Everyone š Please š Take š A Look š At š These š Postsš
Even if you are not into discourse, I want everyone to see and condemn the racial misogyny of these posts. ThisĀ is what fandom racism and sexism often looks like.Ā
Please, donāt be fooled by any of the social justice rhetoric. The only thing that is racist and misogynistic is the degradation of Finnās character to that of a race token who must be infantilized, undeveloped and valued most strongly only with either white or male characters, the indictment of Roseās personality as not befitting of the docile Oriental woman, and the mental gymnastics required to short circuit an entire storyline to institutional racismā¦because of shipping and thatās fucking it.
Anti Rose discourse is so ridiculous and it makes me glad my sister isnāt on Tumblr. Her name is Rose and sheās Asian too, and she was so excited to see an Asian heroine with her name in the Star Wars franchise. Rose is a lot like my sister, strong and fiercely independent and not afraid of anything. Itās great that she has a heroine she can connect with like that and it really sucks to see people reduce Rose to an āunworthyā love interest for Finn.
I agree that a lot of what people say against Rose and against ships she might be a part of are extremely racist and full of misogyny (and homophobia, etc.). People who do really like her character and people who like ships with her in them donāt seem to be more racist than the rest of the fanbase, and a lot of the time are less racist. Even if it did have the problems people say, it would still be fine to ship, and while peopleās fan events are their own, I think restrictions on them make them limiting and less accessible, especially when tagging would cover most concerns people have, and tagging rule could be implemented.
That said, I found Roseās character as written extremelyĀ racist and stereotypical, I found Finnās character racist and stereotypical, and I found their canon relationship to be very much viewed through a white (supremacist) lens. A lot of people found these things to be true, and treading carefully with these topics is always going to be necessarily when writing within a white supremacist world (which we all live in). I donāt think itās fair to say that, just because some people overreach or react badly to the criticisms, thereās nothing racist in the portrayal of either of the characters or their relationship. Itās no reason to dislike either of the characters and itās no reason to dislike the ship (and people who are vocal about their dislike for those things are frequently horrible), but the problems are still there, and something interesting to address through meta, discussion, fic, art, or whatever people want to produce.
Things donāt have to be perfect to be defensible, and I feel like thereās too much of a push to read things the other way;Ā āI can like whatever I wantā lately seems to be becomingĀ āno one can say anything bad about something I like.ā
Yesā¦a story about a black man and brown woman taking on the military-industrial complex and a fascist organization is extremely racist. Yes that makes sense I see.
This person jumped on my post and blocked me right after replying and so I thought Iād post their reply here and respond to it since itās been a while since Iāve seen all the āreasonsā why Finn and Rose were āracistā.Ā
1. Your first point about a Black man being the least threatening hero of color to a white audience makes no sense and moreover contradicts your later points about the threatening possibility of Black male sexuality needing to be subdued by directing it toward a non-white woman.
2. These characterizations of Finn are non-existent in the movie. Finn is NOT portrayed as an object of suspicion except when he is undercover because yāknow, heās on a secret mission. And even then he mostly slips under the radar until a certain point.
3. At no point do I see any of the characters whitesplaining or otherwise talking down to Finn unless you are talking about Phasma. John Boyega is on record saying that he plays Finn as an extrovert and the fact that you are mischaracterizing that as fumbling says more about the racialized lens you are forcing onto him than it does about the characterization or story. Also Idk if you noticed but um heās a defector that starts the movie waking up from a coma in a place heās never been, he better be wondering whatās going on.
4. There story is never framed as a side story. It constituted the main drama and action of the Resistance story line and was focused squarely on developing itās characters and was crucial to reiterating the theme of TLJ – failure is important, collaboration is what will save the day.Ā
5.Ā āher entire motivation is fridging a wocā ??? Do you know what words mean?
6. The fact that Finn and Rose are portrayed as characters with humble origins is exactly what makes their narrative so powerful. How thick can you be to see marginalized folks playing marginalized folks who represent an insurgency from below that threatens the powers that be as racist? If anything that is what anti-racist work dreams about. Iām not sure what youāre problem here is? That they werenāt depicted as privileged people? With their destinies laid out before them by right of birth? In other words you wanted them to beā¦whiter?
7. Your assessment of Asian female representation is waaaaaay off. Asian women are frequently hypersexualized and fetishized and at no point is the White Male Gaze catered to with Rose. In fact they way she is presented is a noticeable subversion of that – unisex clothing, aĀ āmasculineā job, not rail thin and an assertive personality.
8. In order for Finn to beĀ āneuteredā by an Asian woman youād have to believe that the black male character was already being sexualized in a particular way.Ā
9. Framing Rose as an obstacle to Rey and as an ancillary to Finn, something the story never demonstrably does, is racial misogyny which you should know by if you read and subsequently agreed with my original post.Ā
10. Get your symbolism right – the original Empire were the ones who were meant to represent the US in Vietnam while the rebels were meant to echo the guerrilla resistance. Rose is explicitly stated to be from a mining colony and is played by a Vietnamese woman.Ā
11. Interracial representation in media is often reduced to a black/white affair, with the white person often serving as the relatable and assuring element. Your diagnosis ofĀ āofc they havge to pair off the minoritiesā makes no sense in light of this history and I suspect is an attempt to recenter the white woman.
12. The stuff about Nazi-coded villains has nothing to do with my post, idk why you brought that up.
You talked and talked endlessly about stereotypes – yet I see not a single stereotype articulated here. Again, do you know what words mean? You claimed at first to agree that some people go overboard – now I see that what you really mean is that people are not being polite and PC enough since you are reiterating many of the tired racism and racial misogyny that you claim to refute (and some novel things too, Iāll give you thatā¦āfridging a wocā wtf).
This person can say they hate seeing finn with a woc and wants finn be with a white woman
You know, I’d respect people a lot more if they just came out and said they didn’t like certain pairings instead of trying to pretend the pairings they find objectionable are racist for some reason. But I guess that would expose their objections as petty opinions and not undeniable facts… or something.
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