Lit Ignorance is Bias: The Diversity Manifesto

Saw this pop up thought it seemed interesting

 

I mean it’s good. But is there any reason this is great? And not just Meh? Was the last person to be VP white? Or did the position just not exist?

 

IDK? I have zero idea how this all works out.

 

I'm excited about (a) the character Lapin using they/them pronouns in the current Doctor Aphra series; and (b) this Sloane variant cover by JJ Kirby for Pride Month! All of the Pride Month variant covers can now be viewed in this SW.com article.

 

So, when did Sloane steal Krennic's cape?

 

Sloane’s LGBTQ? Wow. Never even knew

 

Only very vaguely alluded to in Aftermath when she mentions never having found time to settle down with either a husband or wife, IIRC. It's not exactly amazing representation, but at least it's in the material. Looking at you, Lando.

 

The article explains. It's an old position. I can't tell the ethnicity of the Julie Ann Crommett who proceeded her based on her photos, but I think she's white? She had the position for many years and was involved in movies like Coco. The position heads a large team of advisors.

I'm sorry -- you didn't hear about the temporary wormhole that was created around Scarif when the Death Star tested its laser? The one that transported Krennic's cape to Dac or something so Sloane could pick it up? It's a good story for another time.

 

That Star Wars pride logo is beautiful.

 

This latest episode The Bad Batch was written by Gursimran Sandhu https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2977599/ Did some game of Thrones Writing as well.

I probably won't be doing this for every episode (Cuz i'm lazy and i miss the credits) but i'll be curious to see the diversity in the animation writing room here.

We know there is a female Headwriter, even though Filoni did Co-Write the Pilot and I'm sure he has his team of writers behind him has well.

 

I haven't watched the show and I'm sure many others could go into more detail than I can on the issue, but the whole Un-Whitewash The Bad Batch thing seems worth mentioning in this thread. Especially since it's reportedly prompted Lucasfilm to make lighting changes to make the characters appear less... well, white (The second link seems to contain a spoiler).

There's a discussion to be had on whether or not LFL had a responsibility to change the clones' voice actor before this show went into production. But whether or not they felt they needed to, it still would have been a very good gesture if they had.

 

I have no interest in the Bad Batch and am not watching the show, but you could definitely make the argument that if there were any time they could recast Dee Bradley Baker with a Maori actor it would definitely be for the group of clone characters that are so wildly different than the base Jango clone.

 

I think the clones have always looked to white even in TCW. Black series figures are much better. But I especially have a problem if Omega is a full Jango clone (other than being female) she looks very white. As I said in another thread. For a long time Jango and Boba and the clones were the most well known characters played by a native New Zealander. Even if they weren’t well known it wouldn’t matter. The criticism should be listened to. However with that said I don’t think it was an intentional decision to whitewash the bad batch or Kanan. For Kanan where they clearly got the race wrong I think they probably just forgot when they made the model for TCW. For the clones as I said they have always been questionable.

 

I get the voice cast thing so I really have no stake on it either way. But at this point I kinda only see Dee Bradly Baker as THE CLONES, that at this point it would be jarring if it was someone else at this point. Now had they started with a NZ actor or just got Tem from the start well...that is a different story but I feel like we are were we are at this point.

Now if Boba Fett himself comes into the picture then get Daniel Logan and or Tem

 

I agree with this. It’s to late not to have Dee Bradley Baker. Especially in the middle of a show.

 

Not just the middle of a show but the middle of a almost a decade and more being THE CLONES in animation like Rex in TCW and Rebels

Again I get the complaint so I totally can see why the call and at least in the future one should be careful with casting

 

I agree. In future projects maybe try to get a Maori to do it. Or at the very least a New Zealander. Omega’s voice actor is at least from New Zealand.

Plus at this point even among the people who I have talked to most either don’t have an opinion on DBB doing the voice or are fine with it. I think Disney could very well change the lighting and what have you, but I highly doubt it’s gonna be worth it for them to get a new voice actor.

 

I'm not sure accent is determined genetically in the way that seems to be thought. Doesn't environment play as much a role in it? Also as people move around their accent can fluctuate.

 

Environment play the whole role.

 

first of all I really like that cover of Sloane, it’s super cool that she’s still a recurring character, I hope she continues to play a presence in future content

secondly, I’m glad Lucasfilm/disney is actually listening to fans about the whitewashing issue, and actually implementing changes during the middle of a season

 

I think anyone who is suggesting that Dee Bradley Baker be replaced is wanting him replaced by someone who is Maori. Having a white person play a person of color in animation or a video game is not the worst so long as they are not playing the character as a stereotype. I don’t think it’s the best as people of color aren’t represented that much by voice actors themselves. But it’s not as bad as making a character white who used to be another race by accident or on purpose.

 

To play devil's advocate for Omega, her skin tone and hair color may be a reference to Jango Fett: Open Seasons. In the comic, Jango's mom and sister are both blonde. And apparently Open Seasons has been referenced in The Mandalorian, so I think it's pretty plausible.

 

For that matter, Temura Morrison's sister, Taini Morrison, was blonde. Apparently, while rare, it is not unheard of for Pacific Islanders to have blonde hair - people used to think it was because of intermixing, but recent analysis has shown that the Pacific Islander blond genes are different from white blonde genes. So Jango having some recessive blond genes that occasionally show up in a clone doesn't seem too implausible.

Doesn't really explain the skin though. Even with the comic back in the day I thought it odd that Jango and Arla look so completely different. I mean, I know mixed-race siblings can have different skin colors to some extent, but it still seemed like a pretty stark contrast.

 

It would also be incredibly weaselly for the show's creators to grasp at the most obscure in-universe straws possible in order to justify making a Maori-based-character whiter. It's 2021, and decisions like that shouldn't be made with the mindset of a continuity-obsessed Wookieepedian searching for visual cues from a comic that was published nearly twenty years ago. Not when there's real-life representation at stake.

Not that I think that Omega's light skin actually does have anything to do with Open Seasons, but if it did, it wouldn't be an acceptable excuse.