I’m going to say a thing. I hope you give me as much time as that other anon. I think I know who it is, and if it is, it’s a former mutual who decided to block me and other black fans who weren’t going along with the JJ is the debil stuff. I’ll try to confine this to five asks. No one, not ONE Finn fan of color who isn’t a reylo was jumping for joy when JJ was announced. And if that anon claims we were they’re lying OR they’re talking about black reylos who think JJ loves their shit ship. 1)

Here’s the thing. Disney was never going to hire Ryan, or Ava,
or Barry, or Antoine or Justin. That was known. They were going to hire a
middle aged white guy full stop. I think if Rian Johnson had refrained
from killing off Luke, KKK would have gotten the OK to retain him. Is
that what that anon and others like them want? Finn doing a softshoe
routine before being eaten by a rathtar while Rey sucks Kylo’s dick in
the bg? Because that’s what would have happened with Rian Johnson
returning. 2)

And as for Colin Trevorrow being as bad as JJ so they might as
well have kept him – the Colin Trevorrow who gushed about wanting to
return to SW’s (all white) roots? That Colin Trevorrow? The Colin
Trevorrow who jizzed over Oscar Isaac and said Poe was his favorite new
character and hinted that Damerey was his preferred ship? That Colin
Trevorrow? The Colin Trevorrow who didn’t say thing one, two or three
about John, Finn, or any arc he had in mind for the MALE LEAD? That
Colin Trevorrow? 3)

JJ Abrams is a white, rich, cishet, middle-aged man. In many
ways, he was the wrong choice from the jump for this sort of franchise.
He was probably the wrong choice for the ST reboot too, but hey. But if
people like that anon and the other people who want to burn JJ at the
stake for TFA, they’re basically saying they would have been cool with
an even worse white male cishet director – because they would be the
ONLY ones considered – being even more shitty to Finn because JJ is
evil, amirite? 4)

I don’t have high expectations of IX. But John was lackluster in
the runup to TLJ. Now he is excited. He had plenty of time to post to
social media back then, now he can only do it once in a blue moon
suggesting that he is shooting a lot. So that anon and others like them
can kiss my black ass. Settle down and wait for the fucking movie, or
just leave. I’m not going to have my one last shred of hope dimmed by
people who hate JJ and feel morally superior. Fuck that and fuck them.
end)

This lines up with my feelings about JJ as well. He is very far from perfect, but he is the least worst of possible (emphasis on “possible”) alternatives. I completely understand if people are angry at the shit he pulled and don’t have any hope that he will treat Finn better than in TFA, or that Naomi’s character will be treated well for that matter.

As I see it the solution is NOT to yell at people for having any anticipation or joy for IX, though. If a franchise is no longer fun for them to the extent they find themselves unable to watch others having fun, then that’s probably not the right space for them at least at the moment. It is sad and unfair that so many Black fans have left because of all these franchise and fandom shenanigans, but they had to do what was best for them.

Yeah issa no for me. JJ Abrams went to Ava DuVernay for advice and took it and also hired Victoria Mahoney on Ava’s recommendation. Rian is still talking about Russian bots being the reason TLJ was panned. Oh and JJ didn’t cast cumbersome as khan and in fact wasn’t feeling that casting but after del toro turned down the role and the studio didn’t think Michael Pena was a fit he went along with it to keep the movie on schedule. I wish people would at least google before shitting on people.

I hope JJ actually listens to Ava and Vic, at least as much for the portrayal of Naomi’s character as John’s. At least JJ shows a sign of giving a shit and wanting to learn, as opposed to RJ who flat-out refuses to admit to any mistakes and makes increasingly piteous excuses.

I don’t give JJ a pass for Khan, though. No matter what the production snafus might have been, JJ bore ultimate responsibility as the director. George Takei was right when he said it would have been better for the Cumbaya character to be a new character separate from Khan.

I wouldn’t call it dogpiling tbh but there were black fans who said that JJ really wasn’t that much of an improvement over Rian and there were some people saying that was a shitty take because JJ fought for John to be cast in the first place. But it wasn’t widespread.

Ah, I see what you mean. That defense of JJ just sounds like a Bad Take, it almost seems like fans were being told to be grateful there’s a Black character in the movie at all? Wanting John to be cast and using him effectively are two different things.

I actually have to disagree with you and anon in the other direction. JJ has acknowledged he made errors in TFA. My thought at his returning when he could have just said no is that he felt responsible for the degrading of characters he created and loved. I think Finn is going to have a good arc. What I do think is off the table is a romance with Rey for him. It will be Rose or no one. JJ has had issues but equating him with a racist like Rian is kind of not it.

I certainly hope you’re right. I mean I dare not hope too much, but I’d be happy if he had a good arc. I’m not sure why you’re so sure about Finnrose, though, since Finn and Rey have so much more buildup to the extent even John publicly said he preferred Finnrey. I’d really hate to see the FRIENDZONE!!111one assholes validated on this.

Yeah, I totally imagined all those attacks and dogpiling on me and other Black fans that happened when we spoke out about JJ coming back. Most of them coming from your echo chamber and how everyone who didn’t participate in those attacks was too happy to let them happen and to do nothing. That’s what I meant about silencing.

Anyone knows what anon is talking about? I don’t recall it, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have happened.

It tick me off sometimes that Reylo’s will “only” support John Boyega and his Character is if they ask him about Adam like how he’s doing or can you take a picture of Adam and Daisy together. Like shut up you don’t care about him or his character just bc what he post or talk about SW doesn’t mean he will do what f*cking Reylo’s ask him to do, he ain’t no errand boy. Reylo’s don’t care about John Boyega/Finn, Daisy Ridley/Rey they only care about they’re precious Adam/whiney benny boy.

The ones who give these requests to John are so fucking RUDE, acting like a world-famous actor is their personal paparazzo.

I understand what you mean, but I also understand the other anon. It’s not really a referendum on JJ as a person, it’s on him as a writer. I think that it’s not accurate to say that if Finn had been the one shown as Force Sensitive kicking Kylo’s ass that Rian would have just shat on him to the extent he did. Remember how mad Poe fans were about his characterization? People would be wondering where Finn was. But that’s not how JJ set it up, allowing Rian to be able to do his dirt.

As a person, as a writer, who cares, I’ve dragged JJ for TFA along with just about every Finn fan. I don’t even disagree with anon that it’s possible IX could treat Finn badly. I only disagree with that anon on the very narrow point that JJ left Finn’s story with no clear direction at the end of TFA and that Finn’s story can’t be good because it did not take one extremely specific path in TFA. For that matter, I disagree with you too that RJ would have treated Finn any better if he were a Jedi. Racism always finds a way.

The JJ haters are wild. Hey anon? JJ actually did have Finn conscious at the end. Know who asked him to leave him unconscious? You guessed it! Rian Johnson. So your premise falls apart that JJ could to be bothered to have Finn wake up at the end. Should he have acceded to Ruin? Idk. I don’t make movies so I don’t know how much choice he had. JJ messed up in giving a narrative that would have been fine for a white character to a black character. Ding him for that. Your other stuff is weak.

Do you have a source for that? All I can find are some fan speculations that RJ asked for Finn to end TFA in a coma.

I really hope nothing in Star Wars is ever called “Triumph of the ____.” After Claudia Gray’s little nazi-quoting, getting a movie title reminiscent of the biggest piece of nazi propaganda would be a bit uncomfortable. (Moth)

Yeah, agreed. That would be even worse than “A New Order,” another title theory and evidently a popular one (yaigh).

I can’t figure out if you and Mandalorian guy simply don’t know how to read English or if you’re both that far up JJ’s ass, because you and that indigenous anon you got about me are insistent on putting words in my mouth I never said. Like your “Rian’s choices flowed organically from TFA” bs. If you don’t think that Star Wars and its fandom hyperfocused on the Jedi from the beginning you don’t know shit about Star Wars. From day 1 it was Jedi, Jedi, more Jedi, the Force and look, more Jedi stuff

L.J.: You can tell the really bad arguments from the fact that they get mad at you for quoting their own words 😂

After a couple of years we got some shit about the criminal
underworld but that was solely because of The Power of Harrison Ford and
The Myth of Boba Fett. It took nearly a decade before anything *but*
the Jedi and the Force got any serious development. That is why it was
and is important for Finn to have the Force. Otherwise he would always
have been left at the wayside.

L.J.: You’re mixing up two different things here, the content of the SW movies themselves and fandom’s reaction. You seem to be saying JJ could somehow have raised Finn’s profile in fandom by making him a Jedi. I highly doubt that, though. The likelier scenario is that, If Finn had been confirmed a Jedi in the first first movie, there would have been a huge rush in fandom to devalue the entire idea of the Jedi and Force-users. There is no way JJ can single-handedly make fandom less racist, sad to say.

Interesting how you praise JJ for what you claim is his
brilliant attempt at subverting Star Wars while completely ignoring that
the so-called attempt, if that is what it really is, would *never* work
with a Black character. Shifting the focus from the Jedi and the Force
to something else is not something that can be done with a Black
character. After John was cast I knew that it was Jedi or bust. It was a
relief to see him with the lightsaber and I cried as the ‘sike!’ pull
at the end.

L.J.: I have on multiple occasions, even in my responses to your asks, said that JJ could have done better at being more sensitive to the racial dynamics at play with a Black character and also said the bait-and-switch was terrible. But hey, why read my actual words when you can go off in your own head about whatever the fuck you think I said?

That was when I knew that this trilogy would never be good for
Black fans. Concerning “well obviously Finn’s story does have places to
go but you don’t think those are important”. You’re once again in your
usual dishonest way, putting words in my mouth. What I *said* was that
JJ didn’t leave a *clear* way forward for Finn’s story. Rey got a
specific goal, Finn did not. And you’re delusional if you think
otherwise.

L.J.: Finn was left with a choice after the end of TFA, whether to stay and fight or leave the fight. It looks like you’re the one who’s too busy being disappointed about the fact that he wasn’t confirmed a Force user in TFA to give any value to his story in that movie. The disappointment is valid and many fans, especially Black fans, share it. But to say that was the only valuable direction his story could go seems a stretch.

Could you maybe stop talking about and treating JJ like he’s as
green as Rian? He’s seen his stuff turned into something he clearly
didn’t plan times enough that he should have realized what might happen
to Finn if he didn’t give him a clear path ahead. He didn’t start
yesterday. He’s been in the business for decades. He knows the game. So I
am going to blame him for not setting more things in stone for Finn,
because he damn well knows how much the guy who comes after can change
everything.

L.J.: I mean that’s totally your prerogative, I’m not on some JJ defense squad 😂 What did you expect, that I’d fight a duel for his honor or something? I have openly criticized many aspects of what JJ did with TFA, so I’m not sure what you’re expecting with that. By all means, blame JJ all you like. He deserves it.

I could also add that you all should really stop pretending that
JJ doesn’t have a long line of racist and Antiblack writing and casting
in his past, very recent past even. I don’t know why you all suddenly
decided he was woke. Especially after Star Trek and the whitewashing of
both Khan and Uhura for a start. But because the man manages to
sometimes step over a bar that’s lying on the fucking ground, he’s
somehow woke and fantastic.

L.J.: I’ll take “things I never said” for $100, Alex. I mean I even said, REPEATEDLY, that everyone should be prepared for the possibility that Finn would be treated badly in IX, so you’re being a raging asshole in my inbox because…?

But have fun stanning a racist, Antiblack guy, I’ll look forward
to you two making hypocrites of yourself defending IX after being as
sanctimonious as you have about people who defend TLJ in the face of all
criticism. Since I know you will be putting words in my mouth again
here, you’re that dishonest in your replies, I hate TLJ and all that it
did, but you’re both hypocritical in your defense of TFA while being
angry about TLJ.

I know you will because you can’t handle a critique of TFA and
all the huge fuck ups JJ made there. He doesn’t know how to write a
Black character and never did. Whatever though, you’re clearly intent on
not hearing what I’m saying, that this whole mess started with JJ and
your continuing support of him is not helping at all. You’re willfully
blinding yourself to what JJ did in TFA and how much the story discards
Finn at the end of it.

Okay I’ll shut up then. Thanks for the silencing. As for waiting
and seeing, that’s what everyone told me after TFA and how it ended.
Look where that went. People told me the same thing with JJ’s Star Trek
movies and that didn’t go any better did it? So no, I’m not going to
wait and see. But I will shut up on tumblr. For good. You all got what
you wanted.

L.J.: Again, you’re missing or just wilfully ignoring the parts where @themandalorianwolf and I, among others, repeatedly panned what JJ did in TFA. I can tell that there’s no talking to you, though, since you’re so dead-set against anyone anticipating IX at all and equate any pushback or disagreement with “silencing” lmao.

Again, your disappointment is valid and so is your resignation that IX won’t be good for Finn. But you’re being illogical to the point of devaluing what is good about Finn’s story, and I can’t imagine that’s any more fun for you than arguing with you is for me. if your goal is to disengage from SW and IX then I think hanging around my blog is the wrong way to go about it.