The Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars movie. Or is it? — Page 5

This morning I spilled coffee on my carpet.  But I didn't say anything out loud, because I didn't want my wife to think I was racist.

Other people said it could be considered racist.

And as careful as people have to be in today's world, I still don't see how that line wouldn't be included.

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

I never said it was racist.  I said if the movie was made today that the line wouldn't have been included, because these days it doesn't matter if something is racist -- if soemone might perceive it to be, that alone makes it not worth the risk.  That is a window into the world we live in at this point in time.

 Are you kidding me? The man who invented Jar Jar Binks, Watto and gave some aliens the voice of Charlie Chan wouldn't have included a line of genuine humour if he thoughts there was a slim chance some might read it as racist?

HotRod said:

You don't see a "Nerf Herder" either but that's ok I suppose?

 

As for carpets, nope we don't see them, but being a Princess, I'm sure Leia had a few shag piles in her palace! ;)

 

See what I did there??!?!

 

 

Going with the unintentionally filthy lines mentioned a couple pages back, how could we forget this gem:

"Luke, at that speed will you be able to pull out in time?"  "It'll be just like Beggar's Canyon back home . . ."

For the sake of being even remotely on-topic (lol), I'll say that I consider ESB to be the best film dramatically, but SW is still my favourite overall, as it's the most fun and wins for sheer awesomeness.

zombie84 said:

The line about Chewie isn't racist in any way. She just made a snide comment based on his appearance. If he had glasses and she said, "would someone get four eyes here out of my way," that wouldn't necessarily make her prejudiced against people with glasses. If wookies were short and she said, "would someone get this shrimp out of my way," it wouldn't make her prejudiced against little people either. It's just a sassy remark and it fits her character very well.

You could use the exact same argument to justify racial slurs.

It is unfortunate that today's society cannot tolerate any snide comments based on heritage or the color of skin, but evidently some consider it a sign of underlying discrimination against people with these characteristics, which is the true wrong in it.

To be technical, the comment isn't racist but rather speciesist.  I don't know if Leia's comment was a sign of some underlying discrimination against Wookiees or not. Only at the end of ESB does she seem to treat Chewbacca with much respect.  From watching the movies, we know Chewbacca is a senient being with as much intelligence as a human, so it's curious why Leia persists with the jabs at Wookiees.

To be fair, she doesn't seem to treat any of the main characters with much respect so I find it unlikely it's of any speciesist underpinning.  It's an aspect of her character.  It's a defense mechanism she's formed to keep away those who would take advantage of her.  And she was quite angry at the time the comments were made.

Of course, it's silly to say the comments don't belong in the movies.  It's nice to have these character aspects to think about.  I also think it's silly to keep racial comments out of adult movies.  We've all had these thoughts and we might as well acknowledge it and realize it doesn't indicate any fundamental discrimination.

You know you've been watching the OT too much when you start debating anti-Wookiee racism.

gobalicious said:

To be technical, the comment isn't racist but rather speciesist.  I don't know if Leia's comment was a sign of some underlying discrimination against Wookiees or not. Only at the end of ESB does she seem to treat Chewbacca with much respect.  From watching the movies, we know Chewbacca is a senient being with as much intelligence as a human, so it's curious why Leia persists with the jabs at Wookiees.

I'm still laughing at the serious debate over this.

It's fun to be pretend serious!  It's what fiction is about...

Well...they didn't do the blasting...

Carp, I'm getting sucked in! :p

LexX said:

Wow, people really need to relax if they think Leia is being racist.

Actually, the people who need to relax are the "OMFG!!!!!! Could you fan boyz get any more stupider arging about racisms in star warz, lolz @ this thread!!!!!1. Wookies arn't real, lolz!!!!" that need to calm the hell down and relax.

I am the one who made the biggest point about Leia and the "walking carpet" comment, and I was hardly worked up about it and have no need to relax. My point was a very minor one, and it was more about Lucas' writing and something I felt was an inconsistency in her character. Wasn't accusing Leia of being racist or making a cry for Wookie rights. Just an opinion anyway. Nothing more than that. I don't know why some of you are so amused by this. It isn't really any dumber than any of the other crap we talk about in the General SW section all the time.

Used to be able to talk about Star Wars (which, quite frankly, almost any in universe related SW discussion is absolutely retarded to talk about) and have some amusing conversations here. Obviously unless we are talking about how shit the SE or PT is, there really is no point even trying to post anything in this section.

CP3S said:

It isn't really any dumber than any of the other crap we talk about in the General SW section all the time.

I find a lot of the stuff in this section amusing.  *shrug*

We've had some good discussion on race in the Politics thread lately.  Comparing that to this discussion makes me chuckle.  What can I say?

And lolz @ this thread. :p

greenpenguino said:

This seems like the kind of stuff they would pointlessly talk about on TF.N...

That is because any in-universe discussion about SW is absolutely stupid and pointless.

TheoOdo said:

You know you've been watching the OT too much when you start debating anti-Wookiee racism.

This is kind of funny. In my profession we can discuss written literature all day long and over analyze motives of characters and intentions of writers until we are blue in the face and people generally see that sort of crap as a legitimate intellectual exercise and take it quite seriously. Do it to a film (or worse a sci-fi film!) and suddenly you are on the level of a nerdy loser who has only seen the nude female form in the Japanese cartoons that he beats off to bi-daily in his parents' basement where he resides.

It is just a movie. God forbid anyone think too hard about the contents of it. Must remain shallow and turn off brain when experience tv, movies, or internets... No wonder crap like Transformers steal the box office...

CP3S said:

This is kind of funny. In my profession we can discuss written literature all day long and over analyze motives of characters and intentions of writers until we are blue in the face and people generally see that sort of crap as a legitimate intellectual exercise and take it quite seriously. Do it to a film (or worse a sci-fi film!) and suddenly you are on the level of a nerdy loser who has only seen the nude female form in the Japanese cartoons that he beats off to bi-daily in his parents' basement where he resides.

It is just a movie. God forbid anyone think too hard about the contents of it. Must remain shallow and turn off brain when experience tv, movies, or internets... No wonder crap like Transformers steal the box office...

1up

The original, theatrical cut is damn near perfect. The special edition and the dvd box set versions are crap.

What is Leia's first reaction when they destroyed all the TIE, when escaping the DS? She gives a big hug at Chewie.

Her character is not racist towards Wookies, she just do not like to be told what to do by Han and co, so she over reacts from time to time. It is perfectely understandable as she's a princess and is used to command and give orders.

Plus: it's funny.

CP3S said:

TheoOdo said:

You know you've been watching the OT too much when you start debating anti-Wookiee racism.

 

This is kind of funny. In my profession we can discuss written literature all day long and over analyze motives of characters and intentions of writers until we are blue in the face and people generally see that sort of crap as a legitimate intellectual exercise and take it quite seriously. Do it to a film (or worse a sci-fi film!) and suddenly you are on the level of a nerdy loser who has only seen the nude female form in the Japanese cartoons that he beats off to bi-daily in his parents' basement where he resides.

It is just a movie. God forbid anyone think too hard about the contents of it. Must remain shallow and turn off brain when experience tv, movies, or internets... No wonder crap like Transformers steal the box office...

I have no problem with serious of discussion of movies.  I'm personally not that interested in participating, but I get it.

My issue is not with serious discussion, but rather with the premise that Leia is racist.  That's what I find funny.

I'll see if I can work it into my edit.