PT The Phantom Menace - Is It Racist?

Dangerous waters to wade into. Would I call it racist? No. Do I think some of the characters are racial stereotypes? Certainly. The two are not necessarily the same thing. The Stereotypes do make me squirm in my seat a bit, and I DETEST how the Gungans are portrayed, but it never strikes me that portrayals are intended to insult or degrade actual human beings. That doesn't excuse the clumsy handling, but intent does make a difference.

 

the portrayalbof imperials as english has more to do with the fact that outside of a few weeks in tunisia the first film was shoot in england and english actors were what was most cost effective.

 

Tunisia, in Tataouine.

 

It's VERY racist because it uses the "White Devil" trope in Palpatine and Anakin.

 

What a thread to find & dig up

 

I just wanted to see what people thought about all those racist accusations against Lucas. Glad to see nobody took them seriously.

 

Some people are exaggerating.
There is no racism in Star Wars trilogy.
But you should know that Star Wars is very sexist,portraying males as evil.
If you see,in 7 episodes are 5 Sith Lords,if not 6 (not sure if Supreme Leader Snoke is Sith Lord or not) and all
these Sith Lords are males.
If it is not normal to discriminate against females,is not normal to discriminate against males either.

 

NO

 

ha ha!

 

Given that no one can agree on which races a given character or group of aliens is meant to stereotype, I'd say that if it had been Lucas' intent to depict racist traits, he did a very bad job of it. Is Watto Italian, Arabic or Jewish? Are the Neimoidians Japanese or Thai? Or, if just generically "Asian", are we meant to take the Asian-American Naboo pilot as a good example of Asians? And what about Amidala's Asian-influenced robes and headdresses? If the Gungans are supposed to be African, why do Boss Nass and General Tarpals not sound, look or walk like stereotypical Africans are supposed to do? None of it makes a lick of sense, and I think the theory is easily dismantled.

 

I wish I could give an answer. But many fans cannot seem to make up their minds on which ethnic group is being insulted in regards to the Neimoidans, the Gungans and especially Jar-Jar. In regard to the latter, it was Ahmed Best who came up with the voice. He presented it to Lucas in the hope of making his role larger. Apparently, it worked.

 

Yes, they're looking at a black actor whose movements and speech make up the basis of the character, and complaining that he looks and acts "black", whatever that is, exactly. Meanwhile, Nass and Tarpals don't get the same "racist" complaint because, yeah guess what, they're played by white actors.

 

It can be seen as insensitive, but I don't think its actively racist.

 

The characters being racist didn't even go through my mind until I came across the RLM reviews. Whoever thought it was racist when they first saw it must purposely try to find racist characters so they can get some dirt on the film.

 

Is George Lucas/TPM racist? no.
Is the galaxy a little human centric? kinda.
i mentioned this in another thread so forgive me for repeating myself but its kinda ******, that Gungans seemingly make up half the population of Naboo, but the human inhabitants kinda kept their distance, until they needed a war fighting to get them out of a jam.
It was only until then that the Gungans were afforded any kind of representation in the senate.

something very interesting to ponder is how droids are treated in the galaxy. we know through R2 and 3po that Droids can display a sense of humour, strike friendships, harbour concerns and act upon initiative.Is it at all far fetched to say that droids in star wars self aware or concious. whats more is that (again using r2 and 3po as an example) there are droids who have played massive roles in the shaping of the galaxy and have performed heroic deeds during times of war.
no gives a ship about wiping their memories or owning and selling them like slaves. Hell they arnt even welcome in most bars!
Would kill Darth Vader to tell C3PO that he to is his father? Theyve been through way more together than him and Luke have!
sorry maybe this should be in another thread - but if you dont think being anti-droids is racist, then you are a racist!
just kidding.

 

May I suggest you not impose motives on people you don't know? As I said, I don't think Lucas is a racist, but I certainly think some of the characterizations in the film relied on sterotypes and tropes that are at least racially insensitive. Lucas is not the most self-reflexive guy in the world. I have no doubt he never intended to offend anyone. But it was obvious to me, and I desperately wanted to LOVE that movie. I didn't, and this kind of thing was one reason. But I don't think George has a mean bone in his body.

 

Agreed. I don't think for a second there was any intentional racism in the film. However I can see the argument that there were some racial stereotypes. This article explains it pretty well. IMO these examples have some merit except no 2 (& 4 is a bit shaky). Again though I don't believe Lucas has a racist bone in his body.

http://www.weirdworm.com/the-five-most-racist-star-wars-characters/

 

The problem is that no one can agree on which groups that are being caricaturized in "The Phantom Menace". No one is being specific.

I don't see why that would be construed as a joke. If we can have a serious discussion on whether or not "The Phantom Menace" is racist, why can't we have a similar discussion on whether the OT is racist or sexist?

 

I agree. Apparently, that decision was made during the making of TESB. Kershner decided that British actors would have their voice replaced by British actors, and vice versa.

I've heard for years that the Trade Federation accents are Thai and they are supposed to represent the Chinese, that Watto is Arabic, and that Jar Jar is Caribbean or something. I basically look at TPM as a kid's movie, and so I think people are reading too much into it. The basic idea is that these are all aliens. The TF is corrupt, Watto is greedy, and Jar Jar is silly. I, for one, like Darth Maul's accent. It seems like Sidious's Core/English accent rubbed off on him, and I like that they kept that in TCW (in contrast to the other Nightbrothers).

 

So, he replaced British actors with British voices?

 

Yep. Kershner explained it in the commentary. I got became accustomed to it to the point that, when I hear Imperial officers with American accents in ANH, I find it weird.

 

No, but you said he replaced British with British.

Don't you mean American with British?

 

Um...yeah. Mistakes were made. Lol.

 

Which characterizations do you consider to be "racially insensitive"? Which ones are even identifiable as stereotypes?

Is Watto Italian, Arabic or Jewish? Are the Neimoidians Japanese, Chinese or Thai? Or, if just generically "Asian", are we meant to take the Asian-American Naboo pilot as a good example of Asians? And what about Amidala's Asian-influenced robes and headdresses? If there are Asian influences on both sides, are they all "insensitive stereotypes"? Or are we only to be alarmed at the "bad" ones? If the Gungans are supposed to be African, why do Boss Nass and General Tarpals not sound, look or walk like stereotypical Africans are supposed to do? And if they're the good guys, what does it matter anyway?

Star Wars mirrors life and cultures on Earth. Symbolically speaking, Luke is an American farmboy; Han is an Old West gunslinger. The Imperials are Nazis. Are these racially insensitive, too? For the writers and the designers of these films, there are only so many cultures to draw from. Some of the characters are good and some are bad. That doesn't make any of them racist, stereotypical or insensitive. It's fantasy fiction.