Come on! Who would not know going into this that Rey and Kylo were not the main story line?
While it is sad that both Tran and Boyega had to endure fan pushback (way wrong!), that has happened before to other characters in the SW movies (perhaps not to the same extent, but it has happened – even to Lucas for his direction of Episodes 1-2-3).
The problem for Boyega is that he has tanked his career, certainly with Disney.
Who’s to say they were not working on a backstory to his character? They probably were because it would be a very interesting story line. This was nothing but sour-grapes because his character, in his mind, wasn’t the main lead.
Funny isn’t it, how Chadwick Boseman, a brilliant actor (and one with class, dignity and well respected) had just the opposite take on Disney and his time with them. Why? Maybe because he was a great actor that understood at the start of his career it takes a few steps to get of to leading-man status!
I mean i agree finn was done dirty. They were really setting him up to be an interesting character and in the first movie he had some sort of arc (wanted to run from first order to at the end standing his ground and fighting kylo). After that his arc was shouting Rey? But in disneys defence (not defending how poor all of it was planned) nobody really had a fully realized arc, or at least one that i felt was satisying. Kylos arc was instead of wanting to kill the “good” guys, he changed to wanting to kill the “bad” guys. I guess him giving up his life was a unselfish gesture but i never thought of him as selfish when he was evil – he was giving to do whatever snoke wanted and make snoke and vader proud. Reys arc was about belonging and acceptance of being left behind by her parents. She never really accepts being left behind so the story changes her parents back story to be sacrificial heros and she still dishonors their memory and sacrifice to take the name of luke (who she left because she was frustrated by him) and leia (who she only built a relationship off screen with). And the final image of her is alone without her friends… John you got shafted but everyone got shafted – Poe, Phasma, Gen Hux, Snoke, and the Star Wars fan base
All of the new cast were on the end of a lot of criticism, some warranted and some not. I remember criticisms of Driver as a whiney wanna be Darth Vader, Rey as a Mary Sue character, so none of the cast escaped the criticisms of fandom.
I watched all three of the new trilogy and while I enjoyed them, I won’t bother watching them again. They weren’t amazing, rather they were just OK. There simply wasn’t anything that compelling about the new characters or the new stories. Disney simply mishandled the films, with directors with competing visions making a mess of it. They should have had someone providing an overall story arc for all three films rather than wildly going off in all directions. They could have got someone like Timothy Zahn to create a great 3 movie arc with memorable, compelling characters. They could have got Dave Filoni to bring a 3 episode storyline to life. They could have given fans what they really wanted — Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and Lando for one last great romp and let them go out on a high note while introducing the next generation of heroes (and villains) instead of giving us a depressing image of our heroes who never got their happily ever after slowly being killed off one by one in meaningless sacrifices.
I feel sorry for John, particularly for racist fans, but he wasn’t alone in being a target because of a series of disappointing films. It’s the risk of taking a role in a major franchise. But I don’t want to characterize Star Wars fans as being racist, although some certainly are. I thought Lando’s character was fascinating and wished we could have had more of him. But whether it was the script or John’s performance, I just don’t find myself interested in seeing anything more about Finn.
Finn’s character and John Boyega’s performance has always made him seem like a side character. In Star Wars, people expect characters to have big cool abilities like amazing pilot, force user, or even the ability to be funny. Finn and John are none of those things and that is not all on his part. Most people hate Finn because he brings nothing special to the franchise. Same with Rose.
I agree that both John and Kelly were shunted aside. Yes, they were not THE main characters, but they should have gone on to greater positions in the stories! As a moviegoer, I was disappointed with the handling of the last three movies and especially upset with how John and Kelly were downgraded, after having been given the impression that they would be the leaders the Rebellion needed – because of their characters’ backgrounds, their passion and their bold move in trying to find a way to help their fellow rebels regroup and thrive! I would have much rather seen these two in action than based-up Lando Calrissian!
I actually kind of agree with John. His character was compelling in the first one, and then pushed aside a bit in the others. I wish we could see more of his character in the other two. I can’t be the only one disappointed when the first one set him and Rey up to be love interests, and then tossed that out, and put him on the back burner. Even Poe got more interesting stuff in the last one, when he met up with his ex. So personally, I was expecting more of Finn’s character in the other ones more than I expected to see Poe and the others, because they did set him up to be more important than he ended up being. That was a really bad decision, especially because star wars has always had a white main cast. They had the opportunity to push more people of color into focus, but instead flaked out. Yes, Finn is in the main cast, and yes that’s an improvement, but then he is quickly forgotten about. That obviously hurt, because he’s used to people like him being ignored and forgotten. I don’t think he’s mad because he personally wasn’t a lead. It’s because he’s tired of this happening to black people.
Finn could have easily been played by a white dude …. second john was a nobody and now he was in a star wars movie wait 3 of em weather or not any good its fact its star wars and disney!!!! You can not get bigger than that!! Stop complaining you could still be a nobody John!!!! Lets also look at this other fact the 3 main leads of the new star wars was a women, a black man and a hispanic man… and thats not diverse enough for some people …. give me a break!!!!
The fact that people know who this whining person is, regardless of his skin color, is proof that Disney elevated his acting career. Instead of trashing the franchise he could have thanked them and the fans for being part of something epic. People are so quick to claim victim status. Show some grace dude.
I truly enjoyed the last trilogy & had hoped for more with the characters of Finn and Rose. It’s terrible that people boycotted the films because they didn’t like the race(?) casting choice (?) of the characters. People need to grow up and realize that their opinion is not as important as they believe it to be. Whatever happened to “if you do not have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? Would it have mattered to the SW franchise universe (or the universe, in general) if these mean-spirited people didn’t watch the films? Nope.
Boyega & Tran did fabulous jobs in their roles and played the parts to make them people I rooted for the entire time. Maybe its me – but I didn’t view them by their skin/race. And that should be the wonders of the SW universe is that there are so many individuals and species of all sizes, shapes, colors, that each is, first and foremost, another character in the story. I do think that their characters warranted more of a story – with the amount of information the viewers were provided. However, for Mr. Boyega to be so outspoken now does not help the cause.
Blame should be placed on Rian Johnson and everybody who approved TLJ script.
Finn in TFA was interesting and set up as a major new character. He did interesting things that drove the story forward. Yes, a bit of the comic relief, but that’s fine. At the end, he got very hurt and we all wondered, what will happen to him? Will he be okay?
In TLJ… that whole injury plot is turned into a joke, because, who cares about the injury itself… didn’t matter. No repercussions. He wakes up and wanders around a like a clown.
He then gets involved in the adventures of Rose freeing space-horses from a casino, which a) has zero to do with the over-arching story and b) seems pointless in and of itself as the space-horses are likely be round up by the casino anyway.
This once-interesting character has now spent over half a movie doing nothing important that drives the main story forward. When the action starts, he again achieves little (a silly fight with an after-thought of a baddie, ie. Capt. Phasma) and then when he is being heroic (attacks the big gun head-on), Rose smacks her Space-jalopy into him preventing his heroism. After that, he basically walks his way back to the real heroes (and the main plot) and is THERE at the end of the movie.
This is like if in ESB, Han and Chewie escaped Hoth WITHOUT Leia and decided to go on a mission to sell a jar of co-axium to the highest bidder. We’d all be going, what’s the point?
Why this happened to Finn? Who knows? I blame Rian Johnson for his execution of the character.
Comments for John Boyega Speaks Out Against Disney
Ken G
Come on! Who would not know going into this that Rey and Kylo were not the main story line?
While it is sad that both Tran and Boyega had to endure fan pushback (way wrong!), that has happened before to other characters in the SW movies (perhaps not to the same extent, but it has happened – even to Lucas for his direction of Episodes 1-2-3).
The problem for Boyega is that he has tanked his career, certainly with Disney.
Who’s to say they were not working on a backstory to his character? They probably were because it would be a very interesting story line. This was nothing but sour-grapes because his character, in his mind, wasn’t the main lead.
Funny isn’t it, how Chadwick Boseman, a brilliant actor (and one with class, dignity and well respected) had just the opposite take on Disney and his time with them. Why? Maybe because he was a great actor that understood at the start of his career it takes a few steps to get of to leading-man status!
Justin Baker
I mean i agree finn was done dirty. They were really setting him up to be an interesting character and in the first movie he had some sort of arc (wanted to run from first order to at the end standing his ground and fighting kylo). After that his arc was shouting Rey? But in disneys defence (not defending how poor all of it was planned) nobody really had a fully realized arc, or at least one that i felt was satisying. Kylos arc was instead of wanting to kill the “good” guys, he changed to wanting to kill the “bad” guys. I guess him giving up his life was a unselfish gesture but i never thought of him as selfish when he was evil – he was giving to do whatever snoke wanted and make snoke and vader proud. Reys arc was about belonging and acceptance of being left behind by her parents. She never really accepts being left behind so the story changes her parents back story to be sacrificial heros and she still dishonors their memory and sacrifice to take the name of luke (who she left because she was frustrated by him) and leia (who she only built a relationship off screen with). And the final image of her is alone without her friends… John you got shafted but everyone got shafted – Poe, Phasma, Gen Hux, Snoke, and the Star Wars fan base
Barry
All of the new cast were on the end of a lot of criticism, some warranted and some not. I remember criticisms of Driver as a whiney wanna be Darth Vader, Rey as a Mary Sue character, so none of the cast escaped the criticisms of fandom.
I watched all three of the new trilogy and while I enjoyed them, I won’t bother watching them again. They weren’t amazing, rather they were just OK. There simply wasn’t anything that compelling about the new characters or the new stories. Disney simply mishandled the films, with directors with competing visions making a mess of it. They should have had someone providing an overall story arc for all three films rather than wildly going off in all directions. They could have got someone like Timothy Zahn to create a great 3 movie arc with memorable, compelling characters. They could have got Dave Filoni to bring a 3 episode storyline to life. They could have given fans what they really wanted — Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and Lando for one last great romp and let them go out on a high note while introducing the next generation of heroes (and villains) instead of giving us a depressing image of our heroes who never got their happily ever after slowly being killed off one by one in meaningless sacrifices.
I feel sorry for John, particularly for racist fans, but he wasn’t alone in being a target because of a series of disappointing films. It’s the risk of taking a role in a major franchise. But I don’t want to characterize Star Wars fans as being racist, although some certainly are. I thought Lando’s character was fascinating and wished we could have had more of him. But whether it was the script or John’s performance, I just don’t find myself interested in seeing anything more about Finn.
Anthony Shah
Finn’s character and John Boyega’s performance has always made him seem like a side character. In Star Wars, people expect characters to have big cool abilities like amazing pilot, force user, or even the ability to be funny. Finn and John are none of those things and that is not all on his part. Most people hate Finn because he brings nothing special to the franchise. Same with Rose.
David
Yet, Disney made him a millionaire. DIsney is a business. He is an employee. End of story.
TacoCat
Nothing like cutting your own throat. Goodbye Disney career.
Lisa Yetman
I agree that both John and Kelly were shunted aside. Yes, they were not THE main characters, but they should have gone on to greater positions in the stories! As a moviegoer, I was disappointed with the handling of the last three movies and especially upset with how John and Kelly were downgraded, after having been given the impression that they would be the leaders the Rebellion needed – because of their characters’ backgrounds, their passion and their bold move in trying to find a way to help their fellow rebels regroup and thrive! I would have much rather seen these two in action than based-up Lando Calrissian!
Dakota Red
I actually kind of agree with John. His character was compelling in the first one, and then pushed aside a bit in the others. I wish we could see more of his character in the other two. I can’t be the only one disappointed when the first one set him and Rey up to be love interests, and then tossed that out, and put him on the back burner. Even Poe got more interesting stuff in the last one, when he met up with his ex. So personally, I was expecting more of Finn’s character in the other ones more than I expected to see Poe and the others, because they did set him up to be more important than he ended up being. That was a really bad decision, especially because star wars has always had a white main cast. They had the opportunity to push more people of color into focus, but instead flaked out. Yes, Finn is in the main cast, and yes that’s an improvement, but then he is quickly forgotten about. That obviously hurt, because he’s used to people like him being ignored and forgotten. I don’t think he’s mad because he personally wasn’t a lead. It’s because he’s tired of this happening to black people.
Michelle
Whiny little Gen Z brat! Hope his career goes in the toilet and stays there.
TacoCat
Michelle, I argee! Who cares?
rebel orange bird
Finn could have easily been played by a white dude …. second john was a nobody and now he was in a star wars movie wait 3 of em weather or not any good its fact its star wars and disney!!!! You can not get bigger than that!! Stop complaining you could still be a nobody John!!!! Lets also look at this other fact the 3 main leads of the new star wars was a women, a black man and a hispanic man… and thats not diverse enough for some people …. give me a break!!!!
TacoCat
He is still a nobody. I am so tired of all this “it’s about my race, whaaaaaah” Time to move on.
Lee
The fact that people know who this whining person is, regardless of his skin color, is proof that Disney elevated his acting career. Instead of trashing the franchise he could have thanked them and the fans for being part of something epic. People are so quick to claim victim status. Show some grace dude.
Ben Borndahl
Poor John thought his non-legacy role was more important to the SKYWALKER saga than the actual Skywalkers. Poor naive man.
Steve
another hollywood crybaby, nothing new
Tanya
I truly enjoyed the last trilogy & had hoped for more with the characters of Finn and Rose. It’s terrible that people boycotted the films because they didn’t like the race(?) casting choice (?) of the characters. People need to grow up and realize that their opinion is not as important as they believe it to be. Whatever happened to “if you do not have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? Would it have mattered to the SW franchise universe (or the universe, in general) if these mean-spirited people didn’t watch the films? Nope.
Boyega & Tran did fabulous jobs in their roles and played the parts to make them people I rooted for the entire time. Maybe its me – but I didn’t view them by their skin/race. And that should be the wonders of the SW universe is that there are so many individuals and species of all sizes, shapes, colors, that each is, first and foremost, another character in the story. I do think that their characters warranted more of a story – with the amount of information the viewers were provided. However, for Mr. Boyega to be so outspoken now does not help the cause.
Darth Critic
Blame should be placed on Rian Johnson and everybody who approved TLJ script.
Finn in TFA was interesting and set up as a major new character. He did interesting things that drove the story forward. Yes, a bit of the comic relief, but that’s fine. At the end, he got very hurt and we all wondered, what will happen to him? Will he be okay?
In TLJ… that whole injury plot is turned into a joke, because, who cares about the injury itself… didn’t matter. No repercussions. He wakes up and wanders around a like a clown.
He then gets involved in the adventures of Rose freeing space-horses from a casino, which a) has zero to do with the over-arching story and b) seems pointless in and of itself as the space-horses are likely be round up by the casino anyway.
This once-interesting character has now spent over half a movie doing nothing important that drives the main story forward. When the action starts, he again achieves little (a silly fight with an after-thought of a baddie, ie. Capt. Phasma) and then when he is being heroic (attacks the big gun head-on), Rose smacks her Space-jalopy into him preventing his heroism. After that, he basically walks his way back to the real heroes (and the main plot) and is THERE at the end of the movie.
This is like if in ESB, Han and Chewie escaped Hoth WITHOUT Leia and decided to go on a mission to sell a jar of co-axium to the highest bidder. We’d all be going, what’s the point?
Why this happened to Finn? Who knows? I blame Rian Johnson for his execution of the character.
Comments are closed.