Star Wars: The Force Awakens - 10 Moments Everyone Misunderstands

2. Rey Is Not A 'Mary Sue'

A Mary Sue is a female character type, introduced into a series, who comes from a lowly or unusual background and is essentially perfect at everything no matter how unlikely it seems. It spins from fan-fiction, in particular serving as an author's avatar within the story, but is now used as a criticism in fiction in general of any female protagonist who appears to be perfect (and, of course, it's typically women who receive this criticism, not men - that would be the lesser used Gary or Marty Stu).

Anyway, the reason I'm rambling about Mary Sues is that Rey has, since The Force Awakens came out, been extensively accused of being one (most notably by Max Landis, writer of Chronicle). Oh, she can fight with her staff. Oh, she knows how to pilot the Falcon. Oh, she can withstand Kylo Ren's mind tricks, and use some of her own. Oh, she totally kicks ass with a lightsaber in her hand. Oh, this is bulls**t.

Firstly, this is just one film of a planned trilogy, which will see Rey's character develop even more. She'll have ups and downs - not everything will be a success - and we'll get to see different character traits and/or flaws. Secondly, the majority of that stuff comes from a logical, narrative place; she was abandoned on Jakku from a young age and had to learn how to fight and scavenge in order to survive, while (given she has a fighter pilot's helmet in the place she calls home) obviously harbouring dreams of piloting a ship and escaping that planet.

As for her ability to withstand Kylo, use mind tricks, and wield a lightsaber (against a Kylo hampered by his injuries, no less), all that does is show a natural connection to the Force, but one that still needs a lot of training and refinement, as we see with Anakin and Luke when they're younger, more raw Force-users. To misquote Han, that IS how the Force works.