Talk:Essays/@comment-4423292-20170622003655

In the last couple days, some YouTube videos have completely convinced me to ship Rey and Kylo Ren. And then (this might have been the same YouTube channel or a different one, I can't remember) some more videos — also videos that promoted the ship — halfway made me turn on it again.

What convinced me was talk of a force bond, of the ways they parallel each other, of yin yang and balance.

What put me off was discussion of the bridal carry, and dark temptation; of comparisons to Phantom of the Opera, and Labyrinth.

Firstly, I don't think those elements are played straight in the movie. Secondly, is they were I wouldn't ship it.

The dark half-monstrous man, and the young pure heroine isn't a new idea. Erik and Christine; Hades and Persephone; the Hound and Sansa; Beauty and the Beast. And I'm not opposed to the idea, really. There's something poetic in the idea of someone so rough and dark being entranced in that kind of fragile beauty. There's something lovely in that, really.

BUT REYLO ISN'T THAT. At all.

Rey is light, sure, but she's not that kind of pure, youthful—almost ethereal—loveliness. And in that archetype, if the maiden's supposed to symbolize youth, the villainous suitor is supposed to be older. I'm not sure about their numerical ages, but Kylo is immature and indecisive.

I think the "bridal carry scene" isn't what so much of the fandom holds it as — rather, it's a parody of it. Yes, Kylo does bridal-carry her across the threshold of his ship while two stormstoopers trail awkwardly after. He unmasks. Ok, maybe Kylo thinks he's in one of those Hades-Persephone stories—he is sort of acting like it.

But then he's proven wrong. The trope is subverted, or maybe inverted. He gets shamed, and proceeds to have a temper tantrum. The man in that archetype is supposed to be older and more powerful than his heroine, and Kylo is just SO not.

And I'm glad Rey and Kylo don't fill that archetype. Because while it's poetic and beautiful in a way, it's also problematic and weird in several ways. And more importantly, it's already been told several times, so it's less interesting.

Rey and Kylo 'aren't like Erik and Christine. They're like Katara and Zuko, or at least, more like them than any other pairing I can think of.

I like the idea of Gray Jedi—under any name. I think that Rey and Kylo are particularly well suited to it. "Seduced by the darkness" and "redeemed by love"1 are both tropes that feel kind of… icky to me. So do away with that. Instead, how about yin yang; balance.

They've already learned in the force together, and I think they could really help each other, and drive each other to greatness that way. I think they could be a power couple. And I have a thing for power couples. They're like the pinnacle of partners supporting each other, and being stronger together, and pushing each other to greatness.

And Kylo has to clean up his act. A lot. But I think that's possible. Not in a classic "love redeems" kind of way, where the kindness and goodness of the love interest brings out a better side or whatever. No, I imagine this in more of a "I have to pull myself together and be less of a looser because I like her and I want her to give me a chance" way. And also a little in a "I have to be better because she can hand me my ass if I give her reason to." I guess it's still a sort of love-redeems, but if it's being driven by a motivation to change on the part of the improvee, it seems a lot more ok to me.

They could be such a power couple together. They could help each other learn, and become greater. They could balance each other, so neither goes over the edge. They could stop being so damn lonely together.

1 I'm actually pretty okay with someone being redeemed by love. The icky part is how, in practice, it's much more commonly "redeemed by love interest". And project boyfriends are never a good idea—form either side. From the POV of the "flawed person", it's really pretty heartbreaking that your partner doesn't love you for who you are, and that your relationship is based on the idea that you'll chance your fundamental nature for them.