Has the Kylo side of Reylo gained general acceptance?

The forum could use a fresh topic, right? So I'll ask this one: Has the Kylo side of Reylo gained general acceptance?

What I'm asking is whether the average Star Wars fan believes that Kylo Ren has a romantic/sexual attraction to Rey.

In my limited buzzing around Star Wars sites and videos, I find that a decent number of non-Reylo fans think Kylo has a crush on her, even if not reciprocated, or at least that it's a legitimate possibility. OTOH, I would assume the Reywalker "Ew! That's his cousin" faction remains pretty big.

So what say you?

Kylo Men wrote:The forum could use a fresh topic, right? So I'll ask this one: Has the Kylo side of Reylo gained general acceptance?

What I'm asking is whether the average Star Wars fan believes that Kylo Ren has a romantic/sexual attraction to Rey.

In my limited buzzing around Star Wars sites and videos, I find that a decent number of non-Reylo fans think Kylo has a crush on her, even if not reciprocated, or at least that it's a legitimate possibility. OTOH, I would assume the Reywalker "Ew! That's his cousin" faction remains pretty big.

So what say you?

@Kylo Men

I think that's a pretty accurate assessment from what I've seen around the internet. The Reywalker (and hardcore Rey Solo holdouts) are the ones saying, "LOL. Their related! LOL!" (grammar error intentional).

Most other people seem to at least acknowledge Kylo's villainous crush, even if they don't think that Rey will have reciprocal feelings.

I think this topic is very interesting. I'm introducing my friends to Star Wars. One of them is a man (who hates romance like Matt and Pablo   ) and the other one is a woman (who loves romance)   . They haven't seen TFA yet but I'm excited to see their reaction to Rey and Kylo. They barely saw two of the movies but I will tell you guys when they do.

Kylo Men wrote:The forum could use a fresh topic, right? So I'll ask this one: Has the Kylo side of Reylo gained general acceptance?

What I'm asking is whether the average Star Wars fan believes that Kylo Ren has a romantic/sexual attraction to Rey.

In my limited buzzing around Star Wars sites and videos, I find that a decent number of non-Reylo fans think Kylo has a crush on her, even if not reciprocated, or at least that it's a legitimate possibility. OTOH, I would assume the Reywalker "Ew! That's his cousin" faction remains pretty big.

So what say you?

@Kylo Men

Everyone I know IRL outside my crazy Reylo fan of a mother is a very casual viewer of SW. Whether or not they see Reylo is almost split down the middle by gender. Most of my female friends/family saw at least a one sided crush on Kylo's behalf. I only have one female friend that didn't see it at all, but it's because she thinks they're twins because of EU goggles. Funny enough though, she thinks this not only because she thinks they're Jaina and Jacen, but because Kylo obviously senses she's his twin sister. Even if what she's actually seeing isn't sibling affection, she still sees the emotional connection even if it's misinterpreted.

My guy friends on the other hand are a different story. I don't think they put enough thought into Kylo at all to see past the "he sucks as a villain" mentality to make ANY connection. So it's not even a question of if he has their sympathy - it's comments of emo wuss crylo Ren killed his daddy because he didn't get his own ship when he was 16. The thought process is pretty shallow. When I mention Reylo, I get in response that they hope he dies in VIII so it doesn't get to that point.

So on the female side, yes I'm sure they're going to be more open as the story progresses. On the male side, all I can say is this new ST probably isn't going to be for them at all.

Hm. I don't know about general views but I can give some very GA family and friend examples. So if we take my family as a limited sample of the general population, the breakdown would look like this:

My dad and brother both see the villainous crush, hands down. Neither are convinced it'll be reciprocated. Dad thinks she'll end up with Finn, brother thinks she'll end up a Jedi cat lady but redemption will happen due to his one sided interest.
My mom is a long time SW fan but she skews more GA because she doesn't know the lore or read any books. She is also a Luke fan and reeeeeeally wants Reywalker, to my brother's and my chagrin. We had to point out the villainous crush to her. She sortof sees it, but she's one of those people who go, "Yeah but Luke and Leia..." So no hope for that one, lol.
My sister is 11 and hasn't expressed any opinions I'm aware of beyond a hope that Ben will come home.
My best friend is like my brother. She sees the villainous crush and redemption arc as obvious but sees Jedi cat lady as the end result.
And then I have another good buddy who is a gigantic Star Wars fan and sees both Reywalker and Reylo as a possibility. The whole thing has been Shroedinger's cat to him since day 1. Like, he doesn't deny any of the narrative elements I've pointed out, but he also sees it as equally likely the story changes from hand to hand and thought PlotGATE was funny. 

Okay, so breakdown is thus:
3 see the villainous crush as obvious
1, a child, doesn't see it at all
2 are on the fence

My husband is a pretty big SW fan and he says that he can see Reylo as plausible by the end of episode 9. He's not really a Reylo though, just from me introducing the topic to him he'll talk about it.
My dad and brother, both big SW fans don't think she's a Reywalker, but aren't really Reylos. I don't think either one of them have really speculated much on Reylo at all. Neither one of them are huge proponents for romance in general. My brother just speculates on her background/lineage. But I will say that my dad is a huge fan of Adam Driver and so I think that Driver's performance could totally sway him to understand and appreciate Reylo.
As far as my friends go, they're all pretty GA and no one assumes Reylo is gonna happen, although I don't know any antis IRL or I just haven't talked with any of them as in depth to know where they stand (probably the latter). I do have 1 friend who thought her mental torture scene was too much and so I don't think they're a proponent of Reylo, he thought Kylo was just far too invasive and sinister.

No one I know IRL sees it. Not one. They never mention anything romantic about it. They just think Kylo's a crazed lunatic. Whenever I ask them if they think he'll be redeemed they say they never considered it. If I go into a mild version of my take on things they just look at me blankly and say, "Huh."  I'm all alone in my romantic Rey and Kylo world  I stay away from the rest of the fandom on the internet.

Edited to say: I think Reylos are a small percentage of the fandom. Most people don't think Kylo has a romantic bone in his body after killing Han. I hope they'll see the light after TLJ.

Worth noting is that I know not one single anti in real life. I'll talk about Reylo to anyone who's seen TFA that's willing to listen, and not once has anyone reacted with "Oh that's just abusive!".

Probably the most common response is, "Well I hadn't thought of it that way!  I hope you're right because that's a much better story than Rey turning out to be Luke's!".

I do have one female friend that jumped head first into Reylo when I pointed it out.  I wasn't surprised as she's a fan of romance anyway - I think she's read every Nicholas Sparks novel out there, and yes she did get me into Twilight...

I also just discovered an old high school friend ships Reylo hardcore about two weeks ago.  She just happened to pm me on FB to check in with me, we got to talking about Star Wars because we knew each other were huge fans and after a couple of minutes we were both like omg...  Lol

I can't believe I forgot this happened but it's amusing and worth telling... about my Reywalker mom... we watched the new Beauty and the Beast together with all the kids. So after discussing general likes/dislikes and comparing it to the original Disney version, I casually mentioned, "Hey, now you should go home and watch The Force Awakens again. They're thematically very similar." And she goes, "Oh yeah, I guess they kindof..." And the wheels begin spinning. And then she gets this look like Han Solo when Leia tells him Luke's her brother, and goes quiet.

We haven't talked about it since. I'm trying to ease her into acceptance before she's completely shocked by TLJ. 

And I know no antis IRL. That doesn't even register as a topic.

I actually think most people would sooner accept Kylo liking Rey than the other way around, because of how he came off in TFA. The villian with a crush/obsession trope was fairly obvious in the film while Rey's interest was more muted.

No idea, but I'd guess if you had a discussion with a casual fan/viewer, they'd see the possibility that he's got a boner for her if they hadn't been distracted by the nostalgia or Sad Dead Dad Han. The topic's been brought up here before with the changing demographics, including nationalities and regions. That it's the (puritanical) Americans who seem to have the greatest blinders to what's going on. Versus other nationalities, where the audience has immediately picked up on because vive la différence. Certainly many of us females on here saw it from the beginning because if you just meet a guy and he does things like elevator eyes or offers to show/teach you how to do something, that generally doesn't mean "long lost cousin" or "I am going to be your enemy." I do think it's funny that nearly all of the reviews which have picked up on it (a whooping 5-6 for US online pubs), nearly all the reviewers were female:

Star Wars Virgins - Star Wars Virgins Two Slate writers who wouldn’t know a Jedi from a nerf herder go see The Force Awakens..

I was intrigued by the metaphysics of the Force, but I still don’t really understand what the Force is. When Adam from Girls uses it, it’s like some kind of low-frequency sonic weapon that reads your mind and coerces you to do his bidding. But when Rey uses it, it’s almost like she’s meditating or really hitting the end zone on a mindfulness seminar. So when they use the Force on each other, it’s kind of like they’re having mind sex.

I've read the original point of reference for those scenes was Cronenberg's Scanners, which is an interesting choice considering that it has a psychic orgy scene.

Husband = has not ventured an opinion.
16-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter = Reylos 
11-year-old son = ew, lovey stuff, gross.  
Husband's history prof coworker = low-key Reywalker.  She and I decided that she leans that way because she is into history, whereas I was first and foremost a literature major.  So I see tropes and subtext, whereas she thinks history and flashes back to Luke and Leia.

I am (obviously) too old to know any antis.  

At least, he is acknowledged as a Disney prince, it's a good sign, right?


source: https://twitter.com/DepressedDarth/status/878519068172660737

I agree with @IoJovi that the ST might not be for the male audience. Actually, I know no man in RL who really enjoyed TFA.

I just have yet another fresh example of it. Last Thursday, I had a discussion about the latest SW movies with Italian colleagues. Well, discussion is a big word. One is more into Harry Potter so does not care much for SW. The other one is a big fan of Rogue One and when I told him I did not like R1 and preferred TFA, he went the whole typical "ma che!" Italian way, hand gestures included, and said that it was not possible, that the new trilogy is not really SW, Rogue One is a real SW movie, you cannot not like R1 and like the ST. I tried to explain to him that I felt no connection to the characters and that it bugged me whereas in the flawed TFA, I connected to the characters, but the discussion did not go deeper because he was so shocked and kept saying that it could not be. It was kind of funny, I have to say. He even said that he agreed more with my vegan ways - another long discussion between us - than me not liking Rogue One

Then yesterday I rented R1 to watch it with my parents. Second viewing only for me and my parents hadn't seen it. My Dad is not a SF fan and the movie being in English with English subtitles, he had to focus to follow. I would not say he loved it because he's a soccer fan rather than a cinema fan in general, but he seemed to be quite taken by the battles. My mom on the other side told me that she found the movie puzzling. She also said that the actress' face doesn't fit. Now before you start yelling at my Mom - you better not -, I think that she had the same issue as me. She could not connect. The night before, we watched Suicide Squad and she liked it. I think she liked the craziness of it and just took it as pure entertainment. My point is that I think many of us women do associate SW with deeper emotions probably because we connected with the OT characters and themes and potentially the PT ones and expect then the same from any SW movie. Whereas the male audience in general goes for adventure and battles. So the ST satisfies more our cravings than the typical male audience's cravings.

It really made me wonder how TFA hit 2 billions and Rogue One half of it since the typical male audience preferred the second. Maybe the answer is in kids? Maybe they also preferred TFA? I mean in terms of toys and costumes, TFA is a clear winner. That being said, I know there are female posters who liked R1 too so I hope no one gets upset - never forget the comment comes from a Suicide Squad fan It just seems to me that the TFA female fanbase was split on R1. Coming back to the kids, if they are the ones who made TFA a bigger success, it makes you wonder if a nuanced twisted TLJ will do the job. I guess that's why they also include some cutesy creatures.

As for Kylo himself, I don't discuss him in RL except once in a blue Moon with my Mom because she really likes him. I know no one else who likes him and it does pain me a little because it confirms my status of outcast in a way. I just cannot understand how people do not feel his loneliness, although maybe it's the opposite : they actually feel it on a subconscious level and it makes them uncomfortable. Which is worse and explains a lot of the social issues we face nowadays.

SanghaRen wrote:It really made me wonder how TFA hit 2 billions and Rogue One half of it since the typical male audience preferred the second. Maybe the answer is in kids? Maybe they also preferred TFA? I mean in terms of toys and costumes, TFA is a clear winner. That being said, I know there are female posters who liked R1 too so I hope no one gets upset - never forget the comment comes from a Suicide Squad fan It just seems to me that the TFA female fanbase was split on R1. Coming back to the kids, if they are the ones who made TFA a bigger success, it makes you wonder if a nuanced twisted TLJ will do the job. I guess that's why they also include some cutesy creatures.

@SanghaRen

As I understand it, the saga films will always do better than the anthology films at the box office apparently because they are the main event, or main act so to speak?  Just as the first film of each Star Wars trilogy has been the highest grossing; ANH did better than ESB and ROTJ and TPM did better than AOTC and ROTS.  The exact reasons behind those phenomena are unclear to me.

I haven't discussed the topic much in real life, but from observing the other forums, it's something like this:

- Most people seem to think that Kylo will be redeemed, but no one connects his redemption with Rey
- No one ever brought up the possibility of romance
- When I brought it up on one of the SW discussion threads, the responses varied from, "yeah I could see it", "it would take a lot to make it convincing", to "ugh no Rey could never love Kylo and it would ruin her character".

snufkin wrote:
Star Wars Virgins - Star Wars Virgins Two Slate writers who wouldn’t know a Jedi from a nerf herder go see The Force Awakens..

I was intrigued by the metaphysics of the Force, but I still don’t really understand what the Force is. When Adam from Girls uses it, it’s like some kind of low-frequency sonic weapon that reads your mind and coerces you to do his bidding. But when Rey uses it, it’s almost like she’s meditating or really hitting the end zone on a mindfulness seminar. So when they use the Force on each other, it’s kind of like they’re having mind sex.

I've read the original point of reference for those scenes was Cronenberg's Scanners, which is an interesting choice considering that it has a psychic orgy scene.

@snufkin

OMG, that article is gold. Bookmarking for future use! 

Cowgirlsamurai wrote:

snufkin wrote:
Star Wars Virgins - Star Wars Virgins Two Slate writers who wouldn’t know a Jedi from a nerf herder go see The Force Awakens..

I was intrigued by the metaphysics of the Force, but I still don’t really understand what the Force is. When Adam from Girls uses it, it’s like some kind of low-frequency sonic weapon that reads your mind and coerces you to do his bidding. But when Rey uses it, it’s almost like she’s meditating or really hitting the end zone on a mindfulness seminar. So when they use the Force on each other, it’s kind of like they’re having mind sex.

I've read the original point of reference for those scenes was Cronenberg's Scanners, which is an interesting choice considering that it has a psychic orgy scene.

@snufkin

OMG, that article is gold. Bookmarking for future use! 

@Cowgirlsamurai

This review is awesome but nothing will be greater than the theremin sonata one

To be honest, it wasn't so obvious for me either, because i didn't read in it for long time. It took some people on internet to bring me 100% to Reylo and Kylo in general side. I am still surprised when i read info that has been released the last year from Star Wars, i was reading the Gallery topic and listening to podcasts and i was thinking how i couldn't see this before. Especially the novelization and the commentary parts, when you don't know about them it's hard to understand Kylo's feelings.
I watched the movie in 2015 with an ex-boyfriend, co-student, who claimed to be an expert in Star Wars and for me it was my first Star Wars movie. I knew the story and characters from references in other movies or media. His reaction was Kylo is a weak villain, he can't be Solo's son, he doesn't look like him at all, he killed his father nobody in Star Wars kills his relatives, he is so weak he lost from an untrained girl e.t.c No we didn't talk about romance at all, but i did noticed when he said Kylo could push her from the cliff and i was thinking "he looks like he admires her, he wants her to get that power, not that he wants to kill her or like he is afraid of her when she finds the force", that was a premature thought of Reylo when i didn't even believed there was a background to support this.

@Maria Antonietta 

I have that one bookmarked as well! 

@TheLastJedi It took me about 6 weeks after first seeing TFA to get what was going on. I had to put the movie down because, while redemption was obvious, I was pissed about Hanslaying and knew any character judgments I made would be tainted by that. Rey/Kylo scenes read as weird to me and I couldn't put my finger on why. It took reading the novelization to go, "Wait a minute...Was that in there?" And then rewatching their scenes to go, "Yep, that's what was weird. Villainous crush." And then to get on board with the whole thing. So I totally get if people have only seen the movie a couple times not picking up on what's being put down.

I think the male perspective might be skewed by age too. Younger guys seem the most uninterested in romance to me, whereas guys more in the 40s-60s range, like my buddy and my dad, actually appreciate epic romance in movies. Dad doesn't really care for fantasy or sci-fi but we share some classic favorites like Gone With the Wind and Casablanca, and those movies are pure romance! Shoot, even my brother, who is in his late twenties, understood there was an understated romance in R1. His comment, "Man, just when that guy was getting somewhere..." The one comment I seem to have heard consistently from the men I interact with is that they actually do appreciate romance but it has to forward the plot. It can't turn into a pointless love triangle. Which is understandable to me.

MeadowofAshes wrote:@TheLastJedi It took me about 6 weeks after first seeing TFA to get what was going on. I had to put the movie down because, while redemption was obvious, I was pissed about Hanslaying and knew any character judgments I made would be tainted by that. Rey/Kylo scenes read as weird to me and I couldn't put my finger on why. It took reading the novelization to go, "Wait a minute...Was that in there?" And then rewatching their scenes to go, "Yep, that's what was weird. Villainous crush." And then to get on board with the whole thing. So I totally get if people have only seen the movie a couple times not picking up on what's being put down.

I think the male perspective might be skewed by age too. Younger guys seem the most uninterested in romance to me, whereas guys more in the 40s-60s range, like my buddy and my dad, actually appreciate epic romance in movies. Dad doesn't really care for fantasy or sci-fi but we share some classic favorites like Gone With the Wind and Casablanca, and those movies are pure romance! Shoot, even my brother, who is in his late twenties, understood there was an understated romance in R1. His comment, "Man, just when that guy was getting somewhere..." The one comment I seem to have heard consistently from the men I interact with is that they actually do appreciate romance but it has to forward the plot. It can't turn into a pointless love triangle. Which is understandable to me.

@MeadowofAshes


I think some men, especially when they are young and not sure of themselves, don't like to watch on fiction men who are not sure of themselves as them. They consider this weakness. For me Kylo was more interesting because of this. I just couldn't, as you said perfectly, put my finger on this guy. Is he getting a redemption? Why he did that? Why he was looking at her like that? All i knew is that Finn and Poe are the guys i should root for and Rey was the hero. Star Wars is a story for kids so everything is set in stone, who is good or bad, with that mind i couldn't see further. Thanks that poster in another forum who described Kylo and Reylo more clearly to me. I love redemption stories, and for me it's great that there is a damstel in distress that needs to be saved in this movie...and it's Kylo, the "strong male" character. The more i read about Reylo, the more i love it.

TheLastJedi wrote:

MeadowofAshes wrote:@TheLastJedi It took me about 6 weeks after first seeing TFA to get what was going on. I had to put the movie down because, while redemption was obvious, I was pissed about Hanslaying and knew any character judgments I made would be tainted by that. Rey/Kylo scenes read as weird to me and I couldn't put my finger on why. It took reading the novelization to go, "Wait a minute...Was that in there?" And then rewatching their scenes to go, "Yep, that's what was weird. Villainous crush." And then to get on board with the whole thing. So I totally get if people have only seen the movie a couple times not picking up on what's being put down.

I think the male perspective might be skewed by age too. Younger guys seem the most uninterested in romance to me, whereas guys more in the 40s-60s range, like my buddy and my dad, actually appreciate epic romance in movies. Dad doesn't really care for fantasy or sci-fi but we share some classic favorites like Gone With the Wind and Casablanca, and those movies are pure romance! Shoot, even my brother, who is in his late twenties, understood there was an understated romance in R1. His comment, "Man, just when that guy was getting somewhere..." The one comment I seem to have heard consistently from the men I interact with is that they actually do appreciate romance but it has to forward the plot. It can't turn into a pointless love triangle. Which is understandable to me.

@MeadowofAshes


I think some men, especially when they are young and not sure of themselves, don't like to watch on fiction men who are not sure of themselves as them. They consider this weakness. For me Kylo was more interesting because of this. I just couldn't, as you said perfectly, put my finger on this guy. Is he getting a redemption? Why he did that? Why he was looking at her like that? All i knew is that Finn and Poe are the guys i should root for and Rey was the hero. Star Wars is a story for kids so everything is set in stone, who is good or bad, with that mind i couldn't see further. Thanks that poster in another forum who described Kylo and Reylo more clearly to me. I love redemption stories, and for me it's great that there is a damstel in distress that needs to be saved in this movie...and it's Kylo, the "strong male" character. The more i read about Reylo, the more i love it.

@TheLastJedi

Funny enough, my 16-year-old son, who is definitely not sure of himself (basically, trying to figure out what he will do in college and life, and also, he doesn't really fit in with the kids in the school activities he does but likes those activities better than the ones his real friends do, so his activities don't coincide with being with friends)-- anyway, he loves the character of Kylo.  Maybe it has something to do with being intelligent and/or introspective enough to be self-aware that you too are still finding your place.

I recently got invited to join a group of SW enthusiasts, mostly comprising people between the ages of 30 and 50.....am thinking of doing a survey and asking them what they think of Kylo and Reylo. It should be interesting.

I have not discussed Reylo with my real life friends. I have a friend that finds Adam attractive also and we joke about how it would be great if Kylo had his shirt off for a scene in the next movie. But I have never asked her if she sees Rey and Kylo eventually falling in love.

It took my husband seeing the movie six times for him to finally see the hints about Reylo. He caught on to the redemption arc first and then saw that something is going to happen between Rey and Kylo. I remember when he stated to me that ....'I see what is going on. Kylo will get redeemed and those two are going to make some jedi babies.' I don't know about babies....but yes, I think there will be a romance. haha