ST Diversity in the Sequel Trilogy (see warning on page 11)

Not in the slightest. But I don't think Rogue One was a self conscious attempt to do diversity as the priority - it was a film with a diverse cast due to a progressive policy in casting.
TFA and now Rogue One are crucial to my point - they both show that Star Wars *is* diverse, and that the fact that it hasn't *yet* featured enough of a specific type for some people does not warrant the level of criticism they are getting from some quarters on here; especially when a cursory glance at the Finn thread shows quite how scrutinised for potential issues such casting is by the people it represents.
My point is in no way that I don't want diversity on screen. My point is that even when there is diversity on screen, it won't mean that everyone is represented. And that what we see on this thread is a persistent attitude of "huh. Lucasfilm claims to be into diversity but where is X?" and the answer is most likely "coming soon, but not soon enough for the people who really want that group represented"

The whole thing about diversity is that pop culture is behind the rate of progress in society, and yep, that does need to be addressed and is being addressed.
I find it frankly a bit weird that considering my viewpoint is across the board in favour of diversity, it's being misrepresented as if I would have hated Rogue One.
My point is not about the films but about fandom. If you want diversity, thenargue for it broadly, and support it broadly. Don't criticise its diversity just because your particular area of interest hasn't yet been represented to the degree you think it should be, unless it starts to become clear that your group is being ignored.

At most, I'd say Lucasfilm seem to have basically gone one white brunette woman too far, but that I would be incredibly surprised if Emilia Clarke is not the last white brunette woman cast for a decade or so in Star Wars movies

 

Jedi Merkurian In response to your question in the Finn thread: I don't think the omission of Finn was about race. What I think it's more about is the person in charge of the poster simply (hopefully) just made an oversight. Maybe, but hopefully not they didn't think his character was all that important given the way the fandom at large and in some part the production teams, have put and continue to put a very disproportionate amount of importance and attention on the force side of the story. Now, we don't know if Finn is going to factor into that side yet, but we can all see how that could affect this mistake.
Here's to hoping it's corrected.

 

I wonder if Jessica Fenwick is returning. I hoped to see her character come back. There is nothing at imdb.com yet.

 

if you meant jessica henwick who played pava, the answer is no

 

I wonder why. I expected that whole Resistance group to be together, especially with the movie taking place right after VII.

Ironically, when people make that complaint, they are complaining about diversity. You can also never end when having an initiative of striving for diversity because people are as diverse as their numbers. I don't like to think that simply a group or a crowd represents me.

 

Looking at the three new Star Wars movies released since 2015 (TFA, R1, TLJ), these have got to be the most diverse yet... In addition to the usual Caucasian characters, we now have Hispanic, Asian, and Black actors all obtaining major roles in some of these movies... And let's not forget the increasing number of strong and tough female roles too - notably Rey, Jyn Erso, and even the first female Star Wars villain, Captain Phasma (as well as the numero uno lady character of the whole franchise, Leia Organa!)...

Goes to show that there are no racial or gender boundaries when it comes to any Star Wars film today!

 

Could not be more excited for my young daughter.

 

It only too SW about 40 years to get to where Star Trek accomplished already starting in the 1960s. And that's sad.

 

With Lando not making an appearance supposedly in TLJ perhaps it is about time we wonder if SW films can essentially have only one black character of any significance per film, kind of like the often-discussed one female per film in the earlier SW movies.

 

The Han Solo film features Donald Glover, Thandie Newton and Michael K. Williams. Your theory was dead before you typed it.

Edited to add MKW. Thanks BBP.

 

And Michael K Williams.

 

I think Star Wars is trying honestly its like Rouge One was perfect I think they need to continue with the lead being females and they're on the right path.

 

I don't think it counts too much. Some fans, namely the black male audience got hyped when the first TFA casting rumors started about the possibility of having a black male Jedi as the lead character of the ST. This did not happen and these fans now question everything the studio does in the search for racial discrimination evidence.

TFA introduced a black lead for the first time in the franchise. Rogue One has probably the most diverse casting I can remember, TLJ has an important role for an asian actress, and Han Solo has more black people on board than white people (by a large margin).

Even with this in mind, you will still find people complaining about Finn barely appearing on the teaser trailer of TLJ, the ST being Rey's story and BB8 appearing before JB in the TLJ panel.

 

Honestly, with a film like Star Wars which is set in space with countless species existing on countless worlds, diversity in the casting isn't a problem at all for me. It's to be expected.

 

I really hope that Lando pops up at some point in the ST. He doesn't even need a huge role really. But it'd be such a waste not to see what he's been up to (especially since Han is dead, and BDW is up for coming back).

 

I'm hoping for a short cameo at the end of the Han Solo film, showing he was recounting the film's events to a bunch of people, reflecting on old times with an old friend who recently passed away.

 

I think that Rogue One succeeded by having a diverse cast acting as relative equals on screen. No one character outshone his or her peers. Each character served a purpose and nobody was made to look the fool in order to make the rest of the cast look good. With TFA, Finn was clearly meant to take a backseat to Rey and it bothered some viewers. It's why I'm optimistic about TLJ. I feel that with Rey and Finn branching out in their own directions both characters will shine brightly without having to worry about wounding egos.

 

Can we try to purge the phrases "a waste" and "wasted opportunity" from conversations on this forum? It's a surefire conversation-killer, in my experience.

 

Oh snap, they got two black people!. Though, for all we know, thandie's role could equate to just a couple of mins on screen.

ladygrey45 Here's the thing, I don't want them to have a policy of "only female leads", because that is basically the flip side of the old problem of "only white male leads". They need to craft stories that feel natural in a place like a GFFA. I'd like to see them do stories with a non human lead like a "mission vale" type character. Just go all out. Don't think of it so much as a social statement, but as a story that fits and feels totally natural for something that takes place in a super diverse galaxy.

 

There are three main black characters in the Han Solo movie, and Glover is likely to be a lead. That makes three black actors and three white actors (that we know of). And MKW, one of my favorite living actors, will not play a small role. I can feel it.

This is certainly progress, from my perspective. And my wife's, who's black and certainly "woke."

 

I don't think black fans were sore about finn so much as the misdirection that felt mean spirited. As i said before, had finn and rey swapped places, i'm sure plenty of female fans would be up in arms (rightfully so). Aside from the bad taste it leaves, the misdirect also added flaws to a story, all for the purpose of something that was obvious. Why did we get the force sound when finn got the bloody glove touch? why did kylo stop and stare at him? why did finn hear the screams from hosnian prime?, etc. These things make the film weaker as they only existed to mislead the audience. Example: we have a villain who opens the movie, by murdering an old man/possible former mentor and ordering the casual slaughter of a village. Yet then he "shows compassion" for someone he senses to be a traitor? what? Without the context of him sensing the force within finn, that whole exchange now feels idiotic from a writer's standpoint. I've also stated in the past that the end fight would've been sooooooo much better if rey and finn fought kylo at the same time instead of taking turns. Kylo, who's already injured, has to clash sabers with finn while deflecting bolts from rey's blaster. Eventually he tires of this and bean bags rey against a tree. Then he and finn have their one sided fight until he dispatches him, then rey can have her big moment and defeat kylo who the audience knows is completely exhausted and injured. Instead we got a meh saber fight, then a one sided fight between kylo and rey before she let the force in and instantly over powers him. This didn't feel earned because the writing was all there to service the big set up/moment for rey. The focus was on the foil instead of writing something dynamic, interesting, and gripping. What was the point of finn using a lightsaber and getting bodied by a storm trooper? I still fail to see the point of that. Anyways, as I've said, my issues with that are because of the misdirect which was in horrible taste (especially when i think about little black boys) and the bad writing that comes with it. Its gimmicky.

People complaining about the teaser was more about it being the final straw in confirming the fears that the studio would honestly do such a thing. My disgust came at the point of the celebration poster fiasco. That was went it became apparent that "o m g......its all true isn't it........it was just to set up another character.....holy shhh i can't believe nobody thought that would be a real rotten thing to do."

 

I'm not sure how constructive discussion is possible when in one breath people are saying "we need black people cast in Star Wars", but when black people are cast in Star Wars the same people still ask where the black people in Star Wars are, and react with incredulity when it's pointed out that black people are being cast.

 

Read the post above yours

 

I read it, though it's not relevant to my post which relates to the earlier post where the diverse cast of Han Solo was hand waved away dismissively.

As for the post above mine, I call BS. Small boys of all ethnicities love Finn, and black kids in the school I work in adore him. Just because some posters on an Internet forum have a checklist of what a bad ass hero character should do doesn't mean that it's universal. Finn's selflessness and bravery resonated with kids, who are excited to see him in TLJ.

Regarding other points in the post above; I see expectations and assumptions. I didn't think Finn heard the screams from Hosnian - people saw what they wanted to see, when building a flimsy case for Finn being force sensitive. The force theme playing during the bloody glove scene? That was the moment the course of history changed as Finn decided he was not fighting for the First Order; music placement isn't always literal, but the force theme is appropriate at any point when destiny changes.