loveyournightmare:

moody-avocado:

reyloeyesofmist:

When Rey is in Jakku, cleaning the objects she has obtained scavenging, she looks up and sees a very old lady, alone, doing the same as her and Rey looks at her for a long time. In my view, the old lady doesn’t remind her of a grandmother she probably can’t remember, I think she is looking at what will become of her if nothing happens in her life to change it. She is looking at her future, what she doesn’t know is that her life is about to change.

When we meet Kylo also in Jakku, in the village the STs attack, he sees San Tekka, looks him from head to toe and says, ‘Look how old you’ve become’. Well, the irony is that San Tekka is also a monkish man without a family who has dedicated his life to a cause.

Both Rey and Ren are looking at their future, looking at what they will become if they don’t meet. But this future is about to change when they meet. This is because he is the belonging she seeks and she is the Light he has been trying to keep away since he fell trapped by Darkness. Yes, they are both virgins because their bond (fate, the Force, whatever we want to call it) will have it no other way, they belong to each other so that they can stop being lonely, scared and so afraid to leave. 

I think this symbolic comparison with the old man and old woman was done on purpose, but if it wasn’t, it works so beautifully as foreshadowing,as a symbol of the potential future that is about to change, that it should have been done by design.

Brilliant.

Brilliant brilliant times four.

a-shipper-despite-herself:

littlebird92:

Note: This is a long, detailed, in-depth look at the character development of Rey and Kylo Ren, as well as the build-up of scenes, and the intentionality behind the inherent eroticism of their interactions.

(Note: I’m sure others have written on this topic, so I apologize if I reiterate points that have already been discussed).

Prior to seeing The Force Awakens: Earlier today, I was speculating on why I am drawn to Reylo, which led me to reflect on my evolving understanding of the pairing. When I went into The Force Awakens for the first time nearly a month ago, I went in with absolutely no expectation. I hadn’t seen the original trilogy since I was a kid. The prequels had pretty much killed any initiative on my parents’ part to continue taking me and my brother to see the movies, so my fascination with the Star Wars universe was not cultivated by my family but something I discovered much later on my own. The fondest memories I’d had of Star Wars included seeing a theatrical re-release of The Empire Strikes Back with my dad, watching Return of the Jedi with my brother, and renting the Ewok Adventures from the nearest Blockbuster.

To be honest, I never intended to see The Force Awakens. I don’t watch TV, so I hadn’t known the movie existed until, literally, two days before it hit theaters. I hadn’t seen a preview, a commercial, nothing. Then my brother showed me the trailer online and I thought, “Wow, this actually looks pretty great. Faith has been restored!” Anyway, like I said, I went into the movie with very little expectation – and I’m glad I didn’t, because I was able to fully immerse myself in the experience of “not knowing”, which ultimately contributed a lot to understanding of Reylo.

Initial viewing of The Force Awakens: Possessing very little knowledge about the new characters and plot, I had the opportunity to form opinions of them based on my viewing experience alone. My thoughts, feelings, and impressions changed as the story developed. My initial impression of Kylo Ren was that he was a typical, one-dimensional bad guy who had some serious anger issues. As the story developed, however, I realized he was the son of Han and Leia, two characters I had always adored. I realized he was at odds with the other members of the First Order. He seemed terribly isolated, despite being surrounded. This isolation and loneliness was further emphasized by his emotional confessions to Darth Vader’s mask.

His character became increasingly more unpredictable, especially when he and Rey first encounter each other. I expected danger. I expected him to hurt her. The moment Rey’s unconscious form draped effortlessly into his arms, I thought to myself, “THIS moment right here will spawn a thousand fan fictions”. I thought that would be the end and, boy, was I wrong. The next thing I know, Kylo Ren is popping off his helmet, revealing himself to be a stunningly beautiful man, and his face is so close to Rey’s I honestly thought, “What the hell is going on here?!”

 Even still, their interactions and Kylo Ren’s motivations seemed incredibly ambiguous so, upon leaving the theater, I felt confused and wondered if I had imagined the dynamic of these two. When I came to Tumblr, I found I was not alone and, after reading the script and novelization, I had hard evidence to support what I’d picked up on in my initial viewing of The Force Awakens. What is interesting, though, is how many people viewing the movie for the first time, particularly Reylo shippers, had a similar experience. A lot of people express “sensing” or “having the impression of” – and being unsure of these impressions – and receiving confirmation through others.

I was reflecting on this today, how my understanding of Reylo had evolved over the past month, and then I realized something…

The ambiguity of the pairing is what makes the overall effect so fascinating, compelling, and intentional. Yes, I said intentional. This ambiguity allows the viewer to sense as opposed to process logically. The experience of sensing is what makes Rey and Kylo Ren such an evocative pairing. Their interactions are not only meaningful in the context of the entire story, but they are also deeply sensual and inherently erotic. These erotic undertones are subtle and appeal to viewers more on a subconscious level, as the scenes involving Rey and Kylo Ren appeal to scenario-based fantasies.

Let’s start from the beginning… Rey is presented as a tough and resourceful scavenger who experiences loneliness and isolation. Even though she is a survivor through and through, there is a tone of longing to her character. In some ways, she is wary and shrewd, while, in others, she is quite innocent. The way she eats and wears the helmet at the beginning demonstrates her lighthearted and innocent spirit. While Rey is never sexualized (so refreshing), she is very pretty and does not seem aware of herself in this way. Her innocence is further emphasized by her interactions with Finn. It’s obvious that Finn is immediately attracted to her (which communicates her level of desirability to the viewer), but Rey seems completely unaware/unfazed and repeatedly shies away from

physical interaction. The dynamic between Finn and Rey is playful, light, and humorous. The tone of their interactions is very different from the one between Rey and Kylo Ren, and these differences are presented to the viewer in a very purposeful way. You are meant to compare them.

Now let’s look at Kylo Ren. The introduction of his character is meant to leave the viewer with the impression that he is evil, ruthless, powerful, and dominating. With every inch of him covered, he lacks an identity. As a result, the viewer is not able to make an emotional, human connection to him or form any real opinion of his character. He is threatening in his anonymity. Like Rey, Kylo Ren is also lonely and isolated. He is at odds with General Hux and Snoke. He doesn’t appear at the rally, for example – instead watching the events unfold from the Star Destroyer. His only confidante is the remaining relic of his dead grandfather, a person he has never met. Not only is Kylo Ren conflicted, he lacks any sense of true identity. Even before Rey and Kylo Ren meet in the forest, we are presented with parallels to their personalities and backgrounds.

We are also presented with the possibility of a personal connection, with Ren’s violent reaction to the mention of a “girl” and his subsequent involvement in tracking her/the droid down. This information is important because it establishes the characters, first and foremost, as individuals. Also, the story is building up to their eventual meeting. Whether you realize it or not, you are forming expectations about how that first meeting will go – and again, this is intentional. The writers want to blow your expectations out of the water.

When Rey experiences her first major Force vision, Kylo Ren is the ONLY person she ever fully sees or interacts with. Sure, she hears voices and catches glimpses of Luke and some others. But, overall, Kylo Ren is the main feature of her vision and, in my first viewing, I had the impression of danger and fear, leading me to form expectations of their first meeting. When they do finally confront each other in the forest, Rey is the most vulnerable we have seen. Kylo Ren’s appearance only heightens her anxiety, as he truly is a nightmare come to life. Their first meeting does not go as anticipated, however. There is an element of danger and fear, but there is also something else.

Forests have always been a main feature of stories, especially when exploring themes of fear, danger, the unknown, and even sexuality. These themes are often a package deal, meaning that you will see them presented alongside or in congruence with each other. In terms of sexuality, getting lost in a forest is typically associated with sexual awakening. The concept of fear and sexuality mixing together is unsettling for those who take it out of context; the forest, more or less, is meant to be a metaphor for an emotional experience that is, in truth, equal parts unnerving and exhilarating. When looking at The Force Awakens, there are many aspects of Rey’s and Kylo Ren’s meeting in the forest that are suggestive – more on a subconscious level than anything else. For example, when Kylo Ren is pursuing Rey. He is slow and deliberate in his actions and, based on the novelization, enjoying the chase. When he deflects her blows, he is powerful in his movements, suggesting dominance and masculinity.

This is further emphasized by his use of the Force to immobilize her, holding one of her arms behind her back. He moves close to her, circling around her, looking her up and down. He brings his lightsaber very close to her face. This is where the sensory aspect begins. As the viewer, you are prompted to imagine what she must feel like, whether or not she can feel the presence of his lightsaber against the skin of her neck and jawline. There is a brief moment, where, in one frame, Kylo Ren is standing in front of Rey with his arm outstretched and, in the next, he is standing directly in front of her with his head to the side of hers and his hand cupping the nape of her neck. When Kylo Ren realizes the Stormtroopers are calling him, he moves away from her extremely quickly and Rey, having leaned toward him, takes a step or two forward when he moves away. The scene ends with the famous bridal-carry back to the ship.

When you really take a moment to consider the details of each scene, the filmmakers’ choice for Kylo Ren to unmask himself for Rey becomes quite significant. The unmasking is already powerful, at this point, because, as the viewer, we have had no indication of his physical appearance. And we have come to know enough about his character, or establish a level of familiarity, that we can reflect on his scenes and reassess his behavior based on what is revealed. Now, by the time Kylo Ren takes off his mask, we are already aware of several things. One, the physical proximity between him and Rey in the forest. Two, the fact that he is present in the interrogation room when she wakes, indicating that he was watching her.

The most wonderful aspect of his reveal is the way it plays on your imagination. When you realize how young and handsome he is, your perception of their interactions and his behavior towards her completely changes. You go through the process of re-evaluating him because he is NOTHING like what you expected. I believe that the reaction of female viewers was intended to mirror that of Rey’s. Her reaction is by no means dramatic, but her eyes do widen and she does seem to inhale softly. The fact that she struggles to make eye contact – or look at him, in general – suggests her nervousness.

The fact that she is strapped to a chair places her, once again, in a position of vulnerability. Aside from the chair, there is a massive physical difference between Rey and Kylo Ren. Even though his figure is powerful and imposing, she is by no means diminutive. The physical difference emphasizes their masculine and feminine dynamic more than anything else. What is interesting about their dynamic, however, is how fluid the balance of power is. The positions they occupy in relation to each other are constantly shifting. While she is vulnerable in the forest and, to some extent, in the interrogation scene, we also see Kylo Ren become vulnerable in her presence.

When she first wakes up, for example, we see that he is seated in a crouched position on the floor. Further, he expresses that she is his guest and removes his helmet to put her at ease, taking away the tactical advantage of anonymity. She is able to banter with him in a way that would have earned others a negative, possibly violent, response. Even with Rey strapped to a chair, it is suggested how much power she wields in the situation and over him. Not only does she possess this naturally, he gives it to her willingly.
Without the helmet, we are able to see the way he looks at he

r. When he reads her mind, there is something taunting about the way he vocalizes her memories and emotions aloud, but there is also great sensitivity expressed in his face and voice. The composition of this scene is quite remarkable. The way her face is illuminated and turned slightly away, her eyes fixed elsewhere, with his face cast in shadow, lends a very reflective and intimate tone to the reactions he has to her thoughts. With her face illuminated, there is no doubt of what he is looking at, yet the viewer’s focus is drawn to him. There is such a mixture of emotion in his shifting facial expressions. There is understanding and compassion, there is sensitivity, there is acknowledgement, there is longing and desire, there is wry amusement and curiosity, and there is pain. The openness and honesty of his face here, when Rey is not looking, is distinct from the somewhat haughty and bored expression he wore before the mind reading and the defiant, challenging stare he gives her afterwards.

In that brief moment, the viewer is allowed to see that he wants her – and he wants her badly. The both challenging and seductive “You know I can take whatever I want”, coupled with the “At night, desperate to sleep”, and the close physical proximity (with emphasis on heavy breathing, parted lips, and roving eyes), this makes for an incredibly sensual and erotic scene – as well as one that establishes an emotional and metaphysical connection between them. The fact that Rey manages to turn the tables on Kylo Ren at the end and be exposed to his thoughts and emotions turns everything we know about their dynamic on its head and adds a new layer and dimension to their relationship. This is not about who is more dominant and powerful – this is about how they are equal and how the fluid nature of the power between them adds an extra layer of sexiness. Also, it develops a meaningful element to their connection, a fact that opens the realm of possibility for what the future may hold for these two.

So, this post is more about remaking on the intentionality behind the eroticism of their interactions than anything else. Many of the scenes between them elaborate on sexual fantasies that are deeply-rooted in the psyche. Many of these fantasies lack rationality and, when brought to the surface and examined, can seem kinky as hell and cause some to be repelled (which I think is a main reason why some people are so adamant about Reylo being abusive). Take The Phantom of the Opera, for example. The concept of a masked stranger hiding behind a woman’s dressing room mirror and kidnapping her at night (while she is half-dressed) and takes her down to his lair to profess his desire/undying love and show off the mannequin he made of her…. I mean, really. When you take a moment to think about how this sounds, from a rational perspective it sounds dangerous, twisted, creepy, and completely unrealistic.

But the fact that this is the longest show on Broadway, that women find the Phantom incredibly sexy, and that what I just described is arguably the most famous segment of the story, tells you A LOT about this type of eroticism and how it feeds into the imagination of the viewer. And if you happen to check out interviews or Behind the Scenes, you will quickly realize that the makers of Phantom knew exactly what they were doing. Hal Prince, the director of the original Broadway production, even said that he believes the entire story is an exploration of healthy sexuality.

My point is, the same level of thought is going into the development of Kylo Ren and Rey. The cat-and-mouse game in the forest, the obvious differences in their physicality, an unconscious Rey being bridal-carried and waking to find a masked stranger watching her, coming to realize said masked stranger is incredibly hot, being strapped to a chair as hot guy hovers close – so close his breath can perhaps be felt on her neck, the challenge and opposition both seem to feed off of, the fluidity and unpredictability of their dynamic, being kidnapped by a dark, mysterious, powerful stranger….

Whether or not these things make any rational sense, they are incredibly erotic and play off of deep-rooted fantasies that people may not even know they have. Further, the fact that this installment of Star Wars is titled “The Force Awakens”. Hmmm, who could this apply to? Rey, you say? I wonder how the Force is awakened… Through her interactions with Kylo Ren, you say? Hmm, so Rey’s Force abilities awaken when she meets Kylo Ren, who she happens to counter in a forest – you know, the one that has represented sexual awakening in stories for years and year. Coincidence, you say? I think not.

Now I’d like to talk about the two fight scenes. Like there are two interrogation scenes, there are two fight scenes – and we are meant to compare them. The one involving Kylo Ren and Finn is significant because it establishes bad blood between the two. You could say Kylo Ren is partially motivated by jealousy, but I don’t have hard evidence to support this. He does call Finn a traitor, however, (in an extremely hostile way, I might add) which gives him a personal reason to dislike Finn. Finn appears to be motivated by two personal reasons: First, his past connection to The First Order and, second, his connection to Rey.

The fight, really, is motivated by Rey (remember, Kylo Ren Force-pushed Rey into a tree and knocked her out). The fight itself is quick and ruthless. While Finn is brave and noble, he struggles to keep up. Kylo Ren, on the other hand, is sort of a peacock in the way he spins, waves his lightsaber around, acts bored, and even struts a little. Kylo Ren is skilled, ruthless, efficient, and even a little arrogant – and, in the process, he asserts his dominance and masculinity. I would bet money on the fact that this dynamic will be developed and explored further in subsequent films.

The Fight involving Rey and Kylo Ren, on the other hand, is different Rey, like Finn, is fueled by personal reasons – the death of Han and the wounding of Finn, primarily. Kylo Ren does not seem to have any beef towards her, though. He mostly aims to disarm, though he also seems to enjoy the challenge that Rey provides. While he regards her intensely, there is no hostility or vindictiveness in his expression. Even when Rey uses the Force to call Luke’s lightsaber to her, he seems to be in awe.

Their physicality is further emphasized in this scene: While she somersaults on the ground and leaps gracefully from rock to rock, he is heavy and deliberate in his movements. Again, we see the fluid balance of power. In one moment, she is struggling and he has the upper-hand. In the next, she is pushing him backwards, giving him a run for his money. Also, we see them both mirror and complement one another. When their lightsabers are crossed, for example, his face is awash in shifting blue and purple, whereas hers is red and purple.

This fight scene achieves multiple things. First, Rey and Kylo Ren are portrayed as complements and equals. Second, both are powerful, aggressive, and ferocious. Third, Kylo Ren indulges in Rey. Like in the interrogation scene, he becomes wrapped up in her and loses his original sense of focus, purpose, and efficiency. Further, he is impulsive when making decisions concerning her. The “Forget the droid, we have that we need” and the ‘You need a teacher” are the main examples of this. The erotic undertones initially present in their interactions are transformed as new layers of their dynamic are added to create something unique, refreshing, complex, unpredictable, and totally sexy.

This, right here, is why I ship Reylo.

This is brilliant, and so, so true.

The Reylo dynamic was so cleverly constructed to make (lots of) people go, ‘Wait, did you see that…? Am I imagining things or…? What the…?’

That’s what makes it so fascinating, and infuriating. The kind of thing that doesn’t leave you alone – it nags at your subconscious, makes you doubt your interpretation, and (at worst) makes you obsess over the whole thing.

You know when you’ve got a crush on someone? It’s the uncertainty that makes you lose sleep. When you lie awake in your bed thinking, ‘So when (s)he said “hello” to me, what exactly did (s)he mean with that tone of voice?’ you vacillate between wild hope and despair that you’ve been imagining it all.

The dynamic between Rey and Kylo activates that kind of a hyper-aware ‘crush mode’ in the viewers (well, not all of them obviously…).

starwarsnonsense:

Cinema is primarily a visual medium, which is easily forgotten now in an age where derided blockbusters are often mocked for having more money spent on the spectacle than the script. Visual beauty is undervalued and seen as mere surface, lacking in deeper meaning or resonance. And that, in my view, is a shamefully ignorant and reductive stance. While I’m not going to reject the idea that a script is important (it is, of course), I personally value films more for their aesthetic qualities than their wittiness or tight plot construction. I’m an intensely visual person, so I find that great emotion and power are conveyed through composition, set design and lighting.

While my personal experience of these aspects of a film is just that – a personal experience – there is something inherently emotional about the aesthetics of The Force Awakens. And this, of course, is by design. No aspect of a mega-budget franchise film like The Force Awakens made it onto screen by accident – every single shot was carefully designed and tooled to appear in a certain way.

With that said, I want to consider the visual aspects of three key moments in The Force Awakens, analysing them to determine what they convey about the characters and their emotions and conflicts.

Rey’s interrogation

I’m going to start off by briefly explaining the set-up of Poe’s interrogation, since it’s an important counterpoint to consider when stressing how loaded the aesthetics of Rey’s interrogation are. Poe is interrogated in a dark, grimy-looking room. The sinister paraphernalia of torture are emphasised in the background, and every aspect of the scene is tooled to suggest the brutality and cruelty of the First Order generally and Kylo Ren in particular. In other words, it’s a standard scene stressing that the bad guys are bad – basic stuff.

In Rey’s interrogation, however, it is immediately striking that she is bathed in light. Her off-white costume seems almost luminescent, and she is displayed on a tilted, elevated slab as if she were a trophy, or a prize to be admired. Kylo is crouched across the room from her, literally waiting in the shadows as he looks up at his prisoner. In the scene, Rey is a very literal manifestation of the light he has been struggling with. And despite his oft-vocalised desire to reject the light and its temptations, in Rey he clearly finds the light inherently fascinating and worthy of his attention and admiration – he is irresistibly drawn to what he is desperately trying to reject.

The dichotomy between the dark and the light becomes even more blatant when Kylo gets close to Rey – light almost seems to radiate from her face, but even though he is close beside her, Kylo remains in the darkness, only faintly touched by her luminescence. So, in this scene the lighting very literally manifests both Kylo’s inner struggle and the conflict that has always been central to Star Wars – the primal conflict between the Light side and the Dark. 

Han’s murder

The Force Awakens is explicit about Kylo’s motivation for killing his father. Kylo tells Han openly: “I want to be free of this pain.” His voice quivers with emotion, and his sincerity is painfully clear. The film has lingered on Kylo’s torment and instability on multiple occasions, and in the act of Han’s murder we see Kylo’s attempt to resolve all of his immense inner conflict. He perceives Han as enduring proof of the frailty and inadequacy of Ben Solo, and so resolves to kill him to give himself over to the Dark side entirely and find a kind of peace.

While that is Kylo’s thinking, he’s not entirely committed to it – indeed, there’s still hope for him and Han as long as the sun, which is being sucked dry for its energy, is in the sky. But as the conversation between Han and Kylo progresses, the sun dies, its light failing entirely and leaving the room in shadow. When the sun dies, the hope for the father and son dies with it. The only light present when Kylo ignites his lightsaber, murdering his father, is red and artificial. And red, it’s important to remember, is the colour of passion, rage and emotion, none of which can be even remotely associated with the peace that Kylo so craves.

The red light bathes Kylo’s face as we see him register what he’s just done, his faced touched by sadness and regret – he hasn’t found the peace he sought, not even after committing an act of ultimate evil. A few shots later, when he looks up and see Finn and Rey on the balcony looking down upon him, the lighting makes Kylo appear positively demonic. He seems to surge up to pursue them, seemingly rising from the infernal fires of hell.

The climax of the duel

At the climax of the duel between Kylo and Rey, things start to fall apart – and I mean that in several senses. The landscape that forms the backdrop to the fight is literally crumbling, subsiding into a fiery mass beneath their feet – Rey and Kylo contribute to the planet’s disintegration by taking out various trees with their lightsabers. In short, the scene is characterised by cataclysmic destruction and the disintegration of an emblem of power and authority in Starkiller Base. And, I would argue, this chaos and disintegration is matched by the emotional conflict of Kylo and Rey.

This type of evocative, emotion-laden landscape is a common convention for modern big-budget spectacle films, but it goes all the way back to German Expressionism, a movement in silent cinema that rejected realism in favour of sets and filmic techniques that attempted to visually represent interior emotions and feelings.

During the duel, Kylo and Rey are both in states of intense emotional distress. Kylo only intensified his self-doubt and inner conflict by murdering his father, and far from becoming peaceful and stable he has become heavily emotional and chaotic. He pursues Rey and Finn without giving a thought to his injury or the illogic of it, driven purely by emotion and a primal desire to emerge victorious. Rey, for her part, has just watched as her mentor was murdered and her friend savagely wounded. She is distressed, angry and terrified, so her emotions are just as chaotic as Kylo’s.

When they lock sabers at the cliff edge, you see the characters and their emotions complement each other. Kylo seems disturbingly soothed when he believes Rey to be helpless and at his mercy, but his lips twist into a snarl when she attempts to draw upon the light – in this way he is both trying to resist her and trying to impress his own emotions upon her, rejecting the light and desiring her to do the same. And then Rey presents a snarl of her own, her expression becoming almost animalistic in the moment before she ducks and begins to overpower Kylo without pity or pause for reflection.

This conflict between them, which is sold so well by the actors’ subtle shifts in facial expression, is also embodied by the lighting. Unlike in the interrogation – where Rey reminded solidly in the light, with Kylo consigned to the dark – both characters now share the same erratic, unstable illumination of their locked weapons. Rey’s face is tainted by flashes of red, while Kylo’s eyes gleam from her light. This lighting has deep symbolism and resonance attached to it, for as ‘cool’ as it looks it also heavily foreshadows the dynamics we can probably expect in the sequels – a battle between the Dark side and the Light where the lines between the two won’t be as clearly drawn as we have come to expect.