# Star Wars/Watto - Which Racism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939 "2003-12-09T15:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/1 "2003-12-09T15:57:25Z")
Hey all. Alright, I’ve heard many times that the character Watto (first shown in The Phantom Menace) is obviously racism - its a complete caricature of X. The problem is, X is never the same. Jews, Arabs, Italians, Chinese, Hindus, Mexicans - what the hell? Its strikes me that if no one can agree with what exactly Watto is supposed to mock, then perhaps Watto is actually a caricature of classical merchants in fiction and theater. ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/2 "2003-12-09T17:01:23Z")
I don’t know about Watto, but Jar Jar was obviously Jamaican “Hello Boyos!”, and the dudes trying to take over planet Naboo had obvious Japanese/asian accents. I don’t care how much Lucas says they weren’t! You spend all that time making up these wondrous characters and then slap some crappy earth race accented english on them? What the frick?! Watto’s accent didn’t sound too familiar to me, so he seemed a bit more original. Certainly nothing ‘racist’. ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/3 "2003-12-09T17:17:17Z")
naah…he was a Hebe. Big nose, tight with money, generic Eastern European accent. Kinda sickening. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/4 "2003-12-09T17:23:03Z")
I thought French. I say, that if we can’t agree on what race/ethnicity he’s suupposed to be, then he’s none of teh above. Just vaguely “ethnic”, which is, in a way, bad in and of itself, but certainly not a slam against a specific group. Jar Jar had a Caribbean accent (taken from the actors grandmother) and the Trade Federation had a lot of Asian influence, but I’m not sure than the simply act of having ethnic characteristics (neither were charicatures) makes a character racist. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/5 "2003-12-09T18:22:31Z")
The voice is that of Andrew Secombe, a white Englishman… To me, he sounds like an exact mimic of the slave trader who sells Proximo his gladiators (and sold him some giraffes that wouldn’t talk) in Gladiator. I can’t find out who did that voice, though, and don’t have a copy of the movie. So he sounds like a Berber slave trader. I don’t think you could make a case for widespread anti-Berber sentiment existing in the west… ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de053/32.png) [@Umbriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/6 "2003-12-09T18:35:02Z")
I saw Watto as more Turkic – arguably stereotypical in a _Midnight Express_ kind of way. I thought that making the Trade Federation seem kind of Asian might be a humorously-intended inversion of the “forced trade” confrontations and wars in Asia in the 19th century – e.g., the Opium Wars and Perry’s “opening” of Japan. Episodes I and II have sometimes made me suspect that there’s a really ingenious and intricate plot underlying the action, and other times made me think that Lucas quit about two-thirds of the way through that plot and just squished everything together and started filming. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/7 "2003-12-09T19:18:51Z")
Right. As I thought, there is no consensus on just what he’s supposed to be a racial caricature of. It look like they set out to make racial or ethnic type distinctions in their aliens (i.e., to be more than a human with bad makeup and a funny wig) and people somehow saw whatever they wanted to see in it. > [@](#): > > Trade Federation had a lot of Asian influence, but I’m not sure than the simply act of having ethnic characteristics (neither were charicatures) makes a character racist. The onyl thing that could possibly make the think that is that 1. They have funny accents. Insufficient. 2. They have slitted, reptilian eyes. Honestly, I’ve never seen any east asians with slitted reptile eyes, so I cannot possibly understand this one. I just heard it from some people. > [@](#): > > Episodes I and II have sometimes made me suspect that there’s a really ingenious and intricate plot underlying the action, and other times made me think that Lucas quit about two-thirds of the way through that plot and just squished everything together and started filming. I wouldn’t say “ingenius”, but if you pay attention its intelligent and establishes a good background. ---
**Author:** ![Mellon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Mellon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/8 "2003-12-09T20:21:48Z")
The PC crowd was also screaming about how the clone army was obviously racist against latinos. They were quite quickly silenced when they were informed that Temuera Morrison is, in fact, maori. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/9 "2003-12-09T23:20:41Z")
Wattoo is an _all-purpose_ stereotype. He offends everybody! ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/10 "2003-12-10T01:06:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smiling bandit \* > \*\*Right. As I thought, there is no consensus on just what he’s supposed to be a racial caricature of. It look like they set out to make racial or ethnic type distinctions in their aliens (i.e., to be more than a human with bad makeup and a funny wig) and people somehow saw whatever they wanted to see in it. > > The onyl thing that could possibly make the think that is that > > 1. They have funny accents. Insufficient. > > 2. They have slitted, reptilian eyes. > Honestly, I’ve never seen any east asians with slitted reptile eyes, so I cannot possibly understand this one. I just heard it from some people. > > I wouldn’t say “ingenius”, but if you pay attention its intelligent and establishes a good background. \*\* I’m going to have to disagree with that assertion. Also, the trade federation people do seem to have asianesque accents. I wouldn’t say it was an exact match with any one accent (though perhaps it is, I don’t have the experience to say), but their accents do seem vaguely asian. As for Watto and which ethnicity, if any, he is parodying, I’m not so sure, but I can hear echoes of many of the ethnicities mentioned here. I think of the ethnicities mentioned here Jewish or Arab or maybe Turkish seem most plausible to me looking at the whole stereotyped picture. It should also be pointed out that different foriegn accents can sound similar. And since the actor who provided the voice probably does not actually have a foreign accent, it seems like the accent could be even more strange. I don’t think that Watto’s accent was created in a vacuum. Whoever came up with it had models to base the accent on. Besides, there is a limited amount of variation in what you can do with english and still be understood. Much of that variation coincides with an existing accent. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/11 "2003-12-10T02:11:05Z")
grammar funny! ---
**Author:** ![Anaclaidiabhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@Anaclaidiabhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaclaidiabhal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/12 "2003-12-10T02:26:03Z")
Would that then mean that Darth Maul–who, in the few lines he speaks, has a English accent–is a parody of all those lightsaber- winging, force-pushing, martial arts master British people? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/13 "2003-12-10T23:45:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Darth Maul–who, in the few lines he speaks, has a English accent How do you say “Grrr” in an English accent? ---
**Author:** ![Anaclaidiabhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@Anaclaidiabhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaclaidiabhal)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/14 "2003-12-11T00:02:30Z")
Well, he \does\ say something about having revenge on the Jedi. It’s his only line in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Anaclaidiabhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@Anaclaidiabhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaclaidiabhal)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/15 "2003-12-11T00:05:44Z")
I also wish I knew the first damn thing about turning tags on. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/16 "2003-12-11T00:13:38Z")
Guh. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/17 "2003-12-11T00:44:45Z")
> [@](#): > > From **Mellon** > They were quite quickly silenced when they were informed that Temuera Morrison is, in fact, maori. The great thing is, his and young Boba Fett used genuine NZ Maori/South-Auckland accents. I don’t think there were any complaints about the locals being sterotyping as kickarse warriors. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/18 "2004-01-20T01:00:22Z")
Which reminds me. Why the hell do Jango Fett’s clones have Jango Fett’s accent? Boba I can understand… he’d sound like daddy-o… but Jango isn’t tutoring the others in basic English… ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/19 "2004-01-20T01:21:33Z")
I wonder, if they had actual asian humans with no makeup playing the roles, would there still be accusations of racism? Can’t some bad characters simply be asian? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939/20 "2004-01-20T04:33:37Z")
I thought the racial encoding was pretty transparent. Lucas wanted the franchise to get back to its pulp/serial roots, and part of the baggage that came with it included racial stereotypes – the yellow peril, the covetous jew, the sambo. Anyone attempting to revive the old pulps has to find some way to deal with these. It seems that Lucas wanted to preserve as much of the flavor as possible, so instead of getting rid of the ethnic stereotypes, he made them into species stereotypes, and hoped nobody would notice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-watto-which-racism/217939.md?page=2)