The Detroit News, of which I (Josh) unfortunately and it have the priviledge both being from Michigan, has done it again. My first reaction was to pay this no mind, but it is news and will certainly be the subject of a full editorial to open up next week with. Anyhow, MakingNews sends us this link to the paper which talks about Latinos, Maori, oppression and stereotypes:

George Lucas, sometimes accused of reinforcing racial stereotypes with his movies, has done it again, according to critics.

Latino critics in particular charge his latest Star Wars epic, Episode II: Attack of the Clones, toys with American paranoia about Mexican immigration with its cloned army of swarthy lookalikes who march in lockstep by the tens of thousands, and ultimately end up serving as Darth Vader's white-suited warriors.

Modeled on bounty hunter Jango Fett, the clones, we're told, are genetically modified for docility and obedience. The breeding project, conducted by long-necked aliens who look like refugees from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, takes place on the planet Kamino -- soundalike for the Spanish word "camino," which means "road" or "I walk."

Temuera Morrison, the actor who plays Jango, is a New Zealander of Maori descent. But that didn't get in the way of some members of an eight-person Detroit News panel assembled to review the film.

"He looked totally Latino," says Martina Guzman, a Detroiter who's managing a State House election campaign.

"And his kid," says Wayne State history professor Jose Cuello, referring to the young Boba Fett, "looked even more Latino."

It reminds Cuello a little bit of "those Reagan ads in the 1980 campaign, that suggested if Nicaragua went communist, you'd have wild-eyed Mexicans with guns running across the California border."

I was going to save some of this for later, so forgive me that this isn't in the editorials section because this is quickly what it is going to become. Here goes:

How utterly and completely absurd.

Let's start with an example: Temuera Morrison played a helicopter pilot in Vertical Limit. He was basically relegated to being a chauffeur for three non-minority characters in the film. Did anyone cry racism there? Of course not, that was his role, and though his performance was terrible no one gave it another moment's thought. In Attack of the Clones, he's given a terrific role as the Bounty Hunter assassin Jango Fett. It was a coveted role, and he does an amazing job. Yet somehow this is the object of controversy.

Darth Vader's voice in the article is pronounced 'intentional or not' as being racial because when Anakin is good he is played by a white actor, and when he is bad he is voiced by a black actor. Give me a break. James Earl Jones just has the ultimately coolest voice in the galaxy, we can't have Vader sounding like a wimp. Nothing more, nothing less.

Throughout the piece they consitently talk to influential people, who continually decry the supposed images as accidental, unintentional or non-existent. Lucasfilm has said they are 'flabbergasted' and Lucas himself has called this 'absurd.' I guess I just can't believe this is even coming up. Yet somehow this kind of stuff manages to get published.

The bottom line is that eight people here in my beautiful state are strongly suggesting that Clones is racial. This article and their supposed analysis show their ignorance of the saga and fandom in that Mace Windu, Jango and Boba Fett and Vader aare actually the stars of the film, and that Lucas should be commended for his casting not belittled.

It seems a shame that Attack of the Clones should be dismissed based on obviously false accusations, and more of a shame that people like those in this article are given a platform to speak at all.

When I get back online, I'll move this to the editorials section, I just had to say something when I read this in my paper this morning. Move along. :)