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TFA didn’t make a big deal about Rey’s parents, Rey did and people on the internet did.
WYSHS
True. Point being though that only Rey cares and this doesn’t change in TLJ. Anytime she brings up Jakku in TFA people think she’s crazy for still caring. Maz outright tells her to forget about her parents.
Making Rey’s parents an issue was a creative choice in the film. Rey’s pining for her parents was the chip on which the story salsa was conveyed, but she is not independent from the film. TLJ made a point not only that her parents didn’t care about her (which was sort of obvious) but that they were nobody. And why would we have thought they were somebody? Because the film set up that intrigue - deliberately exploiting expectations of people on the internet, to be sure. A film attempting to stand apart from the OT shouldn’t do that.
This point for me is more what Luke would call a “a cheap trick” but it’s there. Can’t pretend it’s solely the fault of fans or that dastardly rogue Rey.
No. No one in TFA asks who Rey’s parents are, not even her. In fact, there’s no reason to believe in TFA that she doesn’t know who they are. They are mentioned a few times, but the question mark is all audience. They are only important for Rey’s character. And in that regard, they are important, sure. Rey is waiting for them. This aspect informs her arc in both films. But there is nothing in TFA that suggests that her parents must be, themselves important, beyond their relationship to Rey. Nothing at all.
If you thought they might be somebody, it’s only because Rey thought so too and hoped so. Which makes her learning that they’re nobody devastating in the same way that Luke learning that his father didn’t die and is no longer a Jedi did in ESB. And that’s a good thing.
I didn’t think that Rey thought her parents were somebody important. You take a mystery surrounding them (who were they? why did they leave?) combined with her enormous power, and of course the audience is going to dwell on that question. As noted in my edit, I was hoping that her parents weren’t important. The movie was winking at us to say that maybe they are.
There are unexplained things which leaves the audience to question. Sure, that’s fine. But there’s nothing in TFA to suggest her powers and her parentage are related.
Thing is though, TLJ does answer these questions:
Q) Who are Rey’s parents?
A) NobodyQ) Are Rey’s parents the reason why she has the force?
A) No, she doesn’t need special parents to have the forceQ) Why is she strong in the force?
A) Because that’s the way the force worksThe last two seem to directly contradict what is implied in the OT — you hear things like “the Force runs strong in your family,” suggesting that it’s a genetic/familial thing.
I don’t see that as a bad thing…or true a true thing. “She doesn’t need special parents to have the force” is not the same as “She has to have special parents to have the force.”