WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, in theaters now.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi drew criticism from many fans, much of it hyperbolic. When fans say Rian Johnson "ruined" Star Wars, it's very hard to take them seriously. As such, when fans criticize Rose Tico, a secondary character introduced in the film, it can be hard to take them seriously too, especially when they compare Rose to Jar Jar Binks.
Sympathy for Rose only increased when trolls organized hate-campaigns directed at her. They cut up Rose action figures and sent racist, sexist and body-shaming messages to the actress who plays her, Kelly Marie Tran, eventually causing her to leave social media altogether. People felt bad that the character and the woman portraying her were subjected to such a vitriolic backlash. As a result, they were looking forward to the character possibly redeeming herself in the next film.
That never happened. Rose had minimal screen time in The Rise of Skywalker. She only really interacted with Finn in the movie. We never got to see her interact with Rey or any of the other characters (save for Leia, who appeared via recycled footage of Carrie Fisher). There remains so much more of Rose to explore. She deserves a prominent place in Star Wars' future.
How Rose is Unique
Most Star Wars characters can be defined by how they fight. There are Jedi, bounty hunters, pilots, rogues, strategists -- but Rose doesn't neatly fit into any of those categories. Rose is an engineer. She approaches the Rebellion as someone who is fairly weak in terms of strength or fighting skills. She doesn't fight to hurt anyone but, rather, to protect the people she cares about. This makes her frankly ill-suited for fighting on the front lines, but superb at solving problems through either diplomacy or wits.
This places Rose in the same boat as other Star Wars characters in major canon. However, these characters were never prominent figures, save for tw0: Bail Organa and Galen Erso. Both are the kind of characters who address their problems not with brawn or even fighting skill, but just their wits alone.
We've had tastes of these characters, but it would be great to see them take on a bigger role. And what Rose has that Organa and Erso don't is heart. Organa and Erso are both motivated by grand ideals. Organa wants to restore the old government, seeing the huge events that led society astray. Erso is out for revenge. But Rose genuinely wants to see others become the best versions of themselves they can be.
Why Her Role in The Rise of Skywalker Was Disappointing
Rose is set up to be clever. Then, she saves Finn's life at the end of The Last Jedi, but her decision puts the whole Resistance in jeopardy. How does that affect how people see her? Yes, she did a good thing for her friend, but as far as everyone else is concerned, it's more ambiguous. Is she a hero for preventing Finn from sacrificing his life, possibly in vain? Or is she a danger due to her idealism, putting the whole Resistance at risk?
Furthermore, how would Rose interact with characters like Rey? At no point does Rose ever meet Rey. Rey is oddly isolated from other women her age throughout the trilogy. Would Rose and Rey become friends? Would Rose be a positive influence on Rey, especially when she confronts her past?
These are compelling questions that could have been resolved in maybe five minutes of screen time in The Rise of Skywalker. Instead, Rose does nothing. She doesn't accompany Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewbacca and BB-8 on their mission (she could have been the girl in the chair, offering guidance on where to go). She doesn't use her knowledge of Star Destroyer tech in the final battle (despite that being the reason she stayed with Leia in the first place).
Ultimately, Abrams wastes the character's potential by, instead, spinning the plot's wheels in fetch quests. Yes, The Rise of Skywalker is a crowded film, but it's crowded in a way that sacrifices character dynamics for action.
To make matters more bewildering, Kelly Marie Tran appeared to express excitement for scenes in the film and indicated that we would, indeed, see scenes that featured what was described above. During the press tour, Tran said , "I wish I could tell you more but I'm really excited for people to see [Rose and Rey] interact. They both have the same objective, which is to fight for the things you believe in and the people you love."
Fans never got to see this. We were left with roughly a minute of Rose in The Rise of Skywalker, compared to just under eleven minutes in The Last Jedi. But the good thing is, since Star Wars' story is ever-expanding, there is room to develop her character.
What Role Can She Occupy?
With the sequel trilogy over, there are two big ways Rose could be developed: we could learn about her past or her future.
Her history is almost completely unexplored territory. We know she and her sister both joined the Resistance and grew up in one of the worst places in the New Republic surrounded by war profiteering and seeing people do terrible things for money. The sisters are genuinely good people in a war-torn world. We know Rose loved her sister, Paige. We should see that relationship develop. We need to know the woman who sacrificed herself for the Rebellion and the girl she inspired to serve under General Leia Organa.
On the other hand, a sequel series, where Rose serves as a supporting character, could offer us a glimpse of how Rose helps rebuild the Republic after the fall of the First Order. It could wrap up any lingering questions following the sequel trilogy, such as Jannah's family or how the Republic can avoid the mistakes of the past. Perhaps a series featuring Rose could jump between the past and present, touching on all these topics.
But It Should Be Live-Action
Already, we've seen some Star Wars spin-off material, such as comics, expand on Rose. The benefit of this is we get to see characters who would otherwise be less developed get more fully fleshed out.
However, there is a real need for more Rose in live action, in part because of the harassment of the actress. Kelly Marie Tran deserves the chance to prove and validate her role in Star Wars. It is easy to read her reduced role in The Rise of Skywalker as a response to the fan frenzy. It's hard to prove, of course, but it feels like R0se's severely limited screen time is a sign that Abrams buckled to fan pressure. This comes across as a failure to support an actor who was put in a rough situation, as if Disney were throwing her to the wolves.
For all the anger and hate sent her way, Rose deserves to cement her legacy in Star Wars. Much like how Ahmed Best, the actor famous for playing Jar Jar Binks, will host the upcoming Disney+ series Jedi Temple Challenge, Kelly Marie Tran deserves another chance to make herself one of the many beloved faces of Star Wars.
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Keri Russell, Matt Smith, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film is now in theaters.