ST Were you disappointed that Rey and Finn's relationship never became anything romantic?

Personally I'd liked to have seen a Finn and Poe romance.
Amongst others, I'm not sure China agrees with me, but there you go.

 

Rey never liked him romantically so that's that. It was one sided crush on his part, that he should have gotten over. It really dragged his character down because it was ridiculous. The girl didn't want him, time to get the memo and move on. TLJ tried to get him out of that funk, but it wasn't executed well and the result was backlash against Rose and Finn/Rose so TROS caved in.

Since Daisy was always very firm on that they were like brother and sister (that's a bigger death knell to romance than friends), I'd say romance was never a possibility and she appears in total agreement.

Also, none of directors involved with ST (JJ, Rian, CT) went there. Two for Reylo and one for Damerey. Zero for Finnrey. Tells you all you need to know.

Personally, I'm not surprised they weren't a couple. I remember watching TFA and thinking that they weren't going to happen. She was so pretty and capable and he was so... not for her in any way. They had a total sibling vibe because you could see she really didn't care. Zero attraction on her part. So I was wondering what romance would be since Rey and Finn obviously weren't it. Mismatched actors, wrong kind of chemistry, no dramatic potential, all sitcom and no romcom. Even JJ knew so he had Finn friendzoned at the end of the movie. Rey goes to Luke, Kylo goes to Snoke and Finn goes to friednzone.

 

Kylo as Duckie in Pretty in Pink.

 

I knew it was not happening when I saw this:

 

I was disappointed on two fronts : one specific to the trilogy itself and one specific to Hollywood in general.

For the former I thought it squandered the undeniable chemistry between Ridley and Boyega that was undeniable both onscreen and off. It kind of bothered me when people immediately tried to undersell this as the type of chemistry that gave off a “brother-sister” vibe. Not only did I disagree with that, in particular the energetic electricity between the two when onscreen, I was rather suspicious over why people came to that conclusion. Outside of their race Finn and Rey had the makings of a romantic pairings that we have seen in Hollywood and books all our lives.

They started off as antagonistic. They were in verbal confrontation with each other early on as if to fight off an attraction to each other. They combined forces to survive against a common foe. They went on the run together which led to an epic, sweeping adventure. They started to settle in comfortably with each other, got used to each other’s presences. They opened up to one another, revealing truths they had otherwise not shared. They grew to really care about the other to the point of calling out for one another when either went down in a fight, each would end up practically caressing the other when they laid prone and unconscious on the ground after being injured (both times to the same antagonist). In the case of Finn he would put his life in danger to attempt a rescue of her which touched Rey considering everyone else in her life had abandoned her. During the last act during their reunion they would even embrace each other as if it was the most natural thing in the world. They each became at that moment the most important part of each other’s lives.

For people to witness all of that throughout the course of an entire film and brush that off as 100% platonic or as an asexual, familial connection is curious to say the least from where I stand. And that many of those same individuals came to that particular conclusion while simultaneously demonstrating the mental gymnastics to detect overwhelming sexual tension in a handful of minutes between Rey and the clear villain of the film (who had tortured her for most of those limited minutes) blew my mind. As far as I was concerned the reason for most of the “Reylo” shipping was painfully obvious considering the nature of what Star Wars films and Disney made movies tend to be. Here was a family film with a female protagonist who witnessed the clear antagonist slay her father figure, deliver an almost fatal blow to the person she cared about in that story the most and personally torture her while holding her strapped down as a prisoner. We don’t expect nor do we tend to get our female leads displaying even the slightest feelings or concerns towards the evil, dark bad guy who does such despicable things. So in my estimation for audience viewers to jump to this conclusion of Rey being attracted to this despicable individual and not Finn came down to this: Kylo was the lone important white male and semi age appropriate character in the story. Thus by all definition of what audiences come to expect from onscreen hookups he was the most obvious, the most qualified. After all people aren’t conditioned for a white female lead to have those type of feeling for a black male character because we just don’t get that in mainstream movies. More o that later.

Unfortunately this led to a squandered opportunity. Finn was a better match for Rey. How can anyone suggest it was always meant to be undeniably platonic considering Finn asked Rey about having a boyfriend (the way some try to spin this and deny his intentions over the years is nuts)? How do people conclude their connection as strictly platonic when Finn gave her the puppy eyes and opened up to her by saying she looked at him as no one had before. Okay, granted, most of the crushing was coming from Finn’s end, but it made sense that the first female SW lead was not going to be seen putting romance as a priority, especially early in the trilogy. But the setup was there all the same. There was a charge in the air between them in the corridor of the Falcon after they had successfully vanquished the tie-fighters, celebrated gleefully like a couple of kids and then sobered up as they exchanged looks while revealing their names. Not to mention throughout the story they had this witty banter going on, a verbal sparring in which they displayed the intellectual fit between them. This type of dialogue jousting was the prelude of romantic entanglement during the golden age of Hollywood. I suppose today’s less sophisticated audiences see that and conclude it must be sibling rivalry. Whatever.

I will say this….in my opinion Ridley shined best during these moments with Boyega. She truly bounced off him better than any actor she shared the screen with throughout the entire trilogy. The Rey we got in The Force Awakens working so heavily alongside Finn was the Rey the world fell in love with. The Rey we got in The Last Jedi was one that Reylos came to adore. Big difference. And yet JJ didn’t nail it down by making a romance canon between Rey and Finn, and KK probably wasn’t interested or invested in the pairing at all and Rian took advantage by concluding that Kylo was the better suiter for Rey. Still it seemed apparent that Ridley enjoyed her time on set more when Boyega was around and that her most miserable time was making The Last Jedi when she was separated from him almost completely. Who is to say how all of that affected her performance?

Rey and Finn. These two “kids” who were orphans and had no last names (if a name at all) somehow found one another in that vast universe and formed this strong connection. Yeah, let’s ignore THAT relationship in the final two chapters.

The elephant in the room was the racial aspect of this would-be-pairing and how that likely affected how things turned out as it has affected such possibilities throughout the history of Hollywood. I have longer and stronger feelings about that. But I’ll let the moderators tell me if its okay to conclude my take on the topic in this thread or if this second part should be carried over to the Diversity thread instead.

 

The story is all in the hands.

 

Yeah and the first person Rey ever willingly put her hand to was Finn, even after she'd told him to stop taking her hand. She reached for him moments later.

 

No, the elephant in the room is that she is very pretty and he is not. This is how shipping works - you have a proxy and you pair the proxy with who you like the best. So if you don't want to kiss someone you won't pair your proxy with them. Sorry but that's the truth. China made no bones about it. They said point blank that TFA would have done better in China if Finn looked like Will Smith cause Will is very handsome [by Chinese standards which are high]. I think that Boyega fans use racial aspect to try to hide that people simply didn't like him. So by going "people have issues with black" they think no one will notice that issue isn't with black but with the actor himself. hence why China minimized him on TFA poster but didn't minimize Lebron (who got a building-size banner), for example. It's the individual, not the race.

I don't think that Finn was ever meant to be Rey's love interest for this reason alone.. Boyega and Plemons, who were top choice for Finn, are just very average dudes on heavier side (OK, Plemons is really heavy now) which becomes really obivous when standing by a really pretty willowy actress. They are not romantic lead types. You can disagree but that's how the industry thinks and they are right. Movies are escapism so romantic leads should be attractive not very average (something you find in real life).

 

This is so disturbing. You can't even control your worst impulses and biases and it shows. That said I'm not even going to bother to debate the subjective issue of Boyega's physical appeal considering the alternative choice for Rey's affections was a character played by an actor with the face of Adam Driver. Get out of here

 

Oh come on. John Boyega is not unattractive and Lebron is certainly not noticeably more attractive than him. You can't just throw these things out there like they're facts.

 

Plemons was not the top choice for Finn, you keep saying that and straight from JP himself, that's not true. He auditioned once, along with many other men, for a part, and didn't get it.

JP: I had gone in and read, and then I was going to meet J.J. Abrams, and then, all of a sudden, it was released that I was going to do it.
MS: Whoa!
JP: I’d only auditioned once, and I hadn’t even met him yet. So that was bizarre because I heard from everyone. I’m like, “No. No, no, no. Stop it.”

Also, just because you don't find John Boyega attractive, doesn't mean a lot of people don't. Oscar Isaac is the hottest male in the ST to me, but I think John Boyega is also good looking. Different strokes for different folks. Not everyone thinks Adam Driver is attractive. I don't, but I don't care if others do. Everyone has their own likes. But saying Finn/Rey can't happen because you think John Boyega isn't attractive is ridiculous.

 

It's hard to get to a point of missing a romantic story line when the basic character development left so much to be desired.

 

I'm pretty sure the "not really" was an answer to the question posed in the thread title.

 

I was relieved when it didn't go anywhere.

Frankly, I'm more disappointed they didn't have more moments of camaraderie throughout the films, experiencing new things together as friends

Besides, Finn/Poe OTP and I'll lose to anyone in a duel who thinks otherwise

 

I'm glad they didn't go that route with Finn and Rey. I think if they wanted a romance, Rey and Poe would have been a better fit. Rey's and Finn's interactions always felt a bit forced to me. Rarely felt natural, especially when compared to Rey and Poe. And I don't mean to imply that sparks were flying when Rey and Poe interacted, just that they did feel a bit more natural and comfortable together. Add to it they are both strong willed and determined, so their personalities matched a bit more than Finn and Rey. Also, Finn always wanted to be Rey's protector even though Rey was a strong independent woman who didn't need protecting. That always rubbed me the wrong way with Finn, because he never seemed to learn that Rey didn't need to be protected.

I did like the Reylo angle. Mainly because it felt less like a romance, and more like a bond built from shared experiences, shared struggles, and a shared understanding of what the other is going through. Both were looking for their place in the galaxy. Both were trying to get a firm grasp on their immense powers. I never felt their kiss was romantic. It felt more like two people who cared deeply for each other trying to impart as much feeling and emotion, more than words could convey, because they know they'll never see each other again.

 

One thing I did like in Rise were the moments of Finn chasing after Rey, but losing out to Ben.
That sadness of loving someone who loves someone else.

Rey and Ben having their big confrontation on the Death Star, jumping about like superheroes, while Finn struggles to keep up as a mere mortal.

I wish both Rise and TLJ leaned even more into it. Made it hurt Finn's heart a little bit more.

 

Yes, I was disappointed. And I felt both disappointed and contemptuous by the countless number of excuses people had made about Finn being friend zoned.

 

I would have liked to have seen Lucasfilm/Disney have the cahones to pair up Finn and Rey romantically. One has to commit to being progressive in stories, and not just use it for cynical marketing. And, IMHO, Finn was much more deserving of Rey's love than Kylo... but that's a whole other argument.

 

Over the years of all the terrible posts I came across about Boyega/Finn that had to be taken down, one of the most, if not the most, vile one I can recall came as a result of some random fan expressing his or hers happiness over the possibility of a Rey/Finn romance (this was a year before The Last Jedi came out). The response from a member on this site came swift and it was ugly. This guy couldn't contain his contempt or his racism, even tough race was never brought up in the harmless shipping post he responded too. One thing I do recall specifically about his response was that he accused anyone who supported a Rey-Finn romance as trying to push an agenda. This is a common talking point from racist white dudes when they see ANYTHING in the media which showcases intimacy between black males and white females, whether it be movies, TV shows, or commercials (often the comment sections of the YouTube links that play those commercials are turned off because of the nasty backlash). It must be said that when the same media presents the far more numerous examples of white guy intimacy with any woman of color the agenda accusations don't tend to pop up at all. Amazing. Thankfully board moderators were quick to delete the post and ban (at least temporarily) the guy who wrote that nonsense.

I'm bringing this up to point out that pairing a guy like Finn with a gal like Rey TRIGGERS types of reactions that other pairings don't. The person who made those remarks a few years back was a diehard SW fan which you would think would automatically mean there would have been more open-mindedness on his part, but nope. It didn't matter. It doesn't even matter whether the black actor is really good-looking or not, because in the minds of some no black actor would be good enough and pairing a black male character with a female character would be viewed as offensive. Period. So when people claim that race didn't play any part of how the Rey-Finn thing turned out, I find those folks to be naive or just outright liars. A decision to not pair them doesn't necessarily mean that the people who made that choice had anything near as hateful in their minds or hearts as the guy I'm referring to. But what it does say is that there are arguably more mental hurdles out there for a black male/white female pairing when it comes to media meant for mass consumption.

I'm willing to go into this deeper but I'm still waiting on moderators' answer regarding which thread I should tackle this.