rotschild:

lj-writes:

rotschild:

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.

@lj-writes Well, Darth :-), since you raised this point, let me start by asking you a question: what is the message Star Wars heroes convey?

Would Luke still be the hero we all love if revenge had been the motive behind the defeat of his terrible father? 

Would we still hold Obi-Wan in high regard if hate had been the driving force behind his maiming of Anakin?

Feeling anger and hate is natural, acting upon them is naturally brutish, especially for a Star Wars positive character of such relevance. Finn sure does hate what Kylo Ren did, what Snoke represents, but he does not hate, nor obsess, over the annihilation of their personas (for personal ends especially). He has a much higher purpose than that. And even if he hates them, his challenge (like all other main characters’ challenges, even Poe’s) will be to allow these negative feelings to relent their grip on him, and to mature into overcoming his obstacles without resorting to them. Why else would we look up to Finn, if this weren’t the case?

Otherwise…well. There’s always another avenue, if that suits you best. Star Wars has plenty of characters who let themselves be driven by the winds of vengeful, bloodthirsty passions, too: Darth Maul and Darth Vader are two among them, and look where this way of seeing life brought them!

Remember Finn’s interactions with Kylo? He was always fearful (not cowardly, but with the knowledge of someone who knows what the First Order is all about), not angry. After the knight of Ren slayed his own father, Finn and Rey ran away from him. The time when Finn realized he needed to act, for himself, for life, for the right thing – was when Kylo hurt Rey. And no, I couldn’t see the eyes of hate when he wielded that blue lightsaber. The eyes of a lion who fights against another creature, sure. But not the eyes of hatred.

On the other hand, Finn could hate Phasma on a more personal level simply because of the fact that – as his teacher and trainer, someone whom he shares a more “intimate” bond with, at least figuratively – she represents a part of him that he hasn’t fully elaborated yet in the context of his new life as a free man. 

Let us not forget that before defecting, Finn was just one among many obedient Stormtroopers. In one of the opening scenes, Phasma and Hux examine his history files, stating aloud that he had never created any problems: that is, he was raised to be one of them, believing he was doing the right thing.

“I was taken from a family that I will never know” Finn told Rey, true. But I don’t believe that the main underlying message here was that he resented them for that. I think that the main underlying message was that he had practically known no life outside them. No other reality. I think that the way we negotiate our present with apparently contradicting roots is relatable to many of us.

If Luke and Obi-Wan (and even Rey, when she didn’t inflict the final blow to an injured Kylo) emerged victorious from their battles without falling into the black pit of hate that could have claimed them, why wouldn’t you wish the same sort of elevation for Finn?

We’re in Star Wars, not in some badly subbed Vegeta vs Majin Bu match, for Force’s sake. 

P.S. For clarifcation: my Finn character analysis is by no means complete, it is just the transcription of some new things I noticed after recently re-watching TLJ. The personal journey part is partially covered, the Phasma part is the bulk of it but interactions with other characters are missing.

P.P.S. tell me, is the word “hate” a bit more nuanced in Korean? I ask you this out of curiosity, since there is often no perfect black-and-white translation between languages, especially when they have different roots.

That’s pretty much the generic “hating your oppressor makes you just as bad as them.” I like how you take the Jedi Code that helped lead Anakin to ruin as the last word in this universe.

Thank you, I wanted to know if you had factual basis for your assertions and for differentiating between Hux/Ren/Snoke and Phasma in their relation to Finn, I gotta say that was the most words it took to say “no” I’ve seen in a while.

Darth L.J.