“I’m never online to start a fight,” Max Landis recently told The New York Times, though he does concede that he behaves like an unhinged fanboy on social media, acting “in the same way that I used to in the back of the comic book store — very quickly without thinking about it.” And it’s that penchant of operating without a filter that led him into controversial waters last year, when he declared that Rey was a Mary Sue in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” That phrase, which describes a female character who is idealized and only succeeds because of the will of the author, and the criticism by Landis, sparked plenty of outrage. And now that the dust has settled a bit, Daisy Ridley sharing her thoughts on the matter.
“The Mary Sue thing, I was just confused by… The Mary Sue thing I just didn’t get, because it wasn’t true. But for the most part whenever anyone is mean — and I’m not saying whenever anyone has genuine criticism about something, but when anyone’s being mean — it’s irrational and it doesn’t make sense,” she told Happy Sad Confused podcast.
“The Mary Sue thing in itself is sexist. Because it’s a name of a woman. And everyone was saying that Luke had the exact same thing. I think Rey is incredibly vulnerable, and nothing she’s doing is for the greater good. She’s just doing what she thinks is the right thing. And she doesn’t want to do some of it, but she feels compelled to do it,” she added.
Essentially, Ridley argues that there’s more nuance to Rey than just being a vehicle for the heroic achievements that J.J. Abrams needed for the narrative, and I’m inclined to agree. Listen to the full talk with Ridley, and let us know what you think in the comments section. [via Yahoo]