Slashdot Mirror
Lego Accused of Racism With Star Wars Set
Ch_Omega writes "According to this article over at The Telegraph, Lego has been accused of racism by the Turkish community in Austria over a Star Wars model that supposedly resembles one of Istanbul's most revered mosques. The anger was provoked by 'Jabba's Palace,' a model of the home of Jabba the Hutt from Lego's Star Wars product range based on the blockbusting series of science fiction films. 'The terrorist Jabba the Hutt likes to smoke a hookah and have his victims killed,' said the statement posted on the organization's website. 'It is clear that the ugly figure of Jabba and the whole scene smacks of racial prejudice and vulgar insinuations against Asians and Orientals as people with deceitful and criminal personalities.'"
This objection is silly because Jabba's Palace and the Hagia Sophia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia ) don't look much alike at all, other than having a dome, in which case they'd better prepare for a lot more outrage when they start to see other photos of the outside world...
First, Lego didn't design Jabba's Palace. I'm pretty sure that was under LucasArts' realm.
Second, Jabba's Palace is modeled like all the other homes on Tatooine. Except his is bigger. It's desert design influencing desert design.
Third, Jabba's not the only one smoking from a hookah like device in the movie.
Fourth, omg stop being the dumb.
Sucks the life out of everything.
Wrong, it's politically correctness bullshit that sucks the life out of everything.
I am altering the world. Pray I don't alter it further.
I'm still mad at the makers of Silence of the Lambs for portraying Hannibal Lecter as a Caucasian male. I am a Caucasian male and it's clear that the whole movie the smacks of racial prejudice and vulgar insinuations against Caucasians as people with deceitful and criminal personalities. Movies should stop having bad guys because it always paints some race or culture as having deceitful and criminal personalities and that upsets me.
Huh.
And here I was thinking that Jabba was a caricature of American politicians - fat, stupid, lazy, ready to kill on a whim, and unable to speak anything but nonsensical gibberish.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Johnny Cash is also very offended that Darth Vader wears black and is dead.
Too bad Lego responded to this nonsense and even offered an apology. Were I in charge of the company, I'd have offered a different reply: "We at the Lego company do not usually offer the following advice, but in this case we will go ahead and suggest that you grow up.". Seriously, some people...
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Enjoy thte story??? Are we talking about the same movie?.
Is there anything left in the world that the big bad white man hasn't destroyed through 'racism'?
...
Porn?
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
The Hagia Sofia was built as an Orthodox Christian Church, and was used as such for a thousand years. It was converted into a mosque when the Turks conquered the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire in 1453, and it's been a museum since 1931. As it's not a Turkish building, they should not be offended. I'm sick of the whining and attempts at playing the victim by some people. It's even more ridiculous that what they are claiming offense at isn't even a building which was built by their culture.
The only bad guys you can safely portray in movies are white guys. So what if Jabba's Palace borrows some architectural, decorational and floral inspirations from the Persians. Having a villain with taste Persian trappings doesn't make any Persian a villain any more than owning a Walther PPK makes you a hero.
Perhaps most villains are white, but not all villians are white. And given that Vader and Palpatine where both very white, and Lando, Chewie, Yoda and R2 weren't, if anything I think it's the corn fed Nebraskans that should be offended.
praying is part of the problem
Just try telling the Turks about the Armenian genocide committed by their troops in the early 20th century and you'll see their inner Jabba come out.
I'm not sure anyone hypothetically running a toy company should issue a public statement telling people to "grow up".
According to the "Behind the Scenes" on Episodes 1-3 Naboo's architecture was based on Hagia Sophia. Examples: Hagia Sophia, Naboo, Titus Blue Mosque, more naboo.
... it took them how long to notice this latent xenophobia? I'm not saying they're wrong, Lucas was a little unimaginative when he developed some of the Star Wars cultures but it's not like he presented Muslims like they did in the movie "True Lies."
Also
My work here is dung.
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Too bad Lego responded to this nonsense and even offered an apology
Responding is not bad; you said yourself that the company would have responded if you were in charge. And there was no apology either, the reply was "We regret that the product has caused the members of the Turkish cultural community to come to a wrong interpretation. " That's not an apology. That's saying these people are wrong.
Hokey religions and old superstitions don't compare to a good blaster at your side.
Nope....
http://www.theonion.com/video/use-of-nword-may-end-porn-stars-career,14174/
I'd love it if Lego replied:
"We're not portraying the revered Hagia Sophia mosque of Istanbul (which, btw ISN'T EVEN A MOSQUE since it was secularized in 1931)...no, we're portraying the Hagia Sophia CHURCH, the most holy church in Christendom until it was conquered by 'the religion of peace' in 1453."
What's "whiny bitch" in Byzantine?
-Styopa
Really? Because this seems to have an awful lot more to do with race (and stereotypes thereof) than religion. Heck, the "mosque" in question has been a museum for almost 70 years! (And in the long past if was Christian rather than Islamic.) It has far more meaning at this point as an iconic and history bit of architecture that represents the region.
I know hating on religion is all the rage these day, but racial stereotyping and sensitivity (like this article and discussion are about) have basically nothing to do with it. You'll find plenty of overly sensitive or overly insensitive atheists. Many westerns that get upset about this kind of thing are anti-religion and a lot of hate groups are agnostic. So I quite fail to see where religion plays into this at all.
In Phantom Menace, the evil guys are clearly parodies of Japanese samurai, while the comic relief is given by stupid Jar Jar and friends, clearly parodies of Rastafarians. The Star Wars movies have all sorts of fodder for the ultra-sensitive.
Thankfully it's not a rectangle with rounded corners.
a LEGO Jabba the Hutt as insulting asians and orientals and completely ignoring Jar Jar Binks, who is at least a *RECENT* example of racial stereotyping in a Star Wars theme. I mean shit the Lego Jabba has been around for over 10 years now (maybe nearing 15), and I imagine even Turkey, nevermind Austria, has had access to the original 3 Star Wars films for at least 20 years.
Obviously much like the fundie Christians this guy is just racism-mongering, but still.
I want to agree with you here, but
I know hating on religion is all the rage these day, but racial stereotyping and sensitivity (like this article and discussion are about) have basically nothing to do with it.
does kind of conflict with
The Turkish Cultural Community of Austria released a statement calling for Lego to apologise for affronting religious and cultural feelings.
It looks like religion and stereotyping have everything to do with it. At least in their eyes. And let's be honest, most of the hate groups and violence we read about are perpetrated under religious excuse. Not a lot of militant atheists out there wiping out neighboring tribes for having religion, or blowing themselves up on public transportation, RPG'ing the kafir embassy, genital mutilation, firebombing health facilities, shooting doctors, or getting on TV to scream "GOD HATES FAGS".
I'm happy to give people the benefit of the doubt. Particularly in more civilized nations where the religious are less likely to kill people. But let's not go full-on hallucinatory.
In Turkey, this has always been more or less flexible, as it is in many branches of Islam.
It comes from two theological roots: The first that portraying the face of a prophet (including Jesus, Moses, etc.) is full of opportunities for blasphemy, the second that creating realistic images of living things usurps Allah's role as creator. In many ways, these reflect the Judaic prohibition in the Ten Commandments against creating carved images. This is one reason why Islamic architecture is full of those amazing geometric designs.
In Turkish art and architecture, this has been fairly relaxed, especially in Istanbul. Typically, images of a prophet simply cover his (I'm fairly sure that they're all male) face with a veil or show him from behind. Mosques in Istanbul are full of images of flowers and sultans often commissioned portraits of themselves, books with figurative art in illuminated manuscripts, and so on. Topkapi Palace is full of this kind of art.
I've been in Hagia Sophia several times and can't see the resemblance myself, beyond the fact that it's a domed building with a squared front.
Not if I fire first.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!