J.J. Abrams Says Gay Characters Are Coming to Star Wars

[Zipa]

Don't forget that SWTOR also beat the actual films to the punch in regards to having gay/ bi characters, starting from the Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion and in the subsequent expansions. One of them actually becomes a companion in the newest expansion to.

 

[MerlinCross]

It's Star Wars. This means it's a pretty big thing to include a "Gay" character in a movie that's going to been seen by a large mass of people(Rather than games and books the majority of the public didn't' play/read). So that's actually a good thing.

The problem is the "Gay" part, which I highlighted before. It's how well they are written because again this is Star Wars, they don't even write straight characters that well along with it being Hollowood, this one character trait could consume the entire character from the reveal onward.

So cool that a Gay character is coming but boo that a "Gay" character is coming to Star Wars. Yay for more character types, boo for this possibly blowing up in their face through mishandling it.

 

[FFHAuthor]

Because as a writer, I get shit for including female protagonists, and gays and lesbians and trans people. As a bisexual transwoman, these are literally my people. They're no being included for the sake of progress, but because it's the fucking story I want to write. In fact, one of the reasons I started writing is because so many of those straight white dudes told me that if I didn't like what was being created, to make my own.

And you wrote something worthwhile for a purpose that you felt was necessary and you thought that you did the story well?

Good.

Because sexuality and the changing landscape of it is something that deserves an honest approach in writing and the arts, it does deserve to be something that's carefully considered and carefully honest. I preface my comments with frustration as an evil white heterosexual male, because my own exploration of sexuality, gender and race in my writing are automatically discounted and criticized as being something which I know nothing about and should shut up about. I worry that no matter what is written about these gay characters in Star Wars, it's not the best platform for them to be using to make the statement, simply because that Universe has never grappled with the issues in any kind of coherent manner.

Could it? Oh yes. But is it something that deserves a glimpse in a scene? I don't know.

It's not about a...how did you put it? A cross that I have to bare that the mainstream media only panders to me 95% of the time? I don't trust Hollywood. I don't trust them at all. And characters with a broader sense of sexuality and gender and basically other than being white straight males damn well deserve to be done WELL, Something Amyss.

 

[JimB]

Not a fan of Harry Potter, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Harry's parents sexuality has to be set in order to, you know, have Harry as a child.

Not the issue. The argument made was that sexual orientation has to inform the story, which means is must permeate the story with manifest effect. Under that standard, it doesn't matter that it's logical to assume his parents were male and female and procreated normally; it only matters that their sexual orientation is not an expression of J.K. Rowling's personal beliefs as woven into the story as a theme or metaphor, so by that rule, it is extraneous and self-indulgent, and must be cut.

I assumed that it had some significance to the story.

It does, but according to the standard laid down, significance to the story is not enough. If sexual orientation does not permeate the story to manifest effect, then, according to the proposal I have found silly enough to keep pretending I don't know the original proposal claimed to be talking about sexual orientation but is really just trying to say "Don't show us gays," it must be excised.

 

[Zydrate]

It's gonna be Finn and Poe. I'm calling it right now, it's gonna be Finn and Poe. Not only has Tumblr been aggressively pushing the idea of it, because Tumblr is cancerous in its pandering to fanbases and their whims, but also there is the more reasonable and realistic fact that both Oscar Isaac and John Boyega were playing their characters with the idea that they were, in fact, gay and going to end up together. Or, at least, that's what I've been lead to believe.

I can't recall the last time media altered their course because a subsection of the fandom cried so much about it.

 

[Something Amyss]

And it's completely silly. I literally don't get how they think certain relationships could work and they get legitimately mad when said relationship ends or doesn't go the way they want. It just seems obtuse. I'm not a shipper though so maybe I just won't get it.

It's the anger that gets me. Like, I generally don't care what other people choose to do with their free time. If you want to write "romances" between Poe and Finn, knock yourself out. You want to write about Snape banging Dumbledore, fine. Hell, you want to write...things...about...ponies...>.<

...okay, whatever.

What kills me is when people demand you accept their headcanon, which is usually less thought out than a conspiracy theory. Or get angry because you don't understand that X is really the one true love of Y.

And you wrote something worthwhile for a purpose that you felt was necessary and you thought that you did the story well?

Good.

Nope. Wrote it because it's what I wanted to write. I write shitty dime novels. I'm not out to change the world. In fact, I don't have the attention span to try. But we're talking Star Wars here. Other than giving nerds something to fight over for the next 30 years, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. They're big budget B-movies, and even Lucas knew that.

 

[Strazdas]

There's more to it than that. The Clones from the clone wars suffer from accelerated aging, so they would not be in prime condition to fight in the army by the time A New Hope takes place. The Empire cut corners and went with regular recruits because it was cheaper. As a result, you had stormtroopers with varying levels of skill and an overall weaker army.

This assumes that all clones are grown at once. There is nothing stopping Empire from growing new clones for A New Hope as far as i know.

I assumed that it had some significance to the story.

It does,

Well then there was a reason for it to be displayed. Case closed i guess?

 

[Spider RedNight]

And it's completely silly. I literally don't get how they think certain relationships could work and they get legitimately mad when said relationship ends or doesn't go the way they want. It just seems obtuse. I'm not a shipper though so maybe I just won't get it.

It's the anger that gets me. Like, I generally don't care what other people choose to do with their free time. If you want to write "romances" between Poe and Finn, knock yourself out. You want to write about Snape banging Dumbledore, fine. Hell, you want to write...things...about...ponies...>.<

...okay, whatever.

What kills me is when people demand you accept their headcanon, which is usually less thought out than a conspiracy theory. Or get angry because you don't understand that X is really the one true love of Y.

Ah yes, the folly of the OTP. I got called an ableist once because some "system disaster" wrote about how Kylo Ren has borderline and autism and that he shouldn't be shipped with anyone and I said that line of thought was imbecilic. So naturally I'M the ableist. Though I kind of find it hilarious when they get their jimmies all twisted because I say that their OTP is dumb and canonically impossible and it is and always will be imaginary and then they cry and hug their printed manuscript of their fanfiction.

..... . .. Maybe that's just me getting a kick out of making other people miserable though. But yeah, I agree; live and let live, I say. If you don't force me to accept your shitty headcanon, I won't force you to accept reality about how shitty your headcanon is.

 

[camazotz]

Hux and Kylo, I'm calling it now.

 

[fractal_butterfly]

When you announce your gay characters like this, you are doing it wrong. It feels like a gimmick "Look how progressive we are! We have these special kind of people, the gays! Look how progressive we are!"
I would like to see it more handles like in the Jessica Jones series. The gay couple portrayed there feels natural, like a normal relationship between human beings. They are gay, but it does not define their characters. It is just their sexual orientation, nothing more.

 

[spartandude]

Heres me hoping for Poe and Finn romance.

 

[FirstNameLastName]

I think this thread is yet another excellent demonstration of just how few people actually read anything more than the heading before commenting. There is little point in me saying this, but I'll say it anyway; JJ didn't announce these hypothetical gay characters, he was asked a question and answered it. What exactly was he supposed to do when asked this question?
I guess he should have responded with: "Go fuck yourself you ****. How dare you ask me about gay characters. I have integrity, and I'm not going to pander to people by making a big deal out of this and parading them around for political reasons in some kind of announcement. You'll receive no answer from me."

I don't even like the guy and I'm still annoyed at the number of people pretending this was some kind of announcement, rather than an answer. If you want to get mad at anyone, get mad at the media for turning this into a big deal.

 

[stormtrooper9091]

I think this thread is yet another excellent demonstration of just how few people actually read anything more than the heading before commenting. There is little point in me saying this, but I'll say it anyway; JJ didn't announce these hypothetical gay characters, he was asked a question and answered it. What exactly was he supposed to do when asked this question?
I guess he should have responded with: "Go fuck yourself you ****. How dare you ask me about gay characters. I have integrity, and I'm not going to pander to people by making a big deal out of this and parading them around for political reasons in some kind of announcement. You'll receive no answer from me."

I don't even like the guy and I'm still annoyed at the number of people pretending this was some kind of announcement, rather than an answer. If you want to get mad at anyone, get mad at the media for turning this into a big deal.

good lad. However whether or not this was made into a big deal by the media who purposely asked a loaded question he couldn't possibly dodge any way or he said what he was told to say, doesn't really change the fact that it's the most obvious case of pandering recently and it doesn't really help anything

 

[FirstNameLastName]

I think this thread is yet another excellent demonstration of just how few people actually read anything more than the heading before commenting. There is little point in me saying this, but I'll say it anyway; JJ didn't announce these hypothetical gay characters, he was asked a question and answered it. What exactly was he supposed to do when asked this question?
I guess he should have responded with: "Go fuck yourself you ****. How dare you ask me about gay characters. I have integrity, and I'm not going to pander to people by making a big deal out of this and parading them around for political reasons in some kind of announcement. You'll receive no answer from me."

I don't even like the guy and I'm still annoyed at the number of people pretending this was some kind of announcement, rather than an answer. If you want to get mad at anyone, get mad at the media for turning this into a big deal.

good lad. However whether or not this was made into a big deal by the media who purposely asked a loaded question he couldn't possibly dodge any way or he said what he was told to say, doesn't really change the fact that it's the most obvious case of pandering recently and it doesn't really help anything

Fair enough. I'm not saying I actually agree with his comments about how desperately Hollywood needs diversity, or any of that, just that calling this an "announcement" is absurd. Although I'd argue it's yet to be decided whether this is pandering or not, since having a gay character isn't automatic pandering, and we haven't actually seen how/if this pans out to decide what the real nature of this is.

 

[JimB]

I assumed that it had some significance to the story.

It does,

Well then there was a reason for it to be displayed. Case closed I guess?

Nope. As I said and you snipped, simply having a reason to be there is insufficient to meet faefrost's standards.

 

[notashark]

I wish people would realize that their silly, divisive politics simply don't apply in a fictional universe.

No one cares what shade of human-color the humans are, or what sorts of other humans they like to rub their human-bits against. They are a generational power in the Galaxy and oppress all other species. Wookiees are enslaved and Hutts are "criminals and gangsters". Rational (ha!) Galaxy Justice Warriors should obviously be advocating for Wookiee and Hutt rights, among others.

 

[Zero=Interrupt]

As long as you include robosexuals, and a romance between ghost and horse. Also, Steven Seagal making a long, rambling speech at the end of every movie. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT STAR WARS IS ABOUT.

Ahem.

Escapism over politics. Be in favor of whatever the hell you want, just not in my jedi space muppet robot opera.

 

[Fensfield]

Though on the 'black stormtrooper' issue, I hardly have a problem with it but it did make me wonder: does that mean the empire's past using mass-clones of Jango Fett then? Frankly I'd been wondering that for a pretty long time actually. When'd they stop using the Repbulic's incredibly effective clones for their military?

As of Episode 4, actually. This is actually confirmed by the Special Editions. Note Stormtroopers of different height, and small-talking with each other unprofessionally? The most telling is that while they changed Boba Fett to be voiced by Temeura(sp?) Morrison, AKA Jango Fett, the Stormtroopers all retained their random voice actors from different people. Not clones.

Ooh o.o Well thanks then! I mean it did cross my mind that maybe there was something in the originals, but all I could think of was the fact the Clone Wars were called that, and Leia's 'Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?' which.. well, didn't do much either way. I sort of figured they had stopped using clones just.. yeah, couldn't remember/find any indicators. 'Cuz I'm dense apparently >.>

 

[Lufia Erim]

You know what? I hope they get some gay characters and crank it up to 11. Oh and rate it R. Thats popular too now right? Blood, violence and hardcore gay sex( man on man, because no one bats an eye at lesbians). I'm dead serious. Hell get a whole planet of human like species with two sexes that can only breed with same sex. If you are going to do something like stupid like announce this, go for broke.

 

[kaizen2468]

I wish they would just include characters like this so we don't know their deal until we watch the movie. Instead they need to announce this unnecessary shit and make it not about equality but about marketing.