Talk:Watto

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Neutrality Disputed

A good percentage of this article is dedicated to the alleged controversy (a few angry authors at Slate, Village Voice and "The Nation" hardly qualify in the face of millions and millions of Star Wars fans who have no comment regarding the issue.

I'm not saying that it be excluded, since clearly there are individuals who made various claims of racism, etc. But it should be better noted that these represent an extreme minority of opinion due to the usual effect of film criticism. Negativity tends to be artificially highlighted because it's worth writing about. There exist almost no "defenses of George Lucas' portrayal of Watto" as a uniquely specific character with human extrapolations (like every other Star Wars character) to cite to counter the available critics.

This is a common occurence in film criticism, but I think here it lends the notion to the uninformed that there was a major controversy surrounding this issue, which of course, there was no evidence of. The fact that the issue under contention is film racism and anti-semitism, one might presume a major news organization would have carried the story, (e.g. as in The Passion of the Christ).

Because this seems to be a few critics simply bashing the Star Wars prequels out of a matter of principle, I believe the section should be kept, but their minority status should be noted. Wow... guess that would be a bit exclusionary then wouldn't it? --Commissar Mo (talk) 01:46, 31 July 2008 (UTC)—Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.183.54.202 (talk) 01:43, 31 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Un-Titled

I didn't add the bit about Visionaries; I merely expanded what already existed. It originally didn't say anything about how Watto's death was non-canon, which is far worse than what I put.

As for the "see Wik policy" policy about citing only canon sources, not only can I not find such a page (admittedly after only a brief search), but there are several other Wiki entries that mention Visionaries and other non-canon information (including the Darth Maul entry, which even mentions Maul's non-canonical decapitation of Watto).

As long as it is cited as being non-canon, it's fine. I'm reverting. EVula 15:32, 25 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"It has been suggested that this character corresponds to an old Semitic (Jewish or Arab) caricature." Exactly who has suggested this? Kemet 2 June 2006.

Caricature citations added - XyKyWyKy 14:07, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent job, XyKyWyKy. EVula 16:42, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm new here. If I just stepped on your last edit (References heading), go ahead and revert. XyKyWyKy 17:15, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, that was a good valid edit. Keep up the good work, and welcome (belatedly) to Wikipedia! EVula 15:46, 12 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Stereotype dispute

My point is that if we are going to say a character allegedly fits a stereotype, it is helpful to describe what that stereotype is. Justinpwilsonadvocate 01:30, 14 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I understand your position, but I still don't think it is necessary; the article has four citations that note a correlation there, which verifies the claim, even though the exact nature of the stereotype is not verified (an exact definition isn't needed for the quoted articles, but it is needed for stating that those features are a stereotype in the Wikipedia article). EVula 01:51, 14 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

so you are suggesting that just because the info is a bit controversial, users should have to dig through various links to understand what is meant by saying that the character fits this stereotype? Is there any disagreement that this is an accurate summary of the stereotypical features in question? Is there any doubt that, in many more words, these are the features described by the linked to articles? In the end, this information is helpful in guiding the reader towards understanding the issue in question and should be included. Justinpwilsonadvocate 02:22, 14 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I really don't care enough about this to keep arguing with you. EVula 15:41, 14 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Great, it is settled then. Happy editing! Justinpwilsonadvocate 16:07, 14 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think the phrases "Large nose", "Yiddish accent" and "'only money works for me'", which are also referred to in the referenced articles, sufficiently describe the stereotype. Searching for Wikipedia links, I found only Stereotype, which isn't that helpful. On reflection I wonder if adding the word 'racist' was a bit too strong. Personally I imagine Lucas isn't a racist, but just a little insensitive to racial stereotype issues (Jar-Jar!) XyKyWyKy 16:26, 15 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In my opinion, the little flying dude sounds very very much like Tuco in The Good the Bad & The Ugly (I guess Eli Wallach was Jewish, but he was playing a Mexican). The Asian thing I definently see, the Jar-Jar thing may be there or not, but I didn't really see this as a Jewish or Arab accent.