Rey has been all that anyone's been talking about since she first debuted in the trailer for The Force Awakens over 4 years ago. She has been the topic of numerous debates, and some fandom controversy. People either absolutely love her, or think she's the worst thing to ever happen to Star Wars. What is the cause of this contention?
First, we have to look at the dynamic fundamental differences between the hero's journey and the heroine's journey. Any student of Joseph Campbell, or film, fiction and myth in general, is very aware of the hero's journey, and this is the storytelling device that most viewers are subconsciously accustomed to seeing. The basic plot is this: you take an everyday person and drop something into their lives that puts them in the middle of this huge story. At first, the hero tries to avoid getting involved, but they meet a mentor who helps them along. There's conflict, tests, and they build up a network of other heroes as allies and meet their villains. They may have some personal breakthrough, and then face off against their villain, succeed and claim their prize at the end. Most of the heroes journey is accomplished outside of themselves, with outside trials, tribulations, and rewards.
The heroine's journey (as written by Maureen Murdoch) is much more internalized and emotional. It can and does incorporate many aspects of the hero's journey, but there are some important differences. The heroine often starts at a disadvantage, but feels an intrinsic drive to be a part of something - the yearning that she is meant for more, or that she doesn't belong where she is. While she also gains allies, her mentor role, instead of being a helpful force, is often manipulative and tries to trick her, or in some way inhibits her progress. While she faces trials and overcomes them, her journey continues on past this point (the point at which the heroes journey generally ends). The heroines success is not long-lasting and the heroine feels despair with their new way of life (a way of life that is masculine-based and a cardboard cutout of the hero's journey) and have a great internal conflict. It is not what she wants. She tries to go back to her previous way of life (the feminine) but cannot. Eventually she is able to incorporate some of her previous qualities, skills, and values into her new life, and she views these from her new mixed masculine and feminine perspective. This dualism allows the heroine to ascend past the "happy ending" point that most hero's stories end at. It is important to note that a man can undergo a heroine's journey and vice versa, but generally the gender is as the title suggests.
Rey is the penultimate example of the heroine's journey. She comes from a desolate, lonely planet, no friends or even acquaintances to be seen. She has been stagnant, just surviving and waiting for years. She has no training, no experience with the outside world - or with human contact in general. She says numerous times that she isn't a part of this story, yet when she clearly has a higher calling, as shown by the legacy lightsaber that calls to her. She clearly feels her calling and she does need it - but is being held back by her love for the family who abandoned her. Most people would view Han as her mentor in the first film, but in actuality, Kylo Ren fits this role. Remember, the heroine's mentor is not the stereotypical wise wizard - hers is damaged and backwards. Han is fairly apathetic in The Force Awakens - he's been burned too many times to allow himself to open up completely, and he is struggling with his own internal issues and familial struggles to be much of a teacher to her. Kylo, on the other hand, immediately attempts to take on a mentorship role over Rey. He recognizes her power before anyone else does, he offers to train her and teach her the ways of the force multiple times, and it is their struggle of the minds during her interrogation that actually helps her to unlock her abilities. She achieves this through conflict with her would-be mentor, rather than a nurturing parental type of role which is what audiences are accustomed to seeing. And while the heroes have a small win at the end, with Starkiller base blown up and Kylo scarred and wounded, and
Rey has finally found her Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, this is no victory for Rey. She suffered a major loss. She is not yet ready to accept her place in the story, even after unlocking her abilities.
When her story picks up in The Last Jedi, she is greeted by what the audience is to assume is her "real" mentor, Luke. But he wants nothing to do with her. His teaching days are over, he reveals. He has failed at being a mentor and will not subject her to that failure. At this point, Rey is still searching for someone else to be the hero. She doesn't want to be one. She wants to find someone else to carry on her story for her because she is afraid. She expresses to Luke the internal conflict she feels - and the power inside of her that she doesn't know what to do with. She does learn many things about herself during her training, but much of it is from self- exploration rather than from Luke. She does this, at first, by trying to go backwards - she tries to find out more about her past and her family. She wants to be reunited with them, which is exactly what she wanted at the beginning of the last film. When she sees her own face staring back at her in the mirror, she realizes she only has herself. When she feels this loneliness, she reaches out to the only person who can understand that feeling - Kylo Ren. They bond at this point - because they are at the same place in their respective journeys. They face a new trial together, side-by-side, and Kylo assumes an ally role. When he tries to act as a mentor to her again, she refuses. She knows she is now past this point. He does help her with one last breakthrough before the end of the film, though - he helps her finally admit to herself that she cannot go back. She cannot become a child again and be with her family, because that idea of family that she has been clinging to for years does not exist.
In The Rise of Skywalker, we see Rey complete her journey by incorporating the good and healthy aspects of her past, with the power and knowledge she has gained throughout her recent experiences, as portrayed by her taking on the family name of Skywalker. She heals Ben, bringing him to the light as she finally accepts both the masculine and feminine, the dark and the light impulses, of herself and of the dyad, to become whole.
This journey is not one that audiences are used to seeing. This internalized conflict and feminine gaze is much more complex than the usual "hero fights the bad guy, wins, and lives happily ever after". It makes sense that many fans would not be able to see the story for what it is, because they're not used to this story structure and cannot recognize it. It makes sense that they may not be able to personally identify with Rey's personal struggle with finding herself, and not only her place in the galaxy, but her place within her own psyche. But Rey is the most human character the audience could have. Her struggles may not be due to a grandiose battle in the stars, but inside herself, and this struggle is just as important.
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