The Issue of Boyega, Red-Herring and Perception

I don't really agree. I think the moral compass character requires more nuanced acting skills than a hero. And would be a harder spot to fill.

But I'm not trying to limit this to a moral compass character. I'm talking about an ideal. From what we can tell Rey has rejected her path and has become a bit selfish due to her isolation. So, our other lead in Finn represents the opposite. Someone selfless, who is ready to sacrifice for the greater cause. These characters don't necessarily need to be carbon copies of the OT heroes. What I see here is Finn as the moral equivalent of Luke, but with the skill set of Han Solo. While Rey, may have the force skills of Luke, but has to be convinced to fight and to care about something bigger than herself, like Han did. I don't think showing the moral lead makes Finn secondary to Rey by necessity. Just gives him, as a co-lead something different and more nuanced to bring to the table than yet another force sensitive hero. I think many fans are limiting their perceptions of what this movie can be by what they have already seen. So far we have seen predominantly Jedi as the only leads. But that isn't a necessity.

Finn, very well may be a Jedi. But whether he is or not I don't think has any bearing on the depth, quality, or "lead status" of his character.

 

Again, this is limiting the character in a worst case scenario. You assume he can only be a fighter pilot, a scoundrel, or Jedi, because its what we have seen. You assume he shows nothing other than what we have seen so far, even though we have seen so little of the movie. I agree that your description of a secondary character would be disappointing for Finn. But I don't see why we have any reason to believe that is what is going to happen. If that does happen, it will be unfortunate. I just don't think it will. There is more passion for this character from those who made the film than would suggest some sort of sidekick role. I just don't think force powers have any impact. He could easily be a Jedi in training and still be a useless sidekick. And he could have no force powers and be the best character in the movie. A Jedi red herring does not a secondary character make. It can, but it isn't a necessity.

 

I think the possibilities are endless. There are any number of character types we have yet to see in a Star Wars movie. But as an example let's look at the most obvious. He is a soldier. Leadership, courage, and wits under stress could be his defining characteristic, From the more video game side, where we need to know what he can do. he could have weapons skills, demolitions, the ability to rally the troops. Think Aragorn from LotR. A battlefield leader.

Again this is just one example. They could also play his character based on the wisdom and being wary of battle from his years exposed to the violent First Order. He could be an every man. A pure audience surrogate. A lead version of R2D2. Someone to witness the chaos and insanity of these ridiculous melodramatic skywalkers and reflect and opine on the insanity as the audience does. Or they could make him the every man that stands up to evil even when he can't win. The Ghandi. The Samwise Gamgee. The man who goes to face evil because it is necessary not because he thinks he can win.

These are just a few off the top of my head. The point is, that there are an infinite number of possible characters that can inhabit the SW universe. What Finn will be may not be known until the trilogy is out. He may start as one thing and progress to another as Luke did in the OT. All of these possibilities equally represent the possibility of a great lead, or a dud. But none of them decide that based on their intrinsic qualities. How he is used in the film will decide that. And no one knows that until Dec 18th.

 

I was using that specific bit that we do have on his backstory as the basis for all of my options. His history with the FO can lead him in three general directions. He either rejects the violence of his past completely, seeks redemption for it, or uses the skills he developed there fro good (all of these assuming he isn't some sort of FO double agent of course). The specifics of those three can go in an infinite number of directions.

I don't see why that doesn't work. Its essentially the same setup as Aragorn. Gandalf was the Jedi Wizard. Legolas had his elven powers. Frodo had the ring. But Aragorn was simply a human in a world filled with magic and monsters. But he found a way to still be a good character.

I'm not saying he isn't a Jedi. I'm not saying I don't want him to be a Jedi. I'm just saying I think within the story from what we know its still plausible and that there are ways of making him equally great a character whether he is Jedi or not. If we really want to examine this I think we have to throw away the marketing. If Finn is a Jedi the marketing is on the up and up. If he is not, it is a deliberate misdirection to avoid spoiling the turn in the plot when Rey picks up the saber. You can argue this is a poor marketing move to play with your audience like that to protect a reveal. To me, all marketing is inherently manipulative, so I don't mind a mind game or two. But I understand why some would be put off by it. But in the end, it is irrelevant to the quality of the story and whether the misdirection of leading the audience to believe Finn will become a Jedi, only to have it be Rey all along works within the story and provides us with two complex and interesting co-leads is completely separate form any misdirection in the ad campaign.

What have we really seen of Finn so far. We've seem him hold his own with a light saber against a storm trooper we can only assume is not force sensitive. We have not seen him battle Kylo Ren or deflect blaster fire, or do any of those nifty twirly jedi moves that might require the force. What we've seen is the equivalent of a dude holding a sword who has some minimal training. He may do more, he may not, but nothing we have seen so far means he is force sensitive. So I don't think this is a case of the film playing loose with its own rules. So, within the story, I don't see any stretch to make him not a Jedi yet. That may be there upon closer examination, but I don't think we've seen Finn do anything yet that would require he be force sensitive.

I never understood this mentality. I agree, you shouldn't see non-Jedi wielding a lightsaber as effectively as a Jedi would. But in the end, its just a really sharp sword. I can use a chainsaw without cutting my hand off. Doesn't mean I could fight off a skilled swordsman with it, but it also doesn't mean I can't use it to chop down a tree. A lightsaber is just a weapon. A tool. Its what you do with it that makes you a Jedi.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 30, 2015, Original Post Date: Nov 30, 2015 ---

My only resistance is to pre-conceived notions of any kind when it comes to the quality of the film.

Luke has to see action or this movie sucks.
Kylo or Rey have to be a Skywalker or this movie sucks.
Han and Leia have to be married or this movie sucks.

Finn being a Jedi is just another in a long line of ways people have decided to judge the film before it comes out. Laying down some sort of ultimatum that the movie must meet X y and z fan expectations or Disney ruined star wars. All of these things have equal potential to be good or bad based on the execution of them in the film. We won't know until we have seen the whole thing. Putting the movie on trial for presumed sins before anyone has seen it is unfair to the film makers.