Fan Art Friday

I've been noticing some really nice Poe fan art recently. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Just glorious:

By artist 800PoundProductions

And just the cutest:

By artist Baan00

And because I can't resist a good Poe pun.... okay, okay, and also because I am trash:

By artist Kami (super NSFW Stormpilot art, FYI)

"Poe has a lot of love to give."

Submitted for your consideration: a short interview of Oscar Isaac from Collider at a premiere of X-Men: Apocalypse, and his answer at 1:00 about the rumors of Poe's romantic entanglements in Star Wars. It's either some very charm-soaked poemosexual affirmation or some really evil baiting.

But even if it's baiting, it's easy to forgive if you pretend, when he looks directly into the camera, that he's winking and flirting with me. I mean, with you. As in, with a hypothetical audience member. 

Nevermind, he's definitely flirting with me.

Musical Com-Poe-sition

Just a quick disclaimer: The point of this blog is not really to ship Finn/Poe, although that's naturally going to come up if we're discussing the possibility of the first gay hero in the Star Wars cinematic universe. It's cool if Finn is not straight too, I just didn't get it from Finn's character in the movie the same way you see it in Poe. Finn is so desperate and panicked throughout TFA, romance does not really seem like it's on his radar at all. 

A full-on LGBT relationship would be amazing, but I would be happy if Poe were gay, with or without a romance. Okay, that said:

I found faerielion's tumblr, and there's a post from January 4 that does a side-by-side comparison of how the Han and Leia theme plays over the Finn/Poe reunion scene. And since Han and Leia are the central romantic pair from the OT, their theme is basically the Star Wars love theme.

Here's how it works:

*heart eyes*
fan art by rngrn

Step 1: Play the Han and Leia theme, and note the lovely woodwind melody at about 1:55 that is repeated with horns at 2:15.

Step 2: Now watch the scene where Finn and Poe are reunited. That same woodwind theme from the Han and Leia orchestration starts at about 0:24 seconds when Poe is greeting BB-8, and (OMG) the horn theme swells just as Poe and Finn are jumping into each other's arms. 

Step 3: Feel all the feels.

Now, by TFA, Han and Leia are no longer romantically in love, and I imagine that when Williams was composing this piece for the TFA soundtrack, he was thinking of a very mature relationship--powerful feelings, for sure, but not sexy-fun-times. So I'm not sure that using that melody from the Han and Leia theme was necessarily meant to suggest romance, as much as just a very warm and emotional moment for the characters of Poe and Finn.

At the same time, wow. Those are some very intense emotions for two guys to have for each other after probably no more than an hour together during their escape. And it all goes downhill moments later with the lip bite...

Prêt à Poe-ter Part Deux

That's my jacket... I wish.

Mon Dieu mes amis! As reported by Nerdist.com today, Matchless, a UK-based designer outerwear retailer, has thrown in on the Finn/Poe jacket game with this offering, and it is gorgeous.

I'm not wild about the branding on the breast pocket, but the buckle is so much better than the cheap black plastic one on the Film Jackets version (yuck). I wish they had an image with a model wearing it; it looks like it might be cut a little longer than the film version, but hard to tell.

Anyone have an extra $1,750.00 to spare?

Yep, it's that much. Nice though, right? They have a bunch of other high-end jackets inspired by other Star Wars icons too, if Poe is not your thing (and if that's the case, what kind of a monster are you?).

"Poe to Inflate"

I love this. Cinema Blend has reported that intrepid/detail-oriented Tumblr user @youneedapilot unlocked the secret message printed on Poe's flight vest.

I'm sorry but it's just so hard to focus on anything but that look....

Most text in Star Wars is in Aurebesh, the written form of Galactic Basic. But translating this little blurb on Poe's vest was weirdly difficult because none of the characters matched the Aurebesh alphabet. The chances seemed good that this was some sort of funny/cool hidden message, especially given the silly Beastie Boys call-out in Aurebesh on Ello Asty's helmet.

But alas, the message doesn't quite live up to the hype: @youneedapilot eventually realized that the text is printed upside down so the vest's wearer can read it when looking down at it. Once that was sorted out, it was easy to translate the Aurebesh.

It says: "Pull to inflate."

Safety first, Poe!

To nerd out a minute here, it seemed like the similar X-Wing pilot vests from the original trilogy were more like flak vests--at least, that's how various cosplay groups, like the Rebel Legion, conceived of them--and not flotation devices. But perhaps X-Wing pilots have different vests for different terrains? The image above is right after the dramatic over-water assault on Takodana, so maybe it was mission-specific gear?

In any event, the fact that some person was so troubled by the mystery of Poe's vest makes me incredibly happy. It's sort of a bummer that it wasn't more of a cool Easter egg (something like "Tell that to Kanjiklub" or "Stormpilot 4ever"), but the effort and thought that went into decoding it is what being a fan is all about. Nicely done.

Movie Poe-sters

Geek & Sundry posted some clever remade movie posters for TFA-inspired rip-offs of Oscar-nominated films. Of course, my favorite:

So. Perfect. 

What's New Poe-ssycat?

This fan art from SpaceSharkz on Deviant Art will make your Monday a little fuzzier and cuter.

Poe, BB-8, cats. It really checks all the (litter)boxes for me.

The Vito Russo Test: How Film Studios Fail Poemosexual Fans

As you might know, the Bechdel test was developed in the 1980's as a way of assessing a film's treatment of its female characters. To pass the Bechdel test, a movie must have at least two female characters (preferably named) who have a conversation about something other than a male. This seems like a really low bar, but only a small handful of major studio films pass every year. Basically, the Bechdel test shows us that mainstream films continue to hew to a long misogynist tradition in popular culture to marginalize the female experience.

Since Poemosexuality has become a thing, I've been thinking a lot about gay characters in media, and specifically in sci-fi/action films--and whether anyone tracks the treatment of LGBT characters along criteria like those of the Bechdel test.

I discovered that GLAAD does an annual Studio Responsibility Index (SRI), which surveys and inventories major film studio releases. For purposes of the SRI, GLAAD groups films into 5 categories: comedy, genre (sci-fi, action, and fantasy), animated/family, drama, and documentary. The SRI then identifies as "inclusive" any film that has LGBT characters of any stripe, major or minor. Next, as part of their evaluation, GLAAD applies the Vito Russo test, inspired by the Bechdel test, to assess an inclusive film's treatment of its gay character(s). Under this standard, a movie includes a meaningful LGBT character if the following are true:

• The film contains a character that is identifiably LGBT.
• That character must not be predominantly defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity. This refers to the depth of the character: flimsy two-dimensional stereotypes vs. actual characters who have personality and attributes beyond just their gayness.
• The LGBT character plays a meaningful role in the narrative. In other words, the character is not window dressing to provide commentary or situational humor, like gross-out or gay-panic jokes. Rather, the character must be significant enough to the plot that the character's removal would noticeably alter the story.

I was gratified to see that the gay characters in Cloud Atlas passed the Vito Russo test a few years ago. I know that the Wachowskis' films have not been great since The Matrix, but at least they're doing LGBT representation in film right!

Aside from that, the 2015 SRI, which reviewed films released in 2014, reveals what I've been bitching about all along: 

1. Other than documentaries, genre films had by far the lowest percentage of inclusive films out of the other categories: just 6.5%, which means that only 3 out of 46 genre films released in 2014 had LGBT characters in them at all. And it's not getting better. In 2013, GLAAD counted 43 major release films in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, and 4 (or 9.3%) had LGBT characters. 
2. It's not so easy to discern from GLAAD's summary exactly which 2014 films it counted as the 3 inclusive genre films. (Maybe Exodus: Gods and Kings? ...Not sure what the others were.) But as far as I can tell, no sci-fi films passed GLAAD's Vito Russo test in 2014. That means there were zero characters of substance in any major studio sci-fi film the entire year. Zero.

[gratuitous fan art]

I understand that people might dispute whether Oscar Isaac's lip bite and his other acting choices are enough to substantiate Poe's character as canonically gay. What I don't get is people who think that LGBT representation in modern pop culture is just fine, and that we gay fans are somehow being too greedy in wishing/hoping that Poe is gay, and that we should just be satisfied with comedies and dreary awards-focused dramas that include LGBT characters. But as the surge of the Poemosexual Agenda has demonstrated, we fans of sci-fi/fantasy in general and Star Wars in particular are clearly not satisfied that there are no LGBT protagonists in a major studio genre film. 

I really want the first to be Poe, because Star Wars has been my jam since 1977 and it would mean the galaxy to me as a gay fan to be able to say that Star Wars broke that ground. If he was just "identifiably gay" in a way that didn't rely purely on innuendo or code, he would clearly satisfy the other two criteria of the Vito Russo test, and we would have our first heroic LGBT protagonist in a major studio sci-fi/fantasy film.

Comics Alliance: The Trouble With Character Ev-poe-lution

Phil Noto: Wedding Photographer

This passage from today's Comics Alliance article by Andrew Wheeler is just spot on:

Still, I cross my fingers and wish for a gay hero like Poe Dameron; for the kids he could inspire, and even the adults who never had that, and whose confidence could use a boost. But wishing won’t make it happen. It’s up to companies like Marvel and Lucasfilm, and their parent company Disney, to acknowledge and accept that same-sex relationships deserve to exist in their worlds. 

Maybe this time it’s real, and we exist, and we matter. Maybe Poe Dameron is our hero.

Wheeler makes the fair point that Poe was not originally scripted to survive TFA's first act, much less be gay. Nevertheless, the synergy between Isaac's charismatic performance and the surge of positive fan response could be capitalized upon and incorporated into Ep. VIII script revisions...

... if it wasn't for the Poe Dameron comic that comes out in just a couple of months. *sad trombone*

If it's true that Poe was not originally conceived as a gay character, is there reference to Poe's orientation built into the comic plot? If so, can Marvel feasibly accommodate a shift in Poe's character from straight to gay? Would they even if they could?

It'd be a shame if there was a consensus between the fans and the creative team to change Poe's character, but timelines and production schedules made it impracticable.

Poe-cial Media

Check out @GayHotDameron on Twitter. It's Poe tweeting about his misadventures in flirting into and out of trouble, sorting through his powerful but confusing feelings for his "buddy" Finn, and generally being a well-intentioned knucklehead. Very cute.

I’m not a pin-up boy. Sure I do pictures for the Resistance but a guy’s gotta earn a living, right? And I am hot. It would be a waste not to

— Poe Hot Dameron (@GayHotDameron) January 10, 2016

Is it wrong that getting manhandled by stormtroopers was just a tiny bit exciting? Like not in a weird way. Lol. Just adrenaline I guess…

— Poe Hot Dameron (@GayHotDameron) January 9, 2016

BB-8 told Finn I sing in the shower. Finn was cool about it. He said he did sometimes too. I suggested we duet. He laughed. I was serious.

— Poe Hot Dameron (@GayHotDameron) January 8, 2016

Star 'Ship

Rian Johnson, the Episode VIII director, tweeted this adorable fan art from Jeffrey Winger (whose Tumbler is equally adorably called "Poe Dameron more like Poe DAMNeron).

So cute!

Also, because I am not very busy at work the Friday before a long weekend, I took some time to do some cyberstalking online investigation. It turns out that the group of people that Johnson shares the image with have shared other images of Finn and Poe among themselves today (here and here). So it seems more like a case of a group of friends who were having a laugh about all the shipping, as opposed to the director telegraphing any actual intent.

But who knows? I'll take the director-endorsed poemosexuality any day.

Here's the more complete image, where you can see BB-Yente a little more clearly:

USA Poe-day: Poe Dameron Comic Incoming!

Everyone shut up.

USA Today has reported an April 2016 release date for a Poe Dameron comic series! The title will cover the story of Poe's mission to find Lor San Tekka, so it picks up right after the end of Poe's story in Before the Awakening. 

It also will introduce a new villain from The First Order just for Poe. Perhaps it will be a nemesis TIE fighter jockey (sort of like a Snoopy-vs.-The-Red-Baron scenario?). Or will it explore the fan theories of Poe's Force sensitivity with a Dark Side villain?

And although I'm not getting my expectations up too high, I will note that Marvel, while not awesome about it historically, has been increasingly good about portraying LGBT heroes (Northstar, Richter/Shatterstar, Hulkling/Wiccan).

Hope springs eternal, right?

"No... It's not true... That's im-Poe-ssible!!!!"

So the fan theory du jour about Poe is that he is a sleeper agent of The First Order after some off-screen mind-melding by Kylo Ren.

From a narrative standpoint, the theory admittedly has some superficial appeal. It explains how Poe got off of Jakku (without bothering to find BB-8), which is never satisfactorily explained in the film. It also incorporates the well-established plot device of Kylo Ren's Force abilities.

But, seriously? The only thing that could make that prediction more heartbreaking is if it turns out that Poe is both secretly a villain and gay. That's right, yet another gay male villain who, if that's true, would likely get smoked by the protagonists.

I don't think I could take a bait and switch like that.

Fortunately, as several commentators and reddit responses have observed, the official TFA novelization describes how Poe survives the TIE fighter crash and gets back to the Resistance--all without assistance or brainwashing from The First Order. I hadn't planned on reading the novelization, but I feel like I need to read that sequence for myself and lay this theory to rest.

Prêt à Poe-ter

These are the only three images I got of the jacket--THE JACKET--from the Episode VII exhibit at Star Wars Celebration last spring. When it comes to iconic costume pieces, this will be right up there with the shirts from Brokeback Mountain (omg *ugly-cries just thinking about it*).

 

Obviously, there are already a bunch of knock-offs available online. Whoever is manufacturing the one with the cheap black plastic buckle clip on the front needs to just stop it. I think I like the one from American Leather Jacket the best: it doesn't have that clip on the front at all and the color is not as nicely distressed/washed out as the original, but it's actually leather and seems to get the weight correct.

Alas Poe, I wish I knew how to quit you.

"The Lip Bite That Launched A Thousand 'Ships"

I wish I'd thought of that, but this Salon contributor beat me to it.

Chikka-chikka. Oh yeaaaaah. Oh yeahhhhhhh.

Star Wars: Before The Poe-wakening.

So it's been out a couple of weeks, but I finally had a chance to read Star Wars: Before The Awakening. Currently, it's Amazon's #1 New Release in Children's Science Fiction Books.

... Shut up. I like reading young reader books. They make me feel super smart.

Anyway, this book is a nice little collection of three short stories, one each for Finn, Rey, and Poe. As expected, it's an easy quick read (for an adult *cough*) and well worth it.

Finn's story has a lot of scenes involving Phasma, and she just oozes that gleaming, faceless ruthlessness that Gwendolyn Christie so would have nailed if she'd been in TFA for more than a few moments.

In addition, the short story introduces us to the other members of Finn's Stormtrooper fire-team. For example, the hapless FN-2003, or Slip, is the Stormtrooper that Poe expertly snipes during the opening raid sequence on Jakku, and who leaves his bloody hand print on Finn's helmet. Knowing more about the relationship between Finn and Slip definitely adds dimension to Finn's crisis of consciousness during the Jakku raid. If Finn only knew who killed Slip, the Stormpilot ship might enter some treacherous waters...

Also, the Internet is abuzz with the compelling theory that fan-favorite TR-8R is another one of Finn's former team members.

And again, reading Before The Awakening will certainly deepen the impact of this scene. [TR-8R is Nines, confirmed on starwars.com the same day as this post.]

Rey's story was really atmospheric and well-written, but it provides zero insight into her backstory. There's nothing about the x-wing pilot doll, who dropped her on Jakku, or any other tidbit that offers any clue about her mysterious past. Still, worth a look.

The centerpiece of the collection is Poe's story, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a fanboy. It has a good amount of character backstory, and I mean all the way back, like to his parents on Yavin 4 after the Battle of Endor. It turns out that he is just a Poe boy from a Poe family.

The story includes multiple well-written zero-gravity dog fighting sequences, and of course, a few "D'aaawwww" BB-8 moments. It follows Poe as his resourcefulness and dedication expose a conspiracy, which ultimately leads up to the moment of Poe receiving his mission to locate Lor San Tekka from Princess General You-Know-Who. It's a great tie-in to the film and really fun to read.

I can I assure you, I was scrutinizing every word for some clue to Poe's sexual poe-clivities, straight or gay, but no dice. I was looking so closely, in fact, that one passage in particular, taken totally out of context, made me giggle:

Leia was looking up at Poe, smiling ever so slightly. “Flyboys. You’re all the same.”

“Some of us are flygirls,” Poe said. 

*SNAPS* OOOOOOO GIRL! Or should I say: FLY GIRL?

That's right, In Living Color, bitchez.

But seriously, Poe is portrayed throughout the story as a consummate professional and treats his fellow pilots and Resistance colleagues of both genders with respect, warmth, and camaraderie. Other than him acting like an all-around awesome guy, there's nothing overt to go on here.

Bottom line: Looking for some satisfying but fluffy reading for your weekend? Pick up or download this book. But don't expect any revelations other than "Wow, Poe really is that dreamy."

Why I Need an LGBT Hero: A Poe-lemic

Obviously, I've been thinking a lot about why it matters to me that Poe could be a central and heroic LGBT character in the Star Wars universe. Why should a gay guy who grew up in the 1980's care so much about finally seeing a positive and courageous cinematic role model for gay science fiction geeks? The answer basically comes down to this asshole:

Fucking Baron Vladimir Harkonnen from Dune.

Specifically, the portrayal of Baron Harkonnen in the 1984 David Lynch adaptation, in all its grotesquely homosexual and homicidal horror.

First, let me just acknowledge that Frank Herbert's Dune is a monumental achievement in science fiction literature. The text is clear that its chief antagonist, Baron Harkonnen, is gay. And because the book came out in 1965, very pre-Stonewall, it's not particularly surprising that a gay villain is portrayed as a conniving sadist. It's perfectly consistent with the prevailing binary tropes of gay male characters being either effeminate clowns or dangerous sociopaths. 

Second, please don't mistake me: I love David Lynch. It's impossible to overstate how hard Twin Peaks rocked my world. Mulholland Drive is easily one of my all-time favorite films. I even kind of enjoyed the delirious lunacy of Lynch's Dune adaptation when I later revisited it on videotape--Patrick Stewart and Kyle MacLachlan were great, the Bene Gesserit were darkly fabulous, and Sting made me feel that intoxicating combination of excited and scared. You know what I'm talking about.

Did I mention that Sting was effing glorious?

But here's the problem. The year is 1988. I am solidly in my mid-teens, definitely past puberty and secretly (so secretly) aware that I'm gay. By then, everything about my imagination and personality has been shaped by Star Wars and my passion for all things space and science fiction. 

Lynch's Dune, which flopped in theaters in 1984, has been horribly adapted for a televised mini-series event. For whatever reason, that televised version comes on at my grandparents' house. I can't imagine why they are letting us watch it--my grandmother was a seriously devout member of an extremely insular Christian church in rural Ohio and anything not-the-Bible was just confusing to her. My grandpa didn't care so much about the church, so maybe he was watching it? I don't know. In any event, this bullshit pops up on their TV:

I mean. WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK. My first instinct, as this is airing in my ultra-conservative grandparents' TV room in the depths of 1988, was mortified panic. How was I supposed to outwardly react? Like all closeted kids, I was an expert at maintaining a poker face or, if pressed, making a homophobic comment when something seemed too gay. But what response could sufficiently camouflage my own gayness in such confusing and disgusting circumstances? I was at an utter loss. I was so flustered that I simply left the room.

But the inner conflict I experienced was far more haunting. I knew I wanted to be with boys, and I knew I loved science fiction. But as far as I knew in 1988, this scene was the only way I had ever seen those two dimensions of my personality reconciled on-screen. And it was full of gag-worthy pustule drainage and fear and victimization and bloody rape-murder. Was that about me? This scene could easily disturb any kid--but a confused and lonely gay teen? It seriously wrecked me.

It would easily be another decade before less rapey and murdery gay characters would start appearing in pop culture, but not usually in science fiction and certainly not as protagonists. In very real ways, the specter of Baron Harkonnen has been casting his corpulent shadow over my perception of what it means to be gay in a science fiction movie for nearly 30 years. 

Then, Poe Dameron shows up, and he is the exact polar opposite of Baron Harkonnen. He's loyal, funny, dignified, passionate, charismatic, and courageous. Gay kids could see all those things in someone they can closely identify with, instead of just seeing detestable villains or, worse, cowering victims whose only future is to get their hearts (literally) ripped out. 

Could Poe be the hero we are looking for, who can save science fiction films from a century of toxic cinematic stereotypes of gay people? It's a lot to ask, but I am dying to see him try.

Indecent Pro-Poe-sal

I just melt. That look!

Can't Find Your Perfect Sleeping Poe-sition?

Yes, this is happening. Embrace it. And then snuggle it, coo loving goodnights to it, and drift off to sleep as you play big spoon to it.

Your very own Poe Dameron body pillow.

The one on the left, for sure. The bondage one goes to a dark place I'd rather not visit right before bedtime. Also, it doesn't look as much like Oscar Isaac as the other one. Am I overthinking it?

Poemosexual: Poe-try to Our Ears.

I thought I was being all clever and cute when I thought up Poemosexual, but a quick search proved that--once again--people on the Internet are always more clever and cute than I'll ever be.

Seems like a lot of people reference or hashtag "poemosexual" in reference to either poetry, or less frequently, Edgar Allen Poe. But those brainiacs are doing it wrong. Obviously, it's much more hilarious and timely to use it in reference to the Poe-tential (it's only going to get worse, buckle in) that Poe Dameron is gay--or more commonly, in reference to shipping Poe and Finn.

A search for poemosexual on Twitter shows that poemosexual was first used in reference to Poe's sexuality on opening day, 12/18, in a Tweet by user @twelvicity in response to this fan art:

There have only been a handful of the poemosexual hashtag on Twitter since then.

Meanwhile, over on the Instagrams, I could only find one posting. I fully support and endorse @chrispan91 and his proclamation of his poemosexuality.

By now, Poemos are literally Poe-ing out of the woodwork--as of this entry, there are over 700 slash fic entries in the Archive Of Our Own.

!!!!

Time to start reading--and to start hashtagging "poemosexual" with wild abandon!