Star Wars' "Black Stormtrooper" to Critics: "Get Used to it"

[MHR]

I think being black would add some "cool" to the main character. I think it's awesome. There's nothing that says the empire can't adapt. If the storm troopers can't aim for shit and getting closer to their targets might help, make them black so they can run faster? (ok I'm sorry XD)

I mean, after 2 of your death stars get blown up, maybe rethink some things, yeah? I see no problem. Bring on the new movie!

 

[Denamic]

I'm just amazed his skin colour is an issue at all. I thought we had moved past things this remarkably petty.

 

[Reed Spacer]

I'm just amazed his skin colour is an issue at all. I thought we had moved past things this remarkably petty.

You're kidding, right?

Nowadays, they try to make an issue of anything.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

It's not his race that I don't like about his character, it's the fact that what we've seen of him hasn't shown him to be even close to a protagonist. Imagine if the first image of Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones was them popping up like a whack-a-mole making a face like they just shit themselves, it would be laughable.

 

[Pinky's Brain]

His skin colour is just an unfortunate added point of recognition which makes me think of Spaceballs before Star Wars ... not really anything I have control over.

If he wasn't so animated in that shot and more of the unemotional filler we knew from the Star Wars movies it would help. Work up to presenting them as actual characters, don't start the opening shot with it.

 

[kael013]

Critics of Boyega base their argument on the fact that the Empire is meant to be an analogy for Hitler, the Nazis, and the "Master Race," and thus having a black actor portray a Stormtrooper undermines that analogy.

Except that that Empire wasn't racist, they were speciesist. Human = Master Race, regardless of skin color.

Really though, does it matter? The old EU also made them sexist against women and willing to engage in wholesale slaughter of everything on a planet in order to "liberate" it. They left the analogy behind and veered into cartoon villain territory a long time ago.

 

[Winnosh]

He can't be a real storm trooper because they're all clones. It's why Leia knew Luke wasn't a storm trooper based off only his height. If you want to keep infiltration down to a minimum a clone army does wonders.

If you watch Ep IV/V/VI, you see stormtroopers are of different heights, indicating they are likely not clones. See this picture from ANH: http://deadliestfiction.wikia.com/wiki/File:StormtrooperCorps_anh1080p.jpg

Simply a byproduct of not being able to hire Octomom in the 70's. The solution was for them to always be in uniform, and have the voice masked to sound as identical as possible, but not so identical the audience can't tell them apart. You could probably cite canon the says otherwise, but since they're only accepting the movies that leaves a bit of a gap for citing it.

The troopers were all of different heights, but also had different voices, that didn't change until Lucas did the later special edditions to make the voices change.

 

[kael013]

EDIT: double post due to poor connection. Ignore.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

I mean unless they're continually producing more clones to serve as Stormtroopers wouldn't the Empire need to start recruiting as the existing clones were killed in battle or police actions? My knowledge of the extended universe is non-existent so I could be missing something. But it makes sense to me that the Empire would shut down clone production after winning the war and subsist off of the existing supply while recruiting from the systems under its control when necessary.

 

[Winnosh]

I think being black would add some "cool" to the main character. I think it's awesome. There's nothing that says the empire can't adapt. If the storm troopers can't aim for shit and getting closer to their targets might help, make them black so they can run faster? (ok I'm sorry XD)

I mean, after 2 of your death stars get blown up, maybe rethink some things, yeah? I see no problem. Bring on the new movie!

I'm more insulted by the crack at Stormtroopers shooting when they've kicked ass in every battle they were ever shown in in the original trilogy.

 

[LazyAza]

This is edris alba playing hymdall all over again. These "critics" are just closet racists spouting the usual bullshit. Fuck em all.

That wasn't racism. Elba playing Heimdall was changes to an established character, as well as one that is described as "whitest of the gods". I'd be equally annoyed had they picked a white guy to play Blade. I wasn't particuarly happy with them changing Bane in Dark Knight Rises to be "british" either, he's supposed to be carribian/Spanish. I like Elba as an actor, I just don't think it was necessary to change Heimdalls racial appearance.

I wouldn't even say this was racism, just misconception. Given a lot of people are under the impression that all the Storm Troopers are still clones of Jango Fett, saying "wtf Black Storm Trooper?" makes sense. That's not racism, that's questioning something you have been told and believe to be true.

Of course they're not all clones of Fett anymore as the Empire was recruiting Stormtroopers in the oiginal trilogy and I'm pretty sure they didn't retcon that out. And at this point, most of them are dead anyway.

However, I've yet to see any questioning of a black stormtrooper, save one person, who did it on the basis that they thought all Stormtroopers were still Fett clones.Personally I thought it was pretty obvious he was in disguise in the trailer, or he'd just signed up to fight for the Empire and was freaking out. The only discussion I've seen is that stupid Lightsaber.

Films are adaptations of other material, everything including the actors who are chosen to play each character can be changed and modified to however the film makers wish. The thor movies are 99% white man power fantasy to the extreme. 1 single obscure character not being played by a white guy is NOT something anyone should give a fuck about, especially given Alba does an utterly amazing job as the character.

Regarding the stormtrooper thing, not racism? have you READ the comments on youtube? the ones that say the empire are suppose to be like the nazis, the ones that are literally saying "no n***** stormstroopers please" ? yeah. I'm pretty sure that's racism dood.

 

[faefrost]

Who has actually criticised the trailer for having a black stormtrooper? Citation desperately needed.

I was kind of wondering about that? I hate to say it, but the article reeks of clickbaity trying to drum up false controversy. "Omg it is so controversial! There might be a black Stormtrooper! People are up in arms!" Whereas if you actually read anyplace on the Internet the only controversy surrounding Boyega is whether or not he is a Stormtrooper or is in disguise ala Han and Luke? Race swapping existing characters in order to be edgy and politically correct rubs people the wrong way. Giving us a new cool character interests us. Actual skin color is irrelevant. I don't think you will find anyone on the Internet outside of Maybe Stormfront who cares that a Stormtrooper might be black. Heck Mel Brooks gave them to us 25 years ago. It's actually kind of refreshing that this is the first black male Star Wars character that does not appear to be in any way dressed as a purple suited 70's pimp in a disco or a member of the Village People.

 

[faefrost]

Yeah a set of Quillions is sort of useful, I just wonder why they are going for a more Normand design when the lightsaber is more of a Japanese inspired weapon.
or when this is may be more effective

It could mean we could get some more interesting weapons, I love to see a lightsaber zweihander, it'd be so bloody stupid in it's design.
Also we could have a certain someone join in
.

The original Lightsaber designs were obviously very Kendo inspired. But they have added some flair and differentiation with individual characters since. Count Dooku's Lightsaber in particular was a fencing blade and hilt, reflecting Christopher Lee's skill as a fencer. Darth Maul obviously pulled from a different weapon tradition. As did Ashoka Tano and Ventriss in the Clone Wars.

Let's be honest Lightsabers are inherently stupid weapons. Cool but stupid. They are just a means for visual story telling. Once you accept that they exist, the specifics are simply window dressing and allegory. The European style hilted long bladed Lightsaber probably tells us more about the weilder than the technical aspects of how it is used. It implies they are playing up the character as a Knight or a Crusader of some sort. Someone questing for some holy grail perhaps?

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Has John Boyega changed his name to black stormtrooper considering that title?

Maybe JJ is using Bungie's naming strategy.

" 'Black Stormtrooper' must bravely fight through an uprising of a new faction, known only as 'The Enemy'. He will be aided by his sidekick 'IR-A Droid' and help young 'Jedi Hero' discover his newfound powers, defeating the new Sith Lord 'Bad Villain'.
Will Black Stormtrooper Survive? What will happen in Star Wars Episode 8 - The Eighth Movie? Find out next Year!"

 

[Kopikatsu]

I'm really confused by all the people saying that the Stormtroopers are all clones of Jango Fett. Clone Troopers were the clones. It's even in the name.

The very first Stormtroopers were Clone Troopers (The 501st specifically), but after that, the Clone Troopers were all decommissioned and now it's 50/50 between normal humans and clones. And not Jango Fett clones. Just clones of other Stormtroopers.

 

[RJ 17]

Pretty sure it's canon that the Empire stopped using clones between episodes 3 and 4 and started going with straight-up conscription to fill out the ranks of Storm Troopers. So yeah, all these critics saying it goes against canon - assuming that this guy is a Storm Trooper and not just disguised as one - are wrong anyways. Beyond that, just because the Empire was supposed to stand for Hitler and the Nazis in the original movies - if you interpret it as such - doesn't mean that it will always be symbolic of that. Especially considering the fact that the Hitler figure is now dead and gone.

 

[Belaam]

Meh. There are black people in the star wars universe. There is storm trooper armor in the star wars universe. Putting the first inside the second doesn't really seem like an insane, universe-breaking thing to me. The film is set decades after the last, maybe spare storm trooper armor is everywhere at military surplus stores and he bought some. Maybe he's just a guy working as a stormtrooper. Maybe he's a guy disguised as a storm trooper. All of these seem entirely plausible and I really don't see a problem with it.

Just don't get me started on the funtionality of crossguards.

 

[JennAnge]

I'm disappointed on two levels...

On a less unpleasant level I'm disappointed by the realisation that my own interpretation of the character's appearance in the trailer was probably wrong. I thought, 'Wow, a stormtrooper as a character! I wonder what his arc will be - does he go from naive militaristic patriotism to realizing how evil the empire is? How does he win over the trust of the others? This certainly implies there might be some halfway interesting storytelling in this film!'

But as others have pointed out it's probably just the bloody hero in bloody disguise

Ditto; when I saw the trailer, I was hoping (still hope?) that the hero starts off as a storm trooper. His story arc from Empire to Republic would have been interesting. The arc from random-faceless-meat-shield-#247003 to hero would have been fascinating too. The prequels, Clone wars, a lot of the EU and this new Rebels series all seem to put a lot of emphasis on Chosen One, or at the least some 'the force is strong with this one' unknown guy/gal who blossoms into the Jedi who is key to something major. Always super-special at the core, either way. But the original Star Wars had two hero tropes, after all: and the self centered jackass smuggler who turns into a reluctant hero muddling along the best he can made for a great story.

And hell, even if he's not a storm trooper, that latter type of trope could still happen in some form or other if he's just one of the random rebel meat-shields that always seem to get mowed down by the dozen whenever the heroes make a sortie (seriously, I always feel sorry for those anonymous guys, especially when the heroes celebrate at the end. Do you know how many Bothans died so you could get your bonfire and happy ending, assholes!?!) Not a Chosen One, a Captain He's-Just-So-Good Kirk, or a soon to be discovered Jedi. Just a guy who has to claw his way through the story the hard way. Yeah. I still hold out hope. The actor has a good face/expression for that in the two seconds he appears. Mark me down as cautiously and guardedly intrigued.

 

[Ukomba]

I hate what JJ is doing to star wars and the EU, I hate a lot of what he's done, and I'm one of the first to call out his bs, but this isn't a lore issue. I'd actually have more problems if it had been a Jango clone since they should all be dead by this point. Black, Female, not an issue.

In truth, I wouldn't mind the occasional alien stromtroopers either since there is EU precedence.

 

[Worgen]

Somehow I doubt skin color really matters when you have other species to be racist against.