Star Wars’ Daisy Ridley Responds to ‘Mary Sue’ Claims About Rey

When Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens hit theaters last winter, fans quickly fell for Daisy Ridley’s Rey. The female lead led fans into an energetic revival of the iconic sci-fi series, and moviegoers were eager to praise Ridley for her work on the film. However, there were those who scoffed at the character for her special gifts with the Force, leading sects of Star Wars fans to label Rey as a ‘Mary Sue’ figure.

But, if you were to ask Ridley about that classification, she would say she just doesn’t get it. That’s what the actress told MTV’s Josh Horowitz during an interview on the network’s podcast “Happy Sad Confused.”

When she was asked about the backlash from the fans, Ridley said nodded to the whole ‘Mary Sue’ debacle, saying, “I was just confused by [it]. I just didn’t get [it].”

“It wasn’t true, but for the most part – when anyone is mean – it’s irrational and it doesn’t make sense,” she continued.

If you are not familiar with the term ‘Mary Sue,’ then you should know the phrase largely originated from readers of fan fictions. They coined the term to describe a female character who is too perfect and often experiences an unrealistic growth in power to become a heroine. In fan fiction, this character is often a self-insert character who fulfills the wishes of readers that want to see themselves in the story.

Over the years, ‘Mary Sue’ has become a popular word within fandom lexicons, but the connotation is never a positive one. Fans have recently started to push back against the word because of its sexist subtext, and Ridley even mentioned the phrase’s unpleasant history.

“The ‘Mary Sue’ thing in and of itself is sexist because it’s a name of a woman. And everyone was saying that Luke had the same [symptoms],” Ridley said.

“I think Rey is incredibly vulnerable, and nothing she is doing is for the greater good. She’s just doing what she thinks is the right thing. She doesn’t want to do some of it, but she is compelled to do it.”

If you don’t see Rey as a vulnerable character, then it might be time you rewatched The Force Awakens. The heroine has all her facades broken down during the emotional climax of the film when Kylo Ren interrogates her using the Force. Director J.J. Abrams praised Ridley’s work in that scene and revealed the actress auditioned for Star Wars through that encounter.

“What we were looking for was someone new. This character needed to be vulnerable and tough, sweet and terrified. And to find someone that no one knew who could do all these things took a lot of looking,” Abrams said. “It wasn’t until we found Daisy that we just felt like she was capable of doing all of these things this character required.

As for those who call Rey a ‘Mary Sue’ figure, they will hopefully have their mind changed when Episode VIII comes out. The movie is slated to reveal more about the heroine’s past (like her parentage) and flesh out Rey as a full-round protagonist.

Star Wars: Episode VIII will debut on December 15, 2017.

[H/T] MTV