REY- HEROES JOURNEY OR VIRGIN PROMISE?
Some of you probably clicked that link just to see what the hell I was talking about. Is this some kind of kinky Rey fanfic? Guess again, internet! For all you yahoos out there who think The Force Awakens is just some cheap New Hope rip off, let me take the time to straighten you out.
It isn’t exactly a secret that the original trilogy was a direct adaptation of the Heroes Journey story structure as developed by Joseph Campbell. It pretty much follows it to the letter. For those who don’t know it, let me educate you. I’ve posted the Heroes Journey arc below.
1) Hero Lives in Ordinary World
2) Call to Adventure
3) Refuses the Call
4) Meeting the Guide
5) Crosses the First Threshold
6) Tested in Ability to Survive
7) Meets Allies and Learns of Enemy
8) Allies Prepare to Enter Enemy Lair
9) Hero faces near death in a crises
10) Hero is Rewarded with an Advantage
11) He takes the Road Back and Meets the Enemy
12) Final Battle
14) Receives Reward
You can see how the original New Hope basically follows this to the letter. But you may all be saying, “Wait Dandy….doesn’t Force Awakens follow all of this too?” For the most part, yes! But there are a few MAJOR things that keep the Force Awakens and Rey’s journey from fitting this model.
First, Rey doesn’t really live in an ordinary world. She lives in a world where she is a bit of an oddball outcast who is trying her best to fit into the society, unlike Luke who is an average joe living a boring, hum drum life. This is a big point, but we’ll come back to it later. The main issue is Rey's 'Refusal of the Call' is WAY to long in the Force Awakens. It spans almost the entirety of the film with Rey denying her abilities and destiny through most of the movie. This story point bleeds over into all other story arcs. In traditional heroes journey, the refusal is typically short lived. Think back to New Hope. Luke’s refusal was literally three minutes long.
“No I won’t go to Alderaan,” he tells Ben, then speeds home to find his Aunt and Uncle dead. He returns to Ben and tells him, “I want to become a Jedi like my father.”
Typical heroes journey, right? The second problem is the Testing Ability to Survive. There is no point where Rey is fighting against the odds to stay alive against opposing forcing. At least not in the order of the Heroes Journey arc. Sure she is kidnapped but never really has her ingenuity test like Luke did when he was trapped in the Death Star and trying to find an escape. These are the main problems with attempting to force Joseph Campbell's story structure on Rey.
So did JJ mess up? Did he go off the beaten path? Think again! Abrams was on an entirely different road. INTRODUCING THE VIRGIN PROMISE-
https://www.writersstore.com/the-virgins-promise-a-new-archetypal-structure/
1) Virgin Lives in a Dependent World
2) Price of Conformity
3) Opportunity to Shine
4) Dress the Part
5) Secret World
6) No Longer Fits Her World
7) Caught Shinning
8) Gives Up on What Kept Her Stuck
9) Kingdom in Chaos
10) Wanders in the Wilderness
11) Chooses Her Light
12) Re-Ordering
13) The Kingdom is Brighter
In this story archetype we see something that fits Rey’s journey a little better. It is the difference between learning self-sacrifice and learning self- fulfillment. The simplest way to understand the big picture is to say that the HEROE is leaning to DO while the VIRGIN is leaning to BE. Let’s start with the obvious.
1) Lives in a Dependent World. Rey is not living an ordinary boring life when we find her. She is tied to the planet and forced to stay there by two things- her dependency on scrapping to survive and her dependency for a mysterious someone to come back to her. She's become a restriction to herself rather than being restricted by her surroundings as Luke was. She has become DEPENDENT on her world.
2) Price of Conformity. When we first meet Rey, she has conformed to the nature of the planet she was abandoned on. She scraps a living off of junked parts and collects her pay in a long line, with everyone else. She is forced to accept whatever payment that Unkar Plutt gives her and has no say in the matter. She’s conformed to the laws of Jakku society and has, quite literally, stepped in line. This is opposite of Luke, who is actively wanting to get away from home when we first meet him.
3) Opportunity to Shine. This refers to the moment when the Virgin does something outside the norm that sets her apart. For a brief moment she breaks free of the conformity. For Rey, this moment is clearly when she refuses to sell BB-8 to Unkar Plutt. Everyone around her is in shock at her refusal to accept a massive amount of money that any scrapper would have sawed off their arm and leg for. For the first time, Rey steps out of line. She denies Plutt the droid he desperately wants and for a moment separates herself from the system and those who would have her act a certain way.
4) Dress the Part. This is when society realizes that the Virgin is breaking out of the mold and tries to force her back into place. You can see this clearly when Plutt is infuriated that Rey dares to keep the droid. As a result he sends his goons to reclaim it and put Rey back in her place. You could even take it a step further here and say Finn was trying to force her into a role of damsel in distress as he takes her hand and tries to lead her to safety during the First Order attack on Jakku. Take your pick, really.
5) Secret World. This is where the Virgin is introduced into a new and more appealing world. This is found through the discovery of Han Solo who opens up the galaxy to her and explains the nature of the force and Jedi to be “real…all of it.” It is an atractive world she has never seen and one that's been lost.
6) Caught Shinning. A major moment of conflict for the Virgin when she is caught being different and tries to deny it. This fits Rey to a tee. We see Maz Kanata catch Rey with Luke’s old lightsaber and she realizes that the force is calling out to her. Rey refuses to accept her difference and is in danger of returning to her dependent state when she eagerly wants to return to Jakku. This is a pivotal moment in the Virgin Promise and it is one of the big turning points for Rey.
7) Gives Up on What Kept Her Stuck. This is the moment when the Virgin finally accepts what makes her different and special. For Rey, this conflict comes after she has been captured by Kylo Ren. He attempts to use mind tricks on her but Rey finds in her the power to resist. Later, she embraces her new found abilities and uses it to force a storm trooper, who sounds suspiciously like James Bond, to set her free. She is beginning down the path of change and BECOMING someone new.
8) Kingdom in Chaos. This one should be pretty straightforward. The First Order has the Starkiller Bases, capable of destroying multiple planets and they are about to use it again. Simple, right? Not quite. This bit actually refers to the PROTAGONIST bringing chaos as a result of failing to conform or her change. Here is where things get a little less clear and a bit trickier. How does Rey bring about chaos as a result of finding individuality? The answer is Kylo Ren. Much like Rey, Kylo Ren is fighting against his own sort of conformity and fighting against his true nature. He attempts to make Rey fit his idea of how things should work. Rey’s confrontation with him leaves him slightly unhinged and at odds with his own ideas, leading eventually to the main key points in the films climax. Starkiller base is thrown into disorder, Kylo Ren kills his father, and then, half-crazed goes after Rey when he should be worried about the First Order's greatest weapon being destroyed. Rey’s embracing of her other side is directly connected to Kylo Ren becoming increasingly unbalanced and chaotic.
9) Wanders in the Wilderness. Much like Luke’s refusal to the call, this one is very short lived, but we do see Rey quite literally forced into a wilderness and looking for an escape and solution to the chaos. She and Finn run into the woods, wandering without real direction while Kylo Ren follows in pursuit.
10) Re-Ordering. When Kylo Ren finally catches up to her, Rey needs to find a solution to all the chaos. It is here that she fully embraces who she is and BECOMES someone she is meant to be. Kylo tries to tempt her one more time but is overpowered. Rey overcomes him, and the chaos is resolved, if only temporarily.
11) The Kingdom is Brighter. StarKiller base is destroyed, the Resistance is triumphant, and Rey is on the path to help bring about the return of the Jedi. The future is looking a little brighter as she accepts her role in the galaxy and offers up the lightsaber to Luke Skywalker.
In my oh-so-humble opinion, the story in The Force Awakens fits the model of the Virgin Promise far better than the Heroes Journey. It all comes down to how the protagonist fits into his/her world. New Hope is about Luke trying to learn how to DO something. It’s about him leaving home to try and protect the galaxy. The Force Awakens is about Rey trying to learn how to BE something and going on a journey to CHANGE home.
So next time you start thinking that the Force Awakens is a little too similar to New Hope, look at how they took a similar story and spun it into a completely different type of story arc. See how the circular pattern theory works brilliantly into the film, giving something old with a new flavor.
And that’s all I have to say about that! What do you think? Agree, disagree? Sound off below!