Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/01/05/diego-luna-shares-a-touching-p.html
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Man, representation is so important.
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I got emotional reading it.
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I’ve seen posts from Pakistani people on Facebook and Twitter who saw Riz Ahmed’s character and assumed that he’d be killed in the first few minutes. Seeing a Pakistani guy turn out to be one of the main characters of a Star Wars movie (and a hero, even) was huge for them.
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Bit different from his Four Lions one…
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I had also assumed he’d be a throwaway character, in any other movie that definitely would’ve been the case and had some pretty white guy take his stead as pilot.
The first time i saw Rogue one Cassian’s accent and Bodhi (the cargo pilot) becoming integral to the story were both things i definitely noticed. On the flipside i felt Chirrut and Baze to be more one dimensional and that Disney put them there to pander, i didn’t care for them in the movie as much.
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I wondered if they got left on the cutting room floor.
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They were easily my favorite characters in the movie; I loved what Donnie Yen did with Chirrut, and hope to see more about their backstory. But I guess with a big ensemble movie like this one everyone can focus on the characters they enjoy most.
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On the other hand there are plenty of people supper happy that Star Wars has an on-screen gay couple.
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I’m sure Disney put them in mainly as a business decision to appeal to the Asian market, but I’d definitely watch the heck out of a prequel movie focused on those two. The characters are intriguing, backstory or not, and the actors playing them are compelling.
That didn’t occur to me while I was watching the film, but after I read some articles on the topic my response was “yeah, there’s nothing indicating they shouldn’t be considered a couple and quite a bit indicating they should be.”
That representation would be as important as including protagonists with accents or diverse ethnic backgrounds. Disney and Lucasfilm have proven themselves very willing to do the latter two, so perhaps they’ll use the opportunity of these two characters to do the former.
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Those two characters were probably the ones I most connected with, probably because they were likable in their devotion to each other.
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Indeed. I think it is great that the media is slowly starting to catch up with peoples’ lives.
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It was pretty cool to see an actual diverse cast in a movie. Showing that in a galaxy far, far away, your skin color or sex doesn’t matter. What matters is you taking a stand against the darkness.
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I left the theater feeling better about things than I had in weeks. About the diversity, about the role of heroism. About seeing a distrusted character who fearlessly and unhesitatingly becomes a hero.
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agreed. I compare Drumpf to the Death Star…lots of power, but a torpedo up the exhaust port will take it out.
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They just didn’t work for me. But i enjoy having this kind of conversation 
i’m definitely glad to read comments that other people did enjoy them. Just goes to show that there’s something for almost everyone in this new movie.
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As a gay guy who saw the movie with his boyfriend, I could easily see them as a gay couple while watching the movie, and honestly, I felt like their relationship with each other was treated really nicely. They were clearly devoted to each other, and Baze’s tenderness toward Chirrut during his death scene – and Baze taking up his devotional mantra – was powerful enough that I didn’t need extra onscreen confirmation of whether they’re technically a gay couple or not. In a war movie like this, it’s enough to see two men with that kind of devotion and relationship.
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I’m a bit jaded over obvious business decisions driving elements of plot in movies. But they’re supposed to be making money so there’s only so much complaining to be done if the end product is good. And i loved the movie, i just would’ve liked to have seen those two characters executed a bit differently. Not that my opinion matters that much, if other people love them i wouldn’t dare shit on them for it 
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I saw them more as brothers, and they had a definite love and care for each other, but also a sense of protective obligation. But it’s definitely cool that different people are getting something totally different and personal from different elements of this movie. Reminds me of the last Mad Max movie and how important that became to people with disabilities and women, and the movie wasn’t made to pander to them.
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