Daily archives: September 21, 2007

That's so speciesist!

This entry was posted in racism Star Wars on by

Yes, The Ewok Adventure is racist. It’s racist against Ewoks. Especially Ewoks that don’t speak English. I am not joking. I believe that the cinema is more a reflection of society than an active formative agent. When I attack racism in film, it is not out of concern that such views will manifest themselves into reality. When I attack racism in film, it is because I find its inclusion discomforting and not in a particularly interesting way. That’s as categorical a statement that I am willing to inscribe at this point. In Return of the Jedi, we saw that Lucas had used some inherently racist concepts but coded them into the Star Wars universe. They were made politically correct, or I think a better term for it would be “politically neutral.” When adopting the icon of the Turkish sultan with Jabba the Hutt, he didn’t want to make any commentary toward Turks specifically; rather he just wanted to use a visual lexicon that suggests a culture of excess. The Ewoks have always been intended to be “noble savages.” Not specifically any American Indian tribe, which would again signify an entire subset of naivety and even cultural marginalization. Rather, he just wanted a visual lexicon that would suggest that Rousseau-ian ideal; that purity of essence untouched by the modern world.

You can get a two film Ewok Adventures dvd from Amazon.