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Going to start a little thread about how fandom changed from 2015 to current with a focus on why those of us who identified with Kylo Ren (much more than you know, thought he was hot—and yes, we did) dealt with criticisms of the character. Feel free to add your thoughts as I go.
I posted my second ever stupid sloppy essay online in Feb 2016 about the character and while I hate it, I loved @hermitsacedia responses: https://thehermitsacedia.tumblr.com/post/139922549929/sacrificial-boy-a-study-of-kylo-ren-the-puer
Specifically this quote, responding to the question of mental illness as a basis for this character: “We forget that there is no evil, but facts and events that lead to consequences. And we also forget that this capacity for violence is in everyone, mental illness or not.”
There is legitimate criticism in focusing on the rehabilitation of white cis men disenfranchised from a system that exists to cater to them and then there’s the fact that we’re talking about a character created for a 9-part mythic saga based in pulp sci-fi fiction and Westerns.
It’s not deep, but it is for those of us who enjoy it. Focusing on the real world analogies has been good for clickbait and maintaining interest over 4 years but in the long run what it means is that this character is a mirror for personal reflection, especially with canon.
I can’t stress how much the conversation changes when we include the idea that women and people who have suffered abuse understand Ben Solo’s narrative more than those who would wish to twist it into something truly inhuman or sociopathic.
The most simple and crippling fear of being alone and surrounded by people whose ideologies do not allow for you to have the most basic of comforts: life, love, happiness. Being born into war is one way, being born with mental illness is another. We can empathize with that.
The biggest lesson out of this entire story is that being born with a gift is equally being born with a curse, and we need others to help guide us as much as we learn how not to be. For those of us in isolation because of our own choices, I believe it has to be a message of hope.
Anyway if you are truly new to Ben Solo discourse, here are some points made daily by cooler people than I but which need to be rearticulated because it’s Thursday (a concept!)
Han Solo forgave his son in his moment of death [TFA junior novelization]:
![Anyway if you are truly new to Ben Solo discourse, here are some points made daily by cooler people than I but which need to be rearticulated because it’s Thursday (a concept!)Han Solo forgave his son in his moment of death [TFA junior novelization]:](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EJ8_RLSWoAAYWlx.jpg "Anyway if you are truly new to Ben Solo discourse, here are some points made daily by cooler people than I but which need to be rearticulated because it’s Thursday (a concept!)Han Solo forgave his son in his moment of death [TFA junior novelization]:")
Han Solo forgave his son in his moment of death [TFA junior novelization]:
The excerpts from Aftermath: Empire’s End in which Leia talks about Luke training her and she feels her unborn son and the darkness encroaching upon him through the Force: https://bastila-bae.tumblr.com/post/157259526510/its-more-than-just-having-a-bad-seed-as-a-kid
Crack cut: The Napkin Bombing which was seeded by @rianjohnson for as yet unknown reasons in Claudia Gray’s Bloodline and while I’m not saying it was Ben Solo I’m also saying that the incidents around Luke’s Temple happened around the same time https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Napkin_Bombing
Adam Driver’s audiobook narration of Bryan Doerries’ The Theater of War: What Ancient Greek Tragedies Can Teach Us Today was what led many of us to believe that his investment in the character was based in his own experiences https://oldadastra.tumblr.com/post/139406055519/the-story-of-kylo-ren-is-the-archetypal-journey-of
Need to peace out for the evening but if you’re out there @FrolickingFiz I still reference your meta on the regular, and hope you enjoyed the Dark Crystal reboot: https://frolickingfizzgig.tumblr.com/post/141751036445/rebirth-of-the-son-the-art-of-kylo-rens
