Outrage as Chinese Reduce Black Character on Star Wars Poster

Stuff Black People Don’t Like
December 10, 2015

The entire world is about to embark on a journey into a galaxy far, far away (and remember, it all happened a long time ago…).

Star Wars: The Force Awakens comes out on December 18, and the movie will inevitably eclipse Avatar as the biggest movie of all time.

The Chinese are onto something...
The Chinese are onto something…

A few months ago, an innocent Tweet by yours truly set in motion events that quickly escalated into the hilarious #BoycottStarWarsVII trolling, which became front page news worldwide.

Think about that for a second: a Tweet sent out when I was somewhat inebriated on a Sunday in October became the basis for a worldwide story.

John Boyega, the black actor cast as the protagonist in the upcoming Star Wars film, wasn’t too excited to see people attack his being cast, though it should be noted rumors are rampant the toy of his character isn’t selling well at all with the kids. [How Daisy Ridley & John Boyega are changing Star Wars – and our world: Plus: Boyega has a blunt message for ‘idiots’ fueled by bigotry., Entertainment Weekly, 11-13-15]:

As a lifelong Star Wars fan himself, Boyega says the benefit of diverse casting is that kids will pretend to be the characters they love whether those individuals have skin that’s white, brown, green, or covered in fur. That’s what he did.

The bigots trying to sully things? He has no time for them. “We’ve been having a continuous struggle with idiots, and now we should just force them to understand – and I love the way I just used Force there, by the way – just force people to see this is the new world,” he says. “There are loads of people of different shades and backgrounds. Get used to it.”

“… force people to see this is the new world.”

Sorry Mr. Boyega, but your faith in your friends – the Social Justice Warriors, who have crafted the current era Western Civilization finds in and helped bring about a world where you could get cast in a movie such as Star Wars – is a weakness.

This era won’t last forever.

And just to remind you of this truth is the fact that more than a billion Chinese loath the idea of watching black people in any of their movies. [‘Star Wars’ China Poster Sparks Controversy After Shrinking John Boyega’s Character, Variety, 12-4-15]:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens” fans are menaced by the Chinese poster for the upcoming sci-fi epic.

The poster has sparked controversy online over stylistic changes, one of which resulted in the diminished presence of John Boyega’s lightsaber-wielding character.

Aside from giving BB-8 more prominence, the biggest discrepancy between the two posters is the shrinking of Boyega’s Finn and the positioning of his body.

Boyega, who plays a lead role, is lowered down from the original poster — where he’s the third largest character after Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren and Daisy Ridley’s Rey — and tucked under Harrison Ford’s gun-toting Han Solo and Carrie Fisher’s Leia, and behind a much lager BB-8.

Meanwhile, other non-white characters, including Oscar Isaac, who plays rebel pilot Poe Dameron, Lupita Nyong’o, who plays alien pirate Maz Kanata, and Chewbacca have been cut out altogether. They’re replaced by X-wings, TIE fighters and rows of Stormtroopers.

The poster was released earlier this week along with the announcement of the film’s release date in the country. “Star Wars” hits theaters in China on Jan. 9 — about a month after its worldwide release on Dec. 18. Some of the movie’s stars are expected to attend the gala premiere in China.

The casting of a black actor, Boyega, in the role of a Stormtrooper, was initially met with backlash. “To whom it may concern … Get used to it,” Boyega said late last year about the issue.

Get used to what, Mr. Boyega? Major Hollwyood studios forcing black actors/actresses down the throats of the American consumer? Judging by the vast numbers of toys based on your character sitting unsold on the shelves of Walmart, K-Mart, Toys’r’us, and Target, it should be obvious the only thing you need to get used to is a smaller royalty check than the white actors in the Star Wars film.

What’s funny is the sole reason George Lucas cast Billie Dee Williams in Empire Strikes Back was because of the criticism he took to heart over Star Wars: A New Hope being racist, because not one non-white appeared in the film (Director John Landis asked Lucas in 1977, “”George, is everybody in outer space white?”).

And despite the paucity of non-white faces, Episode IV of the Star Wars franchise was pivotal in creating the worldwide phenomenon you are only lucky to be a part of because Disney decided to cast a black guy in a role most true Star Wars fans will cheer is quickly killed off.

Not to mention, Mr. Boyega, that Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), the special effects that helped create the magical universe in Episodes IV – VI, had at most one black employee out.

In reality, ILM was whiter than any Silicon Valley company currently under-fire for having a lack of black employees, but remember this: the lack of blacks in Star Wars: A New Hope in no way shape or fashion impeded the popularity of the movie, just as the lack of blacks at Google, Apple, Facebook, Yahoo!, and other Silicon Valley’s didn’t stop these overwhelmingly white companies from changing every facet of our lives…

But, in closing Mr. Boyega, remember this: more than a billion Chinese people could care less you were cast in the film and billions find your casting offensive (just as millions do in America).

If this wasn’t the case, the poster for the movie in China wouldn’t have drastically reduced your footprint, whereas marketers in America can’t help themselves but try and make you the vocal point of advertising.

It might be time you consider the reality this era of hyper-imposed negro dominance by the media, advertisers, marketers, and those pushing Black-Run America (BRA) will end.

And when it does… the consequences will be far greater than an image being reduced in size on a Chinese movie poster.