The Ace is Strong With This One - An Asexual Analysis of Rey from Star Wars
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| Image: May the 4th be with you! I'm a little early for Star Wars day, but today's post is all about Rey, the protagonist of the most recent trilogy of Star Wars films, and a character who gives me definite aspec vibes. |
Watching Star Wars for the first time was made
possible by the original movies being shown on TV that year, which offered a
nice break from summer doldrums. I even enjoyed the prequels, extending the
enjoyable experience by walking to my local Blockbuster (yes, that’s right, I
said Blockbuster) to rent the DVDs and thus continue my journey through the
galaxy far, far away. Because they were an enjoyable summer activity for me
rather than something that colored my childhood and thus my nostalgia, I’m
definitely a casual Star Wars fan. As such, the new trilogy of movies
made by Disney affects me more from the Disney point of view than it does the Star
Wars point of view. And, although I can completely understand why many
die-hard fans of the franchise dislike these new films, I had no problems with
the first two (full disclosure, I have not seen the last one in the new
trilogy, as this post will probably make clear). In fact, I ended up immensely
enjoying the new heroes of Finn, Poe, and especially Rey, the young Force-sensitive
scavenger from Jakku who goes on to great things.
In my opinion, Rey is an amazing character, one of strength
and emotion, a hero we can root for and a young woman for whom all types of
people can feel great sympathy. She’s resourceful, determined, but not jaded –
in fact, despite the difficult and downright tragic circumstances in her life,
she maintains her optimism. She’s many of the things I admire in both
characters and in real people, and many things that I want to attain in my own
life. There is one other notable thing about Rey that adds to my love for the
character: she has many aspec-friendly vibes and parallels in her story. And
so, although I am posting this a few days before May 4th’s Star Wars
day, it nevertheless felt like a fitting time to examine Rey from an aspec
perspective and highlight the ways her struggle to find herself feels relevant
to my own.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
“Rey from
Nowhere” – Rey’s Awakening
As I said in my intro, I know there are quite a few problems
with the new trilogy, and I know many fans would be more qualified to talk
about those problems than I am (I have watched amazing reviews and long-form
analysis about those very things). That is why I don’t want to focus too
greatly on these problems – except in a few instances where they relate to Rey –
but rather I want to talk about Rey herself as a character and the journey she
goes through. Although Rey’s origins are eventually revealed in the final movie
of the trilogy, when we first meet her, Rey is simply a scavenger who was abandoned
on the desert planet Jakku as a child.
Because I am woefully lacking in Star Wars knowledge apart
from what I’ve seen in the films, I turned to sources like Wookieepedia, the Star
Wars specific wiki, for additional information on Rey’s origins. What I
discovered makes me like her even more – stories of her determination to
survive even in the worst conditions. Even in the first film, I think those
moments are made clear as she finds ways to not only survive, but even thrive.
Something that immediately drew me to the character of Rey was watching her find
moments of joy even amid the worst circumstances – a quality which I often find
in short supply in myself. One of my favorite scenes in The Force Awakens
has nothing to do with flashy space battles or Force lore, but it’s the moment
when she arrives on the planet Takodana and, seeing verdant hills for the first
time in her life, emotionally declares “I didn’t know there was this much green
in the whole galaxy.”
Essentially, in my eyes, Rey is a dreamer. Saying that word tends
to conjure up images of dazed, starry-eyed people rather than heroes like Rey
eventually becomes, but I think it fits her, and I think in Rey we see what a
dreamer truly can be. She is someone who hopes that her tomorrows will be
better than her todays, even while finding value in what she can. Somehow, Rey
manages to make her harsh life on an even harsher planet have meaning, while at
the same time not settling for it. Heck, I think even her musical theme (scored
by the brilliant John Williams) conveys this sense, and shows us the beautiful
optimism and greater sense of purpose that lurk within Rey’s character.
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| Image caption: Another one of my favorite Rey moments is when she is sitting in her makeshift home in Jakku and puts on this old helmet, as if embracing childhood wonder and dreams of being in space. I think it says so much about her and what makes her character special. |
That makes the course of Rey’s journey all the more meaningful to me. The circumstances of her life are terrifying, but what I find extraordinary is that she is more scared to face the truth about herself, the circumstances of her life, and who she truly is. I am drawn to stories about people who have to adapt to their circumstances, who have to learn to live within a world that otherwise seems hostile. Rey’s story follows that path, whether it’s her having to adapt to life alone on Jakku as a child, or having to adapt to and accept the Force in her adulthood. Unfortunately, although the later movies and certain plot points drop the ball on this in my opinion (in ways I will be talking about later in the post), I really appreciate that the set-up shows this to us through a character who is alone. Indeed, Rey sometimes struggles with loneliness, but not just because she’s by herself; rather because she feels no one can truly understand her or what she’s going through. Some of the most emotional moments for Rey come when she realizes that even her newfound friends or mentors can’t understand the path she walks, or when she realizes that not all the answers to the question of who she is can be uncovered through learning more about the Force.
As I myself have noted on this blog, I found myself thinking
I would be able to answer all my questions about myself when I embraced my
aspec identity, only to find that I had new challenges and questions that I had
to ponder. This has been an ongoing process in my life, and even to this day I
am still working through things, processing emotions, and discovering new
elements of my personality I never knew existed. And, like Rey, I have low
points. It is remarkable watching a character like Rey, who is so rich in hope,
also have persistent doubts. Rey feels like she is walking her path alone a lot
of the time, and so do I. And so in a way, watching Rey struggle with the same
emotions I often face helped me feel less alone. I don’t have a connection to
the life energy that exists between everything, and I don’t have the same sense
of power, duty, and destiny that she carries; but I do have a commitment to
embracing my true self, even the elements of my identity I thought I had to
change, and watching Rey do that gives me strength to do likewise.
Rey the Jedi – Rey’s
Lessons in Accepting Herself
If there is one theme that hits home for me time and time
again, it’s the theme of trying to figure out who you are, how you relate to
the world, and what your own sense of self looks like. Rey embodies that theme perfectly,
and for me – a young AroAce woman who is often confused about my place in the
world, who I am, and what I’m supposed to be – watching a largely non-sexual,
non-romantic young woman do the same thing is deeply moving. Being a casual fan,
I can’t say I feel the same wave of nostalgia that some people might get from elements
in the trilogy, but I don’t need that to know how good it feels to watch Rey
wield her lightsaber despite the fear or to stare into the abyss that is the
Dark Side and come out stronger for it. But even more satisfying than Rey’s determination and strength paying off in the end is the fact that the true thing she uncovers about herself is who she is – not just
in terms of where she comes from and who her family is, but who she herself is
on a deeply personal level.
Like many people, I was firmly convinced that Rey was Luke
Skywalker’s daughter and was surprised by the revelation that she wasn’t. And,
although there is still part of me that believes this would have been a perfect
origin for her character, I actually became very attached to the idea that Rey is
“a nobody” – someone with no ties to the lore, nothing giving her a greater purpose.
I find it disappointing that the last movie reneged on that, but despite the ways
Rey ultimately was linked to the canon through Emperor Palpatine, I still feel
like that theme is relevant. Rey rises above her circumstances, her past, and
her background to make a name for herself of her own accord. She does not allow
herself to be defined by the limitations that others have set on her or the
expectations they have for how her life should go. Her search to discover who
she is leads her to ultimately defining that for herself, which is a very
powerful lesson, and one I feel is extremely important.
I think it’s safe to say that none of us have gone through
anything as hard as Rey’s solitary life on Jakku. I doubt many of us have had as
jarring an experience as Rey does when she learns there’s a power inside of her
she never knew was even real. But I do think that many of us feel, at some
point or another, like we are confused about our sense of selves and we, like Rey,
long for someone who can show us our place and our purpose. Rey’s Jedi training
does that for her physically and mentally, but on an emotional level, only Rey can teach herself to come to terms with elements of the
past that can't change, things in the future she can never have, and
who she has to be in the present to be the truest and most authentic version of
herself. For those of us on the asexual and/or aromantic spectrums, I feel that
is a lesson that is even more pronounced.
In my last post, I discussed a little bit about what it
feels like to realize the world is not meant for you. In Rey’s case, she has to
learn to find the world that was meant for her – the world of the Force –
rather than the things that are right in front of her. That is a difficult journey, and she struggles more often than not. But through her study of the Force, she
comes to discover that nothing is impossible. I’ve heard fans and critics alike
note that Rey is extremely overpowered by the end of the trilogy, and while that
may be true, I don’t care about Rey’s intense Force powers nearly as much as I
care about the ultimate power she unlocks within herself: the ability to
determine her own fate and her own place in the world.
But for as much as Rey carves out her own niche for herself
and finds peace with her place in the balance of things, she as a character is
still at the mercy of her writers. To me, it is such a shame that Rey is
allowed to define her own sense of self and what her legacy is, but that the
writers don’t let her do that when it comes to certain elements of her
relationships with other characters. While some of her relationships are
formative and excellent, others feel like instances of the writers (or even
certain elements of the fandom) deciding they know what’s best for Rey – which,
in my opinion, goes against everything she stands for as a character and
everything her story tries to convey, while also being incredibly cringe-worthy
from an aspec perspective. But of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen
this for characters like Rey.
“Rey Skywalker”
– Rey’s Relationships
I mentioned before that Rey’s optimism and hopefulness make
her unique, and I think that becomes even more pronounced when you consider the
relationships she forms throughout the trilogy. Rey’s life hasn’t just been
spent alone; as far as she knows, she was abandoned, and more than that, she
has spent her life being used by people and having to hold her own against those
who would far sooner con her than aid her. But this doesn’t dim her spirit or
diminish her desire to be a good person. It would have been very easy for the
series to make Rey a hardened individual, one who roundly rejects other people
and their friendships, or who is hostile and suspicious of everyone. But,
although she has a few moments where she resists the sudden arrival of
strangers in her life, she mostly comes to embrace these people with the same sense
of bright optimism that makes me love her character. This is especially unique
for a character who is largely non-romantic for most of the series, since we
usually see characters with aspec tendencies portrayed as cold and unfriendly
in various types of media.
Rey, on the other hand, has several incredible relationships
throughout the series – her friendship with Finn, her mentor-mentee
relationships with Luke Skywalker and General Leia, even the way she somewhat
views Han Solo as a quasi-father figure. The great thing about these
relationships is that they are by design non-romantic. Most of her
relationships are ones with people who guide her in her Force journey and help
her understand her place in things, and her friendship with Finn does not end
up becoming romantic, despite some initial instances of flirting (such as when
he asks her if she has a boyfriend in The Force Awakens). Rather, she
and Finn value each other deeply as friends and confidants, and the depth of
their friendship is not only one of my favorite relationships in the Star
Wars series, but one of my favorite male/female platonic friendships in
general.
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| Image caption: Rey and Finn embracing in The Last Jedi |
Naturally, however, because fandom is fandom, I tend to find most people are eager to “ship” Rey with either Finn or with her nemesis Kylo Ren. Despite my belief in the greatness of their platonic bond, I can at least see where people would get a romantic slant on Rey and Finn's interactions, or why they would find the two a good match. It’s a shame that people jump to romance right away, and something I have analyzed at length on this blog for the ways it shuts down aspec fans and makes us feel unwelcome or devalued in fandom spaces… but at least I could see it working and being a good, healthy relationship. I cannot say the same thing about Rey and Kylo Ren as a couple, which makes it all the more disappointing that this particular ship is the one that became quasi-canonical, and that this seems to be what most people associate with Rey most predominantly, rather than any of the other things I’ve outlined in this post thus far. It honestly saddens me that most of the things that come up when you search for Rey on YouTube and other social media have to do with Kylo Ren. Not only is it disappointing that such a major and terrific female character always seems to be associated with a male character, but it’s like a lightsaber in the chest (too soon?) knowing that most of these things are also romance related. I’ve talked about these and similar issues before in previous posts such as the “Dangers of Shipping” post, or the “Compulsory Romance” post, in which Rey and Kylo Ren were my very first introductory example, but I feel they bear repeating in more detail.
I am doing my absolute best not to turn this into a
“dragging Kylo Ren for fun” post, although I honestly could. With no disrespect
whatsoever to Adam Driver, Kylo Ren’s actor who does a fantastic job in portraying
him, the character himself set my teeth on edge long before the final
installment pushed him into a brief, shoehorned romantic moment with Rey. I
also don’t want to turn this into a post throwing shade at people who support
the couple, since I believe “ship and let ship” is a good general philosophy.
However, from an AroAce standpoint, I have definite problems with how the
series chose to portray Rey and Kylo Ren, taking them from an adversarial
relationship – one that involves Kylo Ren gaslighting Rey, probing her
thoughts, and mentally torturing her – to one seemingly of romance and noble
sacrifice.
Again, no disrespect to shippers, but in my opinion “Reylo”
as a couple makes no sense – not just because of the elements I just mentioned
(although those are big ones), but also because Rey doesn’t seem to care about
romance at all. Therefore, I am left to conclude that the writers included this
moment for her character simply because they thought they had to, and that
frustrates me. Having Rey be a part of this seemingly “romantic” moment does not
negate the elements I discussed so far, but it does, in my opinion, diminish
them. So many of those elements worked so well precisely because Rey was
non-romantic, and the brilliance of her character comes because hers is a story
that is far more about finding friendships and finding herself than it is about
attaining a romance.
As with previous characters I’ve discussed, such as Star
Trek’s Seven of Nine, I am of course saying these things because I sincerely
wish I could have Rey as a canon asexual character and am incredibly
disappointed by the fact that I can’t. But I also say these things because the
idea of Rey’s arc needing romance is incredibly harmful. Rey’s journey does not
need to be completed through romance of any kind, and especially not one with a
character like Kylo Ren. Rey’s journey to find herself should be something that
she is the only one responsible for. And, due to the
deaths of her mentor figures, it would make perfect sense that that is
exactly what we have. Allowing Rey to explore and embrace the loneliness she
feels and find purpose in the Force, the teachings of the past, and in her own
ability to shape her future would be a far more meaningful experience than
resorting to a tired romance-and-redemption plot. But like many good
characters, Rey is unfortunately sacrificed to the Hollywood notion that
personal growth can only come through locking lips.
As far as I am concerned, however, as heart-wrenchingly disappointing
as these moments are, Rey transcends these attempts to pigeonhole her. Despite
these problems, the fact that Rey comes to the end of her journey unattached
and with only her friends at her side rather than a romance is a tiny glimmer
of hope. Despite the romance plot points and fan desires to see Rey paired off,
this conclusion for Rey shows that it is indeed possible to come to the “end”
of your journey having gained yourself rather than a romance. Seeing that is
rare. Seeing that often makes me very emotional. And seeing that is something I
would desperately like to see more of. More friends like Finn, less romances
like Kylo Ren, and definitely more heroes like Rey – people like me who are allowed
to explore themselves and the world around them in meaningful ways.
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| Image description: Rey with the droid BB-8, walking through the sand dunes of Jakku. Why this picture always hits me right in the feels, I will probably never know. |
Rey is not the first character from space I’ve hoped would be ace, and she won’t be the last. As I’ve said many times before, as long as good science fiction stories exist about aliens and spaceships and space magic, I will continue to hope that those stories may one day be friendly to aspec identities. I will never stop loving Rey as a character, and my own principles of stubborn denial will mean that I always cling to the belief that she’s aspec in some capacity. But I do hope that one day I can see a character with as much depth as Rey, someone whose story means as much to me as hers does, that will explicitly be on the asexual and/or aromantic spectrums.
Although my childhood was not seeped in A New Hope, Rey gives me a unique hope, an optimism like she herself maintains on the planet of Jakku. Like Rey, I've had to learn which dreams are impossible, which things I’ve longed for that won’t come true, and what parts of myself are false. But like her, I’ve also discovered what parts are real, and have found my own sources of inner strength and hope. In some ways, I am walking across my own desert or finding myself in my own dark caves. I have friends and mentors on this journey, but most of all, I have myself. Rey encourages all of us to embrace ourselves – the good and the bad, the familiar and the scary – and she teaches me to never stop believing in that better tomorrow. I hope she also teaches future writers of sci-fi and media in general the value of characters who take this journey on their own, and it is my most sincere wish that one day I will see more characters like Rey - in this galaxy, or in one far, far away.
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