Melissa Harris-Perry is Offended Yet Again
[dropcap size=big]O[/dropcap]nce you think you’ve finally seen the last thing the far left can be offended by, they prove yet again there is more where that came from. Melissa Harris-Perry of MSNBC made headlines recently when she said that out of all things, Star Wars is offensive. How is something that is beloved by hundreds of millions of people racist? Harris-Perry says it’s because Darth Vader is a black guy. Here is the video:
If you love Star Wars, you’ll know this reason alone does not make it racist. If you’re unsure if to what Melissa Harris-Perry said has any merit, here are five reasons it does not.
5.) Many Star Wars Heroes are People of Color
Before you say, “So Star Wars has a few minorities who are heroes? That doesn’t mean they can’t be racist!” realize that the Jedi Order, the Rebel Alliance, and the Galactic Republic were all composed of various cultures, creeds, races, and, yes, species. Lando Calrissian, Mace Windu, Bail Organa, and many more heroes in Star Wars prove that the writers included all kinds of people to help the forces of good. In fact, the entirety of the Clone Army was comprised entirely of Māoris, or indigenous Polynesians. If George Lucas the writers of Star Wars were such white supremacists, why would they have comprised the force that fought alongside the Jedi Knights to maintain order of ethnic minorities?
4.) Most Villains in Star Wars are Racial Supremacists
The Galactic Empire, which was the biggest force for evil in the universe, was headed, run, and operated by old white men like Grand Moff Tarkin, General Veers, and of course, Emperor Palpetine. The Empire is actually specific about it’s regulations for joining; that only humans may join the military and advance to any status of significance or power. They used the Clone Wars as justification for their discrimination of those who were different, just as many neoconservatives today use 9/11 and other terrorist attacks to discriminate against those they don’t like.
Why would a franchise that is so openly racist depict the antagonists as bigoted, intolerant, white men? Wouldn’t they depict them as dumb, lazy, greedy minorities if it was a racist show?
Maybe it does, but not with Vader…
3.) Darth Vader’s Voice was Heavily Distorted
Vader may have been voiced by a man who was half African American and half Native American and Irish, but that is only to display the fact his vocal chords were altered after his duel with Obi Wan Kenobi. For instance, many people with throat cancer must have their vocal chords removed, and their speech is aided with a machine. Their voice comes out much different, this is what happened with Vader.
Anakin Skywalker spent hours in the ash-filled atmosphere of Mustafar with no environmental protection whatsoever before becoming Vader. On top of that, he was lit on fire and left screaming for help for hours before Palpatine arrived, which certainly damaged his lungs, internal organs, and most importantly, his throat. When he was placed in the Vader outfit, his voice sounded much different. His breath was regulated by his suit, and sounded similar in tone to that of his new voice. Finally, when Luke finally removes Vader’s helmet, his voice is raspy and difficult to hear, much different than that of when he was in the suit.
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When Vader appeared in the original trilogy, it was difficult to pull off the same level of audio manipulation we are capable today. Because of this, they had to get creative and hire people who could portray a certain voice without altering it much. It so happens Jones was able to this best, so he was selected. It had nothing to do with race.
2.) Darth Vader is not Black
While Darth Vader was voiced by a man of mixed race, he is not played by one at any point in the series. He is played by Jake Lloyd as a child, Hayden Christensen as a young man, David Prowse in the Vader costume, and Sebastian Shaw when his helmet was removed. These are all white men, so there really isn’t a case to be made that Vader was ever anything other than Caucasian.
Even if you hadn’t seen the prequels, you could still deduce from the fact that Vader’s children are white, that he too is white. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together and realize that since Luke is the son of Vader, and is white, and Leah is the daughter of Vader, and is white, that Vader, and Padmé, for that matter, are both white.
1.) Her Outrage is Misdirected
There are actually legitimate claims of racism in Star Wars Harris-Perry could have made. She could have said a number of characters (who were accused of creating caricatures previously) drew suspicious traits from ethnic groups and had much better evidence to boot. Mind you, these examples are debatable, but they are much more defensible than the reason she gave.
Jar Jar Binks
Jar Jar Binks was accused of portraying a racial caricature of many Caribbean peoples.
Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation
Gunray and the Nemodians spoke in accents similar to broken Asian English (I.E. mixing up the ‘l’ and ‘r’ sounds), named their colony worlds Japanese sounding names (Cato, Deko, and Koru), dressed like Chinese royalty, and had slanted eyes. Because of this, they were accused of stereotyping Asian people.
Watto
Watto was seen as some to be an offensive character because he stereotyped Jewish people. Accusers cited that Watto had a hooked nose, a beard, beady eyes, a thick Yiddish accent, and only was concerned about money, thus creating a caricature.
Again, it’s important to realize that while not absolutely true, the accusations that these three examples are racial caricatures still have more merit than the idea that Darth Vader is racist.