While we’re on the topic of additional lines that might warrant some tweaking, I have a few contenders:
- Rey’s line about “I will earn your brother’s saber…someday.” There’s never been any indication that she felt unworthy using the lightsaber in the previous two movies, and she doesn’t end up “earning” the saber at all; it’s just handed back to her five minutes later. Also, Rey ends up using an entirely different saber in the finale? And she gives Luke’s to Kylo? (The only rationalization I can think of is that it’s subtextually foreshadowing “Ben will earn your brother’s saber”? But that’s unbelievably messy, even by this film’s lofty standards.) I dunno, it doesn’t make much sense. It’s another “Rey, I never told you- Blurgbruglbgrub” - They set something up, and then they forgot to pay it off. Maybe Rey could simply say “Here,” as if she’s just “hanging up” her weapon after practice? Or reverse the footage - Leia gives the saber back to Rey as a show of encouragement? (Implied that Rey gave it to her after the training course out of frustration.)
[WARNING: This will probably go into rant territory. You have been warned…]
You missed the point of Rey’s entire arc. In the years after she was abandoned by her parents, she formed this subconscious, irrational core belief that she is inherently worthless; in other words, she has issues regarding self-esteem. She believes this lie that the only way to feel happy, to feel loved is if she gains approval from others as well as if she pleases others which would then result in said others giving her the validation she desires to make herself feel happy; why do you think she freed BB-8 from Teedo? Why do you think she bypassed the compressor on the Falcon? Why do you think she told Luke that she would not fail him in the way Kylo Ren did?
This 100%.
Hal, did you ever get around to trying to reinstate Luke’s “Some things are stronger than blood. Your spirit, your heart”? If you didn’t think it would work, I think the message is still there to a certain extent, but I still feel that it’s essential to really drive home Testing’s message here that the value of somebody is determined by their heart, not lineage and the other stuff he mentioned like approval.