8. Rey Must Get Her Happily Ever After
I dunno about y’all, but I’m sick to death of the independent-woman-don’t-need-no-man trope that’s all the rage in Hollywood lately, especially when it goes against what the female character in question actually wants. Yes, Rey can kick anyone’s ass, she is strong with the Force, and she can take care of herself. But that’s only because she’s had no other choice. From the moment we met her in TFA, one thing has been abundantly clear: she’s lonely as hell and just wants a family. How sad, then, that the end of TROS would just have her end up exactly where she began. What an awful message that she should just learn to embrace her isolation. NO. Maz Kanata made it clear in the first movie: “The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead.” She also says, “Whoever you are waiting for on Jakku, they are never coming back. But there is someone who still could…” At the time, Rey (and we the audience) assumed Maz was referring to Luke. But in TLJ, we realized she was actually referring to Ben Solo. The belonging Rey seeks is not with the Resistance – it is with Ben. They are Force-bonded, they are soulmates, they are stronger together. They were able to hold hands from across the Galaxy, for Maker’s sake!!! TLJ director Rian Johnson called Rey and Kylo “two halves of our protagonist”. Together, they will defeat Palpatine once and for all, bring peace and balance to the Force, and continue the “mighty Skywalker bloodline”. If that doesn’t happen, then literally what was the point of any of this?
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. We’ll finally get to see how this all plays out when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theatres on December 20 (though, if you’re like me, you’ll be seeing it on the 19th!).