This video best explains the Mary Sue issue not just for StarWars but for other future films.
So I’ve just got around to watching the video and I could not agree more with the entirety of it. However Darth Muffy, though you obviously agreed with the video I think the title of this thread and claiming it to best explain the Mary Sue issue is a misnomer and does a disservice to the video and Thor himself in creating prejudice against him and the video before it is even viewed as people opposed to the term are already in a mindset out of the gate to discount what is being said and view it in a harsh light before even hearing what Thor has to say and people who think Rey is a Mary Sue enter looking for validation and even circle jerking for some who just want to throw around “Rey is such a Mary Sue!” in the comments and have it repeated back to them.
I think Thor says it best himself in that whether you think Rey is one or not, it has no doubt caused the term to surface and feature prominently in discussions around the ST and this would not have happened if there weren’t comparable issues with the character of Rey.
On another note, watching this video has actually answered a question I’ve had for a number of weeks now since I started noticing a growing number of videos on some apparent issue with there being a female lead in Captain Marvel, though I haven’t bothered watching them as I thought how can they have any credence or credibility when the movie isn’t even out yet and there’s nothing in the trailers to suggest as such. It’s probably why I gave this video a pass initially as it had an image of Captain Marvel and Rey together and thought maybe Thor was jumping on the same bandwagon, where in fact he’s actually just addressing the issue that is creating the other videos of which a number are definitely clickbait-esque. Thor has definitely hit the nail on the head though that by creating such a poor female character in Rey, it is having a flow on detrimental affect on other female characters even if it isn’t justified outside of ignorance and cashing in on the drama created out of it.
Anyway, having watched the video now (twice actually as I didn’t get a chance to come here and post until many hours after first watching the video so I’ve watched it again for a refresher) I find myself having no need to change what I’ve already said so far in this thread. If anything, what I said is bolstered by what Thor has said. Because everything makes perfect sense and seems in character for Ripley in Aliens I’m never taken out of the movie to ponder why and start casting a critical eye as to why and start joining pieces together to come to the conclusion that there is a possible pro-woman message being pushed. It’s not until it was mentioned here in this very thread…
Voss Caltrez said:
Also, the character of Ripley could also be accused of “pushing an agenda” since the lone voice of reason is a woman, arguing against a majority of stupid men.
…that I’ve ever looked at it in that perspective and while I can definitely see that as a possibility, it is hardly concrete proof though that it was specifically intended vs TLJ being one step away a number of times from literally having an actor turn to the camera and tell you “animal cruelty is bad”, “slavery is bad”, “capitalism is bad”, “woman dont need men to tell them what to do”, etc. It’s one thing to recognise and witness capitalism in action within the context of the story being told, it’s another for the characters to explain to you via the 4th wall why it’s bad.
Val