Were Snowtroopers made to look a bit like KKK members?

If this topic is very inappropriate, I am very sorry and please lock it. This question has been bugging me for quite some time.

Recently when I was watching ESB and when the Battle of Hoth scene came on-screen, my girlfriend commented on how the Snowtroopers looks almost exactly like KKK members. So the thought stuck in my mind during most of the movie.

We know that the KKK and the Empire are very evil groups of people. The Empire is racist against all other alien species besides humans... and the KKK are racist against people that aren't white skinned.

So did George Lucas or anyone else purposefully made the Snowtroopers look like KKK members to give them a very evil aspect? Or is just a misconception?

 

I think your theory makes a lot of sense. George Lucas obviously made the Empire reflect evils from today's society. In one interview, he admitted that the red, white, and black color scheme of the Emperor's arrival in ROTJ was supposed to make viewers think of Communism. And he did borrow the term "stormtroopers" from the title of the soldiers during Hitler's reign. So I think it would be safe to assume that your theory is correct.

 

Ridiculous premise. The snow troopers wear all white because they are SNOW troopers. Its called camoflauge. "but regular stormtrooper uniforms are white too!" Yeah, they are. But they also aren't insulated to be useful in those kinds of temperatures. They look like they do because the costumers who worked on TESB had to develop a variation of the stormtrooper uniform to be climate appropriate, and it is as simple as that.

 

my girlfriend commented on how the Snowtroopers looks almost exactly like KKK members.

The most distinctive feature of KKK costumes are the pointy hats. White uniforms are fairly common. Does she think doctors and dentists look like KKK too ?

 

I think she thought they look like KKK because she knows the snowtroopers are the bad guys.

Also, you can't forget about those two eye holes which both KKK members and snowtroopers both share.

 

EDIT: sorry, double post

 

Bit of a stretch, the snowtroopers in the finished film are more a practical derivation of the McQuarrie concept art, which is clearly based on WWII German camouflage uniforms used on the Russian front:

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v714/xster0typex/snowtrp.jpg]
[image=http://threads.rebelscum.com/photogallery/data//500/SnowtroopArt1W.jpg]
[image=http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/56/156/9/77/46/2580977460089413999yDLCTm_th.jpg]
[image=http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/28/29/3/49/11/2753349110089413999GwDMma_th.jpg]

There is a similarity between the final snowtrooper helmet & a KKK hood, but I'd say it's a coincidence. The lower part of the helmet ended up having to be more of a fabric hood - no doubt a simple practical solution to constructing the helmet.

 

http://harryramble.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/charliebrownrock.jpg

 

you beat me to it.

 

Most ghosts aren't really evil...

 

If you're bad and you don't know
What to wear why don't you go
With fashions for bad guys
Puttin' on the Reich

Actin' insidious
Tryin' to be evil like Sidious
You never lie
Puttin' on the Reich

 

This is weird to me because I think most Imperial symbolism (including the snowtrooper uniforms) is Nazi-inspired. Red, white, and black were Nazi colors. I'd form the Nazi association there long before I would think of communism.

 

Actually, the Stormtrooper helmets always reminded me of the Gillman.

The officers' uniforms do remind me of German Army uniforms in WW2.

One thing I've always wondered is why did they have snow white armor on Endor? That was ok on Hoth, but you're on a FOREST moon now. At least wear cammo panchos.

 

Maybe you're right. I just remember George mentioned Communism in the interview.

 

And then you think about the sweltering conditions on Tatooine. The Imperials should have had some tan, lighter uniforms like the British Tommys of WW2.

But your Endor observation really sticks out the most.

At least we get to see some variation with the scout troopers - but even then - they be wearing white. And the Rebels are all cammied up with nice appropriate uniforms.

And then Lucas really gives the Clone Army some good "appropriate" look in the PT.

If ever he wanted to re-tweak the OT again, put some green on them in Endor and a little tan on Tatooine!

 

I have always really hated this idea, the racism of the Empire is entirely a creation of the EU isn't it?

Palpatine was raised and trained by the alien Darth Plagieus, Palpatine himself raised and trained Darth Maul to be his successor, Palpatine's advisors in the prequels were all aliens.If Palpatine hated all aliens why would he choose an alien as his apprentice?

The Stormtroopers all being human is explained away as them all being clones and all the Imperials we see being human was most likely because it was cost prohibitive to make alien costumes for all those people.In ANH and ESB all the rebels were humans as well, that doesn't mean the rebels were racist against aliens.

If everything had gone as Palpatine/Sith had planned Darth Maul would have ended up as the Emperor of the galaxy, so the alien racism angle does not work at all.

The Empire = The Sith and the Sith were not racist.

 

I always took it that the attitude behind the consistently white armor (all types of troopers, in all types of environments), which lacked any element of camouflage, was essentially this: "We're the Empire, and we don't need to hide from anybody."

 

I got that impression too ...

But after Endor - I start to think that the Empire may have had other insurrections or guerrilla campaigns where the White Uniform is just not suitable.

 

Practical explanation FTW.

 

Fans: "Whatever, Lucas, we know more about Star Wars than you do. "

As far as the Imperial Army not caring enough to give its soldiers camo, the historical analogy I think of (sorry, I know I'm going wild with those in this thread ) is the Redcoats fighting in the American Revolution. They simply didn't know how to fight against guerrillas in the wilderness, which is why their uniforms and tactics were so inappropriate.

 

Like Fitsofan commented, Lucas reflected many themes of SW and the Empire on real time history. The term "stormtrooper", the racism against species, the genocide of planets and alien races.

However, the simple answer would be that the stormtroopers wore the white armor because of the colour schemes of the Empire, the shiny look, and especially on Hoth, camoflauge.

 

Snow and Stormtoppers of the empire are supposed to be Nazis.

My theroy for The New Jedi order is the Vong are like the Terrorist from the middle east because they tryed to use weopeans that were not very advace and they where Religous zealots too.

 

Yeahhh.

because animals that can move faster than light and survive in a vacuum are "primitive".

 

Ethnocentrism for the win!
(Heyyyy, wasn't the whole lesson of the NJO supposed to be that strange foreign terrorists from other galaxies are actually quite nice and tame once you sit them down and give them a free planet and lots of hugs?)

 

It seems like a point of discontinuity, but if you wanted to you could chalk it up to the changes that all regimes will undergo as time progresses. You?re right about the prequel alien presence, but I think we can safely explain away the Empire?s xenophobia in the OT and beyond into the EU by simply saying the Empire experienced a major shift in outlook and decided on a no aliens policy by the time the story reached ANH.