Subject:
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Re: who's feelin the black pack?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.starwars
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Date:
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Mon, 7 Aug 2000 15:44:38 GMT
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Viewed:
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1178 times
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In lugnet.starwars, Damien Nesbit writes:
> Maybe TLG should go the way of the Doug cartoon and include
> myriad colors in their cannon of headpieces. Have blue, orange, purple and
> green alongside the brown and tan should they ever decide to produce them.
> The creator saw fit to move beyond it's first colors of human complexion and
> generate an array of shades. Why should lego ignore this example?
>
> Support the Panaka/Windu/Calrissian minifig 3 pack movement and email lego
> today!
I've mostly stayed out of this discussion, but I've got some questions to ask.
I'm not generally opposed to the idea of dark "skinned" minifigs (DSM), but I'm
going to play devils advocate here for a minute.
Lets say that TLG does in fact go ahead and create a DSM that is included as
Mace Windu*, and then cross polinates this into other lines. What sort of
representation do you think people would be happy with? In other words, how
many DSMs will have to be included in each Town set to keep TLG from getting
sued or boycotted by various groups? Now keep in mind, that LEGO sets are
designed in Denmark, where I'd hazzard a guess that dark skinned people are a
much smaller minority than in America. So where does the line fall? Is it
enough to offer an accessory pack of DSM heads & hands? Will they be forced to
make a racial statement, one way or the other with each set that they release?
If they do release a DSM, will they then be forced to change the "standard"
minifig to a tan color, since canary yellow is not a reasonable portrayal of
caucasian skin tones? (BTW, if I were offended by such things, you would
have offended me by saying that my skin is resonably close to Canary Yellow).
You can see that the issues involved can get very sticky very quickly.
I myself am of the general opinion that we will NEVER be free of racial
tensions & issues until we are free of the very concept of race (which has no
scientific or genetic basis- it is a purely social distinction) and deal with
people based on who they are and what they can do, not by the albeido of their
dermal layers.
IMHO, that was one of the powerful things about the introduction of Lando
Calrissian in SW:TESB... his skin color was never an issue in the story, never
mentioned, never blinked at by any of the characters... If we can't get over a
simple differential in our melanin gradient, how are we going to act when we
make First Contact?
Anyway, sorry for the rant... I didn't mean to.
--Karim
* - I will hazard a prediction that regardless of the final outcome of the DSM,
we will never see a Lando or Panaka minifigure. Panaka is not a major enough
character, and if we were going to see a Lando minifig, he would have been in
the MF or the Desert Skiff. Mace Windu might happen, depending on how important
his character is in the next 2 movies.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: who's feelin the black pack?
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| In lugnet.starwars, Karim Nassar writes: <snip> (...) to (...) I would also think that other problems would arise, besides the is there the "proper" quantity. But what about actual "roles" in the sets. I think some groups would get upset if say a (...) (24 years ago, 7-Aug-00, to lugnet.starwars)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: who's feelin the black pack?
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| O.k., O.k., I agree, poor chice of politicians to name on my part. But why is it so hard to convince the lugnet community of the politicization of toys? If lego toys are as some say, no more than toys, somebody needs to clarify for me why they (...) (24 years ago, 7-Aug-00, to lugnet.starwars)
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