PT Padme's Costumes: Cultural Appropriation or Not?

Hello! This is my first time starting a new thread so I am somewhat nervous about it *sweats* I'm not sure if a thread like this already exists.. (If I've done anything wrong or posted in the wrong area, please let me know!)

Anyway, my friend and I were discussing the PT today, and she mentioned that while Padme is her favorite character, she feels that many of Padme's costumes appropriate from different cultures. I've never considered that, nor do I feel that Padme's costumes are cultural appropriation, but I thought this would be an interesting topic to see what other people have to say!

I'd love to hear others' thoughts on this.

 

Of course they draw inspiration from many cultures! Everything in Star Wars does, it's only natural to draw on the world around us when creating a fictional universe.

However, I don't consider it to be cultural appropriation. Why? The Naboo are a fictional culture and people. Everything about them is made up or drawn from real life. How boring indeed would it be if we said that fictional cultures had to follow the real life cultures corresponding to the actor's? Now, if I were to go around dressed as a Swahili warrior and claim to be such, despite being nearly as white as clone trooper armor, that's cultural appropriation. But if I were writing a novel, and created a Tribe of people who happened to be white, and for their clothing I drew upon that of the Swahilis, giving them a different name, mixed in some other bits, etc, that's just writing.

 

I don't know but Queen Amidala's wardrobe certainly had plenty of different clothes in TPM…lol

 

I know they came from a variety of different culture. But I'm not really a cloths fanatic so I'm not even going to try and dissect each and every one.

 

I would say more reference than appropriation. We have already discussed here http://boards.theforce.net/threads/historical-references-in-the-prequels.50038237/ some of the cultural and social aspects of the Naboo world ( the most interesting planet for me in PT universe). No matter that for me Naboo is the Mediterranean of SW, the costumes of Padme as queen are clearly Eastern ones, influenced by Japanese traditional costumes mostly. Even her royal makeup is such thing: in China and Japan the brides (and not only they) covered their face with this white thing (I don't know the word in English). The interesting thing is that they did it in Europe too, during the reign of Elizabeth I, but the 'lipstick' of Padme has clear eastern influences. You can see here different types of patterns of Chinese lip makeup, I think one of them is exactly as the Padme one's: http://traditions.cultural-china.com/en/15Traditions6723.html .

 

Cultural appropriation isn't always a bad thing. Vader's image is basically that of a Japanese Samurai.

 

Good point! I always knew of Star Wars' multicultural inspiration, and I never had thought of it as cultural appropriation before. It just struck me as so strange that my friend would consider it cultural appropriation...

 

Cultural appropriation is one of those things that's oftentimes in the eye of the beholder. The interpretation could also be made that since Chinese and Japanese cultures are both largely hegemonic within their spheres of influence, it's not the theft of a marginalized group because the power dynamic isn't that of a an oppressed class. I do think an argument can be made that there's not a single Asian actor in the Saga (so far as I remember), so using all these elements is a little whitewashing.

There are a lot of Chinese and Japanese influences in all of Star Wars in sort of a mish mash. I mean, the Jedi for example is a real, over-the-top example of giving Buddhist monks laser swords. Does it kind of try to take these elements, strip them of meaning, and just use it to make it seem more "exotic"? I don't really think so, but mileage varies I guess.

 

People these days are just looking for something to be offended by or to find some social justice cause where there is none.

 

Just have a trigger warning on the films and then they can go to their safe spaces

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Indeed. Padme Amidala isn't a white American woman wearing East Asian costumes; she's a human of Naboo wearing her cultural garb. I'm not sure it would have been considered as borderline appropriating were Natalie Portman replaced by an East Asian actress, but in the story, the character of Padme would still be a human of Naboo.

A general point can be made about the lack of identifiably East Asian faces in a setting that's very much inspired by Japan and China (somewhat rectified by Senator Breemu in ROTS and Sifo-Dyas in TCW, among others) but Padme's costumes don't strike me as much more egregious than the attire of the Jedi and Sith.

Still, I'm sure Luminara Unduli's Order 66 execution began when a clone trooper decided to rip that appropriated Maori tattoo off her face...

 

Here is what I think

Tattoine-Midle Eastern
Naboo-Italian
Jedi/Sith-Middle Ages French templar

 

Also the next two queens of Naboo were played by a South Asian actress in AOTC and a Maori actress in ROTS.

 

And in the comic Shattered Empire which is a prelude to TFA. The Queen of Naboo from that time has an Eastern Asian appearance.

Her name is Sosha Soruna. She was the queen immediately following the victory after Endor.

 

The only way to stop "cultural appropriation" is to get rid of all culture.

 

That's what the Empire did after the fall of the Republic, with a more military regime...

 

Is cultural appropriation even applicable to works of fiction? Legends and stories that are passed down over time take influences from a variety of cultures. Beowulf comes to mind as a hodgepodge of different cultures. Finally, cultural appropriation often has to do with a perceived negative notion associated with borrowing a culture's trait. Star Wars is fairly unbiased in how it references historical design works to allude to that particular society. It's not the same as stealing with the intention of claiming as your own.

Anyways, enjoy this image of the breakdown of Japanese and Mongolian influences on Amidala's senate gown.

 

I have mixed feelings about her costumes...like honestly I don't care if its taken from different cultures. But it just seems like too much. Too extravagant. All these costume changes and hairstyles in such a varying degree... Like she made Effie Trinket look positively humble.

 

When I was younger, I never thought much about the style behind Padme's costumes. I always called her like the Crazy Costume Queen Lady or something like that . Some were good but others made her look ridiculous

 

I say no. It's not cultural appropriation. I think the term is used too broadly. Its general definition is just "adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture without invitation or permission of use." By that definition, a non-Japanese person preparing sushi for a party is appropriating Japanese culture.

No, I think cultural appropriation occurs when a dominant culture or a culture that exerts some sort of hegemony redefines the meaning of another culture's element and makes it the dominant perception of that culture.

The easiest one that springs to mind? Hitler appropriating the swastika for use as the symbol of the Nazi party. Because of Hitler, many, many people's first thought when they see a swastika is to associate it with the Nazis.

A more recent pop culture example would be when the "twerking" dance was attributed to Miley Cyrus when it (likely) has its roots in New Orleans from what I've read at least.

Using other cultures as inspiration for costumes in Star Wars doesn't override or cause misattribution of the original culture so it's not cultural appropriation in my book.

Inspiration, not appropriation.

 

Ugh, more overly-sensitive people thinking everything's offensive. I'm surprised no one said Star Wars is racist because the second most evilest man in the galaxy is voiced by a black guy.

 

Actually this did happen. I was watching old footage about Star Wars on youtube and a news report in the early 80s was saying that there has been some backlash because the "only black character" in Star Wars is evil. This was before ESB was released.

 

Actually, I think this 'too much' is deliberate. The queen is public service on Naboo, so the queen in her costume is not a person but a service , a symbol, an authority and looks more like a queen and not like a woman. Especially in the case of Padme where we see her completely different personas: as Padme, the real girl (and as such, she presents herself as simple and humble handmaiden) and queen Amidala (never Padme!) as the governess of Naboo. Also a practical effect of such outfit is that those 'too much" costumes help to be substituted by Sabe and even the viewers hardly understand that .

 

In a fictional world,the whole "cultural appropriation" thing is null and void.

 

The term itself is ridiculous.