| |
In lugnet.starwars, David Laswell wrote:
> In lugnet.starwars, Kevin Loch wrote:
> > Brad spoke to this at the BrickFest Q&A session. The NBA
> > minifigures depict actual people. For the most realistic
> > effect, they were made with dark or light skin colors,
> > just like the real people they are modeled after.
> > Generic (yellow) minigures represent no specific person
> > or color of skin. It is up to the imagination of the
> > individual as to what color they are.
>
> The NBA situation is easy to figure out on the fact that they include not
> only the first black minifigs, but also the first white ones. If people
> complained that there weren't any black minifigs in the regular sets, you
> could finally point to the NBA 3-packs and show evidence that there aren't
> any white ones either. As much as I wanted a black Lando, I know this is
> going to cause a lot of problems for them. Already FBTB has a few people who
> are cluttering their forums with complaints that Lando isn't "minifig
> colored" (i.e. yellow), and that they don't know if they can continue to buy
> SW sets because of this. On the other end of the irrationality spectrum will
> be the people who argue that since the one SW minifig who represents a black
> person was made with brown plastic, and all of the SW minifigs who represent
> white people were made with yellow plastic, then obviously TLC intends for
> yellow=white, and thus all LEGO sets are multiracially devoid. My personal
> stance on it is that the "everyone is yellow" arguement worked fine until
> 1999, when the SW series was first introduced. If they had gone the same
> route they did with the NBA 3-packs (i.e. generic spaceman is of
> indeterminate race and is produced in yellow, while Luke Skywalker is clearly
> white and is produced in pink/beige), there wouldn't be any problem with
> producing Lando in brown plastic, since you could point at the SW series and
> show proof that in the SW universe, yellow minifigs do not represent white
> people.
Excellent idea (I wish they had done this, in fact), but I don't think the
problem really revealed itself until people started begging for a "black" Lando
fig. Luke and most of the main characters had already been released by then, so
there was no way to fix this.
> My guess is that everyone at TLC is so used to thinking in terms of all
> minifigs being yellow that noone even considered this eventual problem when
> starting up the line in 1999. After the first wave of sets were released,
> they were effectively stuck with having yellow minifigs in the SW universe,
> and three equally displeasing choices on how to deal with the issue of Lando
> minifigs. They could produce him in the same yellow as everyone else...and
> risk disenchanting the vast majority of SW fans who collect the series only
> because it's SW. They could produce him in brown...and unintentionally
> create the yellow=white association, while also disenchanting all of the LEGO
> traditionalists who fully invested themselves into the yellow=everone mantra.
> Or they could skip Lando entirely...and risk pissing off pretty much everyone
> except white supremecists. Obviously the last choice isn't the best way to
> go. The United States became the world's largest consumer of LEGO product
> about the time that the SW sets were first released, which means that,
> especially where the SW series is concerned, special attention has to be paid
> to how sales in the US will be affected. And quite frankly, in a society
> that has been watching The Simpsons (where yellow=white) for 16 years, the
> argument that yellow=everyone doesn't fly very well. Yes, odd as it may
> sound, this entire situation might have been unknowingly decided by a
> moderately successful British comedienne's variety show.
LOL! that's probably the most logical argument/explanation I've read yet; the
Uhlmann-Simpsons theorem...
Personally, I don't really think there's a race issue with LEGO at all. I just
think that all the other characters looked good enough in yellow (which was
easier and cheaper to do), but Lando would NOT have looked good enough in
yellow. If anyone wants to get nasty about the race issue, they'll do it no
matter what excuse you give them (After all, Billy Dee is not really as dark
brown as the color TLC used anyway). Personally, I look at it as an experiment
with releasing a test case Star Wars minifig with custom skin color, and I hope
they do it a lot more! I think TLC is trying to improve the quality of their
product, and with the response they're getting from here, they may decide NOT to
make any new parts or parts-color-combinations.
I am worried that the "race card" being played here, even with the best of
intentions, is, ultimately, going to hurt new LEGO releases.
Tim, the color-blind optimist.
|
|
Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Lando minifig picutre HERE
|
| (...) It's important to understand that the "race-card" was played a long time ago. A bunch of pale danes sat around a room and decided what primary color would work best as a "flesh" tone. They looked at each other and the choice was ethno-centric. (...) (21 years ago, 11-Aug-03, to lugnet.starwars, lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Lando minifig picutre HERE
|
| (...) I'm really beginning to wish they had as well. I wouldn't be surprised if _they_ are wishing they'd done this. And if they aren't yet, they probably will be in a year or two, especially if that set ever hits retail store shelves. (...) That (...) (21 years ago, 11-Aug-03, to lugnet.starwars, lugnet.general)
|
Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Lando minifig picutre HERE
|
| (...) The NBA situation is easy to figure out on the fact that they include not only the first black minifigs, but also the first white ones. If people complained that there weren't any black minifigs in the regular sets, you could finally point to (...) (21 years ago, 10-Aug-03, to lugnet.starwars, lugnet.general, FTX)
|
35 Messages in This Thread:
  
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
This Message and its Replies on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
