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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga What if the saga was reversed?

Discussion in 'Star Wars Saga In-Depth' started by slimybug, Mar 13, 2011.

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  1. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
    Why not? It worked for Stepin Fetchit and Hattie McDaniel (the first black actors to become a millionaire and receive an Oscar, respectively). Carl Weathers's movie career was launched by Rocky, yet he admits the film succeeded in great part by playing on some pretty insidious racial tensions.

    And that's just scratching the surface of one minority group. Do we need to get into the thousands of actresses who accept roles that are utterly degrading to women, and in all-too-many cases literally whoring themselves out to executives for bigger roles and more exposure?

    I'm not saying Best considers Jar-Jar a racist character. But it's just naive to think that no one would take a role degrading to their race/gender/orientation/etc. if it would help their career. And TPM was guaranteed to be one of the biggest movies of all time before the cameras even rolled - before Lucas even put pen to paper on the first draft of the script.
     
  2. obi-arin-kenobi

    obi-arin-kenobi Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 10, 2005
    Clint Eastwood as Qui Gon, Morgan Freeman as Mace Windu, and Jack Nicholson as Yoda. Pretty simple; the Catholic Church ceases to exist.
     
  3. DRush76

    DRush76 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2008
    My main comment was going to be that I don't think Ahmed Best, as an African American, would consent to play a character that negatively stereotyped African Americans.


    Jar-Jar Binks negatively stereotyped African-Americans? Would you have made that accusation if an actor who was not African-American had voiced Jar-Jar? After all, it was Best who came up with the voice and insisted upon using it. What if a white actor who had used another accent had voiced Jar-Jar, but the character remained the same? Would you accuse Lucas of negatively stereotyping whatever ethnic group that actor belonged to?
     
  4. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
    Almost definitely. That very issue came up with Transformers 2, and a pair of voice actors (one white and one black, if I remember correctly) whose robot characters embodied some terribly nasty stereotypes.
     
  5. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    I don't think Jar-Jar negatively stereotyped African Americans. I was responding to the PP's statement about the prequels having "offensive racial stereotypes." I don't know if he's referring to Jar-Jar, the Neimoidians or Watto (whose speech mannerisms remind me a bit of my Italian-American husband's relatives, so I'm not sure why anyone accuses him of negatively stereotyping Jews), but I was addressing that point in relation to Jar-Jar.

    FWIW, I don't think the prequels have "offensive racial stereotypes" any more than I think the OT was going for offensive stereotypes by having all the bad guys played by British actors and all the good guys, except Obi-Wan, played by American actors.
     
  6. CoolyFett

    CoolyFett Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 3, 2003
    I agree with this, TPM would be just as good as ANH, the toys & other merch would sell just as well. I don't think AOTC would get the love that ESB does though. Could _ see Obi wan, jar jar & padme custumes selling well for halloween? Yep but darth maul would out sell them.
     
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