My liking a character is not premised on projecting on them a morality they don’t have. I like Anakin in the prequels because of his internal struggles and the sinister contrast between his boyish persona and what he was becoming. I love Darth Vader from the original trilogy because he’s violent, ruthless, and looks cool.
I don’t even consider Anakin/Vader to be redeemed. Yeah, he saved his biological offspring from being tortured to death, big whoop. That’s self-interest, not redemption. I don’t think he’s made up for even one of the innocent lives he’s taken. Luke chose to forgive him and accept him as his father, which was his choice. Leia did not, and that was just as valid.
You know what would have made me hate Vader? If he had lived, everyone magically forgave him for a decades-long career of brutality and fell over themselves comforting the poor little mass murderer, and he had vocal stans popping up everywhere going “Ani did nothing wrong in his life uwu.” This is basically what Kylostans are doing and what they’re saying Kylo’s story should be. I like Kylo fine as an entertaining villain. I detest the cult of woobification surrounding him.
You want him to be redeemed like Vader? Fine. Vader gave his life to kill the Emperor and was forgiven by exactly one person, Luke. If that’s what Kylo gets I’d be fine with it, though I would prefer life in prison because I think Vader got off easy.
As for the circumstances of Vader’s and Ren’s descent, I’m with LucasFilm story group’s Pablo Hidalgo: They may have suffered trauma, grooming, and abuse,
but they and they alone remain responsible for their choices. They were
both grown men when they chose to go to the Dark Side and murder
innocents. Whatever manipulation they may have suffered were reasons,
not excuses.
The sequel trilogy makes this contrast even clearer, because guess who else suffered a lifetime of brainwashing, abuse, and indoctrination, but in contrast to the two above characters chose not to hurt innocent people? Finn didn’t have any countervailing influences in his life like Ben Solo did, no one to help him until he reached out at incredible risk to himself. As I have stated before, Finn takes away Kylo Ren’s excuses and I believe that is why Ren has a deep, personal hatred of Finn. It’s why the Finn Skywalker theory works so well in story terms, because you’d have the moral touchstone of the sequel trilogy come to grips with the opposite sides of the Skywalker legacy.
In the picture: Phasma looking at Finn and baby Finn files
After re-watching The Force Awakens, as it is often the case when you see a movie for a second or third time, I came to appreciate a few characters insights and general details that I had previously missed out on. I would like to share them with you.
Let’s now look at FINN:
Finn’s escape and subsequent journey really are remarkable. His emotions are palpable and there’s that scene where he takes his helmet off on the Star Destroyer where you can literally see all his feelings dancing behind the “glass” of his eyes, like little fires. You get this sense of panicking urgency, this need he has of getting out of the First Order asap, and to me, it all felt very real.
One detail I found fascinating in the opening scene is that Poe – the first meaningful “outsider” Finn iteracts with – is the one who kills his stormtrooper friend (killing the last friendly image of the First Order he has), effectively initiating the domino that will lead to Finn’s “awakening”.
Finn’s test:
Director Rian Johnson, while addressing The Last Jedi content, commented on how the 2nd instalment of the sequel trilogy will prove to be “testing” for all the main characters.
Now, while Kylo Ren’s problems, weaknesses and tribulations are often discussed and quite easy to pinpoint, as are Rey’s, Luke’s, Poe’s and Leia’s; Finn the Cupcake’s (a well-earned title, no less) demons haven’t quite received the same amount of attention. Perhaps because they’re – at this point – subtler (and no, I am not talking about Finn’s attachment to those he cares about: I tend to associate that more with his “light side”, since it’s so obvious and out in the open).
Let’s discuss them a bit more in depth:
I have personally found two features of Finn’s that could be conductive to growth or, likewise, darkness. One of them fully escalated and found resolution during TFA, the other hasn’t, as of yet.
1) fear (and, to an extent, sloth) – Finn’s escape was likely catalysed by two factors: fear of killing innocents for a wrong cause and fear for his own life (and, implicitly, fear of growing up/letting go).
While escaping, obedient Finn is also confronted for the first time with his own individuality, in a deep manner.
The questions “who am I?” and “where am I going?” were likely to be the background music to his rocambolesque escape, though more subconsciously than in a Jedi-like meditative manner at that.
Fear of dying is what keeps Finn anchored to his child self. What keeps him from hoping. And daring.
Finn outgrows this the moment he ditches the Outer Rim guys to go fight the First Order at Maz Kanata’s castle, Rey having played a key (human) part in his decision.
After this, Finn gains a piece of his identity, making one step forward towards adulthood.
2) Phasma – yes. Phasma. The captain. The warleader. The steely soldier in a mask …his parental figure, in a sense. The embodiment of Imperial care and “tough love” every subservient citizen should look up to.
Kylo Ren and Rey are not the only ones troubled by their families. Finn is too, in his own way, and by the end of TFA he still struggles to come to terms with it in a mature way.
The line “I’m in charge, I’m in charge now Phasma, I’m in charge!” after he and Han capture the Captain and the wary, aggressive way he holds her captive and orders her around while pointing a blaster at her head prove that beautifully, showing us a rougher, conflicted side of Finn’s that had stayed dormant up until that point.
Everything about this scene with Phasma shouts “trial”. Finn’s self-confidence wavers as he partially loses his cool, portraying the adolescent Phasma trained. It’s as if he is actually doubting his freedom, while in her presence, and hasn’t quite grasped how to handle that.
The TLJ trailer, alongside the purpose of Finn and Rose’s undercover mission, give us reason to think that this Phasma demon will be addressed in the upcoming movie.
Finn does not hate Kylo Ren. He does not hate Hux, nor Snoke. But he could hate Phasma, because of what she attempted shaping him into. Because deep down he feels that he’s not completely free as long as he hasn’t proven that to her. And although as informal as any Imperial training can get, there’s still a level of intimacy a trainer and her stormtrooper share, as opposed to fighting against any other faceless First Order follower.
Phasma acts as a sort of Frollo to Finn’s (able-bodied) Quasimodo.
Will Finn free himself of Phasma’s (literal and figurative) influence without succumbing to hatred?
I’m looking forward to seeing where this is going to end, and I seriously hope Johnson has given this arc the depth it deserves.
Finn doesn’t hate Kylo Ren, Hux or Snoke? The people who stole him from his family, nearly ruined his life, and seriously physically hurt him and his friends? Could you share your reasoning behind this statement?
I’m also unsure why Finn shouldn’t hate Phasma or the rest of her gang for that matter. He has every right to be angry at his abusers. Anger and, dare I say, hatred at Kylo Ren helped him fight an overwhelming enemy, and anger no doubt helped him return to and function in Starkiller Base, the last place in the Galaxy he wanted to be.
Finn has trouble sleeping. He lies down on his bed and feels the hours crawl by as his eyes stay stuck on the ceiling. Sometimes, he likes to imagine things, closes his eyes and invents stories to pass the time. Other times, he just lies on his bunk, listens to Poe’s steady breathing and tries to drift off.
When Finn actually sleeps, for the minute snatches of time that his mind goes under and he’s unconscious, he has nightmares. Visceral scenes that trap him in its punishing grip and force him to relive terror after terror.
He always wakes an hour or two after, body shaking and a scream held back by his closed mouth. It twists in his stomach, a knot that doesn’t untangle until hours later; when he’s surrounded by his friends and feels his nightmare get pushed to the back of his mind.
Finn has trouble sleeping. Takes to lying down on his bunk until Poe is asleep and he’s able to sit up and do anything and nothing. He’s able to sit and draw if he wants, creating while also letting his mind wander. Sometimes he sits up and looks out the window; stares up at the moon and the stars and imagines what it’d be like to live up there; undaunted and unbothered.
Sometimes Finn sleeps too long. Body crashing and pulling him under. This only ever happens after the war; after his body and his mind understand that the danger is stymied (not gone no…Finn’s not to sure it’d ever really be gone). His body crumples in on itself; refusing to go off of fumes.
He sleeps too long; hours blurring together until Finn wakes to Poe’s barely concealed worry and his daughter’s overt worry.
“You need to rest more,” they tell him and Finn knows; he knows. He’s just not too sure how exactly to go about undoing this bit of abuse he’d suffered underneath the First Order.
(It’d taken him a long time to call it abuse; painstakingly long hours with his therapist, Na’im, to call it something other than “conditioning” or “training.” It doesn’t help anyone, least of himself, Finn finds, to call it anything but the truth. They hurt him, tried to twist him into something they wanted.
“It’s a testament to your strength,” Na’im tells him, “that you survived.”
Finn thinks about Slip’s blooded face; thinks about the fury in Nine’s voice when they’d seen each other, and wonders what they’d all be like if they’d had a chance to grow up without war.)
Finn has trouble sleeping; sleeps too little, not at all, or too much. But he’s alive and he’s trying to get better. And he counts that as a win.
I don’t have a lot of experience with these polls but they do seem to have a pretty regular schedule, judging from the dates of past polls and quizzes. Whatever happened, Kyle has pulled slightly ahead now–so Finn fans, go vote! #rebelfinn
Pro-tip, if you’re a white Star Wars fan (like me) and you feel inclined to tell POC fans to “stop whining about” or “get over” the near total exclusion of Finn, Poe and especially Rose in the marketing, and SW’s not so subtle demotion of Finn, who was marketing as being a POC protagonist and Jedi before TFA came out, to a supporting role, at any point in the next two months:
I agree with the general sentiment…but trailers are always misleading. That INCLUDES TFA and TLJ.
Finn was never demoted. He was meant to be secondary. Same as Poe. For better or worse.
I still love Finn and can’t wait to see what all he does, though!!
Finn was not a secondary character, he was the main protagonist of TFA. Like… you’re seriously comparing him to Poe who had far fewer appearances and lines? Did you sleep through his appearances or what?
But I love how people who denigrate Finn’s importance nonstop claim to “love” him because it’s the politically correct thing to do lol.
Yknow i was holding out for the last jedi… I wanted to like it but it has some problems I cant ignore.
Considering
Finn was the main character in the force awakens (dont even try to
argue against this, no matter how bad you want it to be otherwise, finn
had the most lines and the story centered around him until the very end)
and he was heavily implied by marketing to become a Jedi, he really
isnt featured in this movie that much.
Like it wouldnt hurt as
much if rey was the main character, with finn being the secondary main
character. That would feel more honest and casual. But it really seems
like they are doing something worse. He isnt being treated like a main
character at all.
He is being treated like a side character
with Kyle being the secondary main character. This is what happened to
Lando in Return of the Jedi, and look at him.
Lando was set
up at the end of Empire Strikes Back to take up the Han role. But in
Return of the Jedi, Han was brought back in the first like 5 minutes,
and Lando was treated like a side character for the rest. They pushed
him to the side to give Han more screentime. That was just the
beginning of their erasing Lando. Now he isnt in the new trilogy at
all. Not even a fucking little.
They are now doing the same to
Finn. It started with the bait and switch at the last minute of Force
Awakens, and now the marketing and the film studio, hell even the
fanbase pushing to whiten the franchise is going full speed. This is a
problem that has existed in Star Wars, and almost all film franchises
forever. This is what allows Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy to be
praised as pioneers of diversity while doing less than the bare minimum.
For
a movie that wont shut up about how “unique” or “shocking” it is, the
way it treats its former black lead is predictable as hell.
Sure
they might say they like Finn, but their talk is cheap. It’s very
clear that lucasfilm and the fanbase are obsessed with Kyle, and will
push Finn to the side to give him and the other white characters the
most focus possible.
Are we supposed to be grateful Finn has a
role at all? Are we supposed to be grateful they have non white
characters? Are we supposed to be grateful for the bare minimum?
These
are valid concerns, it has happened before. It happens all the time,
and will continue until we do something about it. You cant expect me to
just sit by and let this happen after star wars claimed to be pushing
for diversity.
You
may have noticed I havent wrote Kyle’s real name. Thats because his
stans are so stubbornly irrational in their refusal to see racism, I
dont want to interact with them by making this searchable for them. And it honestly seems like Kyle stans dont
even understand the basic reasons why we are upset. They think “evil
antis wanna ruin our fun” which I have to say is a little ignorant and
trying too hard to play the victim.
The sw franchise has cultivated a
fanbase with racism issues it refuses to recognize. You can ignore
these issues, you can even advocate for their continuation, but I wont
stop. If youre not gonna do something about this, then Im just asking
you to be critical of what you consume.
Im not saying you cant enjoy tlj, in fact as a lifelong sw fan, im trying to enjoy it myself. Im saying dont just blindly support
everything the film studio and fanbase does. Their actions have real consequences.
#rogueonespoilers
The
star wars movie with the most diverse main cast is the one where they
all die. Lando was erased from the future of the franchise. The han
spin off is the whitest sw thing ive seen in a long time. Dont even get
me started on sw’s glaring lack of women of color or the fanbase.
Race does affect star wars. It does
not exist in a vacuum, and it affects the real world. These are serious
issues that shouldnt be glossed over.
If youre white and
understand these issues, thank you for reading and feel free to reblog
this. Otherwise, remember it is not your place to tell people of color
what not to get upset about.
And to all the white women who were happy Finn was sidelined in favor of Rey? Fuck you too, youre not much better.
L.J.'s Obsessions 