templar1138a said:
And my faith in humanity drops another point.
Morons, the Empire was Nazi against NON-HUMANS (and females). They didn't care what color skin the humans had. Those "critics" are just using this as an excuse to be racist and pretend to not be. It's pathetic.
That's pointless aggression and you know it. Think the situation through; just because you don't see a legitimate reason for questioning this doesn't mean one doesn't exist. Some of these people might be racists raising objections for no other reason than they don't like black people, but for the most part, it's fans expression confusion over a mixed message the creator is sending. Remember: this isn't taking some minor talking point out of context. This is THE FIRST TRAILER. The first real bits of information we're being given, amongst the endless streams of rumors flying around. People who are fans of the earlier movies want to know more, so it's only natural to break down what we've been given.
So, what do we know about this next movie? Not much. I haven't been able to find an exact quote from Abrams (or anyone directly involved) saying what is or isn't considered canon since that first announcement back in January. So let's assume the EU is off the table. Well, what exactly does that constitute? Where is the line drawn? Knock out the books and the games, sure, but the official novelizations? Clone Wars show? The Holiday Special? Unless there's a more specific quote somewhere that I missed (entirely possible), we don't know. So the logical jump is to assume thoroughness; that is, we have six movies of canon, and nothing else. So no 501st, no actual evidence that the Empire is racist against aliens and females (just an admittedly conspicuous lack of them in the Imperial armed forces), no Thrawn. What does that establish in regard to the Stormtroopers? Let's take a look:
Someone, presumably but never stated to be Chancellor Palpatine, uses the name of a dead Jedi master to have an army of clone soldiers raised. The clones, all modified genetically from a single person, Jango Fett, are taken by the Republic and used to fight against the army of droids being used by the Separatists. When Palpatine later declares the dissolution of the Republic and the formation of the Empire, the 'Clone Troopers', engineered and trained to be slavishly loyal, stick with him.
Twenty-odd years later, the Empire is now firmly in charge, its will enforced by a legion of soldiers known as 'Stormtroopers', who wear armor and use weapons very similar to those used by the Clone Troopers two decades earlier. The obvious implication is that this is the same group, if not the same soldiers, who were such an important part of the nascent Empire earlier, but this is never actually stated. We're told "only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise" upon seeing the burned-out wreck of the Lars home (which indicates that either Obi-Wan's been out in the desert too long, or that one of the troopers tried to swat a fly by shooting it and things got very, VERY out of hand), consistent with an elite, specially-bred task force, but on the Death Star, we see horrific inaccuracy, slow reflexes, and lousy combat techniques, indicating that this isn't the same group. We also see varying heights among the troopers, but that's more readily explained; chance mutations, malnutrition, injuries and accidents; there are many ways genetically identical people could end up looking very different- of course, why would the misfits be chosen to man the single greatest symbol of Imperial Authority? Well, why wouldn't you hide the exceptions on board a battlestation where they're never likely to be seen? It all adds up to strongly suggesting that, at the very least, this group is dramatically reduced in power and prestige; it's likely they're not all clones, at least of the same individual, and certainly not the same soldiers who helped make the Empire a reality in the first place- how long can you expect rapidly-aged soldiers to fight, anyway (though that might offer something of an explanation; they're not terrible shots; they're senior citizens, trying to do the one thing they were bred and trained for as their bodies fall apart- kind of horrifying, though that would also explain their willingness to charge into almost-certain death)?
A great deal of the information we tend to assume is never actually verified- outside the EU, anyway. Implications, even strong ones, aren't the same as fact and evidence. A little more transparency from Disney on this would certainly be welcome; though I imagine it's just going to be released in bits and pieces over the next year to keep anticipation up. We know very little about the upcoming movies, and yes, people who care about the series are concerned about the direction it's taking. Passion is not a bad thing. Let's try to remember that going forward, and not be so quick to judge.
Let's
) they started having multiple clone templates and hire real people when they firmly established the Empire. It's supposed to make them less vunerable, because clones represent one big weak point. Find something that breaks one clone, then it breaks them all
