In Defense of Kylo Ren

Tackling 3 Common Criticisms

** Spoiler: ALERT!**

*** I’m going to be writing freely about all kinds of stuff below. So if you haven’t seen Star Wars the Force Awakens yet, please just come back when you have! ***

Now, without further ado: I am a Star Wars nerd. Always have been. Mostly of the movies and the music, posters, and art directly connected to the films. I am less-so well versed in the other content: books, video games, TV shows, etc. I know that some of these things are considered “canon” as well, but I am a pretty strict adherent to the movie canon.

And my family shares my level of Star Wars fandom almost exactly. Or so I thought until we compared notes after seeing SWTFA. Which is no small task in itself. I’m the third-of-seven kids, so that means I had to talk to six siblings and two parental units before I had to full scoop.

So after several hours of debriefing I came away with this impression: nobody likes Kylo Ren but me.

And then I looked at the interwebs, seeing both the fun/funny (“newest Disney princess”, Emo Kylo Ren Twitter, things that look like Adam Driver, etc. etc.) and the straight up disappointed and/or harsh. All of which echoed what my family said — so I knew it wasn’t just them!

Boiling these criticisms down, the case again Kylo Ren something runs like this:

• He was mis-cast
• He’s ugly and/or I don’t like his face
• He’s a whiny villain

I understood where people where coming from, but I don’t feel these to be true. So, I’d like to tackle these points one by one, and see if I can turn you to the Dark Side.

Number 1: Kylo Ren was mis-cast

Was Adam Driver the wrong choice for J.J. Abrams to put in the film?

I don’t think so. Here’s why.

As fate would have it, when the casting call for the new Stars Wars movie went out I was working at a talent agency on a Motion Picture Talent desk. The film was untitled, but everyone knew about it; and I, like all of my counterparts across the industry, was sending out everyone we could to read for a handful of parts. This isn’t unusual for a big movie. Literally everyone that’s even close to the age range of the characters mentioned (sometimes with names, sometimes not) goes out for these roles.

So, with a talent pool that basically as big as the film industry itself, it is safe to say that J.J. and the other filmmakers could have their pick of the litter. Obviously I don’t know how many people read for the part of Kylo, but I can guarantee that if J.J. thought that anyone could play it better (barring scheduling conflicts) that he would have cast someone else. But he didn’t.

Maybe this was to keep with the tradition of casting relative unknowns to play major roles (i.e. you’re probably not going to see someone like Matt Damon or Brad Pitt cast in a Star Wars movie). Maybe, due to outside forces (scheduling, the studio, delusions of grandeur) J.J. had to cast Adam Driver. But these ring false to me.

So, at least from a casting perspective, I think we have to get used to the idea that J.J. cast exactly who he wanted to play Stars Wars’ new number one villain.

Number 2: Kylo Ren is ugly and/or I don’t like his face

Some of this point goes back the earlier point of him being mis-cast, but this also brought out some particularly fun and colorful commentary. For example, one of my three brothers broke it down this way:

“Leia was hot, right? And Han was hot too. So how do two hot people end up having a kid that’s so funny looking?!?”

My other brothers/sisters/parental units all that the same thing — Han and Leia’s child(ren) should be prettier than this! This also lead to comments about how he should have left the mask on, because they couldn’t take him seriously knowing what he looked like underneath.

And immediately my mind started racing, thinking of all the 20-to-30-something guys that could pass for the son of Han and Leia. Guys like Scott Eastwood (aka: Clint Eastwood’s son; aka: the guy from Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” video) or Liam Hemsworth (of Hunger Games fame) jumped to mind. But, again, my gut told me that if J.J. wanted a gorgeous guy to be Ben Solo he bloody well would have had one!

For my part, I immediately connected with Kylo/Ben. Seeing his face, and even his long, wavy locks, I just got him. J.J. talked a lot about making sure that the guiding force of this movie is how it makes you feel. And I did spend most if the first time (I’ve seen SWTFA thrice now) going “I’m trying to imagine you as Han and Leia’s kids, but it’s not working”, and I think this is the point.

I hope that doesn’t sound pretentious. Like I’m saying “It’s avant garde! You’re not supposed to like it!” That’s not my point at all. And for what it’s worth, I don’t know if J.J. knew how polarizing Adam would be. Because people do seem to either love him or hate him in the role. My point is, that Ben Solo/Kylo Ren is The Ugly Duckling.

This is a time-honored tradition in storytelling. Not only in the direct Mother Goose Fairytale, but in some of our favorite heroes and villain. Take another sci-fi classic: Ender Wiggin of Ender’s Game. He’s a misfit. A “Third”. Born in direct violation of his world’s two-child policy. Constantly caught up between being too soft and too vicious. (also it’s a great movie with Harrison Ford doing what he does best: being crusty)

Or, taking another example for the nerdom Bible: Prince Zuko from the Avatar: The Last Airbender series. He’s banished. The son his father couldn’t love, and has literally left scarred. He goes on a mission to gain the honor and love that should have been his from birth; only *spoiler alert* to side with his nemesis against his own father. But he starts as one thing: a disappointment.

This word is the key. We hear Kylo say it Rey as they get to know each other very quickly in the interrogation chamber. Kylo thinks Han will disappoint her. Just as he, Kylo/Ben, was a disappointment to Han.

And you know what, it sounds shitty, but sometimes you don’t get the child you thought you would. You can call it “having too much Vader” in them or whatever else you like, but yeah, sometimes it happens. BUT, like Leia especially, and Han finally, make it clear: You still love your child. But Ben internalized that disappointment. And, proving Yoda right once again, his fear lead to anger — his anger lead to hate — and his hate lead him to the Dark Side.

Or, at least to his Grandfather.

And I could, and I might, write whole other article about how Kylo Ren is not a Sith; and how Snoke is not a Sith; and how Jedis-make-the-best-Darths; but I digress.

Number 3: Kylo Ren is a whiny villain

“Throwing a tantrum with a lightsaber? REALLY?!? What a twat.”

Sound familiar? It should, because we all thought it!

But, again, even the first time I saw it, I was more intrigued by this behavior than I was put-off by it. Partially because we have had all seen Kylo’s savage strength using the force: stopping a laser rifle blast while doing ANYTHING ELSE? That ‘ish was real scary. And partly because I, like you all, had certain expectation of what a bad guy in a Star Wars movie would do. Namely, the gold standard: Darth Vader.

Well, after seeing SWTFA one (or twice), I marathoned all six of the Star Wars films, in one-through-six order, and I paid special attention to Darth Vader’s *ahem* leadership style and use of the Dark Side.

To refresh your memory, the bodycount goes like this:

• New Hope: One Rebel soldier’s neck broken with Vader’s own hands; one mouthy Death Star employee choked, but not killed; one Jedi knight dispatched; and three Rebel Pilots shot down in trenches.
• Empire: One Admiral choked to death in the first act; one Captain choked to death in the second act.
• Jedi: No abuse of officers, other than verbal. No kills, other than the Emperor.

I do this just to clarify Darth Vader’s actual bad-ass-ness, because I think we all think/feel/remember Vader as doing a lot more killing that he really does. Especially toward people under his command. (And, no, I’m not keeping track of Anakin’s/Vader’s kills in the prequels. Partly because he doesn’t do any villain-y stuff in his full Darth Vader suit until New Hope; and partly because ain’t nobody got time for that!)

So then, why would Kylo Ren, someone who is so powerful in force not follow in his grand-pappy’s footstep and just violent crush he underlings like so many snack-size bags of potato chip when they delivered bad news?

Well, at least when meet him, Kylo Ren is not Sith. Granted he’s a bad guy, he murders an old man and orders the killing of a whole village of people; but he’s just a Darth. He’s changed his name from Ben Solo, but hasn’t completed the training necessary to be a Darth. And it is this lacking, this conflict, this pull toward the light, that stays Kylo’s hand.

Everyone Kylo commands or works with is afraid of him, including General Hux (aka: Domhnall Gleason. aka: Bill Wesley. aka: “Ginger Hitler” — I mean seriously, look at him yelling). But, at his core Kylo is just a scared kid who is trying to figure out where he belongs in this universe.

And this is what I connected to. This is what I saw and felt in the character of Kylo Ren. He is the Ugly Duckling. This misfit. The outcast. A guy with something to prove to his parents. Again, a theme that goes back to Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, or Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne.

Will Kylo Ren/Ben Solo be redeemed? I don’t know. But I trust that Adam Driver wasn’t mis-cast. That his face, which is even gnarlier now due to Rey giving it some lightsaber lovin’, is going to continue to tell a story reminiscent of the Ugly Duckling. And that as he grows toward the Darkness or the Light that his “tantrums” will give way new and more ominous behavior.