Wow some people on here really can't handle a powerful female character.
James Bond? He's so sexy, all the women want him and all the men want to be him.
Captain America? What a virtuous hunk, pure and true. I haven't heard a single complaint about the avengers being too powerful through the 237 movies in that franchise.
Rey? This is a stupid movie written by stupid people and should be re-written so Rey is believably sh*tty as she ought to be.
*** shaking my head ***
The phrase "not even wrong" comes to mind. I don't even know where to start rebutting this as it is so full of wrong premises. Let's just leave it at the accusation of not being able to handle a powerful female character is a straight up ad hominem argument and set aside all the other ways it is wrong.
I'm OK with Rey being PS8. She has 3 movies to grow in. Luke was hardly PS8 in ANH. He just got lucky/used the Force.
Yet he is right in that gender is an issue. The filmmakers tried too hard to make her perfect, and her gaffs were an attempt to balance out that perfection. She's a **** Kwisatz Haderach.
The best way to write female characters in an action role is to write a character and then add the feminine pronoun. That's it. Worked for Ripley, worked for femShep (aside from a couple of scenes and the romance options).
Like her posh public school accent, she seems like she's born with a silver spoon on her mouth instead of having really lived the dungheap life she's supposed to have lived. No scars, sun-damaged skin, walks around with exposed shoulders all the time. She's got loads of Force power, and learns it faster than anyone ever including that annoying child from TPM. There is no foreboding. No Morpheus watching her. No Gom Jabbar. In this sense, she is like every single giant mecha anime MC ever*. Jumps in the cockpit with zero experience and boom! Instant ace. See: Amuro Rey.
Contrast with Ripley (written now as a female character not as a male), who we know has no combat training but yet is the epitome of Badass Normal. Whatever she lacks in combat training she makes up for with smarts, technical skill and sheer daring. Single-handedly raid the alien nest and slaughter every remaining critter? HtH with an Alien Queen in a power loader, then flush it out the airlock?
You better believe it.
Rey would have been fantastic if she had used some good old Han moves. Shooting Kylo in the leg with no warning. Headbutts. Concealed weapons. Holy heck, she grew up on The Planet of Fighting Dirty. Part of what makes heroes great is the unique way a hero uses their background and skills to good advantage: Kung Fu Panda taught us that.
*OK there are exceptions.
Edited by Lampyridae