Star Wars: The Force Awakens' characters mirror real fans and their expectations of the film.
It did not disappoint.
Both the Resistance and First Order characters show different types of fandom and the way fandom can influence people.
She runs from that story at first, but then embraces it.
Why is it important that the characters ofThe Force Awakenswere written as metaphors for fans?
From a marketing standpoint, it lets Disney grab the very nostalgic and personal connections fans have withStar Wars.
What happens when people become too consumed by obsession,The Force Awakensasks?
What happens when people dont have all the information about their heroes?
What happens when people, simply and without fuss, realize that they are the hero of a story?
Finns experience is slightly different from Reys, because he was raised in the First Order.
Finn was a fan who didnt think he would like the story he was told.
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Unlike the other two characters in the main trio, Poe was raised onStar Wars.
Poe is used to living with heroes, so his story isnt one of discovery, just of continuation.
Poe has been a fan for a long time, and he welcomes other people in.
Rey is the most important out of the three.
She is at first reluctant to leave Jakku.
In an inverse of Lukes story, she hopes her missing family will come back for her.
Unlike Lukes destruction of the Death Star, Reys story doesnt have a very clear arc.
If all goes well, though, well see that as the trilogy continues.
Without this, Rey still represents a nevertheless hugely important group of fanswomen.
In the world established byThe Force Awakens, fandom can be both a good thing and a bad thing.
In this way, the First Order characters are perhaps even more pointedly fannish than the heroes.
Hes also a fan because of his family.
His father was an Imperial trainer who pioneered some of the Empires most severe ideas about indoctrinating young children.
For all we know, she might idolize Vader or Palpatine as much as Ren does.
He also speaks for the franchise when he says, after Han Solos death, Its only us now.
Ren is a cosplayer, a collector, a cultivator of an aesthetic.
However, Ren failed to learn any lessons fromStar Wars.
Ren learned that the dark side is easy.
In the movie, we dont know whether he knows how Vader died.
TheStar Warsfandom can also be angry.
Having enjoyed Legends is great.
I enjoyed it, too.
But these are the actions of a Kylo Ren, not a Rey or a Luke.
Kylo Ren is unfocused and entitled, andStar Warsfans recognize that because they have seen it before.
Will Kylo Ren be redeemed?
Will Rey take up Lukes mantle?
Megan Crouse is a staff writer.
