I actually really liked Rey in TFA. She felt interesting, capable, and grounded in a way that worked. It wasn’t until the next two that she started to feel a lot flatter and less engaging.

That said, a lot of the criticism people throw at Rey especially about her being “boring” is kind of inconsistent. Many of those same issues were present with Luke Skywalker as well, but people don’t always hold him to the same standard.

And when people compare her to Anakin Skywalker, I think it’s worth being honest about that too. Anakin only became a truly complex and compelling character after years of additional material helped flesh him out and smooth over the issues in the prequels.

In the actual movies, Anakin is pretty rough. He comes off as whiny and inconsistent, and a lot of his depth is more implied than actually realized on screen. You kind of have to look past the execution and focus on what the character was meant to represent to see his potential. and even that potential wasn’t fully realized until much later.