Fans Speak About The Force Awakens: Linda Interviews Kay

March 21, 2016July 8, 2019 Linda Geek Kay, interview, Linda Hansen-Raj, Star Wars, The Force Awakens

Now that The Force Awakens has been out for a few months, fans have seen it multiple times, and we’ve all had time to digest and process the movie, I was curious to catch up with my fellow fans and see what they though of The Force Awakens. Initially I sent everyone the same questions and planned to do one post picking one answer from each person. But sometimes when I do interviews, even when I know my interviewees and their passions, I’m surprised at how interesting and unique each person’s answers are! It became impossible for me to choose one answer from a person, so instead, here is a series of fan impressions to The Force Awakens. Reading everyone else’s feelings about the movie has made me want to watch it again with their points of view in mind.

I’d love to know what your thoughts are as well. Do you agree? Disagree? Please share in the comments or on Twitter!

When I saw Kay last October as co-panelists at GeekGirlCon, I had to tell her I was a Star Wars troglodyte, that I barely could make myself watch the trailers because I so wanted to be surprised! I was a direct contrast to Kay who was already beautifully cosplaying Rey and podcasting about The Force Awakens. And I was curious to know two things from Kay – how it felt to see Rey in the movie after cosplaying her since Celebration and, since I know Kay is a fan of Star Wars Legends, what parallels she saw. Here are Kay’s answers:

Did your expectations for TFA change between Celebration and its release (because of merchandising, trailers, rumors, commentaries, etc.)?

I don’t think I can sufficiently summarize the evolution of all that for me except to say listen to all the episodes of Hyperspace Theories between Celebration and the movie’s release. :p

Did you see TFA on opening day? (did you wait in a crazy line, dress up, etc.)

Yes. A movie theater had a group of us in costume there early to take photos with people waiting in line. No surprise – I was dressed as Rey and I sat next to “my bestie, Kylo Ren.”

TFA in one word:

Fun

Favorite returning character: (feel free to say why)

Chewbacca – He’s fairly dimensional for a character we usually don’t fully understand when he speaks, and he has that moment on Starkiller that not only feels true to his character but also makes it very easy to feel for Chewie.

Favorite new character: (feel free to say why)

Rey – She’s thrown into this large scale conflict and she becomes proactive about her role in it. She’s empathetic and savvy and Daisy Ridley does a lovely job bringing her to life.

Was TFA the (the story, the movie, the whole experience) you expected? If it wasn’t, how did it differ?

We didn’t learn a few things about some of the characters that I thought we might, but mainly I was hoping for a fun, funny, and inspiring journey and that’s what I got out of it.

What are your hopes for (your new hope, so to speak) for future movies/the franchise?

I hope to see Rey’s story arc be completed in a manner that is worthy of the potential we’ve seen in her introduction. I hope we get to see more female characters – especially a female villain! I hope each new installment in the saga and around it feels like an adventure and inspires kids like it inspired me when I first saw Star Wars.

How was it to cosplay Rey and then see her in TFA?

The Rey costuming experience has been amazing – getting to meet and interact with so many Star Wars fans of all ages who were excited about her and what she could mean for the franchise and fans before the movie even came out. So when I saw her in The Force Awakens it was a relief in a way. She’s an interesting and relatable character, and I’m excited to see more of the journey she’s on as well as to watch the impact she has on fans now that so many more people know who she is.

What parallels do you see with Legends and TFA?

Although we don’t know the details of it, we do know from The Force Awakens that Luke Skywalker did start training new Jedi and one of his students became problematic (to put it lightly). In general terms that’s not too dissimilar from some of the stories of Legends. We also have a kind of Imperial Remnant opposing our heroes, but the First Order is definitely a more intense group. Beyond that it’s more of being able to find bits and pieces from Legends scattered and mixed in to the story we get in The Force Awakens. For example, Rey is not a carbon copy of Jaina Solo but we do see piloting, mechanical, and Force-wielding skills in both of them. And Rey, like Jaina, looks to be a character kids of any gender could be inspired by.

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Linda

Linda has been a Star Wars fan from the time she saw Episode IV in the theatre with her parents and insisted on being Han Solo while playing with the neighborhood kids. She’s now a fangirl who splits her time learning to twirl a bo staff like Ray Park, jumping horses, writing fanfic she dreams up on her commute to work, and spending time with her husband and their own feisty Padawan version of Ahsoka.