Monday, December 7, 2015

No Finn in China ... Get Used To It

No Finn Here
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will open in theaters in a few days, but everyone knows this early that it will be a big hit, especially in China. Hence, it is not surprising to see a more appropriate movie poster gracing the Chinese market.

The poster, however, sparked a small controversy online over stylistic changes, one of which resulted in the diminished presence of John Boyega’s lightsaber-wielding character.

Aside from giving BB-8 more prominence, the biggest discrepancy between the two posters is the shrinking of Boyega’s Finn and the positioning of his body. Boyega, who plays a lead role, is lowered down from the original poster — where he’s the third largest character after Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren and Daisy Ridley’s Rey — and tucked under Harrison Ford’s gun-toting Han Solo and Carrie Fisher’s Leia, and behind a much larger BB-8.

Meanwhile, other non-white characters, including Oscar Isaac, who plays rebel pilot Poe Dameron and Lupita Nyong’o, who plays alien pirate Maz Kanata, as well as Chewbacca have been cut out altogether. They're replaced by X-wings, TIE fighters and rows of Stormtroopers.

The poster was released earlier this week along with the announcement of the film's release date in the country. Star Wars hits theaters in China on 9 January — about a month after its worldwide release on 18 December. Some of the movie's stars are expected to attend the gala premiere in China.

The casting of a black actor, Boyega, in the role of a Stormtrooper, was initially met with backlash. "To whom it may concern ... Get used to it," Boyega said late last year about the issue. Well, the joke is on you Boyega because in China, there will be Boyega or Finn in the poster ... Get used to it.

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