George Lucas is reportedly looking to add some ethnic diversity to his Star Wars universe that goes beyond computer animation or bizarre prosthetic masks.
Lucasfilm casting director Robin Gurland has sent talent agencies outlines for several new characters that will play a part in the Star Wars series' as-yet-unsubtitled Episode Two, tentatively set for release in 2002.
According to entertainment daily Variety, these character outlines include:
* "a Native American character, said to have a forceful, spiritual nature"
* "an Indian or Hispanic character"
* "an Asian character, possibly trained in martial arts."
Presumably these recommendations exist to help adjust the balance of actors of color in the film, and do not reflect any ethnic backgrounds of the characters themselves.
) as "the first Afro-American Vulcan" in early press materials, it is unlikely that those of extraterrestrial origin would describe themselves thus, or in the terms attributed to Lucasfilm's Gurland.
What color is space opera?
The perceived whiteness of the Star Wars universe has always plagued Lucas.
The one significant character of color in the original trilogy -- Lando Calrissian -- is "a rogue and a scoundrel," while numerous critics have blasted the more recent Phantom Menace for reinforcing various ethnic stereotypes.
In particular, Jar-Jar Binks, a computer-generated creature the Lucas site calls a "talking, feeling, walking, running, falling, fainting bundle of amphibious comic relief," has met with sustained criticism.
The Wall Street Journal's film critic Joe Morgenstern found the character, voiced by actor of color Ahmed Best, to be a "walking, talking" ethnic slur, calling Jar-Jar "a Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit on platform hoofs, crossed annoyingly with Butterfly McQueen.''
Official Lucas policy, as transmitted through spokeswoman Lynn Hale, has always been that "nothing in Star Wars was racially motivated," and that "to dissect this movie as if it had a direct reference to the world today is absurd.''
Meanwhile, while the effort to diversify the faces that will express Lucas' universal themes is a noble one, it remains to be seen whether it will help Lucasfilm to pursue the blandly positive stereotypes it is reportedly looking for.
When was the last "Hollywood Indian" not defined as having "a forceful, spiritual nature?" How many "Asian characters" have been "trained in martial arts?"
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