Where was the Force?

George Lucas contributed $1 million to the building of a Martin Luther King Jr. monument. He also created, in his “Star Wars” movies, a desert planet populated by fair-haired, light-skinned humans, a distinctly Eastern-flavored mysticism that permeates the series but no ethnically Asian characters to embody it, and a host of characters in “Episode I” that should have raised red flags. Jar Jar Binks is widely criticized for reviving ugly black stereotypes from days of yore, including Stepin Fechit. Jar Jar may be the most hated character in the “Star Wars” universe, and with good reason (he even suggests that Chancellor Palpatine get broad emergency powers), but he’s just one of the racial stereotypes populating “Episode I.” Nate Gunray dusts off Japanese caricatures from the days of World War II propaganda films. The cowardly, fish-faced (and bug-eyed) Neimoidians of the Trade Federation specialize in sneak attacks but quake at face-to-face confrontations, and speak in an outrageous faux-Japanese accents straight out of anti-Tojo films of the ’40s. Watto, a junk dealer and human trafficker, is Anakin’s owner on Tatooine. He is also a flying-bug version of the anti-Semitic stereotype of the big-nosed, money-grubbing shopkeeper. So there’s that. The new movies, however, sport much more ethnically diverse (human) casts, including prominent roles for black and, yes, Asian actors. A new hope, indeed.

WEBLINKS

MLK monument: www.knightfoundation.org/press-room/ press-release/president-bill-clinton-to-headline-miami-dream.

Jar Jar Binks: http://articles.latimes.com/1999/may/26/enter tainment/ca-40965.

Stepin Fetchit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnTb-kJVDww. Racial stereotypes: https://youtu.be/Lapak02ct3E?t=259”. World War II propaganda films: www.youtube.com/watch?v=

fh5ypU2Ykto.