Lando's pansexuality thread.

This this this. I can't help but think of Star Trek, who did something similar by ret conning Sulu into being homosexual. George Takei himself called the decision "unfortunate" because he did not like changing an already-existing character.

 

It wasn't necessarily changed, it was just further developed. You are assuming that Lando was a complete hetero-normative, and that's your own bias showing. He's still a ladies man (heck, that kinda works on multiple levels with L3, but if people can't even accept an interspecies relationship in a sci-fi series we're nowhere near to touching upon the concept of gender in AI).

 

Gimme a break. This character has existed for almost 40 years. There are countless stories of him in various media and, for almost 40 years, there wasn't anything whatsoever that implied anything beyond him being heterosexual. And while those old-EU stories are no longer canon, my statement holds true that for 40 years, there just isn't anything there which implies anything other than heterosexuality (which is why Kasdan's statement was such big news). To call that a "bias" on the part of fans is ridiculous.

People don't want SJW identity politics nonsense in Star Wars. Solo's dismal box office is evidence of this.

 

Right, but it's not like Lando stopped being into ladies. It's not like they made him gay, that would be a bigger re-write. This is just adding something on top of what was already there, and it's consistent with his character IMO. Just like no one thought it was out of place when Kirk went from flirting with girls in miniskirts to flirting with women with green skin.

And Solo's box office has nothing to do with identity politics. Identity politics have always been part of Star Wars, George Lucas made the films self-consciously political. The issue of droid/AI identity has always been part of the series, and it's natural to explore that as you develop more films. I remember back in 2002, there were threads on forums debating anti-droid prejudice and the status of droids-as-slaves because of Obi Wan's line "If droids could think, there'd be none of us here." I mean, the entire story of the PT is a political one, the social aspect has always been there, it's just that when Princess Leia grabs the gun and starts emasculating her inept rescuers no one complained about an "agenda", but now they do. Liberal politics has always been deliberately placed in Star Wars since 1977, and identity politics is a sci-fi trope that doesn't have to be a big deal, I thought it was done with a light touch in Solo by simply being part of the characters.

 

...outside of the films, and they went right where it was announced those went in regards to ownership and definition of stories and character.

Spoiler

Cool if you don't like it, but they did say they would do that.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

So Lando's a man-tart? What else is new?

What I took away from Solo as just a funny joke turns out there's a whole bunch of repressed individuals feeling it targets some socio-political agenda. It's not the 70s anymore and it's not a lonely boys playground anymore either. Just laugh with it and don't take it personally.

 

How is it consistent with his character? Where, in almost 40 years of storytelling, was there any implication that he was also interested in men?

With all due respect, if someone says "identity politics" and you start thinking about droids and AI, then you don't understand what people are talking about when they say "identity politics".

 

You said, people don't want identity politics in Star Wars films. And the only identity politics in Solo have to do with droids.

 

One of the writers of Solo made a pretty big identity-politics statement last week, which is the very topic of this thread and is what we are discussing.

I have no doubt the powers-that-be at Disney wished he never said what he did. They just don't need another headache at this point.

 

And even then they're mostly treated as a joke.

 

Yes, the statement made was just stating what is in the film, that Lando's love life is not just confined to humans as he is in love with a droid. All he stated was what was in the film itself, I don't understand how Disney could be unhappy with them describing the character and what happens in the movie they are releasing.

 

I liked the fact they announced Lando was pansexual, but after watching the film, they may as well of not bothered.... it felt like a bit of the Dumbledores gay thing, we'll tell you he's gay, but we don't dare show you it.

 

To be fair, at no point ESB and RotJ stated that Lando doesn't sleep with men, non-humanoids or droids. The problem is how pointless this whole "pansexual" thing really is.

 

Really? You don't see how Disney might be unhappy with a writer making a statement that could turn away a segment of the population from seeing the movie?

Really..?!??

 

Yes. It's in the movie! They are assuming people are okay with it, or it wouldn't be in the movie. He is literally just describing something that the audience will see for themselves when they see the movie. If they were deliberately hiding it to get people in the theater I would accuse them of being dishonest, but then why put it in the movie in the first place?

 

I disagree that it is in the movie. There is line by L3 that Lando is in love with her but I, like many other people, interpret that as L3 being delusional or perhaps even projecting a bit.

 

Agreed. This whole thing is an attempt to pander to the LGBT community while also playing it safe.

 

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease.

Saying that the box office was hurt because a writer made a harmless comment that only a very small portion of the fandom read is reaching.

Also, this is the year Sally Hawkins had a graphic relationship with a fish and nobody batted an eye. If anything, it made a lot of money.

 

BUT WHAT HE SAYS ISN'T CANON!!!! It's not a hard concept to understand. His character wasn't even written in the movie to even make that conclusion. It's NO different than Filoni wanting Rex to be that old Rebel soldier in Jedi but no matter what he wants, it's still not Canon.