JJ Abrams: "Rey's parents are not in Episode VII"

MyOnlyHope wrote:

Kessel89 wrote:Out of curiosity, is there any meaning to the that particular cat face emoji in Daisy's Instagram message? May not mean anything, but I couldn't figure it out.

@Kessel89
It's called the "weary cat face" emoji according to Google. In other forms, it looks a lot more fed up lmao. The Apple version makes it look shocked. Just goes to show how utterly sick of the obnoxious Rey Skywalker theory Daisy was.

http://emojipedia.org/weary-cat-face/

@MyOnlyHope

Thanks! So, it is a variation, I see now.

CienaRee wrote:

SoloSideCousin wrote:

Kessel89 wrote:I'm not surprised JJ would backtrack on the statement. It was so plain and clear which surprised me because LF wants speculation and interest to continue. I didn't enjoy the roller coaster it caused.

The fact is, JJ's wording in the first statement was very clear and unambiguous while the second statement was worded awkwardly (much like that awkward and confusing statement about Leia and Rey's first meeting/reunion). Honestly, Rey Skywalker is becoming less likely, although the diehards live on...

Honestly, as many others have previously commented here, the possibility of Kylo being the Skywalker heir and Reylo happening (in some form) look better and better the more time passes....

@Kessel89

I agree. We're dealing with two production houses, Disney and LF, that are like the Nobel laureates of "working the audience". They have barely said a clear word. The whole of TFA was a massive teaser. Of course, they were going to backtrack, but like @vaderito says, the absolutely poor quality of the backtracking is very telling. If Luke was really the dad, they would have been stronger IMO, like "JJ didn't mean that at all. All doors are still open", instead of this wishy washy language that is not logical. What did she do if she did not discover Luke?

@SoloSideCousin

Not to mention the fact that many Rey Skywalker fans believed that Rey knew Luke was her father so she want to find him and that was a father/daughter reunion at the end of the movie.However the damage control debunks this theory which is ironic since the whole point of this is to clean up JJ's mess(aka spoiler)

@CienaRee

Wow! I never knew that some people had that particular headcanon. Good grief! What a mess!

A finnrey raised the interesting point that if Rey isn't a Skywalker, Reylos shouldn't be rejoicing because it throws all kinds of questions up about JJ's ability to tell a story that makes sense and isn't riddled with red herrings. I don't buy it, but I have noticed a lot of talk lately about what JJ was actually trying to say with TFA. There was so much noise. I believe we are on the right track, but I don't blame others for not seeing it through all the callbacks.

I bet the Finnreys are upset...we saw things that we were meant to see while they didn't. Its not about JJ's inability to tell a story. Some people have to let go of their headcanons first...

BastilaBey wrote:A finnrey raised the interesting point that if Rey isn't a Skywalker, Reylos shouldn't be rejoicing because it throws all kinds of questions up about JJ's ability to tell a story that makes sense and isn't riddled with red herrings. I don't buy it, but I have noticed a lot of talk lately about what JJ was actually trying to say with TFA. There was so much noise. I believe we are on the right track, but I don't blame others for not seeing it through all the callbacks.

@BastilaBey
Sadly for them everything about The Force Awakens film I watched confirmed to me that J.J. knows exactly how to tell a good story that both feeds nostalgia and takes extraordinary risks. He found the "middle path" between catering to new fans and old fans alike. It's not J.J.'s fault some people refused to acknowledge the unusual hero/villain dynamic J.J. brought to life in the film. Especially because he made it clear as day.

@MyOnlyHope I agree with you, JJ did his best with what seems a very difficult task. Managing to satisfy old fans, appease those who were desperate to see some of the EU, bring new people on board, find a new way to continue the Skywalker line... it has generated confusion because those moments between Rey and Kylo don't spell everything out. Their connection is supposed to be mysterious, new, groundbreaking. People who were expecting a simple action movie aren't necessarily going to see that, even after repeated viewings. Especially if their headcanons about them being related are so strong.

AnneNeville wrote:Just in from Daisy Ridley:



A poster on tumblr noted: "she wasn’t even tagged. it was just a hashtag search…"

@AnneNeville

Is that an answer to this statement? Is she answering to reylo people?

Maria Antonietta wrote:

AnneNeville wrote:Just in from Daisy Ridley:



A poster on tumblr noted: "she wasn’t even tagged. it was just a hashtag search…"

@AnneNeville

Is that an answer to this statement? Is she answering to reylo people?

@Maria Antonietta
She just left that comment on the picture. I'd say it was a sarcastic response to the statement. Pablo responded in a similar way. They're sick of it. Daisy called the Rey Solo theorists "presumptuous." I imagine Rey Skywalker is viewed the same way.

J.J.: "Rey's parents are not in episode VII."
Daisy: "*Weary cats* WHAT CAN IT ALL MEAN?!"
Me: *Raises hand* "You're not Luke's daughter."

Maria Antonietta wrote:

AnneNeville wrote:Just in from Daisy Ridley:



A poster on tumblr noted: "she wasn’t even tagged. it was just a hashtag search…"

@AnneNeville

Is that an answer to this statement? Is she answering to reylo people?

@Maria Antonietta

well, that Instagram account is dedicated to Reylo...so..

Good grief! All this happened while I was asleep

To be honest, I may be in a minority but, as I said in the old forum, I actually expected them to debunk Rey Skywalker in some way after the DVD has come out. Or at least debunk it in a way to make people speculate about other possibilities, too. That's why I don't think JJ's first comment was just a slip.

Pablo's tweet sounds like he thought he was FINALLY allowed to say it plainly now that JJ has come out with it, too. How anyone can twist that tweet to mean something other than it says is beyond me.

JJ's strange clarification about Rey's parents possibly being "in her world" makes me wonder if there might be something in my King Prana theory, after all

Thanks God I am in Europe!
I have been sleeping well through the night.

Now this!

To J.J.:


just saying...

So sweet of Pablo to retweet something so true.

Darth_Awakened wrote:Thanks God I am in Europe!
I have been sleeping well through the night.

Now this!

To J.J.:


just saying...

@Darth_Awakened

Same here, complete surprise when I woke up this morning. A nice one though, despite the comment of what JJ said afterwards. I also think that last comment was damage control.

Hah...I love this thread....
*fangirls*
Shall we gloat? I'm tempted....but will rise above it....because you know I'm so cool...
has nothing to do with me being [REDACTED]

@Arcana - we know you are cool

@Queen Rey - Totally surprised. I was sure we are going to wait a year and half...or maybe more..


Another one to J.J.:

Darth_Awakened wrote:@Arcana - we know you are cool

@Queen Rey - Totally surprised. I was sure we are going to wait a year and half...or maybe more..


Another one to J.J.:

@Darth_Awakened

I'm so not...because would do it in an instant if I could hahaha....
well I'm not ashamed to admit it, at least

Darth Dingbat wrote:Good grief! All this happened while I was asleep

To be honest, I may be in a minority but, as I said in the old forum, I actually expected them to debunk Rey Skywalker in some way after the DVD has come out. Or at least debunk it in a way to make people speculate about other possibilities, too. That's why I don't think JJ's first comment was just a slip.

Pablo's tweet sounds like he thought he was FINALLY allowed to say it plainly now that JJ has come out with it, too. How anyone can twist that tweet to mean something other than it says is beyond me.

JJ's strange clarification about Rey's parents possibly being "in her world" makes me wonder if there might be something in my King Prana theory, after all

@Darth Dingbat

Regarding the bolded, that notion crossed my mind too. I mean it was a little kid asking him and he probably was taken aback ... but why not just go with some default answer, even though flustered and just say ... "Oh you'll have to wait and see in the next movie," or some other canned line?  Why even get into details at all? Why not just say the last bit? "Rey wonders too." (paraphrase)

I don't know.  I'm caught in between.  JJ seems to get overwhelmed with details sometimes, so I can see the slip happening, especially at some obscure gathering.  (But then again, is Tribeca really obscure? And there were some kind of real reporters there too.  JJ had to know that.).  OTOH, giving away this detail can have a domino effect to all kinds of other things, like Kylo's redemption and Reylo, that I know that they would want to keep under wraps.

But then at the same time I wonder if they misjudged how strongly the Rey Skywalker thing would take hold, and were afraid of having people really jarred in the theatre, thereby possibly negatively impacting their reaction to the rest of Episode VIII by causing confusion and causing people to get "out of the moment."  And we are talking about Disney here.  Their marketing and psychological analytics must be some of the best in the world, and they are known for keeping such a tight lid on their messaging.  So that being said, I would not be shocked if some of this is part of a gradual "informing" of the Western audience that this series is part of a new ballgame and not everyone would be someone's kid anymore.  That "I am your father" mindset is so ingrained in SW, after almost 40 years.  I can see analysts theorizing that it will take a multi-step process, over time, to disengage that mindset.

What happened tonight, whether a total slip up or something more semi-planned (once again, Disney is super powerful and incredibly good at this game), it allows a group of people to disengage from that old school notion of SW, where everyone in the lead must be a Skywalker child or a Skywalker's partner or a Skywalker's mentor, just enough to accept the possibility of previously considered "impossible" things.  As a result, when Episode VIII is different in tone (which I am convinced it will be, because I think under KK this series is going to feel very different), when complex storylines happen, where the only Skywalker is on the dark side, this earlier exposure will prepare those viewers to be able to accept it without being jarred.

Of course, there will be a group who will not be able to accept it, but as time goes on, I wonder if Disney/LF are going to take a "take it or leave it" attitude with that group, because there is no growth in that group.  They may have calculated some loss of the original hardcore, but might not care because that loss might be replaced five times over with an engaged international audience.  The Reylo intimations, the casting of Adam Driver (who I am positive would not have been on GL's list), the making of a young woman the heroine, the showing of blood, the naturalistic acting, the sexual tension and the painfully in-your-face killing of Han by his own child in such a way that a huge portion of the audience feels for the child, even though they love Han with all their heart, the "Zero-Dark-Thirty" look of Rogue One (obviously another movie, but part of the same universe) tells me that Disney/LF is leaving that all black and white, 1940s serials, sometimes straight-out corny aspect of the earlier movies behind and have ensconced themselves fully in the PG-13 realm for good.  

I think a number of us feel that way, and if we are right on that score, Disney/LF must know that they are going to have to "manage" this transition in the audience's perception of the SW product over time ... and that managing will not happen overnight ... and a lot of that managing will be done by social media in the hopes that some of the message passes to more mainstream sources.  

So after all this rambling, I am not sure exactly what my point is, except maybe this.  I am sure Disney is going to change the complexity level of these movies moving forward.  I am sure it will never go as kiddie as JarJar again.  They made lots of money in PG-13.  They will stay there.  However, at the same time, I believe Disney knows that they will have to get a certain portion of the audience used to this change, and that will require a drawn on PR process.  So in the end I think it's possible that there was a plan to let some of this out, and JJ was in on it, but at the same time, perhaps JJ jumped the gun in the timeline due to personal frustration, hence the weak backpedaling.  It's very interesting.  We are going to see how the messaging continues to go to make a more solid determination.

Also, back to your post, I really like that King Prana idea.  I like that JK Rowling thing of a detail never going to waste.    It doesn't seem like there is any good reason for him to be getting those Rathtars.  If it was for a zoo, he wouldn't need Han to transport them.  He could use a legitimate carrier.  So that tells me he is up to no good.  And if King Prana is getting Rathtars to say ... take out his enemies or something, you can't help but feel that the dark side is not far behind ... even if he is not a forceuser himself.

I have to say that all of the father theories have merit besides "Luke as Dad", but I really do have a fondness for these dark side theories.  I just like how it fits with Rey being dropped on Jakku.

It sort of bother me that J.J went back on his comment by saying that "we don't learn who Rey parents are, but that doesn't mean they're not present in the movie". Something along the line. Now I get that he put his foot in his mouth and is doing some collateral damages here. But still...

@SoloSideCousin: Precisely.

That's why I expected at least a semi-debunking of Rey Skywalker. They wanted debates and speculation, that much is obvious. But the Rey Skywalker thing actually isn't conducive to debate at all, because anyone who suggests something different gets shouted down with, "YOU IDIOT, OF COURSE SHE'S A SKYWALKER, THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES SENSE, DUH!!!"

SoloSideCousin wrote:
But then at the same time I wonder if they misjudged how strongly the Rey Skywalker thing would take hold, and were afraid of having people really jarred in the theatre, thereby possibly negatively impacting their reaction to the rest of Episode VIII by causing confusion and causing people to get "out of the moment."  And we are talking about Disney here.  Their marketing and psychological analytics must be some of the best in the world, and they are known for keeping such a tight lid on their messaging.  So that being said, I would not be shocked if some of this is part of a gradual "informing" of the Western audience that this series is part of a new ballgame and not everyone would be someone's kid anymore.  That "I am your father" mindset is so ingrained in SW, after almost 40 years.  I can see analysts theorizing that it will take a multi-step process, over time, to disengage that mindset.

Exactly. It is something I have been pondering about for some time.
Beeing an "original trilogy fangirl" I completely understand what you are talking about
And it is definitely easier for the people who have not been in SW for ages to get naturally the new approach without a second thought (As I see the majority of the Reylo fandom makes  the evidence for itself).
Despite noticing Reylo vibe during my first viewing - I must admit  I was pretty much confused and it took some time to process everything.
It is logic and clear now. But it was not right upon I saw the movie. (I am blaming J.J. and Kasdan for that (and the silly exposition: That saber belonged to Luke, and his father before him...now It is calling to you...).

So according to EW, the clarification comment was:

"What I meant was that she doesn’t discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world."

"Doesn't discover them"... but "may already be in her world". Does a mention count as being "in her world"? IMO it does.

I'm putting my eggs in the King Prana basket now.

Darth Dingbat wrote:So according to EW, the clarification comment was:

"What I meant was that she doesn’t discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world."

"Doesn't discover them"... but "may already be in her world". Does a mention count as being "in her world"? IMO it does.

I'm putting my eggs in the King Prana basket now.

@Darth Dingbat

She did discover Luke in the end....if JJ says she didn't discover her parents in TFA it means Luke is not her parents
So all is good

After all these "events" during the night...I am led to conclude: that Rey Skywalker is debunked for once and for all!

As to J.J. last ambiguity on subject: some other "players" are still in the game: Possibility of Kenobi, Palpatine, King Prana, BDT character from EPVIII still could be in relation to Rey.

Waking up to news like these.
I think JJ was pretty clear with his first statement, wasn't he? There is no turning back, now .

And yeah, Arcana is right, she did discover Luke in the end, so Rey Skywalker debunked. God, my head is a mess, right now

EchoBase wrote:Waking up to news like these.
I think JJ was pretty clear with his first statement, wasn't he? There is no turning back, now .

And yeah, Arcana is right, she did discover Luke in the end, so Rey Skywalker debunked. God, my head is a mess, right now :lol!:

@EchoBase

Welcome to the party! lol