#anti abrams

I’m sure I could find a character I despise more, but I’d be lying if I said Kylo Ren from the new Star Wars trilogy wasn’t the first that came to mind.

Now granted, I feel the hatred for this character has more to do with how certain sections of the fandom perceive him rather than what’s written on paper.

I wanted to like this guy. His introduction as some loser Darth Vader wanna be felt like a great launching off point to explore how these Neo-Nazi types are really just whiny crybabies who like to play dress up to make themselves feel powerful. And given the climate it was written in, it could have been really topical and interesting how we see this guy spiral and get worse. But, we didn’t get that.

Instead, we had a non-character with no discernible goals or values make sad faces for two movies before getting an unearned redemption arc just because a hack writer and enough fan girls online thought the actor was hot.

I really try ship and let ship. It’s your fun and you’re not hurting anybody. HOWEVER, certain members of the Reylo part of the fandom undeniably hurt real life people and made the franchise objectively worse.

And it all comes back, to this asshole.

I will make a two hour video essay dissecting this whole mess at some point, I swear to God.

*bursts through crowd* LUKE "THERE IS STILL GOOD IN HIM" SKYWALKER WOULD NEVER ATTACK IS NEPHEW EVEN IF HE WAS FALLING PREY TO THE DARKSIDE AND THE MERE SUGGESTION SPEAKS TO HACK WRITING AND AN INABILITY TO FIND ANY ORIGINAL CONFLICT BESIDES DADDY ISSUES!

Here’s my thing, I really, really don’t think that’s what Johnson was going for in The Last Jedi. I think this is just Disney telling everyone to agree with the trajectory it ended up going.

I made a whole rant about it here, but basic beats is that Rian Johnson’s framing of Kylo Ren’s “you’re nobody, but not to me” is NEVER ROMANTIC IN CONTEXT.

The whole ending is about proving Kylo Ren wrong. Finn and Rey reuniting at the end is the confirmation that he’s really the one who cares about her. Rey introducing herself to Poe and him saying “I know” is subverting what Kylo Ren said. And the final shot of Rey LITERALLY SLAMMING THE DOOR IN HIS FACE, is making the pint that she is not going to be the cause of his redemption. He has isolated himself while Rey has found support and live through her friends.

I just...I know everybody is ready to blame Johnson for everything, but we’ve got to move on. Abrams was pushing for Reylo as far back as The Force Awakens.

And everyone just thought this ship was normal and not at all weird or gross in anyway

I was 14 and running a hate blog on the ship because I dealt with /stuff/ happening to me by someone who was in their 30’s and I loved the show and wanted to love the fandom but I kept getting triggered by the ship and thinking that people would just think that a 14/15 ye old hooking up with a 30 yr old is normal

And I just had to get that off my chest to someone who hasn’t posted spoiler of the show, because I stopped watching around season 4

But since we’re on the subjects of ships, are there any ships that you just..... hate with a burning passion?

I’ve only ever watched the first three episodes of Attack on Titan, but let me just say, from the bottom of my heart: gross.

Seriously, people in fandom can just be really fucking gross and I can completely understand getting triggered.  That being said, I’m glad you’re (hopefully) not running a hate blog any more. 

It couldn’t have been good for you, and while I can understand the impulse to want to make your hatred known and vent your frustrations, stewing in something that gives you negative feelings doesn’t help in the long run.  Better to block and not engage, especially when it comes to fandom stuff.  People who ship characters together aren’t being logical, no matter what the ship is.  Some people who ship characters can be more reasonable, but it’s more of a person to person situation.

As for ships that I hate with a burning passion, I’ve made no secret for my utter and complete hatred of Reylo.

The ship and shippers by extension actively destroyed what could have been an interesting trilogy of films be deciding to emphasis the neo-nazi over the ACTUAL SECOND PROTAGONIST Finn.

I can go on a rant for days about how Dramione is a really toxic ship, and people who ship them are just using Hermione as a self-insert character and should just make cringe OCs like the rest of us.  But even something like that didn’t actually hurt the media the fanfiction was taken from.  Reylos with their racists accusations towards John Boyega and their vocal insistence on Kylo Ren’s redemption, influenced the trajectory of the film, not helped by having such a shit writer like Abrams pen the last movie with his Mancrush Monday on Adam Driver.

I just...there is a reason I’ve blocked the Reylo tag.

I guess I never read it in the theater as romantic. Like when I was watching it, it felt awkward. Daisy Ridley’s expressions were uncomfortable. Kylo Ren’s hair was unflattering. The shot composition was uneven, all that stuff. Plus, the ending clearly shows Rey slamming the door in Kylo Ren’s face.

I haven’t listened to the commentary. But, to me all the signs from a filmmaking stand point were made to make us feel uncomfortable. Rian is a confident director so I don’t think he would make these strange choices on accident.

I’m not saying Last Jedi isn’t flawed. It is. But at least it was trying to say something different then, “hey guys, remember Star Wars?” I guess I defend Rian more because I see more people ready to attack him then Abrams.

Abrams is not a good story teller. He never has been and I’m tired of everyone giving him the benefit of the doubt. Rian Johnson is a good story teller who made a flawed, but I’d argue more interesting movie.

Look, the sequel trilogy is not good. It just isn’t. Let’s just be democratic on where we put the blame. Abrams is just as guilty of romanticing Kylo Ren, if not more so, then Rian.

Look Disney is at fault for tossing out Trevorrow’s script, but Abrams is the one to write The Rise is Skywalker. He made those descions in the script that Disney agreeded to. It’s both Abrams and Disney’s fault for the mess that is The Rise of Skywalker.

J.J. Abrams has never been good at ending stories. He’s too obsessed with his mystery box to actually give the story a satisfactory conclusion. There is plenty of blame to go around, but putting it all on Kathleen Kennedy and the studio is just plain wrong.

I know it’s easy to put all the blame of a big studio interfering with an “artists vision”, but sometimes that vision isn’t that good to begin with.

Please watch this video breaking down Abram’s mystery box.

J.J. Abrams is a bad writer.

He has always been a bad writer and people going around saying Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson are the ones who ruined the franchise are objectively wrong.

The Last Jedi was the best film in the new trilogy and if Abrams had just gone with his changes we could have gotten an interesting new take on the franchise.

Thank you! That’s so kind of you to say. ❤️

Maybe some day I’ll actually write the damn thing. 😂