Lego accused of racism with Star Wars set

[Render]

Austria’s Turkish community said the model was based on Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul and that the accompanying figures depicted Asians and Orientals as people with “deceitful and criminal personalities.”

The Turkish Cultural Community of Austria released a statement calling for Lego to apologise for affronting religious and cultural feelings.

The anger was provoked by “Jabba’s Palace”, a model of the home of Jabba the Hutt from Lego’s Star Wars product range based on the blockbusting series of science fiction films.

...

The Jabba case came to light after an Austrian Turk complained to the organisation after his sister had bought his son the box set.

Austria’s Turkish community also took issue with the figures that went with the palace, including Jabba.

“The terrorist Jabba the Hutt likes to smoke a hookah and have his victims killed,” said the statement posted on the organisation’s website.

“It is clear that the ugly figure of Jabba and the whole scene smacks of racial prejudice and vulgar insinuations against Asians and Orientals as people with deceitful and criminal personalities.”

The crimes associated with the figures, the statements adds, include terrorism, slavery, murder and human sacrifice.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/austria/9820517/Lego-accused-of-racism-with-Star-Wars-set.html

Oh my god!!! Don't they have anything better to do than to find insults any-damn-where?

[EllJay]

Everything is sooo very offensive

[media=]

[/media]

[Wordless Wanderer]

*sigh* Although I don't think that it completely resembles Hagia Sophia but even if it does shouldn't they be taking this up with George Lucas instead of Lego, Lego merely made a model based on Jabba's Palace. People just love looking for inane reasons to highlight racism -_-

[Lilly]

Jabba the Hut is an evil alien being...he's neither Turkish nor Asian. Perhaps being an 'evil alien' Jabba just adopted any cross cultural activities that appealed to his 'evilness'? IMO, someone is looking to sue and make themself some 'ill gotten gain'....how evil is that!

[Oniomancer]

This is utterly ridiculous.

Okay, first off, this is Jabba's palace As it appears in The Return Of The Jedi:

They look nothing alike, unless you want to claim all domes are based on the Hagia Sophia, which is patently untrue.

Second, as WW said, Lego didn't come up with the design, the producers of Star Wars did. The turks are about 30 years late to the ball game.

(This will in fact be ROTJ's 30'th anniversary this year, which might have something to do with it.) If they want to blame anybody, they should blame the late Ralph McQuarrie, who passed away just last year. He did most of the concept design on all three movies.

Third, As the article states, the hagia sophia was originally a Byzantine christian church repurposed by the turks after the conquest of Constantinople.

They've got no claim whatsoever on it's architectural design.

[Hasina]

My sister had me going for years saying the LEGO men were Asians because of how yellow they were. Luckily they have Legends of Chima now for the furries... I've bought a few ._.

[ozman]

Arabs are more yellow than asians.