Why do you like the character Rey?

"Dude, get over it. its just a movie."

I hate this expression. If you think it is just a movie then why come waste time discussing it. This is supposed to be a critical analysis. what do you want a discussion board where we all just pat each others backs for liking the same stuff?

"People liked Rey because they like her."

Great reasoning skills there. about sums up what I suspect about Rey fan's, they didn't even think about anything when watching the film.

"she was charming, charismatic and was a fresh face to lead Star Wars."

See my #1. you are falsely attributing the actress's characteristics to the character. My assumption is you like Daisy in the interviews so you already decided you would like the character and did not allow yourself to see anything different.

" Do we give her a little extra love because she is a girl? yeah, probably."

Well at least you kind of admit your bias. That is more than most.

"people today like diversity in films so it was refreshing to have a female lead in star wars for a change."

First all Leia was considered a lead and female action heroines have been around since the late 70's. this is not new. How disney got away with pretending like they are the first ones to have a female action lead I'll never know. 2nd how did pandering to modern 'diversity' help the writing of the character? just because she is a girl does not mean she is well written by default.

"Only sexist like you ...?"

ah here we go again with the false accusations of sexism. don't you Rey apologist have anything else to offer? Explain something to me you moronic asshole, how am I sexist when Rey is the only female character I have ever crticized like this but have done so for multiple male characters? including Dominic Torrito(Fast and furious), superman, Most Tom Cruz characters, and even young Anakin. All were crappy characters that are close to being Sue's, none of them were as bad as Rey though, whom is the worst offender I have seen.

"Better question: Why do you keep harping on Rey and questioning others' opinions on her after most likely an entire LIFETIME of giving a pass to similarly competent male characters?"

Ah yes deflect instead of trying to answer. I am not questioning others' opinions I am asking the reason for their opinion. No one including you now has given me a good answer on why they like the character. And not true on the male character false accusation. I was extremely critical of Dom torrito in the fast and Furious films for years; but Rey is far worse as far as I can see. so want to remove that false accusation of sexism you just tried suggesting?

"She and Poe are VERY similar: Both competent and confident, both were paired with Finn and had to show Finn the ropes as well as put up with his panic, both were at one point captured by Kylo, and both escaped."

BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POE AND REY. Very simple POE WAS GIVEN THE BACKGROUND of the BEST PILOT in the resistance. and ALL HE DOES IS FLY GOOD IN THE FILM. This is in no way comparable to Rey's complete lack of background combined with hyper competence in every field she applies in every instance of the film. I mean honestly they are in no way similar outside the 2 similarities you point out. This is like me saying Kylo and Rey are very similar because they both use the force and both have scenes with Han.

"Sounds like Poe is a Marty Stu you should be complaining about.... Yet I only hear crickets.'

I didn't like Poe either. His piloting skills were comical they were so overblown. But the film did not give him the spotlight stealing attention they gave Rey. Poe doesn't use the jedi mind trick a few hours after learning the force was real; Poe doesn't one on one saber duel Kylo Ren and win; Poe doesn't stunt pilot the falcoln 2 seconds after not being able to take off in it (which this is really Poe that should have been flying the falcoln); Poe doesn't repair the falcoln faster than Han or R2 ever did.

"Because she was the focus of a renewed sense of wonder about the mysteries of the force. "

This makes sense. It is easy to like a character when you only care about the sense of wonder you feel at the cinema. For people like me that is not enough. We need story building and character development to be invested. This is why i do not like the transformer movies because they are all about the spectacle and they do not really care about story.

"Her faults and her virtues were both relateable and appealing."

What faults? honestly how to find a character that overcomes all challenges immediately and without difficulty relateable? either you are a crazy capable person that should be president of the world or you just had you wish fulfillment satisfied by the character. I am going with the later.

"Plus her origin and her destiny are enigmas ripe for expanding on in the next two movies, at least."

We know nothing about her origin. This is why there are dozens of theories all with 'evidence' of her origin. We only know she is with Luke that really does not tell us her destiny. Some, like me, hope her hyper competence with the force leads her to megalomania and she becomes evil. I really think this is the only interesting route they can take with her. But the 'pc' feminist agenda they seem to be pushing tells me there is no way that would happen.

"Because I'm not baggaged with an agenda or feel the need to promote a counter-agenda, I can have an authentic experience while watching Rey and her new friend's trials and exploits."

I do not have baggage about it, I went in with nothing. No expectations. I walked away from probably the big budget film I have ever seen with arguably the worst character lead I have ever seen. the only agenda I have is pushing for competent story telling. It is you Rey defenders that seem to have an agenda and serious PT baggage.

"Dude...does it matter. You have been discussing this for two years????"

That wouldn't matter if it was the only or last film in the series. This is in the middle of the series that is still on going. The next film is coming out soon, so discussion of the previous film is fully appropriate. Why wouldn't it be.

"We have had huge female leads the last 20 years. It basically started with Sarah Michelle Gellar in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Which was an awesome show."

Umm female action leads have been around longer than Buffy. Ever hear of Sarah Connor or Ripley. Also the criticism wasn't about a female action lead, it was about the action lead being poorly written or developed (seemingly as a result of pandering to feminist ideology).

"Rey is no different than Luke"

considering Luke nearly loses at nearly everything he does and all of his victories are immediatly followed by defeats, I would say they are as nearly different as can be imagined.

"She has an inborn ability for the force."

That breaks continuity with the previous films. Force abilities were never inborn, individuals that were force sensitive had the potential to learn abilities but the sensitivity never amounted to more than reflexes and intuition. Those are not comparable to mind trick and force pull which required years of training.

" Luke had like 5 minutes of training on the falcon and like maybe a week with Yoda "

That is 5 minutes and one week more than Rey received. Also I think we can safely assume Luke was still practicing/self training between ANH and ESB.

"yet by Rotj he is wearing all black and acting like a wise old Jedi at Jabbas. "

And still nearly gets them all killed, trapped by the rancor and shot in the hand. Also he was helped by R2, Chewie, Leia and Lando.

"Also if you actually paid attention to Force Awakens Rey most likely had some training as a child"

Maybe. It is not conclusive.

out of space. too bad I could keep going.