.

In the realm of looser parameters, Rey’s story itself also flows a bit more freely than Luke’s and Anakin’s had. The Skywalkers’ stories were dictated in a writer’s room by the points of the "hero’s journey" pattern of narrative and Joseph Campbell’s excessive guidelines for what constitutes it. And while I will admit I am still obsessed with uses of the hero’s journey, I can see here why it feels antiquated and constraining.

"AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES [REY'S] JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF THE JEDI EVEN MORE OF A STEP UP — SHE IS SIMPLY REACTING TO THE WORLD AROUND HER AND DENYING DESTINY."

Rey, like all characters, does follow these specific moments defined in the narrative's parameters (The Call, the Refusal of the Call, etc.) but it’s not as clearly outlined and all about reaction. And that’s what makes her journey into the world of the Jedi even more of a step up — she is simply reacting to the world around her and denying destiny.

Where Anakin and Luke were seeking the Jedi-ordained training in the ways of the Force, Rey is trying to keep herself and her friends alive and fearful of the possibility that she's more important than she realized. When Ren attempts to probe her mind for information, she protects herself by not only blocking him out, but pushing back and realizing what Maz told her was true: the light has always been there and "will guide (her)." She begins testing the powers in practicality as she makes her escape, not through exercises and tests (though I’m sure those are coming now that she has begun training with Luke).

It all adds up to creating something natural — in a hero whose struggle is infused with humanity.

This isn't a film review, so I won't go into minor pitfalls of the film (I'll leave that up to Lynnie). But just know that even through some clunky moments, the true soul of Star Wars shines through in the best possible character. Rey is truly a character worthy of awakening the Force and continuing the franchise in a valid, meaningful way.

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