#I also live amongst some average casual sw fans

[siennahrobek]

....I saw a post where it was "jokingly" comparing Obi-Wan's mullet to that onrm of thr colonizer characters from Disney's Pocohontas and I find that NOT funny at all. I look at the comments and they were loling about it (one of them even jokingly accusing the Jedi of being "colonizers" during the CW and THAT comment was made by a white girl no less)...and do these people NOT get that Jedi are inspired by ASIAN culture. I'm so fucking tired of shit like this.

I think this is more a running joke than anything else. I’ve seen a LOT of comparisons of Obi-WAN’s mullet - especially in the new ‘Tales of the Jedi’ mini series. One of them was Prince Charming from Shrek. So as far as that goes, I’m not surprised and I mostly just shrug that stuff up because that part is pretty much a joke.

Jokingly accusing the Jedi of being colonizers is, yes, rather distasteful but also, just a joke. These days, a lot of people like keep going with that line of joking to keep a laugh going. Do I care for the joke? No not particularly, but whatever. It is what it is. (Although I’m not entirely sure what the race of the commenter has to do with anything)

As for the Jedi being inspired by Asian culture, yes you would be correct. I think the keyword is a bit of inspired by. George Lucas was inspired by his interest and I think practice of Buddhism. A lot of what is in the Jedi comes from that inspiration. I see a lot of aspects of religion ma and cultures in just the Jedi alone.

Frankly I think people fail to realize a LOT of Star Wars fans are casual fans. Now, do I agree with some of their stances that the Jedi are actually bad? No, of course not. Even a nine year old knows better. But people have opinions and points of view and well, a large part of the world are very focused on feelings, individualism identity etc. so therefore, there is a lot. But I do realize that many Star Wars fans are, in fact, casual fans. Not everyone realizes that the Jedis culture takes inspiration from Asian cultures. It’s not something they’re thinking about because it’s not the focus of the movies.

People who dive deeper into the lore and the worlds, should know better because well, they are showing interest and when you actually look at these things and take an interest, oh yeah, it makes sense. A lot of average viewers may not know a lot about other cultures especially if they live in a large country and don’t travel a lot and don’t have a specific interest. It’s not bad or mean or anything. It just is.

Anyways, I don’t usually get asks and I probably had more but it’s fine. I think just let it slide off your back. Sure, it can be annoying I imagine but you are going to save yourself from a world of anger, hatred and pain if you just let it go. People are going to think what they are going to think. People are going to hate what they are going to hate and make fun of what they are going to make fun of. Is it great to see? No. Is it annoying? Almost always yes. Of course we want to correct them but that’s probably just going to end up in a pointless fight unless one converses with actual interest and openness of the other side. And jokes? Well. That’s what they are. Whether or not the person believes it in the end, it just is. Working yourself up over it only ends poorly.

In the end, you know better about the content. You know the Jedi are good and you know what they are inspired by. I think that’s what matters.