‘Star Wars’ Kylo Ren is under-appreciated

Many “Star Wars” fans have expressed their dissatisfaction with a new villain, Kylo Ren. After “The Last Jedi,” I think it’s time to admit that Kylo Ren is an awesome villain in the “Star Wars” franchise.

Up until “The Force Awakens,” the villains of “Star Wars” — Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Count Dooku, General Grievous — were old-school bad guys who took pleasure in others’ pain for no other reason than they were just plain evil.

Ben Solo, who later becomes Kylo Ren when he goes to the Dark Side, first appears in “The Force Awakens” as a sort of wannabe Darth Vader. The thing that interests me about Kylo Ren is the fact that, unlike past villains, he is not simply evil.

There is only a simple sketch of Ben Solo’s childhood: a cynical father who thought little of his son’s powers (“Han was…Han about it,” says Luke in “The Last Jedi” about Han’s dismissive attitude toward Kylo’s powers), and a trusted uncle who attempted to kill him in his sleep.

All of this put together has, not surprisingly, brought into existence a confused and angry child who seeks a father figure outside of his biological lineage, and struggles to control his own emotions.

Kylo Ren is a character of extremes, both superior and small. He is impulsive and strong, but at times juvenile and weak.

In “The Last Jedi,” Kylo Ren murders his own master before giving Rey a passionate and furious speech on “killing the past” in an attempt to get her to join him.

He tells her, “You come from nothing, you’re nothing — but not to me,” before desperately pleading for her to join him.

Kylo Ren’s messy journey shows him to be complex and dynamic as he continues to grapple with his relationships with Luke, Han, Snoke and Rey.

Although Kylo Ren is made to be the villain, I find it almost impossible to classify him as completely evil.

Ben Solo struggled with the Dark Side’s pull from the beginning of his training, and it ultimately took an attempt on Ben’s life before completely rejecting the Jedi, which is pretty understandable if you ask me. If someone I trusted, made an attempt on my life, it would be safe to say that I wouldn’t want to be around them anymore.

In “The Force Awakens,” it’s pretty clear that Kylo Ren is facing an internal battle with himself — a battle between his light and dark side. In the end, I think this is why Kylo Ren decides to kill his own father — so he can kill one of the sides, and his internal battle ends.

Kylo Ren, is understandably bad, unlike previous “Star Wars” villains, who were tempted to the mysterious Dark Side by a power that is difficult for many to comprehend.

Kylo Ren is the perfect antagonist for our complex world — a world in which one person’s villain is another person’s warped hero, a world in which we view morality on a spectrum instead of just black and white.

Kylo Ren strikes me as someone who, in the end, just needs somebody to be there with him consistently.

I will unapologetically confess that Kylo Ren is one of my favorite “Star Wars” characters of all time, and if he would have asked me to join him on the Dark Side, he wouldn’t have had to ask me twice.