This might sound like a rant, but I promise this has a purpose to it.
The first time I watched the first sequel, I was excited. I thought that Finn was going to be the next jedi, and it would have been an insane (but great) concept to have an ex-trooper as the main character. However, I was vastly disappointed as the main character and jedi was...Ray. And not only that, but they recycled the idea of her being from Tatooine, just like Luke...and Anakin. I understand the parallelism, but it makes me a little annoyed how they did not make up a more ‘underdog’ and ‘interesting’ idea. Yes, being a slave makes you an underdog, but that’s when (uh oh!) culture comes in.
As a black person, I couldn’t help but wish there were more black jedi involved. So far, I’ve only seen 10 black characters in... all of Star Wars history. The closest we got to a black, main character jedi was Cere Junda from Star Wars: Survivor, and the classic Mace Windu from the prequels. When I saw Finn first pick up the lightsaber, I was so excited. I thought that, through becoming a jedi, he would learn to control his fear and become the best version of himself. But then it all crashed when I realized that his only role in the films was to scream “RAY!” Nice.
Anyway, I won’t go on, because I understand how hard it is to make a Star Wars film, and you can’t please everybody. Who knows, maybe my community will get some more representation in the future...
