The only thing Kylo is coded as is a villain. Privileged white boy who uses force against others to get what he thinks he’s owned. You want a character that was actually abused and shows signs of being mentally ill? Finn. You want a q-coded character? Poe. Stop projecting into the fascist white dude because you don’t want to relate to two characters of color.
So, a week or so ago I made a post about wanting to learn about Finn’s parentage. Naturally, as with seemingly most posts about Finn that get more than a hundred notes a couple of comments were posted that derailed my post from its original intent.
Sure, some were worse than others, but even the ones that might have been posted with no ill intent still held a similar message: Finn doesn’t need to learn about his parents.
Let’s just ignore the fact that this fandom has been borderline obsessed with Rey’s parentage for over a year now and at no point have I seen anyone say that she doesn’t need to know who her parents are because “She found family in Finn” or whatever because that bit of hypocrisy is a discussion for another post.
No, what this post is going to be about has more to do with why I want Finn to learn about his parents after I got yet another person pleading the case for why Finn doesn’t need parents on that post. Because it actually goes just a bit deeper for me then just wanting Finn to have blood relatives of his own.
You see…I’m black. African American specifically, and like many people who are a part of the African diaspora I don’t know exactly where my ancestors originally hailed from. I don’t know what their culture was like, what religions they practiced, the languages they spoke etc. And being disconnected from that part of my heritage has always kinda left me with a hurt feeling in my chest.
Now let me be clear for a moment and say that black people aren’t a monolith so this thing that I’m describing is not something every black person has experienced or can relate to. I’m just talking about my experiences. But anyway back to my point. Finn getting a chance to meet his parent(s) is more than just him getting reconnected with his blood relatives.
Because if/when Finn meets his parents is the moment he gets to learn about what planet he’s from. What his planet’s culture is like, what language they speak, how they view or practice the Force and a number of other things and experiences that Finn will get a chance to reconnect to.
Finn reconnecting with his planet and his culture after getting ripped away from it when he was young and forced to assimilate into an oppressive and abusive regime would be pretty incredible to see and that’s why Finn meeting his parents is so important to me.
I’m sure your comments on how Finn doesn’t need parents and that Rey and Poe are his family now have good intentions, but they really aren’t needed.
Oh wow. I adore Finn and I’m so happy we’ll be getting more of his story this winter, and yet this never occurred to me.
Very important point.
I love the ‘Finn is actually a long lost prince’ headcanons tbh
There are people who tend to criticize the Star Wars franchise on a whole, as being very black and white. But I think the current Star Wars movies have done something really interesting with that:
We see a man, raised from infancy as a Stormtrooper, brainwashed and with no other moral compass, who is ordered to take part in a massacre, but chooses not to. Later, he seizes the opportunity to rescue a tortured prisoner and escape with him.
We see a scientist ordered to build a death weapon, still manage to leak out information to the people who can stop it, and build in weaknesses that can be exploited.
We see a career Imperial choose to defect rather than continue to work for a corrupt regime.
The new movies have given us a number of stories about people who on the wrong side, by choice or by force, but still choose to do what’s right in the end.
And that’s why I get so frustrated by fans who insist that Kylo Ren MUST have a redemption arc, because Star Wars is “about redemption.”
Because they’re right and they’re wrong. Star Wars is about CHOICE. It’s about people who choose to do the right thing, even when it’s hard, even when it’s painful, and even when they might have started on the wrong side. It’s about abandoning the darkness, and choosing light..
Vader didn’t have a “redemption arc.” He had a moment of choice, and despite all of his past evil, when it came down to it, he chose to save his son.
Kylo Ren chose to leave the Light. He chose to betray Luke. He chose to join the First Order. He chose to massacre villagers. He chose to torture helpless prisoners. He chose to aid in a genocide. And when face to face with the same choice that saved Vader, he chose to murder his father.
We do not need this mass murdering patricidal monster to represent the Star Wars theme of choosing light over darkness. We have Finn, we have Galen Erso, we have Bodhi Rook.
That’s where you’ll find themes of the Star Wars Universe alive and well. Not Kylo Ren.
Okay, so we all know that Poe went around the Resistance base telling everyone about the Handsome Stormtrooper that saved his life – but what about BB-8? Imagine BB-8 coming back to base and promptly telling everyone about the good brave human who saved his Poe. This is Finn he is so lovely, he is the best of all humans, look at him, be nice to him – he’s a little bit slow – doesn’t understand droid at all but he’s a quick learner.
And imagine ALL THE DROIDS falling into line, looking after Finn, and Finn is just so nice to them because he remembers what it’s like to be treated like you’re nothing, like you don’t have a personality. And they just adopt him: Finn the best human, they designate him, and R2-D2 – battle-hardened war vet that he is – teaches him binary but teaches him the bastardised sweary binary that all the older droids speak and BB-8 is innocent and oblivious and C3-PO is scandalised because Finn is going round saying things like fuck me this is hot in this little whistle-beep.
And whenever Finn sits down he’s surrounded by happy young droids who absolutely adore him, and he is just so nice and all the droids go out of their way to do things for him.
And yes. Give me sweet lovely Finn with his droid ducklings.
OMG I NEED THIS ARTED. Just. Finn. Droids. WHAT ARE YOU DOING FINN CAN WE HELP WE’LL JUST WATCH IF YOU DON’T NEED US. FINN IS SLIGHTLY THIRSTY. FIND WATER.
Steel Phoenix Studios 