As they say, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. On the flip side, just because they're out to get you doesn't mean you're not paranoid. Finn was of course right about their being already recognized, possibly even about the First Order's inevitable victory given the events of TLJ. That doesn't mean he isn't heavily traumatized. Finn has intimate knowledge of the FO and he is heavily damaged from the experience, which are not mutually exclusive statements since he has gained that kind of knowledge of the FO by being victimized by it.
That said, my argument was not that this scene necessitates reading Finn as a cult survivor to make sense, hence the expression "can be interpreted as Finn showing cult survivor behavior" (emphasis added). That is, the specific ways he presented himself as he gave his assessment of the FO's capabilities, and the way others reacted to that presentation, seem to dovetail with what has been observed about cult members. All that is really required for that interpretation to stand is that it accords with and does not contradict what we see in canon. The fact that his tactical assessment is more or less accurate--though hopefully not ultimately, or Episode IX will be a depressing movie--is not a contradiction but an additional explanation in my mind.
I think you make a good assessment of Finn's character! I still hold out hope for some kind of Force-sensitive Finn; I really need to port over my speculative essay about Force-immune Finn. That and a Stormtrooper rebellion are my favorite speculations for IX.
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Date: 2019-02-09 04:00 am (UTC)That said, my argument was not that this scene necessitates reading Finn as a cult survivor to make sense, hence the expression "can be interpreted as Finn showing cult survivor behavior" (emphasis added). That is, the specific ways he presented himself as he gave his assessment of the FO's capabilities, and the way others reacted to that presentation, seem to dovetail with what has been observed about cult members. All that is really required for that interpretation to stand is that it accords with and does not contradict what we see in canon. The fact that his tactical assessment is more or less accurate--though hopefully not ultimately, or Episode IX will be a depressing movie--is not a contradiction but an additional explanation in my mind.
I think you make a good assessment of Finn's character! I still hold out hope for some kind of Force-sensitive Finn; I really need to port over my speculative essay about Force-immune Finn. That and a Stormtrooper rebellion are my favorite speculations for IX.