Star Wars The Force Awakens [SPOILERS] Thread: SPOILERS

Sensitive Blake Griffin

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When I saw that scene I thought that Ren thought that killing Han would erase all the light in him but I don't believe that he succeeded.
The imagery seemed obvious to me, there was a beam of light shining on Han and then when he got killed it went dark. I think they did this to differentiate kylo from vader, vader in the end still had light in him and kylo has none.
 

23Barrettcity

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:snoop::francis:
So I re watched the original trilogy again and I didnt realize till now that Luke took L's all throughout Empire Strikes Back, and he really wasn't the hero that saved day in Return. He was basically a tool used to get Anakin back to completing his destiny of restoring balance in the Force.
And it took three movies for Luke to become a Jedi.

I know Im late as hell:upsetfavre:

Also arent Jedi is suppose to be celibate? So what Luke doing fukking :francis: (if Rey is his daughter)
I pointed out the l's took earlier in the thead and the kissing his sister , hand chopping , crying getting was ignored . In the prequels and other materials Jedis are bad ass in the OT not really . The good Jedis are old and die and Luke keeps getting sonned .
 

ORDER_66

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Also arent Jedi is suppose to be celibate? So what Luke doing fukking :francis: (if Rey is his daughter)

The whole thing about jedi's not fukking is to remain strong is to resist temptation. yoda said having love or lustful feelings can lead your emotions can cloud your mind, fukk with your judgement and mess with your emotions. a pathway to the darkside and like that anakin's motivations for falling to the darkside was his love of padme and wanting to keep her alive...

Although luke has mastered the the use of the force to use both light and dark so temptation and love is or shouldnt be an obstacle to him. but that was EU cannon not the new stuff so it remains to be seen if they keep it or change it.

The Jedi Code was a set of rules that governed the behavior of the Jedi Order. It taught its follower to not give in to feelings of anger toward other lifeforms, which would help them resist fear and prevent them from falling to the dark side of the Force.[1]

Amongst other dictates, the Jedi Code forbade Jedi Knights and Jedi Masters from taking on more than one Padawan at a given time;[2] and forbade Jedi from forming attachments, such as marriage,[3] and other specific, individual bonds, such as romantic love and family.[4] Few understood that this practice of nonattachment did not mean the Jedi were strangers to compassion when, in fact, they believed that all lives were precious.[4]

During the Clone Wars, there were those in the Grand Army of the Republic, such as Wilhuff Tarkin, who believed that the Jedi Code prevented the Order from doing what was necessary to win the war against the Confederacy of Independent Systems.[5] Shortly before the end of the Clone Wars, the Jedi Council, through Obi-Wan Kenobi, askedAnakin Skywalker to spy upon the activities of his friend Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, something which Anakin felt was against the Jedi Code.[6]
 

Sensitive Blake Griffin

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I'm convinced they read the coli and are trolling y'all. Literally making him a garbage man :dead: you can't make this shyt up :russ:
I need to rewatch the movie but I honestly thought that was a 100% joke and a reference to the trash compactor shyt from the OG. Why would a stormtrooper be in a ground battle and captain phasma was his sergeant, unless stormtroopers have some alternate duty they have outside of combat?
 

NERO

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I'm convinced they read the coli and are trolling y'all. Literally making him a garbage man :dead: you can't make this shyt up :russ:
He wasn't a garbageman. Soldiers get cleaning detail rotations. He had a sanitation rotation on starkiller base and was able to learn the layout of the base because of it. It was just a clever plot device. "Garbageman" isn't even used in the film.
 

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Hyper-Tokenism: 'The Force Awakens' While the Black Man Sleeps
By Andre Seewood | Shadow and ActDecember 23, 2015 at 10:34AM





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Finn - Star Wars: The Force Awakens
From the moment the original trailer debuted earlier this year, J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the "Star Wars" franchise, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" for its new owner, Disney, stirred controversy and curiosity with the sudden entrance of a Black man into the middle of the screen. As racists choked the internet with hateful comments regarding the sudden appearance of a Black man as the first human image revealed in what would be the triumphant return of this beloved global film franchise, those "Star Wars" fans who happened to be Black reveled in anticipation for the character we now know as Finn who is performed by London-born actor of Nigerian descent, John Boyega.

As a franchise known primarily for its careful placement of Black token characters performed by recognizable Black actors like, Billy Dee Williams as Lando Cairissian in the original trilogy and Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi Master Mace Windu in the subsequent prequels trilogy, the original "The Force Awakens" trailer seemed to suggest that, with Disney’s 4 billion dollar purchase of the "Star Wars" franchise, and the coronation of J.J. Abrams (handpicked and lobbied for by none other than blockbuster wunderkind, Steven Spielberg himself) as the new director at the helm, these profound changes seemed to suggest that the "Star Wars" franchise would shift into a mode of greater diversity in regards to the race and gender of its principal characters than ever before.

But alas, a curious thing happened on the way to a galaxy far, far away… The character of Finn as the penultimate symbol of racial inclusiveness for this franchise reboot is knocked unconscious during a climactic battle scene in the final act of the film, and he remains unconscious for the rest of the film. While this is not the first, nor will it be the last time that a character has been held in abeyance at the end or the beginning of a series installment, whether knocked unconscious, frozen in “carbonite”, abandoned or running away to a hidden land, world or fortress, robotic parts separated and/or power disconnected - the unconsciousness of Finn throughout the final act of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" as I shall discuss it here in this piece, reveals to us that, White Hollywood, as we near the beginning of the last year of Obama’s presidency, is ushering in a new and more powerful form of racial tokenism.

The Finn character, from the moment we saw him as the first image in the original trailer, to the moment he was knocked unconscious and remained unconscious throughout the final act of the film, is a manifestation of what I will call: Hyper- tokenism in the White film.

Hyper-tokenism in a White film can be defined as the marked increase in screen time, dramatic involvement and promotional images of a Black character in a White film, while simultaneously reserving full dramatic agency as the providence of White characters by the end of the film. (1)

Dramatic agency is measured by the ability of a character to change, influence, control and/or survive the circumstances within a story. White supremacy is maintained within a White film by the ability of a White character to change, influence, control and/or survive the circumstances within a story through the seduction of the spectator into not questioning this ability. The seduction of the spectator is primarily performed through costly CGI effects, high production values and skillful editing. (2)

If tokenism was an effective method of securing a Black audience for a single White film in the years before Obama’s presidency, then Hyper-tokenism is an effective method for securing a Black audience for a series of White films that are part of a film franchise during the Obama presidency.

Hyper-tokenism increases the profile of the Black character(s) within a White film with greater screen time, greater involvement with the circumstances, but – and this is very important - in the final act of the film, dramatic agency must be completely controlled by the White characters. Hyper-tokenism has a latent affect upon the consciousness of the Black spectator in that it allows the Black spectator to hope, imagine or believe that the Black character will be given more dramatic agency in the subsequent films of the franchise, and therefore secures Black viewer loyalty and Black money to fill the coffers of the White controlled studio with its massive profits gained from the reboot of beloved film franchises, like "Star Wars."

But the films in these franchises will remain White films.

In the context of the "Star Wars" franchise, full dramatic agency (the ability to influence, change, control and survive the dramatic circumstances within the story) is defined ultimately by a "selected" character's ability to wield "the force" by intuition or training - the decision to not give Finn this final defining characteristic forces (no pun intended) this character into a supporting role for the Whites who are wielding this power. But when we add the fact that Finn is rendered unconscious for the final act of the film (not even able to applaud the efforts of his White cohorts) it can be said that we were not really following the heroic exploits of the Finn character so much as we were being led "by the nose" as it were, to a point where dramatic agency is ultimately still the providence of the White characters in the film.

Thus, Finn is really a "hyper-token" given more screen time than usual for a token and a modicum of dramatic agency (as long as he is aiding those other non-black characters), but rendered useless in the final act of the film because the White filmmakers were not capable of sharing equal dramatic agency among the White and Black characters. The film still resolves itself upon the emotional circumstances of its White characters, while simultaneously holding Finn's circumstance in abeyance for yet another film where I would wager a similar manifestation of Hyper-tokenism will be followed. (3)

Another latent effect of Hyper-tokenism upon the consciousness of the Black spectator is that the White controlled studio can release tantalizing information concerning the future production of a singular film concentrating solely on the exploits or back-story of the Black character(s), release graphic novels that concentrate more on the Black character(s), or promise to increase the role or the roles of Black characters in subsequent films to keep the Black audience’s loyalty to the franchise, even as the subsequent films to be produced remain as White films.

Yet the most destructive aspect of Hyper-tokenism is not actually found within dramatic boundaries of the White films themselves, but instead in how Hyper-tokenism seduces the Black audience to remain loyal to White film franchises and White controlled film studios who are only exploiting that loyalty as a means of increasing the box office of their White films, with little to no intention of increasing the budgets, number of productions or worldwide distribution of Black films. Moreover, hyper-tokenism takes a toll on the creative consciousness of Black filmmakers and writers in the sense that it makes it even more difficult to breech the loyalty of the Black audience from White films that have Hyper-Tokens and get that Black audience to support Black films where Black characters can exercise full dramatic agency without the approval of White characters or the guidance of the "White Savior Trope."

The battle for racial inclusiveness and equality in the cinema begins and ends with the degree of dramatic agency that is shared among characters of different races and genders within a film’s story. Black representation in White film must not solely be based on the presence of a Black actor or actors within that White film, but instead we have to understand that it is the degree of dramatic agency that the Black character wields within the context of the White film that ultimately determines whether that Black actor is used as a token or as a fully realized dramatic entity.

A few other critics have noted the lack of dramatic agency of the Finn character in nominal configurations such as: his inability to comprehend “droid speak”, “Wookie speak” and other languages that come easily to the White characters; inability to pilot spacecraft; lack of weapons knowledge even though he was a Stormtrooper; and finally his lack of knowledge of “the resistance” when in fact as a Stormtrooper he would have known whom the Empire considered its enemies. These nominal inabilities are contradicted by Finn’s ability to wield a light saber with no training; his courage in various battles; his decision to leave the Empire; his choice to return to participate with the rebels of the resistance.

The pointing out of such contradictions in the consistency and the ability of the Black character to wield dramatic agency in a White film is often seen as “nit-picking” from loyal fans - both White and Black - of a White franchise film because, as long as the film ends with full White dramatic agency, there is less spectator investment in questioning the loose ends or the problematic construction of the Black hyper-token. The White filmmakers have the noblesse oblige to say to Black critics, ”Hey, be glad that we even cast a Black in this film,” and Black loyal fans can say, ”Thank you for casting one of us,” by their ticket purchases, glowing reviews and repeat viewings.

One could say that the age of the Hyper-Token Black character in a White film franchise (and even the cable television series) is a consequence of the Obama presidency. Those liberal Whites who voted for Obama, of which many Hollywood studio execs, White writers, directors and producers are a part, could no longer justify the lack of diversity in their films with their "supposed" racial tolerance. But these liberal Whites cannot and will not concede full dramatic agency to a Black character, and nor will they share that agency equally between White and Black characters in a film; the Hyper-Token Black character is the compromise position that allows the White filmmakers the ability to feign racial diversity and tolerance, while retaining White control over the dramatic agency in a series of films.

But much like how the election and reelection of Barack Obama as the nation’s first Black president can do nothing to stem the violent injustices against Blacks around the country by law enforcement, racist terrorists, ineffectual Grand Juries, blind-eye prosecutors, hung juries and other sundry inequalities - because in the final act, Whites can insure that they can influence, change, control and survive the circumstances of their perfidy - so also is this political condition reflected within White controlled filmed entertainment as dramatic agency that supports a White supremacist illusion of dominance.

The need to “Make America Great Again” as Trump’s campaign slogan tells his White male supporters is really a discrete code to “Make America White Again” by returning the Hyper-Token Black male in the form of Barak Obama back to his subordinate place in the domestic and global racial hierarchy. That "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ends with a powerful White female returning a legendary light saber to an aged and seasoned Luke Skywalker, fulfills the both the slogan and the code in the minds of those spectators of a return to greatness as a return to Whiteness (read: White male hetero-normativity).

As the force awakens, it is no surprise that the Black man within the film remains unconscious during the final act because, in many ways, the Black man watching the White film is unconscious also…

But is he content to remain so?
 

gluvnast

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black star wars fans were going to see it. the casual probably not. I personally know a few black people who this was their first star wars movie ever and they went opening week. That says a lot. We all know seeing a black guy swinging a lightsaber had a lot to do with it. The reason the misdirection doesn't work in the movie is because Finn gets all the punishment and none of the reward while Rey gets all of the reward and none of the punishment. Thats what leads to her being overpowered and him being a roll player. He faces all the adversity that turns someone into a hero but doesn't end up the hero. You can't name a action movie where the guy who had it the hardest never got to redeem himself.

Not false advertisement when NOBODY making or in the film SAID ANYTHING. Everyone was shut tight. All we had were speculation and your own overhyped expectation. But lets keep it all the WAY real, because if this was virtually to almost a TEE like A NEW HOPE, then the original STAR WARS poster had HAN SOLO with the light saber and Luke without one. And everything in The Force Awakens hints at Finn as the "new Han Solo". So maybe it is your and others own FAULT going into things you personally hyped yourself up to anyway.
 

gluvnast

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:snoop::francis:
So I re watched the original trilogy again and I didnt realize till now that Luke took L's all throughout Empire Strikes Back, and he really wasn't the hero that saved day in Return. He was basically a tool used to get Anakin back to completing his destiny of restoring balance in the Force.
And it took three movies for Luke to become a Jedi.

I know Im late as hell:upsetfavre:

Also arent Jedi is suppose to be celibate? So what Luke doing fukking :francis: (if Rey is his daughter)

EVERYONE took L's in that movie. It's called EMPIRE STRIKES BACK for that very reason. The only one that had dubs was Vader until the absolute very end.
 

gluvnast

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Hyper-Tokenism: 'The Force Awakens' While the Black Man Sleeps
By Andre Seewood | Shadow and ActDecember 23, 2015 at 10:34AM





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Finn - Star Wars: The Force Awakens
From the moment the original trailer debuted earlier this year, J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the "Star Wars" franchise, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" for its new owner, Disney, stirred controversy and curiosity with the sudden entrance of a Black man into the middle of the screen. As racists choked the internet with hateful comments regarding the sudden appearance of a Black man as the first human image revealed in what would be the triumphant return of this beloved global film franchise, those "Star Wars" fans who happened to be Black reveled in anticipation for the character we now know as Finn who is performed by London-born actor of Nigerian descent, John Boyega.

As a franchise known primarily for its careful placement of Black token characters performed by recognizable Black actors like, Billy Dee Williams as Lando Cairissian in the original trilogy and Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi Master Mace Windu in the subsequent prequels trilogy, the original "The Force Awakens" trailer seemed to suggest that, with Disney’s 4 billion dollar purchase of the "Star Wars" franchise, and the coronation of J.J. Abrams (handpicked and lobbied for by none other than blockbuster wunderkind, Steven Spielberg himself) as the new director at the helm, these profound changes seemed to suggest that the "Star Wars" franchise would shift into a mode of greater diversity in regards to the race and gender of its principal characters than ever before.

But alas, a curious thing happened on the way to a galaxy far, far away… The character of Finn as the penultimate symbol of racial inclusiveness for this franchise reboot is knocked unconscious during a climactic battle scene in the final act of the film, and he remains unconscious for the rest of the film. While this is not the first, nor will it be the last time that a character has been held in abeyance at the end or the beginning of a series installment, whether knocked unconscious, frozen in “carbonite”, abandoned or running away to a hidden land, world or fortress, robotic parts separated and/or power disconnected - the unconsciousness of Finn throughout the final act of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" as I shall discuss it here in this piece, reveals to us that, White Hollywood, as we near the beginning of the last year of Obama’s presidency, is ushering in a new and more powerful form of racial tokenism.

The Finn character, from the moment we saw him as the first image in the original trailer, to the moment he was knocked unconscious and remained unconscious throughout the final act of the film, is a manifestation of what I will call: Hyper- tokenism in the White film.

Hyper-tokenism in a White film can be defined as the marked increase in screen time, dramatic involvement and promotional images of a Black character in a White film, while simultaneously reserving full dramatic agency as the providence of White characters by the end of the film. (1)

Dramatic agency is measured by the ability of a character to change, influence, control and/or survive the circumstances within a story. White supremacy is maintained within a White film by the ability of a White character to change, influence, control and/or survive the circumstances within a story through the seduction of the spectator into not questioning this ability. The seduction of the spectator is primarily performed through costly CGI effects, high production values and skillful editing. (2)

If tokenism was an effective method of securing a Black audience for a single White film in the years before Obama’s presidency, then Hyper-tokenism is an effective method for securing a Black audience for a series of White films that are part of a film franchise during the Obama presidency.

Hyper-tokenism increases the profile of the Black character(s) within a White film with greater screen time, greater involvement with the circumstances, but – and this is very important - in the final act of the film, dramatic agency must be completely controlled by the White characters. Hyper-tokenism has a latent affect upon the consciousness of the Black spectator in that it allows the Black spectator to hope, imagine or believe that the Black character will be given more dramatic agency in the subsequent films of the franchise, and therefore secures Black viewer loyalty and Black money to fill the coffers of the White controlled studio with its massive profits gained from the reboot of beloved film franchises, like "Star Wars."

But the films in these franchises will remain White films.

In the context of the "Star Wars" franchise, full dramatic agency (the ability to influence, change, control and survive the dramatic circumstances within the story) is defined ultimately by a "selected" character's ability to wield "the force" by intuition or training - the decision to not give Finn this final defining characteristic forces (no pun intended) this character into a supporting role for the Whites who are wielding this power. But when we add the fact that Finn is rendered unconscious for the final act of the film (not even able to applaud the efforts of his White cohorts) it can be said that we were not really following the heroic exploits of the Finn character so much as we were being led "by the nose" as it were, to a point where dramatic agency is ultimately still the providence of the White characters in the film.

Thus, Finn is really a "hyper-token" given more screen time than usual for a token and a modicum of dramatic agency (as long as he is aiding those other non-black characters), but rendered useless in the final act of the film because the White filmmakers were not capable of sharing equal dramatic agency among the White and Black characters. The film still resolves itself upon the emotional circumstances of its White characters, while simultaneously holding Finn's circumstance in abeyance for yet another film where I would wager a similar manifestation of Hyper-tokenism will be followed. (3)

Another latent effect of Hyper-tokenism upon the consciousness of the Black spectator is that the White controlled studio can release tantalizing information concerning the future production of a singular film concentrating solely on the exploits or back-story of the Black character(s), release graphic novels that concentrate more on the Black character(s), or promise to increase the role or the roles of Black characters in subsequent films to keep the Black audience’s loyalty to the franchise, even as the subsequent films to be produced remain as White films.

Yet the most destructive aspect of Hyper-tokenism is not actually found within dramatic boundaries of the White films themselves, but instead in how Hyper-tokenism seduces the Black audience to remain loyal to White film franchises and White controlled film studios who are only exploiting that loyalty as a means of increasing the box office of their White films, with little to no intention of increasing the budgets, number of productions or worldwide distribution of Black films. Moreover, hyper-tokenism takes a toll on the creative consciousness of Black filmmakers and writers in the sense that it makes it even more difficult to breech the loyalty of the Black audience from White films that have Hyper-Tokens and get that Black audience to support Black films where Black characters can exercise full dramatic agency without the approval of White characters or the guidance of the "White Savior Trope."

The battle for racial inclusiveness and equality in the cinema begins and ends with the degree of dramatic agency that is shared among characters of different races and genders within a film’s story. Black representation in White film must not solely be based on the presence of a Black actor or actors within that White film, but instead we have to understand that it is the degree of dramatic agency that the Black character wields within the context of the White film that ultimately determines whether that Black actor is used as a token or as a fully realized dramatic entity.

A few other critics have noted the lack of dramatic agency of the Finn character in nominal configurations such as: his inability to comprehend “droid speak”, “Wookie speak” and other languages that come easily to the White characters; inability to pilot spacecraft; lack of weapons knowledge even though he was a Stormtrooper; and finally his lack of knowledge of “the resistance” when in fact as a Stormtrooper he would have known whom the Empire considered its enemies. These nominal inabilities are contradicted by Finn’s ability to wield a light saber with no training; his courage in various battles; his decision to leave the Empire; his choice to return to participate with the rebels of the resistance.

The pointing out of such contradictions in the consistency and the ability of the Black character to wield dramatic agency in a White film is often seen as “nit-picking” from loyal fans - both White and Black - of a White franchise film because, as long as the film ends with full White dramatic agency, there is less spectator investment in questioning the loose ends or the problematic construction of the Black hyper-token. The White filmmakers have the noblesse oblige to say to Black critics, ”Hey, be glad that we even cast a Black in this film,” and Black loyal fans can say, ”Thank you for casting one of us,” by their ticket purchases, glowing reviews and repeat viewings.

One could say that the age of the Hyper-Token Black character in a White film franchise (and even the cable television series) is a consequence of the Obama presidency. Those liberal Whites who voted for Obama, of which many Hollywood studio execs, White writers, directors and producers are a part, could no longer justify the lack of diversity in their films with their "supposed" racial tolerance. But these liberal Whites cannot and will not concede full dramatic agency to a Black character, and nor will they share that agency equally between White and Black characters in a film; the Hyper-Token Black character is the compromise position that allows the White filmmakers the ability to feign racial diversity and tolerance, while retaining White control over the dramatic agency in a series of films.

But much like how the election and reelection of Barack Obama as the nation’s first Black president can do nothing to stem the violent injustices against Blacks around the country by law enforcement, racist terrorists, ineffectual Grand Juries, blind-eye prosecutors, hung juries and other sundry inequalities - because in the final act, Whites can insure that they can influence, change, control and survive the circumstances of their perfidy - so also is this political condition reflected within White controlled filmed entertainment as dramatic agency that supports a White supremacist illusion of dominance.

The need to “Make America Great Again” as Trump’s campaign slogan tells his White male supporters is really a discrete code to “Make America White Again” by returning the Hyper-Token Black male in the form of Barak Obama back to his subordinate place in the domestic and global racial hierarchy. That "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ends with a powerful White female returning a legendary light saber to an aged and seasoned Luke Skywalker, fulfills the both the slogan and the code in the minds of those spectators of a return to greatness as a return to Whiteness (read: White male hetero-normativity).

As the force awakens, it is no surprise that the Black man within the film remains unconscious during the final act because, in many ways, the Black man watching the White film is unconscious also…

But is he content to remain so?

So what does that mean for POE?? The TOKEN HISPANIC?
 

ORDER_66

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Hyper-Tokenism: 'The Force Awakens' While the Black Man Sleeps
By Andre Seewood | Shadow and ActDecember 23, 2015 at 10:34AM





10690
93
0x3

Finn - Star Wars: The Force Awakens
From the moment the original trailer debuted earlier this year, J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the "Star Wars" franchise, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" for its new owner, Disney, stirred controversy and curiosity with the sudden entrance of a Black man into the middle of the screen. As racists choked the internet with hateful comments regarding the sudden appearance of a Black man as the first human image revealed in what would be the triumphant return of this beloved global film franchise, those "Star Wars" fans who happened to be Black reveled in anticipation for the character we now know as Finn who is performed by London-born actor of Nigerian descent, John Boyega.

As a franchise known primarily for its careful placement of Black token characters performed by recognizable Black actors like, Billy Dee Williams as Lando Cairissian in the original trilogy and Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi Master Mace Windu in the subsequent prequels trilogy, the original "The Force Awakens" trailer seemed to suggest that, with Disney’s 4 billion dollar purchase of the "Star Wars" franchise, and the coronation of J.J. Abrams (handpicked and lobbied for by none other than blockbuster wunderkind, Steven Spielberg himself) as the new director at the helm, these profound changes seemed to suggest that the "Star Wars" franchise would shift into a mode of greater diversity in regards to the race and gender of its principal characters than ever before.

But alas, a curious thing happened on the way to a galaxy far, far away… The character of Finn as the penultimate symbol of racial inclusiveness for this franchise reboot is knocked unconscious during a climactic battle scene in the final act of the film, and he remains unconscious for the rest of the film. While this is not the first, nor will it be the last time that a character has been held in abeyance at the end or the beginning of a series installment, whether knocked unconscious, frozen in “carbonite”, abandoned or running away to a hidden land, world or fortress, robotic parts separated and/or power disconnected - the unconsciousness of Finn throughout the final act of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" as I shall discuss it here in this piece, reveals to us that, White Hollywood, as we near the beginning of the last year of Obama’s presidency, is ushering in a new and more powerful form of racial tokenism.

The Finn character, from the moment we saw him as the first image in the original trailer, to the moment he was knocked unconscious and remained unconscious throughout the final act of the film, is a manifestation of what I will call: Hyper- tokenism in the White film.

Hyper-tokenism in a White film can be defined as the marked increase in screen time, dramatic involvement and promotional images of a Black character in a White film, while simultaneously reserving full dramatic agency as the providence of White characters by the end of the film. (1)

Dramatic agency is measured by the ability of a character to change, influence, control and/or survive the circumstances within a story. White supremacy is maintained within a White film by the ability of a White character to change, influence, control and/or survive the circumstances within a story through the seduction of the spectator into not questioning this ability. The seduction of the spectator is primarily performed through costly CGI effects, high production values and skillful editing. (2)

If tokenism was an effective method of securing a Black audience for a single White film in the years before Obama’s presidency, then Hyper-tokenism is an effective method for securing a Black audience for a series of White films that are part of a film franchise during the Obama presidency.

Hyper-tokenism increases the profile of the Black character(s) within a White film with greater screen time, greater involvement with the circumstances, but – and this is very important - in the final act of the film, dramatic agency must be completely controlled by the White characters. Hyper-tokenism has a latent affect upon the consciousness of the Black spectator in that it allows the Black spectator to hope, imagine or believe that the Black character will be given more dramatic agency in the subsequent films of the franchise, and therefore secures Black viewer loyalty and Black money to fill the coffers of the White controlled studio with its massive profits gained from the reboot of beloved film franchises, like "Star Wars."

But the films in these franchises will remain White films.

In the context of the "Star Wars" franchise, full dramatic agency (the ability to influence, change, control and survive the dramatic circumstances within the story) is defined ultimately by a "selected" character's ability to wield "the force" by intuition or training - the decision to not give Finn this final defining characteristic forces (no pun intended) this character into a supporting role for the Whites who are wielding this power. But when we add the fact that Finn is rendered unconscious for the final act of the film (not even able to applaud the efforts of his White cohorts) it can be said that we were not really following the heroic exploits of the Finn character so much as we were being led "by the nose" as it were, to a point where dramatic agency is ultimately still the providence of the White characters in the film.

Thus, Finn is really a "hyper-token" given more screen time than usual for a token and a modicum of dramatic agency (as long as he is aiding those other non-black characters), but rendered useless in the final act of the film because the White filmmakers were not capable of sharing equal dramatic agency among the White and Black characters. The film still resolves itself upon the emotional circumstances of its White characters, while simultaneously holding Finn's circumstance in abeyance for yet another film where I would wager a similar manifestation of Hyper-tokenism will be followed. (3)

Another latent effect of Hyper-tokenism upon the consciousness of the Black spectator is that the White controlled studio can release tantalizing information concerning the future production of a singular film concentrating solely on the exploits or back-story of the Black character(s), release graphic novels that concentrate more on the Black character(s), or promise to increase the role or the roles of Black characters in subsequent films to keep the Black audience’s loyalty to the franchise, even as the subsequent films to be produced remain as White films.

Yet the most destructive aspect of Hyper-tokenism is not actually found within dramatic boundaries of the White films themselves, but instead in how Hyper-tokenism seduces the Black audience to remain loyal to White film franchises and White controlled film studios who are only exploiting that loyalty as a means of increasing the box office of their White films, with little to no intention of increasing the budgets, number of productions or worldwide distribution of Black films. Moreover, hyper-tokenism takes a toll on the creative consciousness of Black filmmakers and writers in the sense that it makes it even more difficult to breech the loyalty of the Black audience from White films that have Hyper-Tokens and get that Black audience to support Black films where Black characters can exercise full dramatic agency without the approval of White characters or the guidance of the "White Savior Trope."

The battle for racial inclusiveness and equality in the cinema begins and ends with the degree of dramatic agency that is shared among characters of different races and genders within a film’s story. Black representation in White film must not solely be based on the presence of a Black actor or actors within that White film, but instead we have to understand that it is the degree of dramatic agency that the Black character wields within the context of the White film that ultimately determines whether that Black actor is used as a token or as a fully realized dramatic entity.

A few other critics have noted the lack of dramatic agency of the Finn character in nominal configurations such as: his inability to comprehend “droid speak”, “Wookie speak” and other languages that come easily to the White characters; inability to pilot spacecraft; lack of weapons knowledge even though he was a Stormtrooper; and finally his lack of knowledge of “the resistance” when in fact as a Stormtrooper he would have known whom the Empire considered its enemies. These nominal inabilities are contradicted by Finn’s ability to wield a light saber with no training; his courage in various battles; his decision to leave the Empire; his choice to return to participate with the rebels of the resistance.

The pointing out of such contradictions in the consistency and the ability of the Black character to wield dramatic agency in a White film is often seen as “nit-picking” from loyal fans - both White and Black - of a White franchise film because, as long as the film ends with full White dramatic agency, there is less spectator investment in questioning the loose ends or the problematic construction of the Black hyper-token. The White filmmakers have the noblesse oblige to say to Black critics, ”Hey, be glad that we even cast a Black in this film,” and Black loyal fans can say, ”Thank you for casting one of us,” by their ticket purchases, glowing reviews and repeat viewings.

One could say that the age of the Hyper-Token Black character in a White film franchise (and even the cable television series) is a consequence of the Obama presidency. Those liberal Whites who voted for Obama, of which many Hollywood studio execs, White writers, directors and producers are a part, could no longer justify the lack of diversity in their films with their "supposed" racial tolerance. But these liberal Whites cannot and will not concede full dramatic agency to a Black character, and nor will they share that agency equally between White and Black characters in a film; the Hyper-Token Black character is the compromise position that allows the White filmmakers the ability to feign racial diversity and tolerance, while retaining White control over the dramatic agency in a series of films.

But much like how the election and reelection of Barack Obama as the nation’s first Black president can do nothing to stem the violent injustices against Blacks around the country by law enforcement, racist terrorists, ineffectual Grand Juries, blind-eye prosecutors, hung juries and other sundry inequalities - because in the final act, Whites can insure that they can influence, change, control and survive the circumstances of their perfidy - so also is this political condition reflected within White controlled filmed entertainment as dramatic agency that supports a White supremacist illusion of dominance.

The need to “Make America Great Again” as Trump’s campaign slogan tells his White male supporters is really a discrete code to “Make America White Again” by returning the Hyper-Token Black male in the form of Barak Obama back to his subordinate place in the domestic and global racial hierarchy. That "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ends with a powerful White female returning a legendary light saber to an aged and seasoned Luke Skywalker, fulfills the both the slogan and the code in the minds of those spectators of a return to greatness as a return to Whiteness (read: White male hetero-normativity).

As the force awakens, it is no surprise that the Black man within the film remains unconscious during the final act because, in many ways, the Black man watching the White film is unconscious also…

But is he content to remain so?


Cmon son its not that serious...:comeon:

Finn I keep saying maybe limited in wookie speak and droid speak but they are only perpetuating these stereotypes as fact when it concerns Finn but don't highlight what positives he has done in the movie at all. He is a catalyst 3 dimensional character whose story arc is NOT over. Who has massive chemistry with reys character and seems to be a shoe in to be friends with poe.

These muthafukkas nitpick shyt to death but the trilogy is NOT OVER. it's too soon to call him the token c00n or token black characters when we haven't even seen how he is when he gets out of the coma.

He is possibly the new han solo of the shyt.

Also he was raised as a stormtrooper from birth I imagine the first order doesn't educate their troopers to understand foreign languages easy they possibly have translators inside their helmets ala mass effect, instead they are programmed and indoctrinated. Finn was able to break his programming and escape.

Another positive which many people seem to downplay is his fight against a wounded kylo ren while he lost we need to look at an untrained fighter who was able to hold his own and get a few good hits in. AND NOT DIE...

Id rather be in a coma then to lose my head.
 

Ghostface Trillah

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Not false advertisement when NOBODY making or in the film SAID ANYTHING. Everyone was shut tight. All we had were speculation and your own overhyped expectation. But lets keep it all the WAY real, because if this was virtually to almost a TEE like A NEW HOPE, then the original STAR WARS poster had HAN SOLO with the light saber and Luke without one. And everything in The Force Awakens hints at Finn as the "new Han Solo". So maybe it is your and others own FAULT going into things you personally hyped yourself up to anyway.

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One of these things is not like the others but it my eyes fault for seeing it.Dude is even in a jedi pose. :francis: Han Solo didn't get demoted in A New Hope and had redemption in coming back to save Luke but Merry Christmas bruh.
 
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