There’s only one thing that really matters when it comes to J.J. Abrams‘ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and it’s not (a) “is it a good or great film?” or (b) “does it have enough in the way of light-sabre duels?” or (c) “does it deliver a sufficiently emotional finale?” or anything in that realm.

No, what matters to Hollywood Elsewhere is “are there sufficient amounts of LGBTQ representation?”

I know that when I read earlier today that a hot romance between Oscar Isaac‘s Poe Dameron and John Boyega‘s Finn could not be counted upon…when I read this will not materialize in the forthcoming Disney release, I felt a stab of disappointment. I felt, actually, as if a lightsaber had punctured my heart.

Isaac felt the same way. In an apparent allusion to a physical relationship between Poe and Finn, the darkly attractive actor told Variety‘s Adam B. Vary that he “kind of hoped and wished that [same-sex issues] would’ve been taken further in the other films, but I don’t have control…it seemed like a natural progression, but sadly enough it’s a time when people are too afraid, I think, of…I don’t know what.”

What are all those straight Star Wars fans “afraid” of anyway? What’s so scary about love between passionate, trusting partners?

Isaac told Vary that the “ambiguity” of Poe and Finn’s relationship “might allow more people to see themselves” in Poe and Finn. “But if they would’ve been boyfriends, that would have been fun.”

And yet somehow the idea of Finn and Poe…there’s something about this image that doesn’t exactly say “Star Wars” to me. Am I being hurtful by sharing this thought? Am I standing in the way of a new evolving consciousness? I don’t want to be that person. I’m just, you know, an Empire Strikes Back kind of guy. Is there room for guys like me in the new Star Wars universe?

There is at least a note of assurance from The Rise of Skywalker‘s director. “In the case of the LGBTQ community, it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film,” Abrams told Vary. “I will say I’m giving away nothing about what happens in the movie. But I did just say what I just said.”