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jyndor · 2 years

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let’s talk about anxiety, excitement and negativity about andor:

(or cait has a slow day at the salon so now we get this discourse. read if you want, and if you think I’m being negative at the end of this essay I’m genuinely curious as to why, and I’d like to hear from you).

ANDOR SPOILERS behind the cut:

A good thing about Rogue One is that the fandom has very diverse, robust opinions on the characters. Undoubtedly some of those opinions I disagree with, but I like that we all have varying interpretations of canon. Fanfiction writers - even the ones like me who barely do any writing lmfao #rip - have done a lot to build fanon into what it is. And we’ve had YEARS to do it. So we’ve naturally got Pretty Strong Feelings about these characters and what they’ve been through before the film (and after for those of us in utter denial).

Cassian Andor is a character that I immediately liked - as was Jyn Erso, for very similar and different reasons all at once. He is a character that has a lot of the traits I most admire in people and that I value in myself - strong sense of right and wrong, good judgment, dedication, loyalty. And I liked that Rogue One allowed these characters to be unlikable at times, that they always stayed true to what a real person in their shoes might do, not what a character in a story might do. We get to explore what makes Cassian into the character we see in the film, how he grows into that man.

His growth is pretty dynamic just in the film alone, so the idea that we might see where he comes from - what shapes him into the Cassian we see in the film - has always appealed to me. When the Cassian show was announced I knew that it was going to change things for what we see as canon, that it was going to flesh things out about his character in ways I might not agree with. I was and am SO EXCITED to see one of my favorite characters on screen again.

When someone who is an authority on what canon is says something that doesn’t really fit our individual understandings of canon, that can feel weird. It’s different than when a fellow fan thinks differently on canon because lol none of us have any actual sway over canon - just our own interpretations of canon. I mean don’t get me wrong some of y’all annoy me with your hot takes too but it’s far more aggravating when it’s like one of those idiots on the Lucafilm Story Whatever Board spewing some shit. Even George Lucas sometimes annoys me with his literal own interpretation of his own content ... I mean that’s nothing new in this fandom.

For example, this is a silly one. Whenever Diego says (rightfully bc he is 10000% correct) that Cassian is dead, my dumbass is like WHERES THE BODY BITCH. I get kind of, idk, weird about it? Because in my headcanon, these characters are not dead. That is called a ~personal problem and I’m only sort of joking. I’m pro-the ending because it works so well, but I am also one of the weirdos who wouldn’t actually be mad if they retconned it. They shouldn’t, I know that it actually would take away from how hard the ending hits, but I wouldn’t be mad. I assume most of you disagree with that - and you’re right to disagree because I’m objectively wrong but I also just ~~~FEEL THAT WAY.

This is an example of my interpretation being non-canonical. But I’ve already seen the film so I can make that conclusion if I want to - it’s absurd and completely defenseless (NO BODY NO CRIME js) but it is what it is.

So it stands to reason that if we have feelings about how things would have gone had Cassian lived, we also all have feelings about how things went before Rogue One. And considering there is only a little bit of information canonically, our feelings are going to be WILDLY varied. I think we all know that.

I fully expect the show to deviate from some things in my headcanon - like for instance, I don’t expect Cassian to be a math/piloting genius just because I interpret the escaping Jedha scene as Cassian being exceptionally gifted at calculating jumps. That’s my interpretation and I recognize that it’s just that. An interpretation. I do expect him to be very good at piloting because he is one in canon. If the trailer showed 20-something Cassian sucking at piloting I’d be side-eyeing the shit out of it. I don’t expect Cassian to be someone who picks up strays everywhere he goes, but I do expect him to “have the face of a friend” no matter how superficially.

And in the same vein, and much more seriously, I expect that someone who argues with a literal former child soldier about how she only joined up when the fight impacted her personal life to have been in some sort of resistance in his teens at LEAST. I’m not saying the spoilers are conclusive in any way about any of this, but some of the quotes give me pause. I don’t think that’s negative, I don’t think that’s anything other than having a feeling about a thing that seems pretty much established fact: that Cassian Andor was a Separatist himself is kind of murky (he was a child lmfao) but that he was in the fight from an early age? Literally canon I’m sorry.

But also, spoilers don’t come with context and trailers misrepresent things all the time. That’s why I was waiting to firmly decide if I thought Adria was playing a love interest. Trailers lie: that scene could still be Bix showing Cassian something without like sexual tension lmfao, but it very likely is intended to be romantic. Okay, cool. I still don’t know how I’ll feel about their relationship because I haven’t seen the show yet. I have Concerns based on my interpretation of Tony Gilroy’s quote about their relationship being on again off again and Cassian burning bridges with Bix and everyone lmfao, but for all I know contextually it could work really well to me! But without that context, that sounds like a toxic relationship and I’d rather Cassian not have a toxic relationship, especially if my speculation about Bix not making it to the second season is correct. God, I’m so tired of women (in particular woc) dying for men’s stories to progress. I was worried about that when I thought Adria was playing his sister, and I’m worried about that now. I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic - this is a common trope for a reason.

I know that a lot of rebelcaptain shippers are uncomfortable with Cassian being in a relationship with someone else and I don’t agree in this context. It seems kind of odd to me to feel that way, but also I won’t lie that I wouldn’t like it if Cassian is in a committed relationship with another person when Rogue One begins. To me that would chip away at Cassian’s motivations in the film - he’s lost everything, so he throws everything into his service with the Alliance - and if we consider the novelization canon that would be... hard to square with his characterization in the book. But not impossible.

A lot of these spoilers are hard for me to square with my interpretation of what canon says. And my interpretation is pretty literal for the most part - except for the NO BODY NO CRIME ending lmfao - so that does worry me. It worries me that Gilroy said that what we read in Wookiepedia is not the truth about Cassian, but also we haven’t seen the show so for all we know he means that that’s not all there is to know about Cassian, or that the like idk supplemental materials (like the visual dictionary) are not going to remain canon. Which... alright, well then tell a better story.

I don't think it's out of bounds to be skeptical about things in interviews, there's a few choices that I personally not only wouldn't make but that don't seem to track with what literal canon says in the film, but also we have to remember that we haven't seen the context these things they're talking about are in, we haven't seen the show yet. So maybe they do make sense! I am reserving my judgment until I have watched the episodes twice because I know myself well - I have an initial reaction and then a more reasoned reaction after the adrenaline passes. Sometimes it’s the same (my feelings on Rogue One stayed VERY MUCH THE SAME LOL). Often I become a little more critical.

But I can't deny that it's disappointing to hear some spoilers that confuse me and make me nervous. I don't want to be nervous about fundamental things like Cassian's literal childhood not seeming to match what he says in the show - and anyone who says "well him being in the fight since he was a kid is your interpretation" lmfao no it is not. How he was in the fight is absolutely up to interpretation, and I hope that they stick the landing there. I definitely have my reservations from spoilers, but again there’s no context so it’s like... I can’t have an informed opinion.

I feel fairly confident that the show will be well-written and thoughtful, and definitely will have something to say. I think it's gonna be fantastic, but I'm also like, not all that trusting of Lucasfilm. For good reason - I was never a massive Obi Wan stan and even I can see that there were major issues with the show, even if I enjoyed a lot of it. And Boba Fett... yikes. But also the context is different: Diego is EXECUTIVE PRODUCER and has a lot of feelings on his character, and I’m speculating here but I think he has a lot to do with some details - Cassian’s dad is named Jeron in honor of Diego’s son Jeronimo, for example. I think the idea that Cassian is a refugee comes directly from Diego, and the fact that his (adopted) mother is a white woman almost certainly does too. I know Ewan McGregor was Exec Producer for his show but I’ve never gotten the idea that he’s as much of a fan as Diego is. It’s different.

Temeura Morrison also had a lot to do with fleshing out Boba and it still flopped imo but that show’s context is also different - it’s clearly supplemental to the Mandalorian, and also the showrunner wasn’t, idk, literally involved in creating Boba Fett at all. We’ll never know how much Tony Gilroy actually is responsible for - but he was a RO writer even before the reshoots. I wish Gary Whitta and especially Chris Weitz were involved, but who knows. Sometimes writers aren’t credited - Gilroy wasn’t going to be before the reshoots.

They've had years and years to develop the story and it's just got a different feel to the rest of the shows tbh - the fact that they’re not forcing Gilroy to use the Volume says a lot about how much effort they’re putting into the show and how much creative control Disney is relinquishing (maybe). I'm not saying that's a stopgap for bullshit choices, but it tells me they’re being purposeful. That this is a passion project.

But I guess the biggest question is this: what is negativity to you? Is negativity shitposting and making jokes about spoilers? If so, well then I guess I’m negative, in spite of literally all of my years of excitement about and defense of the show. I mean we all have different interpretations of negativity, so if you feel like I’m being negative, well okay then you don’t have to follow me. I’m a grown up, I can take it. I can see how some people might feel like I am being negative because I am reacting to spoilers and not loving what I’m hearing about some things. Personally for me negativity is a lot of things, but critique is not one of them. It is hard to critique something without having seen it though. Practically impossible tbh.

And it's been tiring for all of us Cassian fans to put up with idiots who have been relentless saying no one wanted this show (even though that is not true and also no one ‘wanted’ Rogue One but John Knoll originally, and it’s one of the most beloved SW films ever). So I can understand why some might feel like the anxiety some of us feel about the show’s version of Cassian would feel exhausting to deal with. I don't want to turn off people who are, like me, super excited for the show just because I have concerns. But I’m also not going to accept that having concerns, that being anxious, is being negative on its face. Because I’ve heard that all my life - being mentally ill is not usually a positive experience folks. I know when I’m being negative and when I’m being realistic.

For those of us who are anxious about the show, we should also touch some fuckin grass. It IS easy to get sucked into negativity when anxiety kicks in and ultimately we do not know much about the content of the show. We should try to be better about keeping perspective, not for our followers lmfao but for ourselves. Venting is one thing, but I do think it’s better to use venting to be constructive - find the Now What? of a thing that we’re reacting to. In other words, our immediate reactions will be what they will be, but what do we do when we pause and take the time to think them through?

An example: I think I was being negative in my initial reaction to Cassian’s birth name not being Cassian Andor. I almost immediate understood what they were going for - my last name is not what my ancestors’ last name was back in the old country lmfao. This is a common immigrant experience that transcends origin (thanks structural white supremacy and xenophobia <333) and is a very poignant addition to his story. But I was like EHHH FUCK THAT FUCK CHANGE for a good few minutes or so. Mainly because I’ve always called his Cass, and Kassa is close but honestly read more Greek to me ??? idk lmfao I just had to sit down and think for a moment.

Another example was when I said Gilroy wasn’t involved in writing Rogue One. Well it turns out that I was flat out wrong - he just wasn’t credited with writing he did for the script until the reshoots. So I was being unfair and reactive - it is very likely that he is responsible for why the movie is so good. I wasn’t joking about some dumbass spoilers, I was actually annoyed about the overarching picture these spoilers present of Cassian’s teen years - but of course how can I know what they mean without context?

Realistically I don’t trust Lucasfilm to stick the landing in every case. But I also know that they have before - and specifically THIS TEAM has stuck the landing before - so it’s not like I’m thinking it’s going to suck. I think it’s going to be great. I am worried about how these spoilers fit into what we are going to see but my expectations are still very high. And if they weren’t, well then idk maybe that would be a good thing! It’s easier to enjoy something if you don’t go in with super high expectations.

I think we as fans do need to keep in mind that the show is not going to match our personal interpretations of canon and our feelings on that are going to be what they are - but I also think that it is GREAT they are telling this story at all, and we should wait til we see the finished product to decide if we're actually happy with it or not.

And if we’re not happy with the finished product, well... then we can light them up for it lmfao.

#okay phew #so anyway #how we all doing lmfao #andor spoilers #fandom blegh #im not sure if it's fandom criticism i don't think so??? mainly fandom bridge building????#or like idk contextualizing #i didn't even touch upon toxic positivity because I don't think that was a part of why people were interpreting some stuff as negativity #anyway would love to hear thoughts on this

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