Finn Appreciation Week
| Challenge | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Finn Appreciation Week |
| Date(s): | March 2018 |
| Moderator(s): | |
| Founder: | |
| Type: | |
| Fandom: | Star Wars Sequel Trilogy |
| URL: | https://finnappreciationweek.tumblr.com (deleted), |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Finn Appreciation Week was a fanweek organized on Tumblr that focused on Finn of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.
Controversy
Finn Appreciation Week was widely discussed and criticized for their decision to not reblog FinnRose works. Initially the moderator appeared willing to accept FinnRose submissions even though they didn't ship the pair themselves. In early interactions with anons on Tumblr, the mod highlighted the anti-blackness of The Last Jedi. They appear to have changed their stance on reblogging FinnRose content after they became aware of content in The Last Jedi novelization. There were also references to increasingly anti-FinnRose sentiment in fandom at the same time.
The moderators of the FinnAppreciationWeek believed that the pairing of Finn Rose was anti-black and misogynistic because of Rose's violence towards Finn in their first meeting, and claim that she was verbally and emotionally abusive to him. Many fans disagreed and believed that the decision to exclude Rose was racist, pointing out that a white moderator discouraging works featuring a WOC was deeply problematic.
Finn Appreciation Week were also unwilling to accept/reblog works of art where Finn is noticeably taller than other characters, or works that whitewash the character.[note 1]
The inciting incident that brought it to wider fandom attention may have been an anon ask, saying a Rose Tico appreciation week was organised for the same week to spite the mods. The fan organising the Rose appreciation week reblogged this post, and the Finn Appreciation Week mod responded in a manner that was disparaging toward Reylos[note 2]. See screenshots here and here.
Announcement post
Anon asks if any pairings are not allowed, referencing FinnRose hate
Anon suggesting FR should not be allowed
Anon asks why Rose is considered anti-black
Anon points out other abusive ships are welcome
Reactions
I hope you can realize that I, as a Southeast Asian woman like Kelly Marie Tran, was hurt by this, and I hope that you can find it in your heart to understand why a lot of people would feel alienated by such a declaration coming from a white person like yourself, and I hope that you can also understand why these people would want to participate in another event that doesn’t ban Finnrose. I hope that you can please also think very long and hard about the implications of a white moderator shutting out a WoC character from a fandom event. [1]
Notes
- ^ FinnAppreciationWeek.tumblr.com no longer exists and their faq is not accessible. From memory, I believe this post has screenshots of the original rules post, here
- ^ Disparaging comments may have been particularly in tags(?), which are not included in screenshots. Screenshots suggest finnappreciationweek said the mod of Rose appreciation week had them blocked but was still reblogging. Roseappreciationweek mod denied they had blocked.