# I pit cultural hypersensitivity **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 1, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540 "2013-04-01T16:00:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/1 "2013-04-01T16:00:52Z")
At the risk of being labeled a racist yet again, I’m here to pit people who are hypersensitive to anything that can possibly be perceived or interpreted as any kind of insult. In this case, it’s people who think LEGO’s “Jabba’s Palace” toy is insensitive because it resembles a mosque - inasmuch as it has a main round building and a tower. [Here’s the article, with pics of the toy](http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/01/17552848-toy-model-of-jabba-the-hutts-palace-resembles-a-mosque-group-says?lite) and pics of the Hagia Sophia, the particular mosque which it is said to resemble. [Here’s a Google-Images](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=active&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1067&bih=822&q=jabba%27s+palace&oq=jabba%27s+palace&gs_l=img.3..0l6j0i5l2j0i24l2.1422.2938.0.3047.14.14.0.0.0.0.156.1592.7j7.14.0...0.0...1ac.1.7.img._X2msxHlHLM) search for “jabba’s palace.” I’d say the LEGO toy looks a lot more like Jabba’s palace from ROTJ than it does the Hagia Sophia. The tower doesn’t quite match up to Jabba’s palace, but it doesn’t match the HS either. If someone wants to get pissy about it, they ought to be yelling at George Lucas. Or maybe Jabba. Or maybe they should just STFU. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/2 "2013-04-01T16:13:13Z")
You should’ve pitted Lego for being a bunch of pussies and giving more muslims the idea that if they don’t like something they can throw a hissy fit and get it banned from the world. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/3 "2013-04-01T16:19:32Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > At the risk of being labeled a racist yet again How many times have people labeled you a racist? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/4 "2013-04-01T16:20:58Z")
Wanna see some Lego racism, take a look at their [Pirates of the Caribbean Lego set](http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-CANNIBAL-1-Minifigure-w-Bone-Pirates-Caribbean-4182-/140944019929?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item20d0eb11d9). I know it’s based on a movie chockablock with racism, but still, you’re gonna make your only\* black Legos with bones in their noses? Seriously? edit: okay, apparently the bone is in their hair, not their nose. - nearly ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/5 "2013-04-01T16:23:18Z")
[I hope nobody tells them about Naboo.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Naboo.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/6 "2013-04-01T16:26:49Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > You should’ve pitted Lego for being a bunch of pussies and giving more muslims the idea that if they don’t like something they can throw a hissy fit and get it banned from the world. They didn’t cave. The set was already scheduled to go out of production at the end of the year. All Lego did here was issue an empty apology and continue on about their business as if nothing had happened. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/7 "2013-04-01T16:39:00Z")
Colonials did not call the Indians “Native Americans.” I guide historical walking tours and do Revolutionary War era reenacting in my home town, which was once the home of the Wampanoags. Seventeen years ago, I started out calling the natives “Indians.” In time, I heard suggestions that we really should refer to them as “Native Americans,” so, partly because I work for an official government office, I started calling them “Native Americans.” Until I heard that the Indians don’t much like to be called “Native Americans”–from an elder Indian leader himself, in fact. And, of course, the people living in the 1770s time period I reenact didn’t call them “Native Americans” either. So I call them Indians again, despite the looks I sometimes get from the soccer moms who are chaperoning their kids’ field trips. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/8 "2013-04-01T16:43:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > How many times have people labeled you a racist? I don’t know; [I stopped counting about a week ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685749) > [@Miller](#): > > All Lego did here was issue an empty apology and continue on about their business as if nothing had happened. Indeed, their apology was a masterpiece of non-apology, pinning the blame on the complainants: > [@LEGO](#): > > The LEGO Group regrets that the product has caused the members of the Turkish cultural community to interprete it wrongly. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/9 "2013-04-01T17:01:48Z")
It’s doubly ironic when you think of the history of the Hagia Sofia. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/10 "2013-04-01T17:09:08Z")
[All round buildings are mosques?](http://www.visitingdc.com/images/capitol-building-picture.jpg) I did not know that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/11 "2013-04-01T18:06:33Z")
It does look similar, but I’m surprised this is the focus of the outrage. Why aren’t morbidly obese Republicans up in arms over being stereotyped so offensively? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/12 "2013-04-01T18:09:40Z")
Can’t get out of their chairs to get the remote, how they gonna get all “up in arms”? ---
**Author:** ![Recusant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/13 "2013-04-01T18:19:21Z")
Wait- when did the Hagia Sophia become a mosque? ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/14 "2013-04-01T18:23:49Z")
**Cat Whisperer** , that’s gonna open up a whole new can of worms, what with our Muslim president, y’know. I can see it now. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/15 "2013-04-01T18:24:14Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > Wait- when did the Hagia Sophia become a mosque? 1453, it looks like. It’s not _currently_ a mosque, though, and hasn’t been for quite some time. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky_the_Wonder_Spirit)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/16 "2013-04-01T19:26:24Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s doubly ironic when you think of the history of the Hagia Sofia. Yeah, shouldn’t it be the Eastern Orthodox getting all bent out of shape? Clearly, LEGO is saying that Jabba is the Patriarch of Constantinople. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/17 "2013-04-01T20:24:53Z")
> [@VernWinterbottom](#): > > Colonials did not call the Indians “Native Americans.” > > I guide historical walking tours and do Revolutionary War era reenacting in my home town, which was once the home of the Wampanoags. > > Seventeen years ago, I started out calling the natives “Indians.” In time, I heard suggestions that we really should refer to them as “Native Americans,” so, partly because I work for an official government office, I started calling them “Native Americans.” > > Until I heard that the Indians don’t much like to be called “Native Americans”–from an elder Indian leader himself, in fact. And, of course, the people living in the 1770s time period I reenact didn’t call them “Native Americans” either. > > So I call them Indians again, despite the looks I sometimes get from the soccer moms who are chaperoning their kids’ field trips. Why don’t you just refer to them as the Wampanoags? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/18 "2013-04-01T20:27:27Z")
> [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](#): > > Clearly, LEGO is saying that Jabba is the Patriarch of Constantinople. Why not Vader? I can’t say. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/19 "2013-04-01T20:32:54Z")
The offensive thing isn’t that LEGO was implying that Jabba the Hutt is Muslim. _They were implying he was a Turk!!_ Which is highly offensive, because we all know that Jabba was Greek. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540/20 "2013-04-01T20:38:22Z")
How do we know he’s really a Hutt? Has anyone seen his birth certificate? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cultural-hypersensitivity/654540.md?page=2)