Why The First Act Of 'The Force Awakens' Is A Random Mess

An Avalanche Of Coincidences.

By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • 6 min read

One of the major issues in The Force Awakens is that the story beats lack a clear understanding of causation. Things happen because they need to happen. Somebody has concocted all these disparate set pieces beforehand and chronologized them, but no thought was given on how to move the characters from Point A to Point B to Point C. On the other hand, in A New Hope, Luke Skywalker comes into possession of two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, which leads him to meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, and that starts his adventures. In The Force Awakens, Rey comes into possession of BB-8, which leads her to meet Fin, and that starts her adventures.

Similar? Yes.

Similarly motivated? No.

One is causal. The other is just a bunch of stuff that happens.

In A New Hope, Princess Leia is on her way to Tatooine to entreat Obi-Wan Kenobi’s help. The Empire captures her ship. Leia loads the Death Star plans into R2-D2 with the instructions to deliver them to Obi-Wan. R2 and C-3PO escape in an escape pod. Then, we see R2 trying to get to Obi-Wan. Once the droids land on Tatooine, R2 separates from C-3PO and makes his way to Obi-Wan when the Jawas capture him. After Uncle Owen buys R2, the astromech droid proclaims that he is the property of "Obi-Wan Kenobi." Luke speculates whether Obi-Wan is "Ben Kenobi." R2 tricks Luke into removing his restraining bolt, and then escapes. Given Leia was coming to see Obi-Wan, it is safe to assume she has programmed his location into R2. Luke pursues R2 but is ambushed by Sand People. Obi-Wan comes to Luke's rescue. Later, R2 shows the message Leia has programmed into him for Obi-Wan.

The biggest coincidence so far is that when the Jawas capture R2-D2 and C-3PO the droids end up being sold to Uncle Owen. However, let’s not forget that Obi-Wan is on Tatooine watching Luke, so they must live near each other. From what we have seen, Tatooine is made up of vast deserts with scattered inhabitation. It may be a stretch, but it is not impossible to believe that while R2 was trying to get to Obi-Wan, the Jawas captured him, and they then tried to make a sale at a nearby farm, Uncle Owen’s.

There is a logic in it. None of this is by chance.

In The Force Awakens, Poe Dameron and BB-8 visit Lor San Tekka. Lor San Tekka has no relationship to Rey. They just happen to live on the same planet of Jakku. Poe loads the Skywalker map into BB-8 and instructs him to flee. There is no planning to this. Leia has instructed R2-D2 to find Obi-Wan. On the other hand, Poe is just telling BB-8 to get away. BB-8 then rolls across a huge desert and just happens to bump into Rey. That is totally random. We do not know how far BB-8 has traveled. Given that Poe sends him away at night, and Rey finds him in the morning, we can assume it has been several hours at least. Let’s factor in something else here too. BB-8 just happens to randomly encounter the one super-powerful Force user who can help overthrow the First Order.

Let’s take a look at another example. Finn and Poe steal a TIE Fighter and just happen to crash-land on Jakku miraculously close to Rey (whereas we can assume R2 navigates the escape pod to land somewhere near Obi-Wan). Finn then just happens to walk to the one village where Rey lives. Finn is wearing the jacket Poe gave him, which BB-8 recognizes. It looks like Finn just happens to bump into the droid that belongs to the guy he has just helped. Finn then just happens to meet Rey, who just happens to be in possession of Poe’s droid. None of this is by any sort of design, as in the case with Luke, Obi-Wan, and R2-D2.

Stormtroopers try to accost Rey and Fin. Then the First Order sends out TIE Fighters. The TIE Fighters blow up the ship Rey and Fin were about to use, so they take a detour into another ship, which just happens to be the Millennium Falcon, which was stolen from Han Solo, and just happens to be on this same planet as Lor San Tekka and Rey.

Is your head hurting from all the stunning coincidences?

Let’s pause for a second. The First Order are actively searching for the map to Luke Skywalker. Why would you send TIE Fighters to shoot haphazardly, risking the possibility of destroying BB-8 and the map he carries? In the original trilogy, Vader sends stormtroopers to find R2-D2. It is another example of the lack of planning that has gone into the narrative.

Going back to The Force Awakens, after a dogfight, Rey pilots the Millennium Falcon off Jakku and into space. Despite the First Order sending first stormtroopers, and then TIE Fighters to catch Rey, Fin, and BB-8, neither do they have a blockade around Jakku, nor are they monitoring any outgoing traffic. Rey is able to freely pilot the Millennium Falcon away. The First Order does not pursue them, allowing Rey and Finn to have some bonding time to try and consolidate their friendship. Then, in all the infinity of space, they just happen to bump into Han Solo and Chewbacca.

On the First Order side, the TIE Fighters pursue the Millennium Falcon. Presumably, they report back to their superiors they are chasing the Millennium Falcon (or they might've described the ship). Perhaps the stormtroopers on Jakku themselves report this. Yet neither Hux nor Kylo Ren take any action to stop the Millennium Falcon even though it contains the information they are seeking. I would argue their inaction is due to an off-screen reason— to keep Kylo from recognizing the Falcon since he just happens to be the son of the guy who owns it.

Compare all of this to A New Hope: the stormtroopers try to apprehend Han Solo and company in the Mos Eisley hangar. The Millennium Falcon takes off and shoots into space. Immediately, two Imperial cruisers pursue them. Han Solo performs evasive maneuvers, then the Millennium Falcon jumps to hyperspace.

This loose breakdown of The Force Awakens' first act shows that nothing is motivated. Things happen because of the way the story mirrors A New Hope, and characters need to be pushed along to get to the next point of the story. However, there is no logic to it. It is just an avalanche of coincidences.

You can forgive a single coincidence in a story – maybe even two. However, you want the story to unfold logically. You want to believe there are reasons for why things happen. If the plot is constantly a result of coincidence and contrivance, you become disengaged from the story. You feel the creative anarchy in all its shapelessness.

And that’s not good storytelling.

Written By LeKoupa

Syndicated From Culture Slate

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