We're not saying there isn't a level of inequality in Hollywood between black and white actors, there is. But sometimes, people can read way too much into movies and attach their own personal feelings to the characters. When that happens, things get messy and people start sounding dumb really quickly.
While discussing the upcoming release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" on Sunday, MCNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry revealed her big problem with "the whole Darth Vader situation."
"I know why I have feelings - good, bad and otherwise - about 'Star Wars,'" Harris-Perry said. "The part where he was totally a black guy, whose name was basically James Earl Jones."
Well, he was voiced by James Earl Jones but no one is confusing that name for Darth Vader. In terms of costume, we're pretty sure people can tell the difference between his shiny metallic black exterior and, you know, actual people of color.
"While he was black he was terrible and bad, awful and used to cut off white men's hands," she continued. He "didn't actually claim his son, but as soon as he claims his son, goes over to the good, takes off his mask and he is white - yes, I have many feelings about that."
First of all, Vader didn't even know he had a son until Luke was already a grown man. Then, while still in his black Darth Vader costume, he sacrifices himself to save his son.
Second, we see young Darth Vader (played awfully by Hayden Christensen in the prequels) brutally murdering children as a white man in "Revenge of the Sith," so Harris-Perry's argument really doesn't stand up. This is why newscasters who know nothing about what they're talking about need to be geek checked before spewing idiocy about "Star Wars."
Could "Star Wars" have used more diversity throughout the original films? Absolutely, but the same could be said for a lot of movies from the 1970s and 80s. To take that argument a step further and say "Star Wars" is inherently racist, well, now you just sound like a nerf-herder.
