The Drinker Fixes... Rey

here's an idea wouldn't it be cool if i could make rey into a likeable character [Laughter] yeah i'm gonna have to [ __ ] go some to make this one work but never let it be said that the drinker shies away from a challenge so join me as i apply what's left of my creative skill to the most broken of broken characters in cinema history skywalker [Music] no wait ray palpatine [Music] actually if she was raised by this [ __ ] doesn't that make her re-plot all right enough let's begin the next episode of the drinker fixes as always in order to fix rey's character we need to first understand where the problems lie how much time have you got not much as it turns out so to preserve what's left of my sanity i'm gonna go for the abbreviated version let's begin shall we when we first meet her rey is a junk scavenger eating out a living on the desert planet of jakku she's been separated from her parents for some time and clings to the fading hope that they'll come back for her someday but her life changes when she runs into bb-8 being attacked by some local scavengers so she beats them up and escorts him to the nearest settlements then she gets attacked by more people and beats them up that's when she runs into finn and beats him up then the three of them are forced to flee in the millennium falcon which was conveniently sitting around unguarded and unsecured wow that was lucky wasn't it like there's literally nothing to stop some random [ __ ] walking up and taking off with this thing no security code no biometric scanner no key system not even a [ __ ] padlock anyway whatever then they run into han solo and chewie and after some shenanigans with giant alien testicle meatballs they end up on another planet where they meet the walking exposition machine that is maz kanata maz tells rey that she's wasting her time waiting for her parents and that her future lies elsewhere and ray just automatically believes her like how the hell do you know you're [ __ ] dried up satsuma and how does ray not have any actual memories of her parents anyway i mean she looks to be about eight or nine years old in this flashback so it's not like she was a little baby that doesn't understand what was happening wouldn't she remember who they are what they look like and the circumstances behind their departure i can still remember a [ __ ] ton of stuff from when i was nine years old and i've got alcohol-induced brain damage anyway ray gets sad and runs away and gets captured by kylo ren who takes her to starkiller base for interrogation wait why is he taking her to the super secret death planet thing when he could just as easily interrogate her on one of the thousands of ships in the first order fleet don't they have interrogation cells too oh yeah it's so the rest of the plot can happen [ __ ] off film anyway the others launch a rescue mission to get her back but reyes like nah it'll be fine and then she rescues herself you go girl then han solo walks into a lightsaber and rey has a fight with kylo ren and beats him up then she leaves to teach luke skywalker how to do better and the movie ends i'll take it from here drinker [ __ ] off film couldn't have said it better myself now assessing rey's character is kind of a difficult proposition because she basically doesn't have one see under normal circumstances a protagonist is made up of four basic elements like building blocks one motivation what goal do they want to achieve and why two adversity what challenges do they face along the way three strengths what are they good at where do they excel number four weaknesses what are they bad at what flaws hold them back the first two describe what a character does and why the second two describe who they are as a person i.e how they do things now a well-written character will involve a complex interplay between all four of these elements which is what drives developments this process of developing from who they are at the beginning of the story into who they become by the end is known as a character arc the problem with rey is that she lacks at least two of these foundational elements right off the bat first of all weaknesses she has none when it comes to skills and abilities ray can do basically anything the plot needs her to do in any situation including but not limited to but it's not just their capabilities that are overpowered see even the most likable character will generally start out with a flower too maybe they're overconfident or selfish or naive or uncaring or cowardly or brie larson the point is they usually have something about them that's holding them back in some way a flaw that they have to overcome through struggle personal growth and development but rey doesn't have any flaws so there's nothing to develop she's tough self-reliant confident intelligent and resourceful but conversely she's also kind sociable altruistic generous trusting well adjusted and compassionate she's truly the best of both worlds even when those things contradict each other or make no sense given her personal history the point is that when a character has all the strengths and abilities they could ever need but none of the weaknesses or flaws it makes it very difficult to experience adversity nothing is ever allowed to challenge rey in this trilogy every character she fights she defeats every situation that puts her in danger she overcomes with little difficulty and no help when she gets ambushed she fights her way out of it when she gets captured she rescues herself when she has to confront the antagonist she defeats him every single time when she discovers some shocking information about her lineage she's upset for a few minutes then she's right back to laughing and winning at everything wow i like this now i could speculate more about the creative reasons behind this but i think we all know why she was made this way so we've already established that ray lacks weaknesses and as a result she doesn't experience adversity and ask for strengths well [Music] but what about motivation what does ray really want from her life what's her goal well i guess her general motivation is to be reunited with her parents she's been hanging around jakku for at least a decade waiting for them what the [ __ ] do you think happened to them ray did their watches stop do you really think they'll return after 10 years [ __ ] off film the point here is that her goal is to basically stay right where she is and hope that they come back someday wow how inspiring but she keeps making decisions that conflict with this goal she helps bb-8 she helps finn she joins han solo she gets captured by kylo ren each person she meets carries her further from her home she's not actively pursuing a goal at all she's just being carried along by the plot going where other people take her she's even told at one point that her parents aren't important and she should forget about them then in the second movie she's told again that her parents were nobodies and that they're not important now much as i hate tlj at least the first two films delivered a consistent message then it doesn't matter where you come from what matters is who you choose to be then rise of skywalker shot the bed and decided that lineage was important after all because basically there was nothing else left to work with at that point and as for this moments ray skywalker i don't even know what to say the point i'm making here is that not only does ray lack a consistent motivation to strive towards but her storyline becomes a tug of war between two different writers each with conflicting ideas and creative visions and the result is a [ __ ] mess that makes no sense so there we have it out of the four foundational elements that are required for a character two of them are missing entirely in ray's case and one is so muddled and compromised that it's basically irrelevance and just like a building destroy the foundation and the rest of the structure will quickly fall apart that's the problem with rates so how do we fix it well let's begin with her situation we know that rey's been abandoned by her parents and forced to survive alone most of her life scavenging for junk on a remote planet at the ass end of nowhere no believe it's or not that's actually not a bad setup for your main character it allows you to establish rey as a tough resourceful individual that's used to go in it alone it would make sense that she's able to defend herself when necessary that she has a certain level of technical knowledge and that she's generally used to looking after herself those are good strengths but what about weaknesses what would be the negative aspects of living a life like this well surviving in a harsh and unforgiving environment and having to compete against other people for limited resources would probably mode you into a hard dangerous selfish kind of person one that doesn't trust other people easily doesn't open up to them and is generally used to looking out for number one the sort that might even be willing to screw people over to save their own arse that actually provides us the basis for a strong but realistically flawed character someone who can handle themselves in a tough spot but finds it difficult to trust others and work as part of a group smart and resourceful but selfish and unpredictable and kind of ignorant about the wider world which brings us along to motivation what does this new version of ray actually wants well we know she wants to find her parents again and she probably doesn't want to spend the rest of her life on [ __ ] jakku so let's go with that instead of hanging around hoping that they'll show up again how about trying to find a way off world so that she can search for them maybe she's been slowly saving up enough credit to book passage out of there that makes sense and it gives her a viable goal to work towards so how about this finn and poe escape from the first order just like in the original movie their ship crash lands in the desert but instead of paul mysteriously vanishing for most of the film only to reappear later with the most [ __ ] of [ __ ] excuses this time both of them survived the crash now they have an objective of their own find bb-8 and get the [ __ ] off the planet before the first order catch them meanwhile rey sees their ship crash in the distance and heads out to investigate that's when she intercepts bb-8 and realizes that she can sell him so she pretends to help him so she can get him to the nearest outpost and trade him in for hard cash finn and paul meanwhile are hiking through the desert towards the same outpost having seen it from the air as they crashed and figuring that bb-8 would head there too this would be a good opportunity for a character moment giving us a chance to get to know both men a little better maybe finn could tell us more about how he was conscripted into the first order how they operate and why he defected you can even drop little hints about a top secret super weapon that they've been working on you know foreshadowing and all that port on the other hand could tell us a bit about the state of the galaxy why the republic hasn't done anything to stop the first order until now why leia is leading the resistance to oppose them and generally what the [ __ ] been happening for the past 30 years the kind of world building that this trilogy desperately needs either way both men run into trouble that night when they get ambushed by scavengers resulting in a firefight that forces them to split up finn being a trained fighter and seeing himself as expendable volunteers to hold them off while paul escapes meanwhile rey who's been following their trail hears the sounds of battle nearby she wants nothing to do with it but bb-8 hears paul's voice and rushes straight in forcing her to intervene finn has made a brave stand but the odds are against him he's about to be gunned down when ray shows up and takes out his attackers thus saving his life but instead of helping him she demands to know who he is and what the hell he's doing here when finn spots bb-8 he realizes this is the droid they're looking for but naturally bb-8 doesn't recognize him which causes ray to threaten him it's only when paul shows up that bb-8 reunites with him and the tension eases a little the two men explain that they need to get to the nearest outpost so they can deliver bb-8 to the resistance ray explains that they've been heading in the wrong direction and that only she knows the way without her they'll never find it rey in return wants a ride off the planet and sees them as her way out so they form an uneasy alliance together this way you establish rey as a smart savvy character willing to help others if it benefits her she doesn't really care about the resistance or the war against the first order because she has no experience with any of it and she has very little trust in finn or pull but she believes she can use them to her own advantage anyway they stopped to rest for a while but rey's sleep is plagued by disturbing dreams memories of being abandoned as a child and visions of kylo ren and luke skywalker finn hears her cry out in her sleep and tries to check on her but she wakes up suddenly and holds a blade to his throat warning him to stay back she refuses to say what she saw in her dream but she remains disturbed by it the next morning they make it to the outpost and try to find a ship out of there only to run into the first order who tried to capture them this forces them to hijack a ship that isn't the [ __ ] millennium falcon and make a run for it with paul taking control you know the guy whose main skill is being an amazing pilot finn meanwhile operates the guns until they get damaged by enemy fire while rey uses her knowledge of crashed tie fighters to exploit a weakness in the enemy ships destroying the last of them and allowing them to escape this way you get to show the three of them being forced to work as a team for the first time using relevant skills that make sense for each character po the hotshot pilot finn the reluctant soldier and rey the scrappy but resourceful scavenger instead of rages being able to do everything thus rendering everyone else irrelevance wouldn't that be a crazy concept anyway they need to get to the resistance but their ship's hyperdrive and communications were damaged in the battle ray manages to patch it up temporarily but they can only manage a short jump pull plots of course to the nearest neutral planet and off they go this pause in the action would be a great time for more character moments where paul can explain about the map to luke skywalker ray can also talk about her missing parents and her desire to search for them now that she's free of jakku she begins to open up a little about her difficult life and expresses some regret for her previously selfish actions arriving at the nearest planet they land at a spaceport where paul puts out a transmission requesting help from the resistance finn wants to leave and get as far from the oncoming war as possible warning the others about starkiller base and he even offers to take rey with him and help find her parents po on the other hand asks her to stay with him saying that there's more at stake now than just their lives conflicted about what to do ray goes off alone to consider her next move that's when starkiller base opens fire on the republic homeworld ray and the others watch the destruction unfold and finn tells paul that this is why they need to flee the first order unfortunately their presence here hasn't gone unnoticed and soon kylo ren arrives with the first order to attack the spaceport in the fighting finn gets captured and raised too late to stop him from being dragged away sensing the presence of another force user kylo ren goes after her and very nearly captures her too he even tries to probe her mind with the force which rey barely manages to resist she's about to be discovered when the first order suddenly come under attack by rebel ships led by the millennium falcon this forces them to retreat as the falcon lands han solo emerges to round up the survivors including paul ray and bb-8 ray is deeply confused and troubled by what just happened with kylo but there isn't time to think about it now han meanwhile explains that he got paul's message and came as quick as he could rather than being a deadbeat dad who ran away from his problems this version of han has been working for the resistance for years now searching for information about the first order as well as trying to find luke he doesn't reveal that his own son has joined the first order as well even though rey senses that he's hiding something together the group takes bb-8 to the resistance base where they meet with leia and learn about starkiller base ray also confines in leia about her experiences with kylo ren and her disturbing dreams and leia admits that kylo is her son she tells rey that she may be force sensitive too and shows her luke's old lightsaber explaining that he'd once intended to pass it on to kylo but instead left it behind when he disappeared as the resistance forces prepare their attack ray begs hand to go along with them determined to rescue finn pull vouchers for her and han reluctantly agrees just as they're heading out leia gives rey the lightsaber telling her that she might need it meanwhile on starkiller base finn's being tortured for information by captain phasma who takes great pleasure in making him suffer this would set up a proper conflict for them for the next movie instead of you know nothing at all however finn resists the torture until kylo ren gets involved using the force to probe his memories about rey now he begins to learn more about her and suspects that she may be a strong force user that he can turn to the dark side anyway the attack begins and the falcon lands on the surface of starkiller base while han and chewie set explosives rey leaves them behind to go after finn she can sense his presence even though she can't quite explain how and manages to release him from captivity once free finn uses his knowledge of the station to disable the shields around the place and together they hurry to reunite with hands so they can all escape unfortunately they arrive just in time to see kylo murder him chewie detonates the explosives and rey flees with finn only for kylo to intercept them in the woods outside finn tries to attack him but quickly gets knocked out leaving rey to take him on by herself she rushes at him full of anger and determined to take revenge for han's death she fights dirty and undisciplined which is how she survived on jakku and even manages to wound him but it's clear that kylo is the superior fighter and he soon has the upper hand he's toying with rey provoking her anger to test her power and find out if she can be turned to the dark side disarming her and knocking her lightsaber aside kylo forces her to the edge of a cliff and tells her he can sense her potential with the force he even offers to train her if she'll join him and for a brief moment she finds herself tempted by his offer but then she remembers what leia told her about her son and how he fell into darkness and it's enough to pull her back she refuses his offer telling him she'd rather die than be like him kylo's about to strike her down but at the last moment finn reappears snatching up ray's fallen lightsaber and slashing wildly at kylo ren saving rey's life just as she saved his kyle has been injured and knocked down temporarily but before he can attack them again a chasm opens between them as the planet begins to self-destruct finn and ray retreat but kylo warns them that he'll find him again and finish what he started setting up his hunt for them in the next film and there you have it the drinker's revised version of force awakens now clearly this doesn't fix every issue with the movie because nothing short of a full rewrite could do that but what it does do is demonstrate that with a bit of tweaking it's possible to reshape this film into something halfway decent the intention here is to establish rey as a strong but flawed character with a good mix of strengths and weaknesses she now has an understandable motivation that informs her decisions at first she wants to escape jakku and search for her parents and her decisions are oriented towards that goal she has technical skills that she can make use of she's smart and resourceful and can fight dirty when she has to those are strengths that help her out but on the other hand she also has real weaknesses she starts out as kind of selfish and closed off ignorant about the wider world and distrustful of others she's a lone wolf who only acts in her own interests and she lacks discipline and training but through her experiences and by witnessing the selfless acts of others it encourages her to open up and gradually become more trusting to give and to accept help and eventually to risk her life for others by the end of the movie she's become invested in the resistance and genuinely cares about her companions who she now considers friends this new script also allows ray to use skills and abilities that are appropriate and unique to her without turning her into a [ __ ] superhuman that can do literally everything and because the story isn't exclusively focused on making ray look amazing in every situation other characters are actually given a chance to shine all three are given time to interact and get to know each other to face challenges together even help each other out in the process they form a friendship that feels real and believable poe gets more screen time becoming a driven and idealistic resistance fighter determined to stop the first order and willing to do whatever it takes to complete his mission finn on the other hand is a reluctant warrior good at what he does but well aware of the impossible odds they're facing he doesn't want to fight but he'll do it when he has to and he demonstrates a consistent willingness to risk his own life to protect others this in turn inspires ray to help the resistance and it even allows him to come in at the finale to save her from kylo ren on that subject this new script allows the heroes to gain a temporary victory over kylo and escape from him without undermining his power and intimidation he's still a formidable enemy that hasn't really been defeated and only got bested in this case because he tried to turn ray to the dark side and he almost succeeded this close call would set up rey as a conflicted character with an element of darkness in her that she doesn't fully understand keeping people on edge about which direction she'll ultimately go lastly it treats han and leia with a bit more respect portraying them as a loving couple trying to deal with mounting threats as well as finding a way to bring their son back into the fold the intention here is to create a more balanced realistic and complex set of characters while still using the general framework of force awakens in particular setting up rey is a protagonist that you can actually identify with and feel sympathy for and want to follow on more adventures it creates a more solid foundation for the next two movies in the trilogy a trilogy that absolutely wouldn't include ryan [ __ ] johnson anyway that's all i've got for today go away now

Channel: The Critical Drinker

Views: 726,987

Rating: 4.9601364 out of 5

Keywords: star wars, JJ Abrams, Force Awakens, SJW, feminism, Mary sue, Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm, Rian Johnson, review

Id: l5BL6d7MOMY

Length: 23min 33sec (1413 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 04 2020

Reddit Comments

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[u/TheRealDestian]

I kinda hate watching these videos because I envision the changes he's suggesting and think to myself, "Holy shit, that sounds like a movie I'd enjoy watching again and again..." and then I remember the reality: a movie I have absolutely no desire to see ever again for the rest of my life.

[u/_Ameizing_]

Yeah, the drinker definitely found his niche in improvements to these sorts of movies. I think he has a real knack for finding good solutions to the corners these filmmakers have written themselves into.

It just invariably makes me depressed knowing what we could have gotten.

[u/Lord-Carnor-Jax]

Watched this today and his ideas for the characters and plot sounds much better and it would have been a great movie. Hardly surprising when you get a real writer to do character development.