Trained from birth as a cold, battle-hardened killer, why is his personality so informal and played for laughs? He should be morally strong but awkward, stoic, tense, and not the clown he's portrayed as.
I realize this is far down the list of the Disney film problems, but it's pretty glaring.
If he was trained as a janitor why did he end up in an elite combat squad? Even if we accept that, if he was trained and indoctrinated to be a storm trooper from birth and has spent his whole life around other storm troopers, why would he suddenly completely turn on his own brother soldiers after a single death, even if that person was his best friend? Wouldn't your fist reaction be to want some "pay back"? How and why did he suddenly realize being a deserter was "the right thing to do"? And why is he killing his own former comrades just minutes after making this decision and whooping it up like he was at a football game?
share*sigh* It's been said so many times how interesting Finn could have been as a character based on the original concept but they've really gone out of their way to make him as lame & irrelevant as possible.
shareYep, it's a huge problem. So much potential for his character - to be conflicted, to show remorse, to possibly not know what side he'll end up on, etc. But, turns out this brainwashed-from-birth guy is a clown, who also enjoys seeing what is essentially his family, being blown away by the Resistance... after showing remorse for them just a few hours earlier (beginning of film, blood on helmet).
You could have had his arc be gradual, maybe even have him deciding to betray the Resistance, but then changing his mind and helping them at the end. Instead, he's immediately a jokey good guy. It's such a mess.
Not only did Finn kill them, he was partying down like it was 1999
share"THAT'S ONE HELL OF A PILOT!!" *GRRINNNNNNN*
shareI guess laughing at the death of the only friends you've ever know is the "right thing to do"...I guess. Right, maybe, weird, DEFINITELY.
shareIt's basically like if Luke suddenly decided to switch sides within a few hours from some incident, maybe realizing the Rebellion causes too much collateral damage - something. Then, proceeds to joyfully kill his old comrades with a big smile on his face. These movies are an insult, and get worse and worse the more you think about them.
shareSo good to read this stuff and know I'm not going insane. So why if this is all so readily apparent, did the critics just get together and give the sequels a blank cheque? And just why are so many people ready to make excuses for these films? We've essentially had 5 bad Star Wars movies in a row now (forgetting about R1), and not had a good one since 1983! It's not like a bad Star Wars film is unexpected at this point.
shareMaybe the one who died in his arms was his only friend? Just sayin'
shareThe problem is if he was raised from birth in storm trooper culture, he should have had a sense of camaraderie with his fellows. If he lacked this for some reason surely it would have been detected much sooner and this weakness would have either been rooted out or he would have been booted out. I thought he was supposed to be in sanitation, anyway. How did he end up in combat? If the storm troopers are that bad at building esprit de corps and weeding out bad apples that kind of undercuts the remarkablenss of his decision to quit, doesn't it? Obviously, the clone troopers and FNN 2187 (Finn) were modeled to some extent after the title character in Lucas' film THX-1138. If Finn had stopped taking his medication, for instance, like Robert Duvall in THX-1138 that would have been a much better explanation of his awakening. If Lucas had been more involved in these films I'm sure Finn's awakening and his decision to leave the First Order would have been much better developed. That would have taken time and effort to do that, though, and the sequel trilogy has showed no interest so far in doing that sort of spade work.
shareEven Roger Wilco got to save the galaxy a couple of times.
shareYes it is an absolute disgrace. He is nothing like what you would expect a brainwashed soldier from birth would be.
He should be struggling with internal turmoil, confused about what is right and wrong, unsure about what side to choose and what is the moral thing to do.
In my opinion finn & poe should have been 1 character. I think the idea of the "first order's" greatest pilot defecting to the "resistance" would have been more promising.
In my opinion finn & poe should have been 1 character. I think the idea of the "first order's" greatest pilot defecting to the "resistance" would have been more promising.
Agreed, but in your last sentence you answer it perfectly: it's a Disney film. He's a token PC character to appease screaming SjW fans, and yet, in the greatest irony, is the very definition of the acceptable black character stereotype they were fighting against in the past - a goofy, buck-dancing, non-threatening, asexual, friend-zoned former slave who seems more like he escaped from Song of the South than the Stormtrooper empire. That's what feminists and SjW fanbois really like to see in spite of their posters and boards, and it was delivered in a satisfying manner.
shareThis stuff is nothing new. Leia was a token female leader (the kind of thing complained about today with Holdo) in 1977 who, in order to be presented as strong, was made into an insult-slinging, sarcastic character for both A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Even poor Chewbacca got insulted by her (walking carpet) as collateral damage simply because he was Han's co-pilot.
As for characters not accurately representing their alliances, Leia was joking about the height of Stormtroopers just a few hours after her home planet and adoptive family and friends were wiped out in an Imperial genocide.
But then, on the Falcon after they get off the Death Star, it's poor Luke who has to be comforted over the death of Kenobi, a man he has known for less than a day. Apparently Leia is cold-hearted and shows absolutely no emotion about the deaths of millions of innocents, and her family.
She should have been a sobbing, suicidal wreck that had to be carried out of the Death Star. Having her comfort Luke and put a blanket around his shoulders is completely backwards.
Either that, or faceless deaths of unnamed characters just aren't considered very important in Star Wars, whether it was the 70's or our current decade.
Leia is an important & experienced leader of the rebel alliance and that she wasn't falling apart, wallowing in grief when action was required is a credit to her strong will of character, not a flaw. It was indicated in the film more than once & I believe outright stated in other sources that Luke had been more or less acquainted with Kenobi for years but was kept at a distance by Uncle Owen so he was hardly some stranger Luke had just met.
I don't find it strange that Luke would be upset over losing the closest thing to family he had left (as far as he knew) or that Leia would take a brief moment to comfort him when they had a minute to catch their breath. So yeah I don't find any of these character traits and actions to be at all comparable to the disjointed mess we get with Finn and other ST characters.
It's just classic sjw nonsense from frogface as usual. A DESPERATE attempt to retcon past movies with standpoints that help their twisted defense of this new lame trilogy.
Not a single argument they have bought up has been mentioned in the past 40 years by anyone including themselves ... how convenient.
BTW frogface, rey is a disgrace mary sue.
And your post is just more of your own self-aggrandizing B.S. where you say nothing and mindlessly shoot down other people, because mindless B.S. is pretty much all you can muster.
shareIn one sentence he says he's disappointed in TLJ and in the next he's defending it. It's like dude, just admit you love this shitty movie. Don't try to play both sides.
shareIn one sentence he says he's disappointed in TLJ and in the next he's defending it. It's like dude, just admit you love this shitty movie. Don't try to play both sides.
Leia is an important & experienced leader of the rebel alliance and that she wasn't falling apart, wallowing in grief when action was required is a credit to her strong will of character, not a flaw.
Lol in no way is there equivalence in what you are trying to say ... finn is as experienced, heroic and integral to the Alliance as Princes Leia?
finn is barely a character, let alone a strong one.
Rofl that's too funny.
And thus, Finn is a strong character as well.
There, "problem" solved, and you did it on your own.
It's very possible that the one who died was his only true friend in the First Order. That would further propel him toward wanting to leave.
As far as battling against his former allies, I would direct you to the Civil War:
"Brother against brother" is a slogan used in histories of the American Civil War, describing the predicament faced in families (primarily, but not exclusively, residents of border states) in which loyalties and military service were divided between the Union and the Confederacy. There are a number of stories of brothers fighting in the same battles on opposite sides, or even of brothers killing brothers over the issues.
Well putting theories aside these things do not translate into a cohesive narrative onscreen and the Civil War thing is definitely reaching.
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If it weren’t for the third wave feminism infecting these movies, Finn would have been a lot more serious, something similar to Michael Biehn’s Kyle Reese, if KK wasn’t calling the shots, Finn would now be memorable instead of the joke character he is now.
I'm sure Boyega could of played him alot more tragic/serious but he never got the chance.
Michael Biehn’s Kyle Reese
jesus, that's goddamned perfect.