The Old Republic

[JacktheRabbit]

I think it is rather obvious from the statements and actions of the Trade Federation rep and we as the reps from the other economic groups that they are interested purely from a profit point of view.

 

[S'mon]

I think it is rather obvious from the statements and actions of the Trade Federation rep and we as the reps from the other economic groups that they are interested purely from a profit point of view.

Yup - the Trade Fed in ep I were represented as greedy Japanese-corporation types, they were even given Japnese accents and slitty eyes. I thought the racism there was far more overt than the Gungans. However wanting to make money from trade is perhaps not the worst of crimes, although attempting to use military force to break open a market (like Britain and other powers did in eg China in the 19th century) is more reprehensible. They did do that under Sideous' influence, though.

 

[Lurks-no-More]

Opinion question here.

Was the Old Republic really a Republic? Or do you think it would be more accurate to describe the government as a loose Confederation?

A confederation, probably. From the look of it, the Republic wasn't very centralized; it had no military forces of its own, for example. The modern-day UN might be a relatively good parallel.

As for the separatist movements, I'd think most of the civilians were pretty apathetic. The Republic wanted to preserve its existence, and the industrial groups wanted to get rid of Republic oversight (including the Jedi).

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Oh please, every time I see someone spew that kind of crap it makes me want to puke.

The actor chosen for Jar Jar created the accent entirely on his own. As for the Trade Fed. They are freaking aliens. Only someone with way too much time on their hands could dig up pathetic drivel about secret racism in the movies.

Gee, should we go back and say the origional Trilogy was racist against the English since the leaders of the Empire all spoke perfect Queen's English?

This ranks up there with the tripe from the Lion King, when they said Disney was racist because they hired a black actress to do the voice of the main hyena. Of course no one ever bothered to comment about how the main adult lion in the movie was also voiced by a black man.

Yup - the Trade Fed in ep I were represented as greedy Japanese-corporation types, they were even given Japnese accents and slitty eyes. I thought the racism there was far more overt than the Gungans. However wanting to make money from trade is perhaps not the worst of crimes, although attempting to use military force to break open a market (like Britain and other powers did in eg China in the 19th century) is more reprehensible. They did do that under Sideous' influence, though.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Oh please, every time I see someone spew that kind of crap it makes me want to puke.

The actor chosen for Jar Jar created the accent entirely on his own. As for the Trade Fed. They are freaking aliens. Only someone with way too much time on their hands could dig up pathetic drivel about secret racism in the movies.

Gee, should we go back and say the origional Trilogy was racist against the English since the leaders of the Empire all spoke perfect Queen's English?

This ranks up there with the tripe from the Lion King, when they said Disney was racist because they hired a black actress to do the voice of the main hyena. Of course no one ever bothered to comment about how the main adult lion in the movie was also voiced by a black man.

Yup - the Trade Fed in ep I were represented as greedy Japanese-corporation types, they were even given Japnese accents and slitty eyes. I thought the racism there was far more overt than the Gungans. However wanting to make money from trade is perhaps not the worst of crimes, although attempting to use military force to break open a market (like Britain and other powers did in eg China in the 19th century) is more reprehensible. They did do that under Sideous' influence, though.

 

[S'mon]

Gee, should we go back and say the origional Trilogy was racist against the English since the leaders of the Empire all spoke perfect Queen's English?

The leaders of the Empire all spoke with English accents partly because it was filmed in England. Us Brits our slower to complin, and we're used to this racism from American movies, but yes it was racist too - Lucas always taps into American gut instincts to quickly draw clearly delineated 'black and white' sides, which is quite suitable to the fairytale ethos of Star Wars - but fairytales are often racist, unsurprisingly. The plucky American rebels vs evil British Empire of Ep IV is just as clear as the greedy Japanese megacorp analogy of Ep I - for me it didn't work as well, but it's the same trick. He does it all the time, it's a tried and tested storytelling technique.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Do you have any proof of this or are you just going with a baseless personal assault on the man with nothing to back it up?

The leaders of the Empire all spoke with English accents partly because it was filmed in England. Us Brits our slower to complin, and we're used to this racism from American movies, but yes it was racist too - Lucas always taps into American gut instincts to quickly draw clearly delineated 'black and white' sides, which is quite suitable to the fairytale ethos of Star Wars - but fairytales are often racist, unsurprisingly. The plucky American rebels vs evil British Empire of Ep IV is just as clear as the greedy Japanese megacorp analogy of Ep I - for me it didn't work as well, but it's the same trick. He does it all the time, it's a tried and tested storytelling technique.

 

[S'mon]

Do you have any proof of this or are you just going with a baseless personal assault on the man with nothing to back it up?

?? I have the evidence of the films. It's hardly like I'm the only one to have noticed it. Maybe in the US he got a lot of stick over Jar-Jar, in Britain the 'Evil British Empire' cliche is commonly remarked on also although we're not surprised by it. Sometimes we find it annoying, but usually only when it involves distortion of real-world history (as in The Patriot) so Star Wars' Imperials didn't raise many heckles. It doesn't even bother me much - I guess I was a bit annoyed by the anti-trade, Pat Buchanan-esque stance of ep I, but everything about ep 1 was so bad it was a minor point. You seem much more up in arms about this than I am.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

You are the one throwing out claims that Lucas uses racism to sell his movies.

?? I have the evidence of the films. It's hardly like I'm the only one to have noticed it. Maybe in the US he got a lot of stick over Jar-Jar, in Britain the 'Evil British Empire' cliche is commonly remarked on also although we're not surprised by it. Sometimes we find it annoying, but usually only when it involves distortion of real-world history (as in The Patriot) so Star Wars' Imperials didn't raise many heckles. It doesn't even bother me much - I guess I was a bit annoyed by the anti-trade, Pat Buchanan-esque stance of ep I, but everything about ep 1 was so bad it was a minor point. You seem much more up in arms about this than I am.

 

[S'mon]

You are the one throwing out claims that Lucas uses racism to sell his movies.

Only to the same extent that many movies do. I didn't go into ep 1 with any preconceived ideas, the racist stereotyping really hit me (& my American wife, who I was watching it with) over the head. It wasn't like I was looking for it! Neither of us are particularly sensitive to these things, either, politically we're moderately right wing I guess. Anyway there really doesn't seem much point discussing it further, is there?