Not all Turks are Muslims: Daily Mail and bigots twist Stars Wars Lego race row to target Islam
ISLAMISTS are a rigid bunch. They don’t do angles. As such, they are ideally suited to becoming Lego figures or playing parts of reticulated Stormtroopers in Star Wars. And that’s good. Men like Lego. They like Star Wars. And front-line Islamists are always men. Lock Al-Qaeda in a room for a week, chuck in some Lego and Darth Vader masks and you’d have world peace, right there.
So. To Austria, where local men have been enjoying Lego and Star Wars. But – egads! – a problem. A Turkish group says that Jabba’s Palace (£119.99) looks too much like Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia mosque. Reactionary voices identify that as a Muslim matter. The Atlas Shrugs website screams:
#MYJIHAD IN AUSTRIA: MUSLIMS DEFAME LEGO WITH ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM OVER STAR WARS TOY SET
It’s those nutty Muslims again. But is it?
The story is based on a statement from the Turkish Cultural Community of Austria. It declares:
LEGO: EDUCATIONAL EXPLOSIVES FOR CHILDREN?
The TCC adds:
“It is apparent that, for the figure of the repulsive bad guy Jabba and the whole scenery, racial prejudices and hidden suggestions against Orientals and Asians were used as deceitful and criminal personalities.”
Adding:
“Combination of temple building and bunker facilities where shots are fired cannot be appropriate for children between 9 and 14 years old. One would expect more empathy and responsibility from a manufacturer of toys that has produced toys and models that are good for teaching for decades.”
Lego repsonds thus:
“The Lego Star Wars product Jabba’s Palace does not reflect any actually existing buildings, people, or the mentioned mosque. The Lego mini-figures are all modelled on characters from the movie. We regret that the product has caused the members of the Turkish cultural community to come to a wrong interpretation, but point out that when designing the product only the fictional content of the Star Wars saga were referred to.”
Factoid: Hagia Sophia, is a former Orthodox Christian basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul.
The story is about one dad who saw the weaponry. He disapproved and returned the goods. Not every parent likes guns. In the US, a schoolchild has been suspended for aiming a Hello Kitty bubble gun with menaces.
The TCC writes (translated by Google):
The model is similar to but not just a mosque, but also a Carolingian Cathedral, the Pantheon in Rome. Today a Catholic Mary’s Church or a Hindu or Buddhist temple or a Tibetan palace. Indeed, Jabba’s Palace in Star Wars is populated by (pseudo-Buddhist) monks. In short, the model is similar to religious buildings, whether church, mosque, synagogue or temple.
So. It’s not just a Muslim thing, then. In its report, the Daily Mail makes no mention of that. The only regligion it mentions is Islam:
The critics claim that the Jabba’s Palace model, part of Lego’s Star Wars range, offends Muslims as it resembles the Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul – one of the world’s most renowned mosques.
In the Mail, Turks are all Muslims. The TCC adds:
The terrorist Jabba the Hut likes to smoke hookah and have killed his victims. It is clear that the figure of the ugly villain Jabba and the whole scene racial prejudice and vulgar insinuations against the Orientals and Asians as sneaky and criminal personalities (slaveholders, leaders of criminal organizations, terrorists, criminals, murderers, human sacrifice) were served. Frightening is the red-black-devil grimace on the box top right, which is at least an obvious signal that the game is not under the tree on Christmas Eve – should be – Also Turks celebrate Christmas.
The TCC does look ridiculous. But their point about racial stereoptypes is not totally invalid. Austria is rife with far-right, racist swine. It might even be as racist as Switzerland. Cop a load of what the Swiss think of mosques…
Posted: 24th, January 2013 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
