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| Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) – John Boyega |
The first thing we see in the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer is the sight of a Black guy, John Boyega, in Stormtrooper armor sweating on Tatooine. It’s pretty epic and is jaw-dropping in spots. Unfortunately, some fans are complaining about it.
While we weren’t going to write about it, we figured enough people have been asking that it’s worth addressing.
We have no idea what character Boyega plays or what the plot is, but here are some reasons we can assume Boyega is in a Stormtrooper outfit.
1. Stormtroopers Aren’t Clones
It’s only in the prequels that all the Stormtroopers (called Clonetroopers) are clones. It was established in the Expanded Universe that the Emperor started replacing clones with regular people through recruiting and conscription. This is pretty obvious when you watch the original trilogy. Stormtroopers are all different sizes, shapes and have different voices. So, no, the Stormtroopers in Star Wars Episode VII aren’t clones.
2. There’s No Reason to Assume All Stormtroopers Are White
The idea that the Empire would recruit only White guys is ludicrous. Even the original clone template Jango Fett wasn’t White, but the actor Temuera Derek Morrison is Maori (Polynesian). So, even if all the Stormtroopers were clones of Jango, they still wouldn’t be White.
3. The Black Guy Could Be Disguised as a Stormtrooper
Luke Skywalker and Han Solo both dressed as Stormtroopers. Boyega’s character could be disguised as a Stormtrooper for some reason. So, he might not even be a real Stormtrooper.
Update: By the way, this proves the Stormtroopers aren’t clones. Otherwise, Han and Luke would never have fit in the armor. What are the odds that they would both be the exact same size as the clones?
4. The Black Guy Could Be a Former Stormtrooper
Luke Skywalker was talking about joining the Empire in the Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Maybe Boyega joined the Empire and has a change of heart after it fell.
5. John Boyega is the Lead in the Star Wars Episode VII
It’s been rumored for a while that the new Star Wars movies could have a Black leading man and iTunes may have confirmed it. If you look at the official description on the iTunes trailer website it reads this way:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in theaters December 18, 2015. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, and features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker. The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, and John Williams returns as the composer. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga
Notice who’s the first actor mentioned: John Boyega. The official cast list also lists “Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker.” Both descriptions have his name first which COULD be implying that he’s the main character.
By comparison, the iTunes trailer for Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace lists “Actors Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid.” Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor were arguably the lead on that movie. If Boyega is the lead then it makes total sense for him to be the first guy shown in the trailer.
6. It’s 2015, So Get Used To It
22-year old British actor John Boyega sent out this Instagram message:
It’s a new age and, according to the U.S. census, 13% of the United States classifies themselves as “Black (not Hispanic)“, so to ignore that demographic makes no sense. While 13% of America doesn’t sound like much, the total percentage of minorities in America has gone from 20% to 28% since 1990 alone. The world is more diverse and movies should accept that.
Why do you think there’s a Black guy in the Star Wars trailer?
Update: Thank you for the insightful and thoughtful discussion. Unfortunately, due to the number of hateful, racist and inflammatory comments on this post all comments are closed. If you wish to say why you hate Black people in movies, please go elsewhere.
If you hate Star Wars, then please boycott the movie. If you love Star Wars, then we’ll see you on December 14, 2015. May the Force be with you.
Please be mindful of our comment policy when making comments. Racist comments will be deleted.
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="33937 ">89 Comments
Because it's a diversified universe?
Has everyone forgotten Lando already? A black man in the film shouldn't shock anyone.
Wow, I can't believe people say such crap or think it. I'm happy to see diversity in the fictional universe. Once we leave the planet, I doubt we'll just find white people. Most likely we won't find any people.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Itt
How ridiculous that people would complain because the main character is black. Some of my favorite TV shows have black leading men (ex. Luther!). Get over it, people!
The disguise angle occurred to me as well. And yeah even in the Clone Wars show (which I know isn't OFFICIAL anymore but whatever) they were having problems with making the clones because Jango Fett was dead. What do you think would happen 50+ years later people? The fun part about this and the Captain America thing and so forth is watching racists tying themselves into pretzels to rationalize their hatred. "I'm not a racist, but a black guy!? OMG!!!" Yeah buddy, you're not a racist at all. lol Anyway, when I watched the trailer I didn't care the Stormtrooper was black. What difference does it make? I mean come on, Darth Vader was a white guy with a black guy doing the voice for crying out loud.
I think there's a black dude in the movie because he's the guy they liked for the role. Simple as that.
There will always be a rotten apple.
Actually the Clone Wars is one of the few things to remain canon during the switch. Which by extension canonized some novel elements by using certain characters/storylines.
People are forgetting(Naively so) that traditionally the first trailer in many years for a franchise almost always would have a recognizable figure pop up first, to me this really smacks of white liberal condescending tokenism.
Also people are conveniently forgetting that the storm troopers(it's even in the name) represented White Nazi's to Jewish Hollywood.
Also we know for a fact that Hollywood wouldn't have a black storm trooper who wasn't good or becomes good(More Tokenism)
How is it racist to think that a maori guy should be playing a storm trooper instead of a black guy for the sake of sticking to the storyline? Its only racist if you think that no black people should be in the movie.
Or they ran out of the original clones and began recruiting for their ranks.
There are no Asian characters, are there? I haven't seen all Starry Wars circuses, but don't recall any Asian characters/actors. Consider that in terms of the massive viewership and fan base and merc-purchases in Asia, esp. Japan, Hong Kong, Korea. Those 3 countries alone must bring in more income for the franchise than all necrotic fans in Americas, Freaka and Europa. Also about 2-3 billion E & SE Asians in the World. So where's the diversity? No, it's about promoting necrotising culture. (Hmmm… Looks like auto spell check "corrected" me)
Exactly. I thought the same exact thing.
I seem to have misreaded reason (the only reason):
1. Jews control the movie business and want to rub the white fanboys noses in diversity and their marginalisation.
To answer your question, you can relate to the new character as a human being. And the only whites it would ostracize are racists who no one wants to be a part of Star Wars fandom, anyway.
And as stated in our comment policy, yours and all other comments will be edited for language.
The sheer number of commenters worried about the "Jew Agenda" both saddens and confuses me.
I think the storm trooper being vibrant obsolete farm equines explains a lot. Remember how incompetent they were in the original movies? They were basically buffoons who couldn't shoot worth a damn. If trooper dindu nuffins from the trailer is typical then we know now why they were so ineffective against the rebels.
Honestly black troopers make perfect sense to me. In all the movies the storm troopers were incompetent idiots. Now we know why.
Of course. If they showed them raping and looting for kicks and wide-screen televisions then it would make sense. But the elite fighters and the strategists should be White and Asian.
I don't mean to be racist, but if the Empire were to follow human ranks, all the stormtroopers should be whites. All of the Imperial officers were white, so either 1.)Black Privates never got promoted, which is racist, or 2.)There were simply no black stormtroopers.
However, the disguise possibility, supported by John possibly being the main character (and almost all main characters being good), is possible.
People are upset about a black stormtrooper because they were modeled after the Nazi SS…and of course there were no black Nazis, so they believe that it should follow that there are no black stormtroopers.
PEOPLE ARN'T BEING RACIST!!! THEY JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND SINCE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A CLONE!!!
And the number 1 reason not listed…because its the "politically correct Hollywood thing to do" which trumps all other items in the list. Same reason the leading lady is white. God help us to put a white actor as the leading male and a black woman as the leading lady, or a hispanic leading male and an asian leading lady. Such diversity is unheard of. Only acceptable combo in Hollywood now is black man, white woman and nothing else. Kind of sad actually.
Wow! I’m speechless…JJ is a freakin genius!
What a load of fart this is. Black,white, Asian who cares. The voice of Darth Vader is a black guy, Lando Calrrisian in the Empite Strikes back is a black guy Billy Dee Williams. As well as Samuel L Jackson of course.
The bottom line is we're on a rock in outter space which is incredible in itself (you'ure not dreaming) Whoever created this reality/ world has made diversity, I stand for equality. All you keyboard warriors out there are affecting young kids of color with your views at some point you will have to answer.
Affirmative action apparently exists in other galaxies as well
Isn't George Lucas married to a black woman? i know it's a disney franchise now.
Did you not read the article? Was Luke Skywalker Maori when he wore the Stormtroopers costume? Seems you're racist and have trouble following the story yourself.
"How am I supposed to relate to this new character?"
As a fellow human being?
There are going to be Asian characters in the new movie. Christina Chong has been cast, and Iko Uwais is rumored to be in the movie as well.
That is a sad argument
Slant Wars
You're all missing the point. The Empire is inspired by racist regimes like Nazi Germany. This is why the Empire is all-white and non-alien.
You people watch all these movies and TV and yet you learn nothing.
Lets spell it out as simply as possible.
Stormtroopers are the bad guys.
Black people aren't allowed to portray bad guys. (They might be allowed to play one as a background character/glorified extra but only when diluted with plenty of whites playing bad guys)
Ergo he is not playing a Stormtrooper.
So, either he's merely dressed as a Stormtrooper for plot reasons or he's a black Stormtrooper who has defected from the Empire. But, suffice to say, he's not going to be an actual bona fide Stormtrooper for more than a small percentage of the movie.
I didn't care the Stormtrooper was black. What difference does it make?
Then lets not have any black actors in it all.
After all, what difference does it make? And as you said, you don't care.
Why, because you're stupid or because you're a jew?
If we have absolute equality then there is no diversity.
What a load of fart this is. Black,white, Asian who cares
Then make all the characters white. Because who cares.
I agree with you in spirit of course but wouldn't black storm troopers explain a lot regarding why the storm troopers are so incompetent? After all the Emperors "finest legions" were beaten by teddy bears on endor. The Storm troopers marksmanship is appalling and they seem to have no tactical skill what so ever. In light of all this revealing that were black would explain an awful lot.
Make them all Tajiks, because…reasons.
If we have absolute diversity then there is no equality.
Make them all Irish. One species could speak in a North Belfast accent, another Cork, another Connemara, another Ennis, and so on.
You're twisting the meaning of my words.
I'm not sure if you're trying to funny or just incredibly racist. It's a fine line
Neither
That's actually a good point. It's a very common pairing
The idea that the Emperor is racist comes from the books and isn't canon at all.
You make a good point. Nepotism might still exist a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away
:: fist bump::
Lucas intended it to be an analogy of fascism, not racism.
Fair enough!
You make a compelling point sir.
The main reason I'm not into the marvel movies is mostly because they suck. But yeah black heroes add a whole other layer of gayness to them. Whether in real life or fiction I just don't really care to see Africans.
Ummm..in what film do you see a black male / white female lead in films?..and i am talking about romantic ..ie kissing/sex…never..U never see denzel so much as kiss a ww on the cheek let alone fck her…also what about scandal..z nation….28 days later.. Serpent and the rainbow… One of the mission impossible movies with thandie newton…ALL thandie Newton and Zoe saldana films,all of which have white leading men?…name one film with a white leading woman and black, or any man of color thats not a platonic pairing.. Go ahead I got time..
While I'm sure there are some bigots voicing objections, it's nevertheless a reasonable question to ask when most assume stormtroopers are clones. I don't see why anyone asking this question needs to instantly be painted as a racist.
It's a pretty common theme on a lot of blogs, though. I remember when I heard that Thor had been replaced by a woman, and thought 'that's a really stupid idea'. Later I checked it out on the internet and found out that I must be some sort of misogynist. Well, ok internet.
A lot of the complaints are based on misinformation Phlegatu, but you wouldn't believe the number of racist comments we've had to delete from this one post.
He could be a fugitive slave and disguised himself as a Stormtrooper to aid in his escape.
I probably would believe it. I used to be something of a troll.
cause jews are pushing diversity agenda, feminism and all that crap. typical Hollywood social engineering. Talent dont matter. Prepare for a gay Jedi in the next one.
How do you keep misinterpreting that?
I interpret the statement don't care to mean that the person making the statement doesn't, you know, care.
If they, and you, do in fact care perhaps you could try and make that clear rather than throwing out phrases that the rest of us are supposed to understand via telepathy or something.
It means that the fact he's black doesn't upset me like some of these people. Your rage is misplaced. As far as I know you're the only one misinterpreting it. Twice even. I guess you're so spoiling for a fight that it doesn't matter who you're fighting.
Who said anything about rage? He said who cares. Thus its of no importance to him who plays what. He, quite literally, can only mean that it doesn't matter to him.
You need to learn to read context. As he said (and I said) there are already other black characters in the Star Wars universe, why make a big deal about there being another?
Aha! Context!
Obviously the real point of inserting sympathetic black characters into what are otherwise white cultural products is to maintain the idea that white norms of society and civilisation can be maintained even when the majority of the population is no longer white.
Fiction is designed to lull the population into a false sense of security about the coming disaster and their dispossession but more than that it is also designed to help bring it about.
Selling this racial egalitarian fantasy is hard to with reference to the real world as it empirically not true although tight control of the media helps to keep the show on the road. But in fiction – you can do anything!
We call it The Agenda™.
Wherever you're getting this from it's not from either comment that so upset you. I think you have your own Agenda.
Your comments have gone from ignorant to insulting rather quickly. The idea that you see Star Wars which has always been open to everyone and celebrated by all cultures around the world as a "white cultural" icon is both sad and laughable. Your ignorance of the simple fact that this world doesn't exist only to support the narrow minded view of the few – not white but few – makes about as much sense as the "flat Earth society". The world is round. The Earth revolves around the sun. All races are equal and deserve representation. BTW I just flagged you as a spammer so go spout your 1950s KKK speeches somewhere else.
Thanks for speaking up for the majority Pat. That Jew hating idiot won't be back.
I hardly think its insulting to point out the film is a white cultural innovation and Star wars in its earlier incarnation was certainly very much a white production.
Anyhow, its your site (I guess?) I dont want to be a bad guest so I'll be on my way.
My agenda is quite clear, its the people who own the media who constantly lie and distort. If you're aware of George Orwell's 1984 you'll be quite up to speed on the matter. Anyway as I said, I don't want to out stay my welcome so we'll leave it there.
People just made noise about it cause the lead black actor wasn't particularly 'denzel'… I mean lets face it, even Lando is 'denzel' even he wasn't the lead character.
Nobody is complaining in a racial discriminating way, but they're supposed to be clones, f–k what it says on the article, it just makes no sense when the story gives you a back story that apparently isn't true.
I can't believe Star Wars has been made into a social engineering experiment. There will probably be romance between the black lead character and the white female lead. I can't believe it. It is lamentable that the world has come to this. I probably wouldn't have cared about the black lead if the main female character was also black, but putting a black man, white woman couple in a Star Wars film is reprehensible far left social brainwashing. Most likely I'm not going to watch the film.
It's because they fear that the black man will be having a relationship with the white female character. White men are naturally upset that men from other races are taking their women and that the leftist media is encouraging this for some reason.
People don't mind seeing diversity on screen so much, but they don't like seeing interracial relationships being promoted, especially not the typical black man-white woman combo. It is threatening and very distressing to white men knowing that the media is trying to increase the number of these relationships on and off screen. Why can't a cast be diverse without making the sexual relationship interracial? Young white women are very socially conscious and if the media creates the impression that dating a black guy is the "good" and "cool" thing to do, many white girls will fall for it. Too many.
As a white man who is only interested in white women (like most white men are); black men taking white women is not a fair trade for me.
Where did I say or even imply they were bumping uglies? Seems you are projecting your inner desires a bit there Commander Kool. As for the other part of your question…are you actually serious? I mean serious serious???
If stormtroopers were clones in the original trilogy, why don't they have the same voices or height? Besides, the Expanded Universe (both before and after the Disney buyout) show Imperial academies like the one Luke wanted to join were training facilities for non-clones to become stormtroopers. The most water the "STs are clones" argument holds is that George Lucas said he once intended this to be the case, but it never came to fruition.
But whether or not you believe the stormtroopers are clones in the original trilogy, this is the sequel trilogy we're talking about. All we need is to see the movie to know once and for all whether Boyega plays a stormtrooper. And since Boyega has already confirmed he's a stormtrooper, I know what I'm betting to see in the movie.
Lucasfilms have confirmed that the storm troopers are not clones. Seriously most of these arguments wouldn't happen if people looked this stuff up instead of getting angry.
I didn't even realize that this was an issue until I stumbled upon this thread. It all made perfect sense to me… The way it was presented in the First Trilogy, and the way that I interpreted (yes… personal opinion) that would have unfolded in the Second Trilogy.
1) Palpatine surreptitiously "purchased" an army of clones from the Kaminoans. When the "order" was delivered, that concluded the deal.
2) Of course, once Palpatine felt as if he had control, he would have started making plans for the perpetuation of the Empire. Not wanting to give any power to anyone else, he would have excluded the Kaminoans. Instead, he would have used the existing troops to recruit and train the next generation of troops. Of course, those would not be clones. However, the uniformity of the Kaminoan training would still be there. Palpatine would be assured that, at least the second and third generation of troops would be of the same quality as the first generation. After that, it's probably time to go see the Kaminoans again. Since Luke was barely 30-ish years old when Palpatine kicked the bucket, the issue of re-initiating contact with the Kaminoans never came up.
In fact, I bet the Kaminoans, at this point are thinking, "The Finest Army in the Galaxy, and Emperor "Pampers-On" tanks the whole shabang in less than 30 years!" Geez… I'm a skinny 9-foot-tall Giraffe, and I could do better than that!
But… Back to our story…
3) Black Stormtrooper? Why Not? The "Thrawn" trilogy (which is non-canon now, but did have the smell of truth about it) stated that Palpatine was only prejudiced against one thing… Non-Humans. If you were human, you were Empire Material!
On another note…
I always thought that one of the subtle messages of Star Wars was the inferiority of racism.
The Empire ONLY employed humans. The Rebels employed all kinds of species.
Remember Episode IV? "Where are you taking this… Thing! …"
The backstory is this: the Empire used clones at first, right after the Clone Wars. Then they stopped.
You know, because the clones were made to age twice as fast, like the Kaminoans said in Episode II, so they got old way too fast. And since Jango was dead, they couldn't make more. So the Empire started recruiting ordinary people and threw out the rest of the clones.
So the stormtroopers in the the Original Trilogy aren't clones. That's why in the later DVD and Blu-ray editions, none of the stormtroopers' voices were redubbed by Jango Fett's actor, while Boba Fett, a clone made to age normally, was. And if OT stormtroopers aren't clones, then it stands to reason that being a clone is not a requirement to be a stormtrooper in Episode VII.
Just because there were no black officers seen in the movies, doesn't mean they weren't there. There were no black people in general seen in Star Wars until Lando appeared. And even IF they were all white in the OT, this is the ST, so times could have changed. And even if you don't like or even watch Star Wars Rebels…look up Zare Leonis. A black stormtrooper cadet, and one who I'm willing to bet is related to John Boyega's character, confirmed to be a bona fide stormtrooper. Maybe his father? Zare was supposed to be spying on the Empire from within to search for his sister, but the Empire could've made their way into his head…
The Clone Wars show IS official. It was one of the few to be brought over into the Disney canon exactly as it was.
http://www.ww2f.com/topic/33711-hitlers-non-white-soldiers/
If you are completly ignorant, dont speak…because you redicule yourself and look like a lobotomized hollywood freak….
Lol..you're a moron..weren't you just whining about the fallacy of no white men slash black women leads in motion pictures? By leads everyone assumes the fictional characters are bumbling uglies,so please stop looking to be outraged after I just proved the utmost opposite in the ancient casting trends..ya herd? ..smh
"By leads everyone assumes the fictional characters are bumbling uglies" – No sweetie, that's just your dumb azz. I'm talking about just the on-screen pairings. You really should stop posting. Every time you post you show the world how incredibly ignorant you truly are.
YES!! I'm so happy that there's a new character replacing the lead role! And really, there's actually absolutely nothing bizzare for there to be different ethnicities of humans in the star wars universe when there are aliens, things that resemble humans that painted their skin orange, etc.