The Soft Reboot's Wink: Rey as a Surrogate for Devout Fans
The modern soft reboot is distinctive for self-consciousness, winking at viewers attuned to the monetization of nostalgia.
That self-reference is meant as a salve: it applauds fans' intelligence and celebrates their love of a fictional universe.
The Force Awakens makes the move explicit: Rey, an orphaned scavenger, is a surrogate for the series' most devout fans. The wink is the reboot's way of making nostalgia feel like a shared joke rather than a transaction.
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The flattery is the mechanism: self-reference is supposed to ease fans' distaste by making their devotion part of the text.
The Force Awakens does more than flatter, though. Rey worships the monuments and myths of the original Star Wars trilogy and owns a crude action figure; that is devotion as characterization, not just a wink.