Were any Star Wars aliens based on national stereotypes?

Question

Many reviews and scholars have suggested that George Lucas seems to have based certain species in Star Wars human ethnicities, and particularly on stereotypes thereof. For instance, the Toydarians (who have large noses and are unmotivated by the Force, "only money") are supposedly meant to represent Jews.

He's called Watto the Toydarian. He's a slave owner and slave driver to our young blond hero, Anakin Skywalker. "Even in a galaxy far away, the Jews are apparently behind the slave trade," observes Bruce Gottlieb in a 5-26-99 piece on Slate, the only article we've seen on the subject and one we didn't see until this column was nearly finished. Gottlieb also pointed out the racial stereotyping in the character Jar-Jar Binks, as have many African-Americans.

But there are other examples: I've heard that the Neimodians might have been based on people from Japan, among others.

Crafty Japanese trade villains aren't the only heavy-handed ethnic stereotype in The Phantom Menace.

Is there any truth to these claims? Did Lucas base these or other Star Wars aliens on national or ethnic stereotypes?

Answer 1

Watto the Toydarian is indeed a racial stereotype (but not the one you're thinking of...)

According to Andy Secombe (the actor who portrays Watto), his character is openly intended to be based on a stereotypical shady Italian salesman.

Q Did you ‘invent’ Watto’s voice all by yourself?

AS: I did! When I got a call there was an audition for loads and loads of voices. I auditioned and asked what they were looking for! I was told that George had an idea of the second hand car salesman. So, I came up with (talks like Watto) “Hey, how yer doing”; that kind of voice. I don’t know why I came up with that, it was the first thing that came out.

Q. It sounds a bit like the Godfather to me!

AS: Yeah…I guess it does. Well it was actually based a bit on (laughs)…there’s an English actor called Michael Ripper. You know the Hammer Horror movies? He was always like “O you don’t wanna go up there!”. It was sort of half based on that character.

Q. There’s a story on the internet that it [Watto] was based on Alec Guinness’ role as Fagin in Oliver Twist.

AS: No, he isn’t Jewish! Watto is an Italian... Toydarian! No way he was based on that character.

_{^{Andy Secombe interview | www.StarWarsInterviews.com}}

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Gunray's accent was unashamedly Thai.

Lucas apparently had Silan Carson pre-record the lines in his own voice, then brought in a considerable number of voice actors to overdub the lines. When he found an accent he liked, he then had Carson learn that accent and re-dub the lines over again.

What was it like recording Nute Gunray's voice for Episode I? It's quite a specific dialect that the character uses--was your direction just as specific?

George and Rick listened to all kinds of different actors from different countries voicing the words that I had spoken on the set, and eventually they decided on a Thai accent. It was very strange, because I could see all the scenes that I was in, but with this Thai actor speaking the lines I had spoken, trying to do my intonations with a heavy Thai accent--and then I had to learn his accent and re-record it. It was the most bizarre process.

I was recording for a couple of days, and it was so much fun, because in the room were just myself, George and Robin Gurland, and we just went through all these lines. Doing voice recordings is great fun--you've got this great big screen and you see the whole thing, and you're trying to lip-synch it. But you've got to hang around while people are chopping and cutting the tapes, so there's a lot of messing about to be had--and we had it.

_{^{Silas Carson: Hero with a Thousand Faces - Starwars.com}}

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Jar Jar speaks like a baby because his script was partially written by a toddler.

Jar Jar's language and speech patterns are a mixture of "pidgin English from the Samoan islands and Pacific islands and the Caribbean" mixed in with some baby talk words and sounds that Lucas's infant son Jett would use (notably the word Gungan is his son's word for "car" and the name "Jar-Jar" was what the boy named the character when he saw an initial sketch)

Especially jarring to Best were the charges that his character was a racist stereotype. To this day, these charges confuse Best rather than anger him. According to Lucas, Jar Jar’s speech patterns (“Meesa called Jar Jar Binks. Meesa your humble servant”) were to some degree based on “pidgin English from the Samoan islands and Pacific islands and the Caribbean,” but “it was a completely made-up language.” In fact, Lucas says, some of his son Jett’s baby talk even ended up as words. (The term “Gungan” is what Jett used to call cars.)

_{^{Entertainment Weekly - In defense of Jar Jar Binks}}

and

The name Jar Jar was assigned, as was Gungan, which came from Lucas’ young son Jett’s name for tractors and trucks. “I just liked the sound of it,” says Lucas. “I’m always on the lookout for interesting-sounding words. I have to come up with hundreds of them, and I don’t like names with x’s and z’s in them that people like to use in space films.”

_{^{Jar Jar Binks: A Digital Star Is Born - RollingStone.com}}

Answer 2

There is one national stereotype which is often overlooked in Star Wars: The Mandalorians. Mandalore was the planet of origin for Jango and Boba Fett's armor, which was the inspiration for the original design of Republic Clone Trooper armor.

The only times Mandalore has been seen in Star Wars media were its appearances in several episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The planet itself is desolate, resembling the salt plains in Oklahoma. The cities on its surface are domed, carefully managed environments, the architecture consisting of almost crystalline shapes. The planet was made this way as a result of Mandalore losing the Mandalore wars, during which much of the galaxy was conquered by their armies, and the Jedi Temple was looted. The Jedi were eventually forced to render the planet the wasteland that is seen in the Clone Wars to bring an end to the conflict.

When it is shown, centuries after the Mandalore Wars, the society is one filled with regret and self-loathing for its warlike past, maintaining a strict policy of disarmament, and a commitment to diplomacy over violence. The people of Mandalore, the Mandalorians themselves, are shown to be tall, often with blonde hair, and blue eyes. An "extremist" "terrorist" group is active in their society, which seeks to return Mandalore to its former honor and glory via military force.

The national stereotype at play here, in case it wasn't obvious, is Germany. It's one that's often overlooked, as they aren't the most 'alien' of the societies depicted.

Answer 3

Lucas gave the aliens various accents and mannerisms that people could relate to stereotypes they were familiar with.

And no, the Toydarians were actually based on Romanians and the Roma Gypsy culture associated with the region in recent history. Not the Jews. The Toydarian accent is Romanian as well.

The Nemodians may very well be Japanese, and the Nautolan species, which Kit Fisto the Jedi Master is a member of, are based on Jamaican accents, although I don't know how much of the culture was adapted.

In any case, this is nothing new, look at any Medieval Fantasy or Sci-Fi where even in non-Earth settings, the Space baddies are British, the Medieval baddies are 'Viking' or other 'savages', the trope is throughout fiction.

The point is not to get too hung up on literal archetypes based on real-world stereotypes. That's what creates relatable characters.

There is a fine line between basing a character on an offensive stereotype and using the same brush strokes seen in various cultures to create new characters that we can relate to in a universe otherwise unlike our own.

You see Earth-Human Chauvinism in other non-Earth settings where English, humanoid and other culturally or biologically adapted features are transposed.

It's not limited to Lucas Films, it's throughout our history of fictional works.