Shipping in the Star Wars: the Force Awakens galaxy - and our own ...
I'm the shippiest person in the world (see here) but the previous six Star Wars movies have never elicited shippy feelings in me. I liked the characters but I guess I was more invested in the overall storyline/effects/plot than the development (whether romantic or platonic) of the characters. I don't think Lucas was terribly strong in that aspect. He was good at creating strong ensemble casts but didn't make the characters intriguing enough to make me wonder - why, what if ... ? Lucas told me that Han and Leia were a pair, so I accepted that. I never really cared about Luke's love life. I only cared about Obi Wan's love life when he was played by a non-bearded Ewan McGregor. He got so much more pompous, bearded and boofy haired in episodes II and III that I found my investment in his character going out the window.
In this new Star Wars universe, however, there's a lot going on. There are a lot of new characters with intriguing back stories that are implied but never really outlined for the audience (yet).
In my post ships, shippiness, being shippy, canons & cannons, I wrote:
Ship. I dislike this word it's kind of ugly and clunky but it's so perfect to describe what I do and what I've always done with shows and movies that I've watched. It's rare that I'm not interested in any romantic interest at all - perhaps Numb3rs and Scrubs I don't do any shipping because for me those shows are purely plot and dialogue-driven. They're so ensemble that a focus on a relationship would spoil things. The thing is, what did we call shipping before it had the name shipping?
"I would very much like those two to get together"? So despite how I feel about the word, I'm glad it now exists because it's very useful.
When I become emotionally invested in a fictional 'ship:
- I am not trying to make a political statement. It's usually a pretty emotional response from me based on things like points of similarity or points of difference. The characters may tick certain boxes of things that I like - strong female character, hotshot pilot etc.
- if I favour a canon pairing, I am not saying I think that the non-canon ship is wrong
- if I favour a non-canon pairing, I am not saying that I think that the canon ship is wrong. It doesn't matter to me if my non-canon pairing will never become canon. It's probably simply because I see some possibilities that I'd like to see explored in fan fiction or fan art.
This post by starcrossedjedis is really lovely and I agree with it. I am a multishipper in this particular fandom. I've only done that before in Stargate Atlantis and Pacific Rim. Shipping is something I have to explain a lot to non-Internet friends but it's a topic dear to my heart because it's just something I do even though sometimes I wished I didn't... I'd always gone with canon pairings only until I encountered the Battlestar Galactica and the Harry Potter fandom. Then I become very enamoured of the Apollo/Sharon and Cedric/Hermione pairings respectively. The Harry Potter fandom was very, very diverse and inclusive with every single combination you could contemplate. In contrast, the Battlestar Galactica fandom was quite closed up with canon shippers out-numbering non-canon. People were quite unkind and even a little cruel to some of the non-canon shippers.
I'd like to think that we'd moved well beyond those days. Crazy batshit pairings are the norm and you can pick whatever pairing you'd like to see or you think about. I still support a lot of lonely pairings and am the only person (in the universe? :) writing fic for that pairing. Alas, let’s face it, this is the Internet and this is tumblr so you’re going to be bashed and smashed by someone no matter what.
- if you ship Rey/Finn: you’re being heteronormative, boring and snoring and going with the mainstream. You’re also being boring by following canon. You’ll also be bashed by racist shippers who are outraged by seeing a white woman with a black man.
- if you ship Finn/Poe: you’re slashing everything, you’re setting up the 'white’* guy with the black sidekick/buddy trope. You might also be bashed by racist shippers.
- if you ship Rey/Poe: you’re perpetuating racism and ignoring the man of colour in place of the ‘white guy’*. You’re also being heteronormative.
- if you don’t ship Rey with anyone because she’s a strong woman and she doesn’t need any friends or romances to be complete then you’re making her a Mary Sue.
- if you ship Rey/Kylo Ren then you’ll be accused of falling into the romanticising a killer/serial killer category. This happened a lot with Buffy/Spike shippers and to a certain extent with Carrie/Quinn shippers because many people pointed out that Quinn was a killer and possibly beyond redemption.
- if you ship Finn/Rey/Poe (with either variation i.e. all three are straight or Poe and Finn are bi) then you’re being decadent/immoral ... or again (depending on which one you pick), are falling into heteronormative ways again.
- if you ship Rey with anyone, particular a man then you might get accused of being sexist. Why does she ‘need’ a man/someone else to be fulfilled;
- if you ship at all, you might have your shipping disparaged and dismissed as being "high school" sentimentality. I wrote a post here about offensive anti-shipping posts. It was written in the context of Carrie/Quinn but the sentiments extend across all fandoms in the sense that there is often a feeling that to explore or think about the relationship or emotional side of a dramatic character is somehow juvenile/unintellectual/worth of scorn.
*yes I know Oscar Isaac isn't 'white' but you know what I mean. Poe is whiter than Finn and whiter than me actually.
For The Force Awakens, I've been playing with Rey/Finn (which is likely to be supported in canon), Rey/Poe (which may or may not ever be supported in canon) and Finn/Rey/Poe (which will never be supported in canon. I already wrote here about my preferred ships for this particular fandom. starcrossedjedis' post also highlighted a few more elements that I hadn't considered but reinforce my liking of Rey/Poe:
- Rey playfully wearing a rebel helmet on Jakku
- both of them are outstanding pilots
- both survived being tortured by Kylo Ren (I didn't write about it in my commentary but I did kind of explore this in fic)
- both care about Finn
After having absolutely overdosed on watching interviews with the cast, I may have accidentally coloured my thinking and shifted my preference more towards Rey/Poe for a number of reasons - and this is why it's dangerous to watch too many cast interviews:
- John Boyega is absolutely hilarious. He's smart and witty but the dynamic he has with Daisy is so comfortable, friendly and funny that he really comes across as being more of a brother/friend. He's smart, funny and adorable - but very boyish. The John-Daisy dynamic is now spilling over and colouring how I feel about the Finn-Rey dynamic. It could change with the second movie and indeed a second viewing of the movie but Boyega's gregarious boyishness makes it harder for me to see him as a love interest.
- In contrast, there's Oscar Isaac. I have very much admired him as an actor and a singer before now. Before TFW, I'd never realised he was actually attractive as well as talented. Too much facial hair in Inside Llewyn Davis. Too grumpy and misanthropic in Inside Llewyn Davis. Sleazy and gross in vibe in Ex Machina ... but then we get to TFA where he's clean-shaved, a hot shot pilot, smart alecky, heroic and brave. I'm gone. On top of that, while Isaac is just as funny and as much of a Star Wars fan is Boyega, he's much quieter. His humour and commentary is dryer and more thoughtful. I loved that when asked about the viewing order, he didn't give the cop out answer like Gwendoline Christie (whatever order you want to see it in), the traditional response of JJ Abrams (4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3) etc. He went for the machete order - 4, 5, 2, 3, 6 ...and only watch Phantom Menace if you feel like it. Of course I get that the actor is different from the character - but I guess the 'older' and 'wiser' man thing is something I've always quite liked, too.
I'm not sure what my point is here... I've already written my feelings about the new Star Wars characters and diversity. Maybe to sum it up:
- it's ok to ship who you want
- shipping Finn with someone doesn't automatically make you non-racist if you are racist
- shipping Rey and Poe or liking Poe doesn't make you racist - unless you are already racist.
I guess what I'm saying is, if you're racist - you bring that to the table anyway. It colours everything you think, say and do. If you're not racist, then the same applies. One facet of your behaviour does not get generalised to define everything about who and what you are although it may of course give indications... in any case, it depends on your reasons for thinking what you do - so perhaps everyone needs to search their feelings the way I did :)
The Star Wars universe (and our universe) is more than large enough for everyone to be allowed to have their own preferences.