greedoinheels | Kelly Marie Tran: Who the hell is she playing?

This post is basically about why I'm not optimistic but really really want to be. Let's go in a timeline.

WARNING: This post contains rumored leaks.

So it came out some time ago that Laura Dern, Benicio del Toro, and Kelly Marie Tran were going to have big roles in VIII. Then it started coming out that Tran's character was going to be huge, basically a new lead ala Lando style. This is obviously great news! A POC woman in a leading role in the most anticipated movie of this decade (not including VII and IX)? Like that's major and it scores tons of points for how forward moving this franchise is getting. It's wonderful.

Then it came out that the women who auditioned for the character had to pass a "chemistry" test with John Boyega, which basically means running a few lines together and seeing how the two got along. Now, when my ace ass first heard this, I immediately thought that Tran would be playing another Stormtrooper. (Most of the Stormtroopers in VII were women according to JJ.) I was pretty hyped! Another escaped Stormtrooper maybe? What if she's Zeroes, one of Finn's old squad mates? In the novel Before The Awakening, I'm pretty sure Zeroes was male, but it was still written way before VIII was happening so Maybe! It was exciting it was great!

But those who aren't like me immediately pointed out that chemistry often equals romance.

And this is where the whole thing starts to piss me off.

So let's assume for a moment that Tran's character is going to be Finn's love interest. Let's just play with it. Rey is off training with Skywalker, yeah? Poe is there, probably being Super Mother Hen or something. I've had my fingers crossed since the start that Rey would be a leading female kickass protagonist that didn't need a romance to further her plot, which was one of the major reasons I shift my stuff to Stormpilot. But I want to be clear that this isn't a ship hate thing. Never mind that Finn would be passing up Rey (the first person who looked at him like no one else ever had) and Poe (the man who gave him a name and means of escape) in favor of someone new bouncing in.

But okay, let's go back to my original Stormtrooper theory. What if she is a defected Trooper like him? That would make more sense for a romance, considering she would actually understand all of the little bullshit things he's going through after being raised by the First Order and thrust into a galaxy's worth of society that was never accessible before. She would get that. She could properly provide comfort for that in a way that Poe or even the lone scavenger Rey couldn't understand.

But remember when I said that I really didn't want Rey to be in a relationship because not every female protagonist badass needs a romance? (Looking at you Black Widow.)

So, what I'm seeing is they had two options for a romance here. Well, three actually:

1. Rey and Poe could get together despite never speaking on screen for even a moment but hey they're both *cough*hetero*cough* and whiiiiiiiiii- Poe is Latino. But he's LIGHT SKINNED SO THE AUDI- You see where I'm going here. They could make up shit and conform. But Poe is in his thirties and Rey is 19, never mind the aforementioned FEMALE PROTAG DONT NEED NO MAN thing so

2. Rey and Finn could get together. After all, VII was hinting pretty heavily in that direction. And it would be great to see an interracial couple on screen. But we're back to FEMALE PROTAG BLAH BLAH BLAH plus racists but haha that's so low on the radar, honestly, fuck them

3. Finn and Poe could get together. Since VII had a lot of themes like ANH did, I figured they would do the ship that was possible but least expected (like Han/Leia). And if they mirror Empire in VIII, well, Rey is off training, Poe and Finn are on a base, you see where I'm going. But we live in a pretty stupid ass world. The obvious problem here is GAY. GAY OH LORDY THEY'RE LESBIANS HAROLD

Now they could do Kylux (HAROLD) or Reylo (probably incest, don't know right now), but the romance - assuming there'll be a romance at all - will be somewhere among the big three. Anakin/Padme, Han/Leia, ???/???.

The point of all this is to show that each pairing has problems with the audience. Jedipilot would be seen as conformity and a way out, never mind alienating Finn who's the only one out of the bunch who could really use some love. Finnrey is predictable. Stormpilot is gay. So what's a multi-billion dollar franchise like Disney and Lucasfilm to do? Bring in a new character, slap a "love interest" sticker on her, and roll her down the line.

That's why I'm pissed off.

I don't think VIII's going to suck, though. Not by any means. I also don't think Tran is going to suck. I think she's going to be amazing, especially if all of John Boyega's praise about her is to be taken into consideration. I just have a problem with the point of it. I have a problem if the writer's really did do this. It's rude to the already established character development and to women.

But hell. I'm probably counting all of the chickens before they hatch, you know? If they do a romance between Tran's character and Finn, I'm confident that it'll be done well even though I'll still be angry about it, and not nearly as forced as Steve Rogers and Peggy's niece. I have confidence they'll do it well if they do it at all. But they may not. I could have been right the first time. There's no confirmed reports or even any leaks that describe her as being Finn's love interest, just hearsay.

There was a rumor that she would pretend to care for Finn and betray him, though. It's pretty confirmed at this point that Finn and Poe have basically the entire third act of VIII to themselves, so people have speculated that she's a Stormtrooper who led Finn on with info and love, betrayed him, and Poe showed up just in time (to declare his love) to help out. Rumors. All rumors. But it's the most concrete thing I've seen so far.

Thoughts?