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I've always loved Luke Skywalker. The Hero. The Good Guy. I realize that might not be ~ cool ~ to admit now, but I can’t help myself. Even as a 9-year-old girl, I had a thing for sweet, innocent cinnamon rolls — fictional characters who are too good for this world, too pure.*
And that’s essentially who Luke was in A New Hope. He’s The Chosen One, the young everyman who gets caught up in a hero’s journey. I loved Luke Skywalker because I wanted to be Luke Skywalker. I saw myself in him; I wanted to go on a fantastical hero’s journey. I wanted to pilot an X-wing Starfighter. More than anything, I wanted to be the hero.
Imagine an Alien sequel starring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley and Daisy Ridley as her daughter, Amanda Ripley. Could that work?
Since rumour broke of Olivia Wilde directing a “secret” Spider-Woman movie for Marvel, fans have been campaigning for Daisy Ridley.
At one point George Lucas planned for Rey to be named Winkie, according to a new official book of Star Wars facts.
She'd definitely make a great Lara Croft at that.
Daisy Ridley seems to be a fine actress, but I actually found her character rather dull. A lot of it has to do with the fact that all of the new cast are hampered by a script that caters more to nostalgia than actually developing it's own characters, but she didn't seem to experience any growth during the movie. A shame, because I thought the first thirty minutes involving her storyline were borderline great, but the movie goes downhill from there and never quite recovers.
I almost feel like it is a disservice to women. Yeah, it's great that you cast a female in the lead of what is one of the largest blockbusters of the day, but how about actually making that character dynamic? How about showing that it is ok for women to have flaws too? You don't get off that easy.
At the end of the day that is what really makes for an interesting character, and god knows Luke had plenty of flaws he had to overcome in A New Hope. Rey is pretty much your stock hero and she isn't given much of a personality. I'm sure they will rectify this in the upcoming films, but a lackluster script is no excuse.