What if Rey had been written as a man? Would The Force Awakens—and the entire Star Wars sequel trilogy—have been better?

In this Star Wars video essay, I rewrite Rey as Raymond, a struggling scavenger who must learn, fail, depend upon his friends, and gradually earn his place in the story. By rebuilding The Force Awakens scene by scene, we can see what Disney’s sequel trilogy was missing: a meaningful Hero’s Journey.

This is not an argument that Star Wars cannot have a female protagonist. It is an argument that any hero—male or female—must be allowed to struggle, train, sacrifice, mature, and earn victory.

We examine:

• Rey vs. Luke Skywalker
• Whether Rey is genuinely a Mary Sue
• The Hero’s Journey and Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth
• How Finn’s character arc could have been repaired
• Why Han Solo should have remained a heroic mentor
• How Raymond would survive Jakku and Starkiller Base
• Masculine and feminine approaches to storytelling
• Why defeating Kylo Ren should have required growth
• How to rewrite and fix The Force Awakens

The original Star Wars trilogy made Luke Skywalker compelling because he changed. He trained, failed, suffered, formed friendships, and eventually became worthy of victory. Rey begins with tremendous power—but does her story ever give that power meaning?

This video explores what happens when representation becomes more important than transformation—and why traditional storytelling still matters.

Watch next: https://youtu.be/iEwCmy2otZM?si=tlKtmKgKZxK4riMP
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00:00 Introduction
00:14 Star Wars and the Hero’s journey
01:52 Star Wars and “The Message”
05:20 Star Wars Fans Are Sexist?
07:01 What if Rey Had Been Written as a Man?
21:24 How “The Message” Ruins the Story
23:17 Masculine vs Feminine Stories
31:39 Yes Rey Should Have Been A Man