Honestly I don’t even care if Finn and Poe end up together or if Finn’s even gay or bi because if just Poe, JUST Poe is not heterosexual and they admit it, that changes EVERYTHING.
How many kids out there will see a badass, resourceful, handsome motherfucker who gets to be on the spectrum without being the comic relief, or a stereotype-laden shell of what the lgbt community actually is?
How many bigoted parents will see this and writhe in their seats because they have to accept the fact that the most successful franchise ever contains a queer poc who kicks ass and takes names, and their children are inevitably going to look up to him?
How many people will see these movies and see someone up there like them, someone who gets to be one of the stars without hiding or downplaying their sexuality?
How many people will talk about the lgbt community as a result of this decision?
How many people will have to face their homophobia when they trie to argue that a gay space pilot from a different galaxy is implausible because it doesn’t mesh well with their beliefs?
A ton of people.
Disney has a huge opportunity to do something good with these movies, and with Poe Dameron in particular. Representation is incredibly important, and the groundwork is already there. Sure, they’ll piss off some people if they follow through, but is Star Wars made for the homophobic assholes, or is it made for the children who would get to grow up seeing people who share their race, gender, and sexuality represented in a series that takes place across an entire galaxy?
You know, I’ve been thinking about the fact that Captain Phasma only ended up being a character because the fans demanded it, and that more Rey toys started turning up because the fans demanded it, and then I look at the amount of Stormpilot on my dash and the articles on mainstream news websites singing the praises of that ship and of the idea that there might be even one explicitly gay Star Wars character…
……well, I think, basically, everything in this post suddenly seems so much more plausible than it did even a couple of years ago, and I’m pretty pleased about that.