# Now Episode II is racist??? Give your head a shake people!!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 19, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816 "2002-05-19T14:20:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![sirjamesp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@sirjamesp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirjamesp)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816/221 "2002-05-28T06:04:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kimstu \* > > - Watto seemed like **a generic “greasy, greedy shopkeeper”** with thick accent and small stature **who was often associated in bigoted sterotyping with “Mediterranean” peoples** : could be Jewish, could be Arab, or Turkish or Italian or Greek. (Bolding mine) **Kimstu** - this is exactly what I mean by “reverse stereotyping”. Watto is a “greasy, greedy shopkeeper”, therefore you have concluded he might be a Jewish / Arabic / Turkish / Italian / Greek stereotype, rather than just a greasy, greedy shopkeeper. I think the traits of the other characters you listed have been dealt with earlier. ---
**Author:** ![sirjamesp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@sirjamesp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirjamesp)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816/222 "2002-05-28T07:35:27Z")
PS - **grendel72** , I don’t know if you are still reading this thread, since you seem to have started another in a huff. But just so you know: (1) I am not a Star Wars fan. (2) Your “Mars Face” analogy _was_ good: it shows how a mind can perceive something that _is not there_. If you have further comments to add to this discussion, it is probably best that you add them here. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816/223 "2002-05-28T09:38:52Z")
I immediately recognised Jango and Boba as being of (something like) Maori ethnicity, but only in as far as I recognised that they were actors playing a role, in much the same way I felt a little sorry that Ewan McGregor had to put on an English accent (He’s possibly my favourite film personality and I love hearing his genuine accent), but it has to tie in with the portrayal of Obi Wan by Sir Alec Guinness in the later(earlier?) episodes, so there’s little choice. I have to admit that I did _percieve_ the Neimoidians’ accents as having similar clipped properties that I would probably associate with stereotypical Japanese, but… …do a search right here on the boards and see how many Americans can’t tell the difference between an Australian and British accent, how many British people can’t tell the difference between American and Canadian (or New Zealand and Australian), how many people of [whatever nationality] think that everybody else speaks with ‘an accent’, but that they themselves have ‘no accent’ and so on - there have been numerous threads about this; _perception_ is _not the same as reality_ - the characters in the films are like an elaborate Rorschach ink blot test; you see what you think you see. [sub]Personally, I think I’ll choose to be offended by the stereotype offered in C3PO - that Englishmen are all anxious, fussy and effeminate (:: d&r ::)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816/224 "2002-05-28T09:48:23Z")
Personally, **Mangetout** , I’m _glad_ Ewan McGregor adopted the accent for the movie. I’ve seen interviews with him and his burr is so thick, that I can’t understand a damn thing he’s saying! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816/225 "2002-05-28T09:52:21Z")
Mmmmm, I love it; my admiration for him is possibly beyond what a hetereosexual man should be comfortable with. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816/226 "2002-05-28T14:01:10Z")
Watto’s hat looked like an English Tommy WWI era helmet to me. It was really very interesting to watch that scene. Anakin’s barely concealed hatred, Watto just sort of trying to jolly Anakin along, thinking of him as a favored nephew, when Anakin remembers it as pain and slavery. Might be the best acting _in_ that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Kwyjibo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/59ef9b/32.png) [@Kwyjibo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kwyjibo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816/227 "2002-05-28T14:09:05Z")
I have to agree with **Mangetout**. Ewen is great and I love listening to him speak. (It’s like being back home…\…) But I can see where **Tuckerfan** is coming from. I had to translate Trainspotting for my wife. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816/228 "2002-05-28T19:47:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sirjamesp \* > \*\*PS - **grendel72** , I don’t know if you are still reading this thread, since you seem to have started another in a huff. But just so you know: > > (1) I am not a Star Wars fan. > (2) Your “Mars Face” analogy _was_ good: it shows how a mind can perceive something that _is not there_. > > If you have further comments to add to this discussion, it is probably best that you add them here. \*\* I didn’t intend to resurrect this thread with the other one, in retrospect it was a bad idea to link this one there. Re the mars face: People saw something that wasn’t there, but what they were seeing was how they interpreted what was there. My whole point here has been that people _did_ see something. Claiming that it was intentional seems foolish, just as claiming that everyone who saw it was a deluded bigot seems foolish. ---
**Author:** ![sirjamesp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@sirjamesp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirjamesp)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816/229 "2002-05-29T06:57:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grendel72 \* > I didn’t intend to resurrect this thread with the other one, in retrospect it was a bad idea to link this one there. I think the thread was still going… 🙂 > [@](#): > > Re the mars face: > People saw something that wasn’t there, but what they were seeing was how they interpreted what was there. My whole point here has been that people _did_ see something. Claiming that it was intentional seems foolish, just as claiming that everyone who saw it was a deluded bigot seems foolish. I am not saying that seeing racism in Star Wars is deliberate, or that only a deluded bigot would see it. I am saying that you are seeing something that _is not there_ - but that is not to say that you are deluded. The thing with the face is that, yes, the mountains and craters can be interpeted by the brain as a face. The fact is, though, that _there is no face_. An objective look shows that the image is actually quite a poor representation of a face, but the human brain, which is wired to spot patterns, still sees a face. This is exactly what is happening with Star Wars. Objective analysis such as outlined in this thread shows that Watto is not Jewish, and Jar-Jar is not black. The brain interprets abstract things in different ways. As **Mangetout** said, the complex characters can be thought of as a Rorschach test - some see one thing, others see something else - but this is what shows that there really is no pattern. In an ink blot that looks to some like a butterfly, what some say looks like a wing is not a wing, but just ink. With Jar-Jar, what you say is a “black” shuffle is not a “black” shuffle, but just a shuffle. Jar-Jar does not act like a black character - you interpret him as a black character. This says nothing about Lucas’s supposed racism. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816/230 "2002-05-29T07:37:01Z")
You think that’s air you’re breathing? Hm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-episode-ii-is-racist-give-your-head-a-shake-people/109816.md?page=11)