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dragonlady7via http://ift.tt/1TjX6yH:
cyanwars:
menderash:
enjolrasarse:
menderash:
if finn and poe were played by two white guys and kylo and hux were played by black and latino men i 100% assure you no one would have latched onto general “side character who has maybe a handful of lines and is generally unpleasant and unforgivably evil” hux as much as they have to fill up his ao3 tag with over a thousand fics centered around him. it’s so frustrating that even when the white guy characters are, for once, sidelined to barely any lines and deplorable personalities, they still get proportionately more love and attention from the fanbase than beautifully written and portrayed black and latino main characters.
Finn, a black MAIN character has less fics with him than Hux does on ao3
you know i actually thought “that can’t REALLY be correct”, like i’ve been saying “proportionately" to refer to their respective number of lines and on screen appearances vs the size of their fanbase. but then i actually checked
are u KIDDING
Actually, this is because Hux appears as an unshipped antagonist character in fics for other pairings. Of the ten most common pairings in fics tagged with ‘Hux’, only two (Hux/Kylo Ren and Hux/Reader) include Hux himself. The other pairings are Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe/Finn, Leia/Han, Kylo Ren/Reader, and other variations on these pairings.
Finn, on the other hand, is included in six
of the ten most common pairings in fics tagged ‘Finn’
(Poe/Finn, Poe/Finn/Rey, Finn/Rey, Poe & Finn, Finn & Rey, Poe & Finn & Rey). The other pairings are Kylo Ren/Rey, Hux/Kylo Ren, and Leia/Han, plus variations on these.
This means that when Finn is tagged in a fic, he’s more likely to be a central character and shipped romantically or platonically with another character, whereas when Hux is tagged in a fic, he’s more likely to be a side character/antagonist and not shipped romantically or platonically with another character.
I agree that the fandom’s representation of Finn is problematic in a lot of ways, but I think we need to look beyond just the amount of tags on AO3 if we’re to have a nuanced discussion about racial issues in fandom. Do fan prefer shipping villains to heroes, or antagonistic relationships to healthy relationships, and if so, why – what part of our culture might influence this (subconscious) choice? How much does the fame/popularity of the actor influence the popularity of their character?
Also, does the age of the characters vs the fans play into it? I ship Kylo (29) and Hux (34) in part because I’m their age, whereas Finn is 22 and Rey is 19; likewise, most of the Kylux shippers I chat with are around my age. Maybe a lot of (older) Millenials identify with Hux (not the ‘genocidal bastard’ part, but being hard-working, under-appreciated, and having to suffer an idiot colleague on a daily basis) and/or Kylo (supposedly an adult but generally a failure, estranged from his parents, doesn’t know wtf he’s doing with his life), whereas Generation Z would feel closer to Rey and Finn, who are, like Generation Z itself, young and just starting to figure out who they are and where they belong. Since the average age on tumblr is 34.6 years old, that might be part of the reason why Kylo and/or Hux are fairly popular with many in the fandom.
Anyway, I’m going off-topic, so I’m going to end this post here. I love Finn and Poe, I honestly do, and I’ve read amazing fics with them. I fully encourage the fandom to produce more protagonist-centric fics. I’ve just always preferred darkfics myself, so that’s why I’m living in the trash compactor.
cyanwars:
menderash:
enjolrasarse:
menderash:
if finn and poe were played by two white guys and kylo and hux were played by black and latino men i 100% assure you no one would have latched onto general “side character who has maybe a handful of lines and is generally unpleasant and unforgivably evil” hux as much as they have to fill up his ao3 tag with over a thousand fics centered around him. it’s so frustrating that even when the white guy characters are, for once, sidelined to barely any lines and deplorable personalities, they still get proportionately more love and attention from the fanbase than beautifully written and portrayed black and latino main characters.
Finn, a black MAIN character has less fics with him than Hux does on ao3
you know i actually thought “that can’t REALLY be correct”, like i’ve been saying “proportionately" to refer to their respective number of lines and on screen appearances vs the size of their fanbase. but then i actually checked
are u KIDDING
Actually, this is because Hux appears as an unshipped antagonist character in fics for other pairings. Of the ten most common pairings in fics tagged with ‘Hux’, only two (Hux/Kylo Ren and Hux/Reader) include Hux himself. The other pairings are Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe/Finn, Leia/Han, Kylo Ren/Reader, and other variations on these pairings.
Finn, on the other hand, is included in six
of the ten most common pairings in fics tagged ‘Finn’
(Poe/Finn, Poe/Finn/Rey, Finn/Rey, Poe & Finn, Finn & Rey, Poe & Finn & Rey). The other pairings are Kylo Ren/Rey, Hux/Kylo Ren, and Leia/Han, plus variations on these.
This means that when Finn is tagged in a fic, he’s more likely to be a central character and shipped romantically or platonically with another character, whereas when Hux is tagged in a fic, he’s more likely to be a side character/antagonist and not shipped romantically or platonically with another character.
I agree that the fandom’s representation of Finn is problematic in a lot of ways, but I think we need to look beyond just the amount of tags on AO3 if we’re to have a nuanced discussion about racial issues in fandom. Do fan prefer shipping villains to heroes, or antagonistic relationships to healthy relationships, and if so, why – what part of our culture might influence this (subconscious) choice? How much does the fame/popularity of the actor influence the popularity of their character?
Also, does the age of the characters vs the fans play into it? I ship Kylo (29) and Hux (34) in part because I’m their age, whereas Finn is 22 and Rey is 19; likewise, most of the Kylux shippers I chat with are around my age. Maybe a lot of (older) Millenials identify with Hux (not the ‘genocidal bastard’ part, but being hard-working, under-appreciated, and having to suffer an idiot colleague on a daily basis) and/or Kylo (supposedly an adult but generally a failure, estranged from his parents, doesn’t know wtf he’s doing with his life), whereas Generation Z would feel closer to Rey and Finn, who are, like Generation Z itself, young and just starting to figure out who they are and where they belong. Since the average age on tumblr is 34.6 years old, that might be part of the reason why Kylo and/or Hux are fairly popular with many in the fandom.
Anyway, I’m going off-topic, so I’m going to end this post here. I love Finn and Poe, I honestly do, and I’ve read amazing fics with them. I fully encourage the fandom to produce more protagonist-centric fics. I’ve just always preferred darkfics myself, so that’s why I’m living in the trash compactor.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-30 12:48 am (UTC)I enjoyed the movie (twice, even!) but it did nothing for me fannishly, and I've been slightly boggled at the huge influx of Hux fans in particular. (Kylo I may personally find somewhere between absurd and appalling - I actually assumed he was about 19! - but at least he has enough of a presence that the franchise itself assumed he would become a popular character! Hux was just... Generic Mook #1.) People doing the Draco In Leather Pants thing and filling in whatever they wanted to see/found most interesting would make a lot of sense.
Even if it didn't work for me, I'm glad you're enjoying it!