John Boyega Throws UpperCut @ The Racists
- Thread starter IWunD3r
- Start date
For those that want to know about Finn's character and how he is portrayed
I know that Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter, Terminator, John Carter, Superman, Batman, and 99.9% of these epic stories of heroism are for White people. This is an unarguable fact, they are written by whites, produced by whites, and made to exemplify white excellence. Those of us of color who have grown and watched these films have related to the UNIVERSAL themes of courage, bravery, love, and triumph through adversity that these stories are built upon. We grew to like, even love these stories in SPITE of, not BECAUSE of, the White protagonists who embody these themes. These stories were never told through our eyes, often times the caricatures of us were as awe-struck side-kicks, bumbling fools, or evil villains. We were side line characters, existing only to magnify the greatness of the White protagonist. Only in the past decade or so has this revolting trend begun to ease little by little. The black character WASN'T always the first one killed. The Black character WASN'T always the rapist or thug. The black character WASN'T always an idiot. Will Smith the worlds most bankable star, in no less than 4 films (ID4, Men In Black 1,2,3) was directly responsible for saving the universe...
So when it was announced that John Boyega had actually gotten the part of the male "Lead" in a new Star Wars movie. Certain people of color were very excited. Could it be that we would get a heroic BLACK character, whose treated with the respect, dignity, and courage of heart that was aforded Luke, Han, Obi-Wan, and even Anikan? The early marketing for the film certainly seemed to be saying so. The first trailer, the third trailer, the motion poster, and various media up to the film's release seemed to position Boyega's Finn as an important, leading part of the new trilogy. Wielding a lightsaber, gunning in the Falcon, staring down Kylo Ren. Were these stories that had been catered specifically and exclusively to a white audience since the moment film went into camera, now finally catching up with the times and "allowing" a black male lead to flourish?
The answer tragically, is no.
The first 30 minutes of the film almost had me convinced that it wouldn't be bad at all. My skepticism faded slightly as I rather enjoyed Finn's consciousness awakening to the fact that being a mindless killing machine for an organization that clearly has no goals beyond universal dominance isn't something to aspire to. His decision to risk his life attempting to help Poe I felt was noble, and then we got this little ditty.
Poe: Why are you helping me
Finn: Because it's the right thing
Poe: You needed a Pilot
Finn: (sheepishly) Yea I needed a pilot
Right off the bat the nobility of Finn's character is compromised, it's more HIS desperation to escape than it is helping the good guy Poe. But you know what? I could role with that. Han Solo might've done something similar in his early days, and I guess it adds to the supposed "3 Dimensional Characterization" that we all readily go into our science fiction fantasy movies looking for. So let it go, Finn and Poe have excellent chemistry during the escape. I was really impressed with how they were portraying Finn as funny, but NOT side-Kick Jar Jar comic relief in this sequence. It felt NATURAL for the character and HUGE props to John Boyega, who in my opinion, is the best natural actor of the new three. Finn is learning on the spot and seems pretty confident next to Poe.
The scenes with Rey after the crash I had no problems with either. Even the "Stop Holding My Hand!" bit didn't feel like Finn was getting shafted, it simply felt like a natural part of two strangers thrown together who don't know how to interact with one another. Finn is still going out of his way to attempt to be heroic, not a coward. Again, however, his integrity is compromised when he lies to Rey about being in the resistance. Every point of attempted heroism is IMMEDIATELY counteracted with lies and selfishness to this point, with both Poe and Rey. I take note of this, but I'm still having fun with the banter between Rey, Finn, and BB8.
We get to the Falcon. Rey pilots and Finn guns. He has an impressive showing, at this point myself, the audience, and Rey's character are with him on this. Is he unsure of himself? Yes, but at this point no more than ANH Luke was, he's still a liar, but he's showing real guts and courageousness. The scene with him awkwardly trying to flirt with Rey and the comedy with him asking BB to bail him out are truly funny. I'm STILL not upset or offended by any of this, John is SELLING what could have been a corny sequence with real charm and wit, testament to his acting ability. It's going pretty well
And then Han shows up and it all goes out the window.
It's hard for me to describe how utterly dissapointed I was with Finn's character form this point onward. He gets kidnapped by the Alien and has to be saved by Rey. Chewbacca abuses him in a sequence that's neither funny or cute. While Han is helping them get away, and Rey is proving how smart she is. Finn is getting choked by the wookie. When we get to Maz Kinata's palace all of the courage that Finn has built up from the past half hour suddenly melts away. He wants to run, he confesses to Rey in a sequence that just screams "I'm the Cowardly Lion dorothy and I have no heart" telling her that "Nobody ever looked at me the way you did and I didn't want to disappoint you" (paraphrasing from memory) and walks away. At this point I leaned over to my girl and said "it's 2015 and look. We're STILL the cowardly side kick" which apparently this Asian guy overheard, more on him later. THIS is our black male lead? Luke NEVER had such a cowardly, spineless speech at any point in ANH. Neither did Han or Leia. But alas, Finn does...
Later on, after Rey rejects her destiny. Finn is given the lightsaber to carry to her. This is where we get the "Driving Miss Ridley" part of Finn's character. At this point Finn's entire motivation becomes helping Rey. Which is fine, however Finn is given nothing else as personal motivation. He has no a,notions of joining the resistance, he's not force sensitive to training isn't in his cards, so after saving Rey then what? fukk it, Finn is hell bent on helping Rey. He battles a Storm Trooper who calls him a traitor, igniting the mythical blue lightsaber of Luke to combat hand to hand. He actually impales one trooper almost by accident, amd duels the second one, getting roundly defeated until Han saves him. Finn simply CANNOT finish a fight on his own it seems, saved by Rey from the Alien earlier, and now saved by Han. This is a theme I will touch on in a moment.
Rey is captured and once again, Finn' s sole motivation is to save her. At THIS point I'm thinking, ok, this guy is supposed to be the THIRD hero, they've GOT to give him his true "hero" moment in the last act, ALL leads in Star Wars movies get ONE right? Finn reunites with Poe (They really are a great duo, they play off each other like they really could be best friends) and helps give Leia and the resistance information on the Star Killer. Finn says he knows how to bring down the Order's shields, and volunteers to go with Han. But... SUPRISE SURPRISE...he's LYING. EVERY. SINGLE. ACTION of his that could be heroic or selfless or badass is twinged with a loss or a lie. And then the wisecracks DO get really corny and unnecessary. When Han berates him for lying and being a SANITATION WORKER...
Finn: We'll just use the force
Han: That's not how the force works!
Second part
Now we're in and they've captured Phasma, and Finn gets his Kevin Hart on and hams it up for a couple minutes, while the cool Han Solo has to tell him to dial it down. A dangerous mission in the enemies base me you've got time to clown? fukking ridiculous, but still this is Finn's moment righ? His chance to rescue Rey and set it right, after all she did save him from the Alien earlier on right?
Nope, the ever resourceful Rey with her new found Jedi Powers has already escaped. Girl Power style!
Finn and Rey watch Han die by Kylo's hand. A very good and touching sequence I might add.
They flee into the snow. Kylo pursues them
And now the moment of truth. Finn's LAST chance at a truly heroic moment. No more running, no more hiding. The girl you've been jonesing for is knocked out, Kylo just called you a filthy traitor.
Your eyes steel
You grasp the lightsaber with determined vigor
You prepare to take Kylo Ren head on. This is your "destiny awakens" moment.
You lose.
Not ONLY do you lose, but your put in a coma.
This ends your chapter in The Force Awakens...
Poe Dameronn gets to heroically destroy the Star Killer
Rey wakes up, grabs the lightsaber, and having learned she has the force all of 24 hours, proceeds to kick Ren's Ass like she's Xena the Warror Princess.
Hell even BB8 gets to complete his mission and show the way to Luke Skywalker.
You Finn are in a coma.
No heroic moment, no redemption, no future arc for your character.]
The Black Male "Lead" ladies and gentleman
He gets not ONE truly heroic moment in the ENTIRE GODDAMN FILM
He's saved EVERY SINGLE TIME
Leia got saved less throughout the entire OG trilogy
The FIRST human character in Star Wars cinema to wield a lightsaber and not be force sensitive
A liar, Coward, wise-cracking side kick. He literally spends the rest of the film after Han shows up as Either a victim or Rey's courier.
Rey is to chosen one, the new Jedi. Poe is the hotshot pilot, the best in the Resistance.
Finn...is in a Coma...
It's extremely insulting to say, that after Han shows up, you could've replaced Finn with Jar Jar Binks and gotten the same damn results. Finn's character was NOT treated with respect or dignity. They stripped him of what it looked like they were trying to give him in the beginning, the ability to exist as his own character. He's there to tell jokes (and be the but of them) voice reluctance and fear, and get saved to show how badass the OTHER characters are.
And you can already miss me with the "bu bu but...he'll GROW in episode 8!". Luke, Han, and Leia could ALL grow in episode 5 without being completely demoralized in ANH. Luke got his hero moment, so did Han and Leia, all were PROVEN that he possess heroic qualities. Finn was never allowed to PROVE my heroic qualities. Everything he attempted was accomplished by someone else....
The movie itself was a 7/10. Finn was a 4/10 and I'm giving him the 4 based on the promise he showed in the beginning, and BOYEGA's clear talent as an actor. He REALLY did his best with what he was given, he deserved better.
Black Characters deserve better.
I will not be looking forward to Episode 8. Unless they do an EXTREME makeover of Finn's character I won't be watching future installments. Disney took a great opportunity to make a black hero and flushed it in favor of the same stereotypes we've been told over and over that Hollywood is looking to change.
These are stories by white people FOR white people. The character of Finn is our nikka Wake Up Call that it will remain so for the foreseeable future.
I should've known better.
That bad? I'm not even a huge star wars guy - I've seen all of them but won't rush out to see this one
They did Finn THAT dirty?
That bad? I'm not even a huge star wars guy - I've seen all of them but won't rush out to see this one
They did Finn THAT dirty?
Yes and I'm not even exaggerating...
The first 45 minutes of the film most had me convinced that what I'd read about him was wrong and that it was gonna be cool. John Boyega is a VERY GOOD actor and with the right material he shines.
Then once
Han comes into the picture they completely strip Finn of all the qualities that they'd been building for his character. He's a victimized, cowardly, Simp, whose ONLY motivation for the next 2 hours is to save Rey, which he never accomplished as she saves herself. He didn't accomplish one single THING the entire movie. The comedy moments during the "rescue" are almost insulting. He loses to Kylo Ren and spends the rest of the film in a coma while Poe and Rey have their heroic moments. It's really bad.
Kyle C. Barker
Migos VERZUZ Mahalia Jackson
For those that want to know about Finn's character and how he is portrayed
I know that Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter, Terminator, John Carter, Superman, Batman, and 99.9% of these epic stories of heroism are for White people. This is an unarguable fact, they are written by whites, produced by whites, and made to exemplify white excellence. Those of us of color who have grown and watched these films have related to the UNIVERSAL themes of courage, bravery, love, and triumph through adversity that these stories are built upon. We grew to like, even love these stories in SPITE of, not BECAUSE of, the White protagonists who embody these themes. These stories were never told through our eyes, often times the caricatures of us were as awe-struck side-kicks, bumbling fools, or evil villains. We were side line characters, existing only to magnify the greatness of the White protagonist. Only in the past decade or so has this revolting trend begun to ease little by little. The black character WASN'T always the first one killed. The Black character WASN'T always the rapist or thug. The black character WASN'T always an idiot. Will Smith the worlds most bankable star, in no less than 4 films (ID4, Men In Black 1,2,3) was directly responsible for saving the universe...
So when it was announced that John Boyega had actually gotten the part of the male "Lead" in a new Star Wars movie. Certain people of color were very excited. Could it be that we would get a heroic BLACK character, whose treated with the respect, dignity, and courage of heart that was aforded Luke, Han, Obi-Wan, and even Anikan? The early marketing for the film certainly seemed to be saying so. The first trailer, the third trailer, the motion poster, and various media up to the film's release seemed to position Boyega's Finn as an important, leading part of the new trilogy. Wielding a lightsaber, gunning in the Falcon, staring down Kylo Ren. Were these stories that had been catered specifically and exclusively to a white audience since the moment film went into camera, now finally catching up with the times and "allowing" a black male lead to flourish?
The answer tragically, is no.
The first 30 minutes of the film almost had me convinced that it wouldn't be bad at all. My skepticism faded slightly as I rather enjoyed Finn's consciousness awakening to the fact that being a mindless killing machine for an organization that clearly has no goals beyond universal dominance isn't something to aspire to. His decision to risk his life attempting to help Poe I felt was noble, and then we got this little ditty.
Poe: Why are you helping me
Finn: Because it's the right thing
Poe: You needed a Pilot
Finn: (sheepishly) Yea I needed a pilot
Right off the bat the nobility of Finn's character is compromised, it's more HIS desperation to escape than it is helping the good guy Poe. But you know what? I could role with that. Han Solo might've done something similar in his early days, and I guess it adds to the supposed "3 Dimensional Characterization" that we all readily go into our science fiction fantasy movies looking for. So let it go, Finn and Poe have excellent chemistry during the escape. I was really impressed with how they were portraying Finn as funny, but NOT side-Kick Jar Jar comic relief in this sequence. It felt NATURAL for the character and HUGE props to John Boyega, who in my opinion, is the best natural actor of the new three. Finn is learning on the spot and seems pretty confident next to Poe.
The scenes with Rey after the crash I had no problems with either. Even the "Stop Holding My Hand!" bit didn't feel like Finn was getting shafted, it simply felt like a natural part of two strangers thrown together who don't know how to interact with one another. Finn is still going out of his way to attempt to be heroic, not a coward. Again, however, his integrity is compromised when he lies to Rey about being in the resistance. Every point of attempted heroism is IMMEDIATELY counteracted with lies and selfishness to this point, with both Poe and Rey. I take note of this, but I'm still having fun with the banter between Rey, Finn, and BB8.
We get to the Falcon. Rey pilots and Finn guns. He has an impressive showing, at this point myself, the audience, and Rey's character are with him on this. Is he unsure of himself? Yes, but at this point no more than ANH Luke was, he's still a liar, but he's showing real guts and courageousness. The scene with him awkwardly trying to flirt with Rey and the comedy with him asking BB to bail him out are truly funny. I'm STILL not upset or offended by any of this, John is SELLING what could have been a corny sequence with real charm and wit, testament to his acting ability. It's going pretty well
And then Han shows up and it all goes out the window.
It's hard for me to describe how utterly dissapointed I was with Finn's character form this point onward. He gets kidnapped by the Alien and has to be saved by Rey. Chewbacca abuses him in a sequence that's neither funny or cute. While Han is helping them get away, and Rey is proving how smart she is. Finn is getting choked by the wookie. When we get to Maz Kinata's palace all of the courage that Finn has built up from the past half hour suddenly melts away. He wants to run, he confesses to Rey in a sequence that just screams "I'm the Cowardly Lion dorothy and I have no heart" telling her that "Nobody ever looked at me the way you did and I didn't want to disappoint you" (paraphrasing from memory) and walks away. At this point I leaned over to my girl and said "it's 2015 and look. We're STILL the cowardly side kick" which apparently this Asian guy overheard, more on him later. THIS is our black male lead? Luke NEVER had such a cowardly, spineless speech at any point in ANH. Neither did Han or Leia. But alas, Finn does...
Later on, after Rey rejects her destiny. Finn is given the lightsaber to carry to her. This is where we get the "Driving Miss Ridley" part of Finn's character. At this point Finn's entire motivation becomes helping Rey. Which is fine, however Finn is given nothing else as personal motivation. He has no a,notions of joining the resistance, he's not force sensitive to training isn't in his cards, so after saving Rey then what? fukk it, Finn is hell bent on helping Rey. He battles a Storm Trooper who calls him a traitor, igniting the mythical blue lightsaber of Luke to combat hand to hand. He actually impales one trooper almost by accident, amd duels the second one, getting roundly defeated until Han saves him. Finn simply CANNOT finish a fight on his own it seems, saved by Rey from the Alien earlier, and now saved by Han. This is a theme I will touch on in a moment.
Rey is captured and once again, Finn' s sole motivation is to save her. At THIS point I'm thinking, ok, this guy is supposed to be the THIRD hero, they've GOT to give him his true "hero" moment in the last act, ALL leads in Star Wars movies get ONE right? Finn reunites with Poe (They really are a great duo, they play off each other like they really could be best friends) and helps give Leia and the resistance information on the Star Killer. Finn says he knows how to bring down the Order's shields, and volunteers to go with Han. But... SUPRISE SURPRISE...he's LYING. EVERY. SINGLE. ACTION of his that could be heroic or selfless or badass is twinged with a loss or a lie. And then the wisecracks DO get really corny and unnecessary. When Han berates him for lying and being a SANITATION WORKER...
Finn: We'll just use the force
Han: That's not how the force works!
Second part
Now we're in and they've captured Phasma, and Finn gets his Kevin Hart on and hams it up for a couple minutes, while the cool Han Solo has to tell him to dial it down. A dangerous mission in the enemies base me you've got time to clown? fukking ridiculous, but still this is Finn's moment righ? His chance to rescue Rey and set it right, after all she did save him from the Alien earlier on right?
Nope, the ever resourceful Rey with her new found Jedi Powers has already escaped. Girl Power style!
Finn and Rey watch Han die by Kylo's hand. A very good and touching sequence I might add.
They flee into the snow. Kylo pursues them
And now the moment of truth. Finn's LAST chance at a truly heroic moment. No more running, no more hiding. The girl you've been jonesing for is knocked out, Kylo just called you a filthy traitor.
Your eyes steel
You grasp the lightsaber with determined vigor
You prepare to take Kylo Ren head on. This is your "destiny awakens" moment.
You lose.
Not ONLY do you lose, but your put in a coma.
This ends your chapter in The Force Awakens...
Poe Dameronn gets to heroically destroy the Star Killer
Rey wakes up, grabs the lightsaber, and having learned she has the force all of 24 hours, proceeds to kick Ren's Ass like she's Xena the Warror Princess.
Hell even BB8 gets to complete his mission and show the way to Luke Skywalker.
You Finn are in a coma.
No heroic moment, no redemption, no future arc for your character.]
The Black Male "Lead" ladies and gentleman
He gets not ONE truly heroic moment in the ENTIRE GODDAMN FILM
He's saved EVERY SINGLE TIME
Leia got saved less throughout the entire OG trilogy
The FIRST human character in Star Wars cinema to wield a lightsaber and not be force sensitive
A liar, Coward, wise-cracking side kick. He literally spends the rest of the film after Han shows up as Either a victim or Rey's courier.
Rey is to chosen one, the new Jedi. Poe is the hotshot pilot, the best in the Resistance.
Finn...is in a Coma...
It's extremely insulting to say, that after Han shows up, you could've replaced Finn with Jar Jar Binks and gotten the same damn results. Finn's character was NOT treated with respect or dignity. They stripped him of what it looked like they were trying to give him in the beginning, the ability to exist as his own character. He's there to tell jokes (and be the but of them) voice reluctance and fear, and get saved to show how badass the OTHER characters are.
And you can already miss me with the "bu bu but...he'll GROW in episode 8!". Luke, Han, and Leia could ALL grow in episode 5 without being completely demoralized in ANH. Luke got his hero moment, so did Han and Leia, all were PROVEN that he possess heroic qualities. Finn was never allowed to PROVE my heroic qualities. Everything he attempted was accomplished by someone else....
The movie itself was a 7/10. Finn was a 4/10 and I'm giving him the 4 based on the promise he showed in the beginning, and BOYEGA's clear talent as an actor. He REALLY did his best with what he was given, he deserved better.
Black Characters deserve better.
I will not be looking forward to Episode 8. Unless they do an EXTREME makeover of Finn's character I won't be watching future installments. Disney took a great opportunity to make a black hero and flushed it in favor of the same stereotypes we've been told over and over that Hollywood is looking to change.
These are stories by white people FOR white people. The character of Finn is our nikka Wake Up Call that it will remain so for the foreseeable future.
I should've known better.
Thanks for saving me some money. I'm not big on star wars, but I was ready to support a good black lead. I'll catch the torrent instead.
I won't even watch it. I don't care how good a movie is, if the black character is a goofball or there for comedic purposes whilst the white characters look cool and get all the action I avoid.
Dap + Rep. Thanks for saving me some dough too. I had already put two and two together when looking at the trailers, and taking into consideration Hollywood's attempts to shove white feminism down everyone's throats. Not to mention a pending Hilary administration. But I had no idea the level of Driving Miss Ridley that would go on with his character. I'm glad there's people like you that see this sh!t for what it is.
By the way, what happened with the Asian dude that overheard you? I didn't see that in you're posting, or I missed it.
only white British men use "mum"
Second part
Now we're in and they've captured Phasma, and Finn gets his Kevin Hart on and hams it up for a couple minutes, while the cool Han Solo has to tell him to dial it down. A dangerous mission in the enemies base me you've got time to clown? fukking ridiculous, but still this is Finn's moment righ? His chance to rescue Rey and set it right, after all she did save him from the Alien earlier on right?
Nope, the ever resourceful Rey with her new found Jedi Powers has already escaped. Girl Power style!
Finn and Rey watch Han die by Kylo's hand. A very good and touching sequence I might add.
They flee into the snow. Kylo pursues them
And now the moment of truth. Finn's LAST chance at a truly heroic moment. No more running, no more hiding. The girl you've been jonesing for is knocked out, Kylo just called you a filthy traitor.
Your eyes steel
You grasp the lightsaber with determined vigor
You prepare to take Kylo Ren head on. This is your "destiny awakens" moment.
You lose.
Not ONLY do you lose, but your put in a coma.
This ends your chapter in The Force Awakens...
Poe Dameronn gets to heroically destroy the Star Killer
Rey wakes up, grabs the lightsaber, and having learned she has the force all of 24 hours, proceeds to kick Ren's Ass like she's Xena the Warror Princess.
Hell even BB8 gets to complete his mission and show the way to Luke Skywalker.
You Finn are in a coma.
No heroic moment, no redemption, no future arc for your character.]
The Black Male "Lead" ladies and gentleman
He gets not ONE truly heroic moment in the ENTIRE GODDAMN FILM
He's saved EVERY SINGLE TIME
Leia got saved less throughout the entire OG trilogy
The FIRST human character in Star Wars cinema to wield a lightsaber and not be force sensitive
A liar, Coward, wise-cracking side kick. He literally spends the rest of the film after Han shows up as Either a victim or Rey's courier.
Rey is to chosen one, the new Jedi. Poe is the hotshot pilot, the best in the Resistance.
Finn...is in a Coma...
It's extremely insulting to say, that after Han shows up, you could've replaced Finn with Jar Jar Binks and gotten the same damn results. Finn's character was NOT treated with respect or dignity. They stripped him of what it looked like they were trying to give him in the beginning, the ability to exist as his own character. He's there to tell jokes (and be the but of them) voice reluctance and fear, and get saved to show how badass the OTHER characters are.
And you can already miss me with the "bu bu but...he'll GROW in episode 8!". Luke, Han, and Leia could ALL grow in episode 5 without being completely demoralized in ANH. Luke got his hero moment, so did Han and Leia, all were PROVEN that he possess heroic qualities. Finn was never allowed to PROVE my heroic qualities. Everything he attempted was accomplished by someone else....
The movie itself was a 7/10. Finn was a 4/10 and I'm giving him the 4 based on the promise he showed in the beginning, and BOYEGA's clear talent as an actor. He REALLY did his best with what he was given, he deserved better.
Black Characters deserve better.
I will not be looking forward to Episode 8. Unless they do an EXTREME makeover of Finn's character I won't be watching future installments. Disney took a great opportunity to make a black hero and flushed it in favor of the same stereotypes we've been told over and over that Hollywood is looking to change.
These are stories by white people FOR white people. The character of Finn is our nikka Wake Up Call that it will remain so for the foreseeable future.
I should've known better.
I was very disappointed with his character. The final nail on the coffin is when Han asked him what exactly he did as a Storm Trooper and admits to doing SANITATION. John Boyega is great acter and deserved better. However, as you said in the previous post this movie was made by whites and for whites. The racists who didn't want to see him in this film are probably sighing in relief that his character embodied the usual stereotypes and lacked any heroism.
