JULY 31st on Netflix!!

also here’s the mcfreaking thing, criticism of/acknowledgment that the star wars originals/prequels are racist and sexist is different from cricism and betrayal at the sequel trilogy, specifically tlj, being sexist and racist, because it’s 2018 and the main characters are a young woman, a young black man and a latinx man and the force awakens wrote them as complex relatable three dimensional characters who we could finally feel safe about and hold on to and the last jedi ripped that from us and destroyed it in the most insidious way all the while claiming to be progressive media

interesting how people are completely missing the point of this entire post, which is to say:

just because you (the last jedi and rian johnson) have visible diversity on your screen does not mean that you (the last jedi and rian johnson) are treating that diverse cast of characters respectfully and with non-problematic meaningful writing, which ultimately leads to legions of people (yall) writing feminist thinkpieces on this trashfire of a film (the last jedi) insisting that rey being reduced to a prop for kylo’s undeserved redemption, finn being sidelined out of his own story and constantly used for comic relief, and poe being shoehorned into a latinx stereotype for a meaningless and badly written subplot thats supposed to make a white woman look good are somehow the Epitome of social justice and the many fans who actually picked up on the God awful writing and character work underneath the progressive-looking exterior are insane and “reaching”

I loved the character development in TLJ. Looks like I loved it enough to do such a useless, damaging thing as reacting to this post.

Even though the fandom made itself forget it very efficiently, Finn as a clueless comic relief is a TFA thing, from the cringeworthy water trough scene on Jakku to “that’s not how the Force works” to his interaction with Phasma. He’s much LESS used like that in TLJ and mainly at the beginning. At the end, whatever awkwardness he could have is gone and he’s a perfect hero: his final confrontation with Phasma is played totally straight and he’s the one to rally the Resistance with a speech on Crait.

Hux, the whitest character ever, on the other side…

In TLJ, Finn’s storyline (not his arc) was horribly frustrating. But there’s a final film, and the way Finn turns out at the end of TLJ is full of promises.

Why is this fandom so intent on interpreting Rey’s storyline as Kylo Ren’s? Is it because of an inability to see women as leads and a long tradition of caring more for pairings than individual stories? Kylo Ren doesn’t get a redemption arc. Rey closes the door on him, Leia gives up on him (when she was the one believing he could be saved in TFA) and Luke is clear that he doesn’t want to save him.

Kylo Ren’s story isn’t an arc as much as it’s a stagnation, even a regression, and it’s set up to mirror and contrast Rey’s growth. Rey is the compassionate one when Kylo Ren can only care for her in relation to him, Rey’s the one who’s given the same poisoned gifts with the Force without the help of having a name or a destiny, AND OVERCOMES THE TRAPS, AND GROWS.

The brainless flyboy stereotype isn’t compatible with what the Poe-centric part of the fandom built these last two years, but totally compatible with TFA. That’s how the comic has been depicting him for the longest time.

So TLJ builds on what it was given… And even at the beginning of TLJ, the movie gives explanations/excuses for Poe’s behaviour, and keeps the canon parts that make him likeable (insanely courageous, very close to the crew, VERY much cares for Finn, VERY much cares for Leia, and vice-versa - do you think she’d slap him, otherwise?)

Poe ignoring Leia’s orders? Goes both ways. It’s a bloodbath. It’s a breach of military hierarchy. Poe has a good reason (like all the other times he disobeyed), which is that the dreadnought is a lethal threat, and it turns out, although nobody could know it at the time, that he’s right - the dreadnought would have destroyed them later.

Poe going against Holdo? A part of the fandom hates him for that, the other hates Holdo. The movie wants you to make your own opinion.

You think Holdo looks good? When she calls Finn ‘a Stormtrooper’? When she refuses to explain her plan, even when Poe begs her? Everyone in the audience hated her right then.

I think the movie lets you decide whether sacrificing yourself in the end and having a plan that was sensible but would have worked better if you had shared it with your crew is good enough.

Especially since Rose’s message is that dying for the cause isn’t the ultimate goal.

And in the end, when Poe understands Holdo’s sacrifice and accepts her and Leia’s plan, it doesn’t mean that she’s absolved of every mistake. It means that Poe has grown and that he can now weigh the necessity of sacrifice against people’s lives, and go from pilot to leader. If this is a latinx stereotype, then bring it on.

And finally: having female, POC or (stealth, alas) LGBTQ+ characters being perfectible or being confronted to failure isn’t being racist. Luke, Leia and Han failed big time in ESB. Yoda and Obi-Wan MAJORLY FAILED in every movie and every possible way. It didn’t mean George Lucas was taking a stance against them. The main characters of the new trilogy are just being dragged though a story that challenges them, sublimates them (Luke) and makes them grow (Rey, Poe, Finn).

Sure, anyone is allowed to prefer heroes meeting only external challenges, never internal ones. And to want stories where villains are just a convenience for the plot, closer to a natural hazard than a human with explainable motivations. Well, TLJ isn’t like that. You don’t have to like it, but you don’t have to insult it either.

It’s normal for a fandom as large as this one to have people react very strongly to new canon, even with insults, calls to remove from canon and suing menaces.

But hey, writers friends who reblog these posts. Don’t you feel like they sound exactly like some of the flames you could get on your stories, when one of the characters did something that wasn’t exactly perfect? Because it allowed for character growth, and because perfect or unchallenged characters are boring?

*prepares herself for being roasted*

2017 Recs!

Happy New Year!

I really really wish that 2018 treats you all very kindly.

Last year I did a list of recs.  So I’m doing it again.  Stuff under the read more.

Keep reading