Tag: finn
According to the commentary Rose was supposed to be an Eeyore-type character but KMT’s bubbly personality made Rian change it which explains why Rose is such a confusing character because it seems like he made that change grudgingly or at least lazily and her negative traits still show prominently. (Also, I think by “Eeyore” type he means “Finn hating”.)
She comes across as this really weird mix of excited and pessimistic. Her mercurial mood swings are actually terrifying combined with her penchant for berating people or being casually violent. You never know where you stand with her and you can actually see Finn, who has lifelong practice at this, adapting himself to avoid being hurt. It’s why his character development doesn’t ring true to me and his whole story in TLJ takes on very dark undertones.
Supposedly this was done because Rose wasn’t originally supposed to be with Finn. Originally Johnson was going to have Finn already in a established member of the resistance, hence all those behind the scenes footage of him in a flight suit and the scrapped opening of Paig dying in his arms and leaving a bloody handprint on his heart as a callback to the bloody handprint Slip left on Finn’s helmet in TFA. Johnson then cut this footage and many haven’t been able to figure out why or where it went. Finn then was originally going to go find the master code breaker with Poe, but Johnson thought that their dialogue was interchangeable and that there was no conflict in their story, so he put in Rose, a character he said he based off a nerdy girl he knew in school that really didn’t feel like she would belong in a Star Wars movie, and put her with Finn to be a conflict in his character arc.
So there you have it. That is the backstory of the Fuckery of Finn’s arc, minus all his scenes getting deleted because Johnson thought that Finn didn’t need a full character arc, and the audience would just figure it out themselves.
No offense, but why are people not knowing Poe is in his 30s? Oscar Isaac is nearly 40 himself. It feels like people’s wishful thinking so they can ship him with whoever and not feel weird.
Oscar is the SAME FUCKING AGE AS ME. Dipshit trolls send a bunch of anons at a complete nobody like me for daring to exist online at my age, but they can’t keep a world-famous actor’s age straight?
Poe was two years old during the events of ROTJ. TFA was set 30 years later, making him 32. I mean the Visual Dictionary literally says he’s 32, while Rey is 19. Finn and Kylo have never, to my knowledge been given official ages. But most people say Kylo is 29-30, and my personal estimate for Finn’s age is 21-25.
The TFA script gives Finn’s age as 23, so he falls exactly in the middle of your estimate. I thought Kylo’s age was canonically 29 as of TFA, idk the source though.
the homophobia really jumped out with the introduction of rose. if they wanted to go with something other than finnrey for finn the logical thing would have been finnpoe to anyone who isn’t a homophobe. the actors have chemistry, the character already existed, in the hands of a competent writer they could have challenged each other no matter what rian said (resistance leader whose loyalty to the cause literally runs in the family versus finn not being committed yet), etc.
Instead we get Rose jammed into the story alongside Finn, making a mockery of Finn’s character and hurting her own arc.
I never really understood why people thought that Finn and Poe have such an easy-going and cinnamon relationship.
At the beginning of TFA the two were arguing intensely. Poe wanted to go back to Jakku to get BB and the map to Luke, but Finn wanted to get the hell out of Dodge before the FO caught and killed them. They were arguing so much that they were too distracted and got shot down.
Yeah the two became good friends, but there is a lot of drama there that can be written, and not that stupid “Finn isn’t sure if he wants to join” crap. If TFA didn’t convince him, nothing will. Especially not a stupid casino.
Instead their relationship could focus on the fact that Poe sees all of the FO as the enemy, but Finn is still conflicted about fighting Stormtroopers, because they are like him, victims.
It provides a good argument that hasn’t been addressed yet in the sequel movies. Every Stormtrooper has the potential to be another Finn, but every trooper that is killed, that opportunity dies with them. In retrospect though, Poe can counter that there’s no way to tell if a trooper is more Phasma than Finn. they are risking the lives of good people, for the enemy.
Honestly I wish this was brought up anyway still. It’s a much better confliction than what Rose or DJ provided.
And Slip’s death could be brought up, specifically that Poe killed him and it could as easily have been Finn. There is a LOT of drama to be mined between Finn and Poe.
Reasoned debate vs blind panic
I’m as Finnrey as they come. No other romantic pairing for either of them will work for me. Any short search of my blog will feature love of Finnrey and hatred of reylow, doomrey, finnlow, etc.
That said, I do think it’s fair, and probably necessary, to discuss the optics of Finnrey and why so much was changed in the movies.
I wrote a post a long time back asking how Finnrey fandom could be more welcoming and supportive, particularly to black fans who at that time were getting inundated with racist messages from reylows. I received a lot of good feedback. Well that post seems to be making the rounds again because a couple of black fans reached out and we’ve been conversing. Neither of these fans likes Finnrey. Both of them feel it follows the shopworn “black man lusts after white woman because white” trope and that Rey’s feelings really aren’t comparable. I understood in part, but as I’m not black I couldn’t understand completely. To me, it seemed obvious that both of them cared deeply for one another, and I really understand what “not comparable” meant.
Then one of these fans said to me that if the Finnrey dynamic was more like in the TFA novel they might have shipped it. That confused me more, since this was a novelization of the movie they said they did not like the Finnrey dynamic in. I was told to read it and I would understand better. I borrowed it and finally got a chance to read it.
They were right. I now understand.
As Finnrey fans, I do think there is a place for debate about why the novelization made it so much more explicit that Rey found Finn attractive and was falling in love with him. I think it is fair to ask why the clunky “my friend” was added when “We’ll see each other again, I believe that, Finn” or even just “We’ll see each other again” would have sufficed. The bedside scene in the novelization was much more that of a woman leaving her love to go off on an adventure. It was a subversion of the Odysseus trope and worked well. “My friend” seemed tacked on, 19 year olds don’t talk that way, and when I first heard it I did think it odd. Having now read the novelization, I think it’s more than odd, and it seems like something JJ was told to insert.
I’m writing all this to you because one of the takeaways from my original post to the fandom was that black fans said they often felt marginalized and that their concerns are not taken seriously in the fandom, particularly about race and racism. Obviously since the person was anon, who knows who it was, but that doomrey anon you just answered? That person said almost exactly what one of the black fans I recently spoke to said, that it was possible Rey will be made to realize her feelings for Finn were not love, and that Poe makes her “tingle” in a way that Finn didn’t. That the “my friend” business was an out LF gave itself to extricate itself from having to follow through with Finnrey, they can always say Rey only felt friendship for him.
I was told that several black fans left Finnrey fandom after TLJ because of Finn’s overall treatment and because it seemed to them that the Poe and Rey meeting was meant to be significant in more ways than just, they’re meeting finally. I respectfully disagreed, feeling that 10 seconds and smiles didn’t negate all that Finn had gone through with her. The response to that was that LF had decided to make Finn a joke in TLJ so why would it be so far fetched to use him as a starter boyfriend of sorts for Rey that she could measure her feelings for in comparison to Poe and realize she liked Poe “that way” more.
You said to that anon that doomrey would be shitty storytelling. I agree 100%. I also know Daisy herself has said she does not want doomrey at all. But Finn stumbling around leaking bacta was also shitty storytelling, so was him getting tased and the suicide run that wasn’t. Yet we got all of those and much more shit in TLJ.
I think there can be reasoned debate and discussion about LF’s racism making them not care that they derail the story – and doomrey would definitely be derailing it – just so long as they appease their racist fan base who don’t want to see a black man and a white woman romantically involved, and hysterical anons declaring that the first scene of IX will be of Poe zipping up and Rey rising from off screen wiping her mouth. Several black fans feel as that anon does, that Finn might be used by LF as Rey’s romance barometer and she decided that Finn was cool but Poe really makes her knickers wet. These are not “secret doomreys” these are black fans who are angry that Finn might be discarded because of racism. So yes, while doomrey would be an awful follow to the story being told, when has that stopped LF before, is their point. It’s a good one.
It’s fine if you don’t want that discourse on your blog. But I wanted to write because I’ve been trying to be more mindful of not dismissing ideas contrary to mine, particularly on regards to racism. That doomrey anon could have, and possibly was, been written by any of the black Finnrey and former Finnrey fans who expressed the same sentiment to me privately and I think that instead of dismissing it, the fears of some black fans should be recognized, even if you don’t agree with the substance.
This was really depressing to read, but honestly you have a point. As a black fan, if you told me after TFA what would happen to Finn in TLJ, I would’ve called you a freaking idiot, but look what happened.
Honestly it sounds petty, but if Doomrey or Reylow happens, and Finn just has another TLJ situation, I’m done with Star Wars.
Ever since Finn popped his head up in the TFA trailer, people have been trying to race him and his relevance since. I can’t even comment on YouTube how I was disappointed about Finn’s treatment or him not being confirmed as Force sensitive, without getting in a Internet debate about how Finn is in a supporting character, but the co-protagonist.
I might like TFA and even defend it, but there are still things that bother me and it. Like Finn, an elite soldier, getting put into a coma, and I did hate that “my friend” line. So if IX goes south, i’m just going to give up on the fandom and never watch the sequel movies again. Star Wars can still white if that’s what they want.
I mean some people make much of the fact that Poe and Rey said “hi” but… what were they supposed to do, jump right into a duel for Finn’s hand? That’s awkward for a first meeting. I’m pretty sure they’re waiting to get to know each other a bit better before they pick their weapons and choose their seconds.
This is the best take of that scene.
*only take
The only other take it could be is if they’re starting a we ❤️ Finn Club.
President and Founder – Rey
Vice President and public relations – Poe
Head of Marketing – Rose
Official Sponsor – Leia
Pledges – Stormtroopers
So Poe did lose the duel to Rey, because he met Finn first and yet he’s vice president
Finn and Padme for the character headcanons
I know this is super duper late BUT HERE WE GOOOO
Finn
A: Finn knows the space version of sign language and uses it to communicate with both resistance members and refugees they come across to offer some level of comfort.
B: Finn can’t dance for shit. He tries to dance and he’ll be on the dance floor thinking he’s killing it but in reality everyone around them just averts their gaze because it’s a crime against humanity for a man with that ass to lack the rhythm of shaking it properly.
C: Finn’s force sensitivity means that he could feel it when Slip, Han, and Luke each passed away. With each death, he lost his lover, the closest thing he had to a father, and his hope for a better galaxy.
D: Finn becomes the new face of the resistance and becomes a living legend and commander, deeply respected and admired and without his loyalties ever questioned because he is given the chance to actually choose his own path rather than denied under the guidance of someone else’s dumbass assumptions.
Padme
A: She tried to sew the twins onesies but despite her fashion sense she has never sewed a damn thing in her life and they turn out like trash.
B: She has placed a whoopie cushion under Obi-Wan’s seat on several different occasions and has never been caught.
C: Padme’s tie to Anakin is so strong that sometimes, while flitting in between the force after death, she emerges and catches glimpses of who he had become and she mourns all over again.
D: She’s actually alive and living her best life sipping space martinis on a beach and Luke and Leia visit her all the time.
send a character’s name to receive four different headcanons
Another scene, this time of Ben fighting Finn to rescue Poe. I’m thinking this could lend some non-verbal storytelling about the hidden darkness of Ben and hidden morality in Finn. During the fight, Ben can be all-encompassingly focused on winning. Throughout the duel, one of the cannons on the slugslayer is activated by Ben, perhaps towards a planet or another ship. Finn drops everything to turn it off. This works as the distraction Ben needs to save Poe, and Finn gets a moment to try to minimize collateral damage. (Moth)
do you ever think about little cadet finn and just –
Man…I didn’t need this, but we need more Cadet Finn!
One line in @themandalorianwolf‘s meta about Finn and his relationship with his past struck a cord with me, but it’s rather tangential to the topic so I’m hiving off.
The line is this one:
[Finn] had no clue that Poe would want to go back to Jakku and probably assumed Poe would go directly to the Resistance base…
Because yes, this is exactly what Finn would expect to happen when he sat down and planned his escape. That Poe flies directly (or maybe in a circuitous route) back to the Resistance.
Which would mean what precisely?
That Finn isn’t just trying to escape, but defect? Which puts the first reason he gives Poe “It’s the right thing to do” in a bit of a new light, he’s trying to sell himself as a potential Resistance fighter?
Does Finn expects to be taken as a prisoner of war, being an enemy soldier and all.
Obviously things does not go the way Finn expected them to and he had ample time during his trek through Jakku’s desert to rethink his plan and come up with a new one which was “get as far away from the First Order as possible”.
Sensible one too, but thinking about it I doubt it would be his initial one. Unless he thought he could talk Poe into dropping him off somewhere en route. But he’d also know that he would not be able to count on that, that he in a very likely scenario would end up in the hands of the Resistance and/or the Republic.
What did he think would happen to him then?
I don’t think he was thinking that far, at least at that very urgent moment. He talked about getting out of the system altogether, and not about the destination. That was the first thing on his mind, getting away from the First Order rather than to anywhere. Given his later actions I think it’s probable that he wanted to be dropped off and to keep going all the way to the Outer Rim. He also proved to be eminently persuadable on this point, however.
That’s why it’s interesting to think what might have happened if Finn and Poe had not been separated and Poe had tried to talk him into staying with the Resistance, or at least being thoroughly debriefed before he moved on. Poe would not have pulled a Rose and forced Finn to stay, and like Han he’d have understood and sympathized with Finn’s desire to get away. But Poe is also a Resistance fighter, and a spy. Imagine him telling Finn that he can make a difference:
“Buddy, I feel you. Getting away from those guys was good for my health and longevity and I’m guessing it’ll be good for yours, too. You did me and the Resistance a solid, and I’ll fight anyone who blames you for wanting to go. But before that, could you hear me out? You’re smart guy, Finn, and you’re right: if it’s one person alone against the First Order it’s either run or die. But if you’re with other people there’s a third choice: Fight back, together. You don’t have to be alone anymore.”
I remember reading a meta that said Finn was running largely out of despair, because he thought there was no fighting back against the First Order. If Poe, someone who had been doing exactly that, had talked to him? Who knows.
The thing is, there’s definitely a time gap between Finn coming back with the assault ship from Tuanul and him rescuing Poe. Enough that he can change his armor and get evaluated.
We don’t know how much time this is but it’ll be some and I think even as he faces Phasma in that corridor he knows he has to get out. I’m not saying that he has a huge, carefully mapped out plan for what happens, but honestly he’d have some expectations of what would happen if he puts himself into the hands of the Resistance. Clearly it is a preferable option to what will happen in the First Order which is likely either execution or some version of what we see happen to Terex in the Poe comic.
Oh, I completely agree he had planned for multiple contingencies–which, by necessity, could only be contingencies. I think his first preference would have been to be dropped off, but I don’t think he dared hope that he would be allowed to leave. He had never been allowed that kind of freedom and Poe controlled their escape craft, after all. That would have been the first shock for him, if he had made the request and Poe completely respected his wishes, leaving it up to him whether to stay or go. This was why Rose’s reaction to his leaving was so shitty for his arc, needless to say.
Returning to the branching point of the op and what Finn thought beforehand, though, I imagine he was braced for a lot of things. He has zero experience with a military (or paramilitary in this case) that does not rely on intimidation and indoctrination but on freely given consent, and while he might know the Resistance is different he may also have a hard time imagining it. Was he going to be locked up for the rest of the war? Pressed into service? Forced to give up whatever intel he had, with extra “encouragement” because how could they trust him?
When you think about it, effectively putting himself in Poe’s hands was not only a risk but a giant leap of faith. It also showed how desperate he was to leave.
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