Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Racist Star Wars?

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Way back in 1977 I first saw Star Wars (a.k.a. A New Hope, Episode IV.) at a small walk-in theater in North Long Beach.  I was 11 years old, and the special effects blew everything else we had ever experienced from Hollywood out of the water.  Empire Strikes Back kicked it up a notch, and Return of the Jedi brought the stories full circle.  The other three movies later filled in the details about the history we wanted to know as fans.  Nobody cared if the voice of Darth Vader was black, white, or somebody else.  James Earl Jones is James Earl Jones.  Who cares what his pigmentation is?  Lando by Billy Dee Williams was a great character, and nobody even noticed anything beyond that the part was played by a fantastic actor who played the role in a manner that was entertaining, and convincing.

I would hope that the black actors in the films got the parts not because they are black, but because they were the best actors for the job after all of the auditions.

Yet, there seems to be a little argument regarding the new Star Wars flick, the one coming out in December of 2015.  I'm jazzed about the upcoming film.  I love the sword looking light saber in The Force Awakens.  I am a Star Wars fan, and I eagerly await the new installment.

I have feared that Disney and J.J. Abrams might foul it up.  Abrams' venture into the Star Trek franchise, though fun and exciting as far as the quality of the films go, totally screwed with the canon, and then literally tossed it aside.  I like Abrams' Star Trek films in the terms of excitement and action, and the subtle little hints at the old canon, but I would have preferred that they didn't do a reset as they did.

The concern about J.J.'s handling of the Star Wars franchise is legitimate, and noted.

Let's shift gears for a moment.

Hollywood is so far liberal left that they make the Democrats look like constitutionalists.  I know people in the industry that are fairly conservative, and a number of them have to hide their political beliefs for fear of not getting work.  I made a short foray into the acting industry back during the early 1990s, and I noticed three things while treading in the deep waters of the industry: Most of them [actors and actresses primarily] are physically very little people, they are wacky both in their political leanings and religiously, and sexual immorality runs rampant throughout the industry including homosexuality and other deviant forms of sexual conduct.  The last two things, what they believe, and how they conduct their sexual activities, have since morphed into one, and Hollywood is religious about what it believes to the point that they will do all they can to proselytize what they believe not only at dinner parties (where the pickings are slim because most of the people they know are as bananas as them), but also through their work.

With all of that said, it would almost be expected that most films coming out of Hollywood would carry particular political messages, more often than not so subtle that most people would not even notice, and that would include the newest addition to the Star Wars family of films.

#BlackLivesMatter, the movement that has emerged out of the various riots we've seen during the Obama administration, launching originally out of the Ferguson, Missouri riots, has pretty much decided that all white people are racist, all white cops confront blacks for the purpose of given them a hard time, and that white privilege still exists and that it cannot be tolerated.  Whites (politically right-of-center whites, specifically) according to this line of thinking, are all racist.  These racist whites want blacks back on the plantations and living in slavery.  These are the same redneck, radical, extremist, right-wing Bible thumping, gun clinging, Climate Change denying idiots (their words, not mine) that want all Mexicans kicked out of the country primarily because they hate Mexicans, stand against Islam because they are a bunch of Islamophobes, and oppose homosexuals because the bigoted conservatives of the group are a bunch of homophobes.  The accusations go so far to say that the right-wingers want to impose their hatred on the country. . . but as of yet no right-of-center person has really pushed for such.

Remember, the basic foundation of conservatism is limited government.  If there are those that seek to "force" their view upon anyone through threat, or by government mandate, they are not right-of-center.

When it comes to what the left believes about The Right, it seems they are much like Hollywood in their ability to suspend their foothold on reality.  The racism being perpetrated by Black Nationalists like the Black Panthers, the social and political problems presented by illegal immigration, the terrorism and anti-American attitude of Muslims, and the tyrannical nature of the gay lobby that openly touts they seek the destruction of Christianity, and anyone else that dares to disagree with their beliefs regarding sexual behavior, seems not to be a concern to them.

I'd like to add that a decade ago we weren't having these problems to nearly the degree we do now under the "post-racial" President.

Which brings us back to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and its alleged anti-white message.

Leftists have immediately called the #BoycottStarWarsVII folks, who claim the new film is anti-white (based on what little we know from trailers) a bunch of racists.  After all, anyone who claims whites are under attack are racist, right?  In fact, the leftists have jumped on it with both feet, spewing that these "racists" that accuse Star Wars of being anti-white are right-wingers, and Trump fans with a little Tea Party sprinkled on top.  An obvious stab at including the Left's opposition into something the Tea Party and Trump followers not only have nothing to do with, but likely most of the Trump followers and Tea Party folks don't even know a new Star Wars flick is on its way.  Remember, most of these folks are older than I am, and I have six grandchildren.

Perfect timing for the leftist political machine, I suppose.  Liberal left progressive socialist commie Democrats have been looking for a way to derail the popularity of Donald Trump, and further attack the Tea Party, and we know these people will politicize anything they can to achieve a political goal of silencing and eliminating their opposition.

Social media exploded with all of this silly "Star Wars is anti-white" stuff about the time Disney was airing the release of a new trailer during ESPN’s Monday Night Football game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles.  From what little they know of the film, the protesters against the film claim it promotes white genocide, and that the director, J.J. Abrams, a Jewish activist, is anti-white.

Some of that may be true, all of it may be true, and none of it may be true.  Will there be political messages in the film?  Probably.  It came from Hollywood, after all.  But honestly, I am not caught up in that, and refuse to be as a Star Wars fan.

That might seem like a strange attitude from a political activist like myself.  But, hey, we all have a right to free speech, even the leftist crazies, and if I am offended by some political message, I simply won't pour any more money into the franchise.  Simple as that.

Don't like it?  Don't see it.

If the film offends you, walk out of the theater, don't recommend the movie to anyone, and turn off your TV when it makes it to the television screens we idolize in our homes.

We all have freedoms in this country.  We have the freedom to be stupid, too.  Unfortunately, some people abuse that privilege.  But, there is no law against being liberal left, or conservative, or anything else politically, and there shouldn't be.  A business should have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason, politicians should have a right to campaign on any stance they desire, and members of the entertainment industry have a right to be as far left loony as they desire.  I may think they are wrong, they are idiots, and they are a danger to our society if we let them run too wild, but they have that right.

I don't think the Star Wars movie's critics, the Boycott Star Wars VII crowd, believe it is anti-white because it has a diverse cast, as has been suggested by left wing writers.  I believe if that message of anti-white racism is in the movie as they claim, it is due to its presentation, a subtle insertion of political activism.

And once again, I really am not caught up in it as some may be.

I am a Star Wars fan.  I am going to watch the movie with the eagerness of a fan of the franchise.  If the political message is there, and if it is so powerful that it screws up the movie, then in December you will see me write an article titled "Star Wars VII is a left wing wet dream," or "The Force Awakens is a racist statement against whites, and calls for white genocide," or whatever else may pop out at me.  But I have a feeling none of those articles will be written.  More than likely I will notice a subtle message that doesn't matter, and write a post about the integrity of the story (or lack thereof), and how I believe it fits into the Star Wars family of films.  Likely, there will be things I love about the film, and a few things that will not stir me into excitement so much.

If it is full of left wing activism, well, this is not an excuse, or a statement condoning such shenanigans, but. . . It's Hollywood.  What else would you expect?  Pigs play in the mud, fish swim, scorpions sting, and Hollywood liberals try to insert their activism into their work.  That's just what they do.

If there were no black actors in the new Star Wars film, would it be labeled anti-black?  Would the confederate flag then be stamped on the Millennium Falcon, and would the stormtroopers then be depicted by the leftists as having pointy white hats on top of their helmets?

The real question now is, will bakeries be willing to bake a Star Wars cake?  And if not, should they be sued for being anti-Abrams or anti-Star Wars?

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary



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