Show me the scene when she mentioned using a "simulator" during her years on Jakku and you'll have a valid point!:thumbsup
Show me a scene where the T-16 is explained as being a trainer for an X-wing or where the controls are suggested as being remotely similar.
You've already relied in information on Wookieepedia to explain why Luke being able to fly an X-wing isn't an example of him being "naturally talented." You pointed to the Wookieepedia page on the T-16, which states that it had controls which were extremely similar to those of an X-wing, which therefore enabled Luke to easily adapt to flying an X-wing.
You then discount the exact same source, which lays out a ton of Rey's background by claiming "Oh, well, it wasn't a scene in the film."
Well, neither is the stuff with the T-16 being a trainer for the X-wing in the film. It's not stated explicitly, and it's not implied.
Luke's comment about shooting womprats isn't about "I can fly an X-wing." It's about "I can shoot a target that's only 2m large." The best you could argue is Biggs' statement from the 20-years-later SE that Luke is a good bush pilot, and therefore can handle himself in an X-wing, but we never see him fly the T-16 even. We see him play with a model of it, and we can make out a parked one in window behind him. Literally all we have is Biggs saying he can do it, and then him doing it. That's no different from Rey saying "We've got a pilot," when they're running for the ship on Jakku. You might try to argue that "Oh, well, that's different because someone else vouched for Luke, whereas Rey says it about herself," but that would be more about calling into question the veracity of the statement itself, and in both cases, the character then actually demonstrates their ability. Rey doesn't gain her ability to fly by just saying "I can fly," the same way Luke doesn't gain his ability to fly because Biggs says he can. They're both capable of flying, and indications of their capabilities are both provided to the same degree just before they actually demonstrate that ability.
And if you look back at the non-SE version -- you know, the one that made all the money and existed for 20 years before Lucas got a bee in his bonnet about throwing in some useless scenes -- there's literally
nothing to suggest that Luke should be able to fly an X-wing prior to him doing just that.
So, again, either both are equally magically gifted and have abilities as the script requires, or both have their ability telegraphed ahead of time in the same way. OR you're relying on the same external source (Wookieepedia) which justifies both of their abilities because it states that (1) the T-16 had similar controls to the X-wing, and (2) Rey trained on simulators.
Pick a standard and go with it. Either way, it leads you to the same conclusion. The only way it doesn't, is if you're using double standards just to try to prove that you're right.
That was just trying to show the bravery of Finn and works for him. He proved he's not a coward after all.
Watch the scene again. Finn ignites the lightsabre blade at about 0:22.
True, he doesn't last long against Kylo -- only about 20 seconds or so. But it's clear from the sequence that Finn at least has some skills in melee. In TLJ he beats Capt. Phasma in a similar melee fight, again demonstrating his melee abilities.
So, a
space janitor can go toe-to-toe with a stormtrooper captain and
win....and nobody bats an eye because Rey is the problem?
My guess is you don't even notice Finn's abilities. Even in a film like TLJ that you may hate, where you pick apart every little nagging detail, everything that wasn't perfectly explained, every bit that "doesn't make sense," and when you complain about Rey's melee combat abilities....you never even
once considered "Hey, how come Space Janitor Finn has so much technical knowledge, and how is it that he's able to beat the crap out of Phasma? Where the hell did he get his abilities? He didn't earn them and the film never showed anything about him having such abilities! He's a Gary Stu!!!"
Show me the myriad threads talking about Finn's apparently inexplicable combat prowess, the endless videos complaining about how good he is and how come he's able to beat Phasma even though he says in TFA that Jakku was his first combat mission. Show me all of the endless analysis about how ridiculous it is that a space janitor knows everything about Imperial starship technology, and is skilled in using melee combat weapons or firearms.
Can you show me that? Have you even seen such arguments offered before? I sure haven't. Nobody seems to care that Finn is good at a ton of stuff too, even though he has no reason to be. My guess is nobody even really noticed it. The same way nobody stops to ask why it is that Luke Skywalker: Farmboy is capable of manning a turret on the Millennium Falcon and take out two enemy fighters when he's had no training at
that either. Nobody is sitting around writing lengthy screeds about the obvious plot holes in ANH that allow Luke to be such a Gary Stu and have abilities that he has no business having.
Again, double standards. One for Rey, one for everyone else, apparently.
Did Obi-Wan not tell him of "The Force"? Did time pass between ANH & ESB? Rey didn't have a mentor in her corner, but Luke did.
Show me the scene when Luke trained with Obi-Wan after he died during the years between ANH and ESB and you'll have a valid point!:thumbsup
Pick a standard, man.
Look, if you dislike TLJ and/or TFA, that's perfectly fine. I'm not here to try to change your mind about your subjective experience of a movie. I think both films have flaws, and they're legitimate to discuss. But this whole "Rey is a Mary Sue" thing? It's
bulls**t. If Rey's a Mary Sue, then Luke is a Gary Stu, and so is Finn. Hell, so is Rose, who apparently -- in spite of being a non-combat engineer -- is able to shoot a gun with decent accuracy and pilot a ski-speeder. Oh, and ride a weird horse-deer....thing (I forget what those things were called).
Orrrrrrrrr....maybe Luke and Rey are "magical orphans" because that's what these stories are about: characters with amazing special abilities that come from this magical Force which we don't really understand that well. Or maybe it's even simpler than that. Maybe the characters in these stories -- like Luke, Rey, Finn, and Rose -- can do all of this stuff because that's just how Star Wars movies work. They have big damn heroes doing big damn heroic things, and sitting around questioning why Rose can use a ski-speeder or why Finn can use a lightsabre at all or why Rey can do anything she can do is really just people looking to justify their gut reaction of "I don't like it" when it comes to the new stuff. Groovy. Go ahead. Don't like it. Don't pay to see it, don't buy the merchandise for it, don't play the video games about it, don't read the books, don't buy the toys, don't have anything to do with it. But don't also waste your time trying to write up justifications for why big damn heroes in a big damn heroic movie are somehow using "unearned" abilities that the big damn heroes in the other big damn heroic movies did and which never bothered you.
