REDEFINED

XIII

no·bod·y
/ˈnōˌbädē,ˈnōˌbədē/
noun
a person of no importance or authority

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Ever since I began reading YA dystopians in middle school, I have seen myself in countless fictional characters. Whether they've been with me for years or minutes, I'm always able to stabilize myself in knowing that I'm not alone simply because they exist. I've never searched for this kind of connection in movies, but I've still managed to find one.

Star Wars has been a part of my life for a long time. While I do remember a time before it was introduced to me, I also know that my life was radically changed the first time I watched Luke and Leia and Han take over the screen. I didn't see any of them in theaters, but I didn't need to. They turned me into the kid that dreamed of having a lightsaber of her own. They turned me into the kid that went to school book fairs with a twenty and came back with a Star Wars character encyclopedia. For years, it was a small but steady burn in my heart.

In 2015, The Force Awakens came screaming into theaters and for the first time in my life, I was seeing the beauty of Star Wars on the big screen. I don't vividly remember watching The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi in theaters, but they've had a lasting impression on me. I was seeing all these characters I had loved before coming back in wonderful ways. I was seeing Kylo Ren, a villain that everyone hated, as someone that maybe stood a chance to be good again. I was seeing Rey, a girl from nowhere, become something bigger than she had ever dreamed even existed.

It wasn't until I watched The Rise of Skywalker that I realized just how much these characters meant to me. While I could sit here and go on and on about Reylo and the things that went wrong and of course the "Bendemtion", that's not why I'm writing this. I'm writing this because of Rey "Nobody" and how despite everything, she became something.

After watching TROS a few times, I realized why I love it so much, despite every flaw I desperately wish I could change. I realized why Rey had managed to become my favorite Star Wars character.

Rey and I have a few things in common, despite the fact that she lives in a galaxy far, far away and I live here on planet Earth (although lately it's feeling more and more like a dystopian every day). Both of us live in a nowhere kind of place, with nothing to offer you except a place to raise a new generation and conditions that will cause you to be stuck there for the rest of your life. Both of us have parents that are "nobody" and so therefore we put ourselves in the same category. Both of us are tied to that nowhere place because of the nobodies but still want nothing more than to leave it all behind. I have hope for myself because I saw Rey escape what the world said was her fate.

Yes, the Star Wars sequels are my favorite trilogy and no I won't apologize for it. They aren't my favorite because Kylo Ren is attractive (even though he definitely is), or because they're the same movies redone for a younger generation, or because of any of the other reasons toxic fans use as an excuse to complain. They're my favorite because of the story they tell. All of these wonderful, amazing characters that I will forever love overcame the obstacles and became who they were meant to be. They risked it all, they switched sides, they led revolutions, even though the world told them they couldn't. At the end of it all, they stood up for what they believed in and I applaud that. I'm almost twenty years old, but I have to say that when I grow up, I want to be like them, Rey most of all.

I have many dreams for what I want to be one day. I'll direct movies and write books that will touch peoples hearts and inspire them, make them feel less alone in this huge, terrifying world. I can see it so vividly that I refuse to believe I could ever be anything else. I refuse to let my small town with no artistic opportunities and the people here that are drowning me in their opinions that contradict my own to hold me back. I refuse to listen when the world tells me to stop, to think with my head rather than my heart. I don't think I'm capable of that. Yes, I have my doubts sometimes. Just like Rey, I feel the pull from the dark side, the train of thought that tells me I'll never make it. But the light is stronger. I know the light will always be stronger and the force will always be with me.

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