On MSNBC on Sunday, Melissa Harris-Perry (the totally idiotic anchor who’s known to wear tampon earrings) had a panel on to discuss Star Wars: The Force Awakens and, in keeping with her tradition and flawless record, America’s “foremost intellectual” made it about race. [2] For starters, the MSNBC host shared her commitment to social justice by informing the panel that she “spent a whole day talkin’ about the whole Darth Vader situation.” Here is what she had to say:
Yeah, like, the part where he was totally a black guy whose name basically was James Earl Jones, who, and we were all, but while he was black, he was terrible and bad and awful and used to cut off white men’s hands, and didn’t, you know, actually claim his son. But as soon as he claims his son and goes over to the good, he takes off his mask and he is white. Yes, I have many, many feelings about that, but I will try to put them over here. [2]
You just cannot make that stuff up. Harris-Perry overlooked that Vader was revealed as the father of two Caucasian characters — Luke Sykwalker and Princess Leia — well before his helmet-off reveal. [10] It’s probably best to disregard the fact that Darth Vader was dressed in black because black has been a symbol of evil since time immemorial and instead focus on the voice actor who played the role: African-American celebrity James Earl Jones. Now, some of you might be thinking that Jones was cast for that role because his deep voice carried an aura of authoritarianism and was perfect for the part. Of course that’s not true. The producer/director/writer George Lucas wanted to put a black person in that role to forward the very popular notion that all black people are villains. [18]
Indeed, even liberal race bait aficionado Tommy Christopher had to call her out on this one:
No, the problem with MHP’s analysis is that it is already a reach, and a factually flawed reach. Although he was known to choke a fool, Vader only cut off one white man’s hand, and it belonged to his son, Luke Skywalker. This is important because he performed the deed right before he claimed his son in the most famous son-claiming ever. Darth Vader never didn’t claim his son, he just thought he was dead. [2]
So much for her premise. Thankfully, we’ll always have people like Melissa Harris Perry around to expose the insidious, racist plots of Hollywood leftists. [18] Harris-Perry obviously isn’t the only liberal who has tried to make racist hay out of something popular like Star Wars, and in this week leading up to the new movie’s release, you can bet there will be “think pieces” and “hot takes” galore about it in news outlets like… Salon.
Mediaite’s resident Star Wars experts have looked into the issue and determined that Perry is wrong.
- Darth Vader first tells Luke that he is his father when he is still in his black armor, or “a black guy” as she puts it. There was never a point where he didn’t “claim his son”; as soon as he discovered Luke was alive, he took steps to reunited the family and “rule the galaxy as father and son.”
- The decision to dub over Darth Vader’s voice with Jones’ was made in post-production. He was originally voiced with a Scottish accent.
- Of course Vader is depicted as white when his helmet comes off. As the father of lily white Luke and Leia, it would have been a little jarring if he was a Korean dude or something.
- The notion that dark is evil and light is good is a well-established literary trope that predates American race politics, and dates back to the Bible.
- While there are only three Star Wars movies, rumor has it that George Lucas made a movie where Darth Vader is obviously white and goes around butchering children. [5]
Moreover, if there is a notion that George Lucas intentionally tried to infuse some racism into the Star Wars plot, then he did a horrible job because two of the coolest characters in the series are black men, Lando Calrissian and Mace Windu. [13]
