Star Wars Character Review: Rey

The new group of characters I will be discussing is…. the new characters from the Star Wars franchise. 

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the new characters that were introduced to audiences for the episodes seven and eight in the Star Wars franchise. Read at your own risk if you have not seen The Force Awakens Or The Last Jedi.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

In this series of weekly blog posts, I will examine character using the characters from Star Wars to explore how writers can create fully dimensional, human characters that audiences and readers can relate to.

If we are lucky, we are raised in a loving family by parents who do everything in their power to ensure that we grow up to be successful and happy adults. But that is not always the case. In episode seven of Star Wars, entitled The Force Awakens, the audience is introduced to a new heroine, Rey (Daisy Ridley). Rey is a woman alone, living as best she can on the desert planet of Jakku. Her parentage is unknown. She is a scavenger, who earns her bread by selling whatever she can scavenge. The fate introduced her to Finn (John Boyega) and BB-8 and she discovers that not only does have to makeshift family but she also is very strong in the force.

While training with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), in episode eight, otherwise known as The Last Jedi, Rey must not only learn what it is to become a Jedi, but also confront her past and her relationship (if you want to call it that) with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

To sum it up: Family is not always blood. For some, the lack of blood relations creates an emotional hole that is never truly filled. But for others, they find within themselves the ability to create a family.  While the fact remains that her parents are still a mystery, Rey not only finds a family within the members of the rebellion, but also finds a father figure/mentor in Luke. Family is sometimes not born, it is made. The question is, can a character built a family or will they always mourn the loss of the blood relations they have never known?

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Throwback Thursday: Airplane! (1980)

Disaster movies are sometimes taken a little seriously.

That is why movies like Airplane! (1980) exist.

Ted Striker (Robert Hays) and Elaine Dickinson (Julie Hagerty) broke up a long time ago. But that doesn’t mean that Ted has moved on from his ex.  In a last-ditch effort to rebuild his relationship with Elaine, Ted is conveniently flying on a specific flight where Elaine is working as a flight attendant. Somewhere on route, everyone gets food poisoning. That is with the exception of Ted, Elaine and Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen).  Can Ted fly the plane and land it safely at its final destination or is the flight (and her passengers by extension) doomed?

This one of the funniest movies of all time for a reason. Not only is the screenplay is quotable, but the filmmakers took every narrative they could satire and still were able to create an entertaining story.

I absolutely recommend it.