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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStar Wars Action Figure Has Parents Furious
A trip down the toy aisle had a local dad doing a double-take. He's furious over a popular Star Wars action figure sold in stores in our area. He says it's not appropriate for young children.
So is it harmless movie memorabilia or too racy for youngsters?Take a look and you decide. We sent our Chris OConnell to talk with the da .and do some digging.
It's a toy on store shelves all over the country, but some parents say the action figure intended for kids 4 and above-is way too inappropriate for kids of any age.
We caught up with Fred Hill and his daughters at the Target Store in Deptford shopping for their birthday gifts.
The single dad was shocked to see this on the toy aisle shelf. A Hasbro made Star Wars Black Series action figure of Princess Leia wearing what the box described as a slave outfit.
"Thats pretty inappropriate, he said, "I got 2 daughters I don't need seeing that crap."
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/29539702/star-wars-action-figure-has-parents-furious
The toy in question, aimed less at the young kids and more at the collector/older level that shops retail:
[img][/img]
And a gaggle of them at STar Wars Celebration - which is attended by lots of parents and kids - and some of these women are parents too.
[img][/img]
Oh, the outrage. Why won't someone think of the children? I loved this comment though in the article section:
I was walking through a church and I saw an image depicting a crucified man. My kids were like "why is the poor man crucified?" and I had no answers. What a terrible image! I showed it to other parents and they complained too. I think it should be taken down!
Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)since 1983?
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)having just priced out a dozen or so action figures that I found in my now 35 year old son's "box of old toys" (unfortunately, value-wise, he played with his toys . . .).
Still, good point. Leia in the "slave girl" outfit is hardly new to the toy aisle.
Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)I just looked it up. I remember having a Jabba playset as a kid in the early 80s, and I thought it included Slave Leia, but apparently it didn't show up until 1997 (long after I stopped playing with toys).
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)The only thing I really remember about them was Hans Solo's remarkable tendency to wind up on the stairs with his rigid right arm extended upward. I never failed to step on him in the morning.
I removed all the weapons from these figures - not because I didn't want my kid playing with them, but because they were fatal to my bare feet!
Baitball Blogger
(46,710 posts)That's an iconic figure. Literally.
Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)It's been part of pop culture since the moment it graced the big screen.
DeadLetterOffice
(1,352 posts)Am guessing he never saw the movie, lol.
smh
Gman
(24,780 posts)shortly will come the brigade to declare the pics demeaning to women.
Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)Cosplayers are extremely proud of what they do and they tend to crush those that talk about what they do as demeaning.
Those that claim they're demeaning can go pout all they want.
Siwsan
(26,262 posts)Strangled Jabba, took out some of the bad guys. She totally owned that outfit.
Response to Siwsan (Reply #29)
Gman This message was self-deleted by its author.
3catwoman3
(23,987 posts)...envious of how buff she was.
Warpy
(111,261 posts)to know what they're looking at, "demeaning" was rather the point in the plot.
They also remember she kicked butt in that outfit.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)We are talking about the slave output a woman was forced to wear by a gangster in order to demean her, after all.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)But YMMV.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Ha, Ha! Who the fuck am I kidding. You never see that headline.
Instead it's "parents outraged at...
bikini clad action figure/exposed boob at superbowl/naughty song lyric/sexy draino ad/happy meal toy that sounds like it is swearing"
etc etc
951-Riverside
(7,234 posts)Its like how the most fervent anti gay bible trumpeters are usually themselves gay.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)Thanks!
Iggo
(47,552 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)zappaman
(20,606 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)The 80s needs its outrage back
Bad Thoughts
(2,524 posts)Sorry, but the dad is right. Slave Leia glorifies many of the worst elements of the treatment of women.
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)Me uncomfortable. She isn't just a slave of Jabba; she is some sort of sexual toy for him, evidenced by the outfit and the grotesque tongue scene. I wish she had just been a slave, like the other characters, not a sex slave, then I wouldn't be reflecting on Leia as a rape victim.
Solomon
(12,310 posts)and a sex toy, a victim of rape? Wow! In what world does that occur?
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)Sexual slavery on top of it makes it worse, yes. And I'm not convinced it's an appropriate storyline detail for a movie marketed to kids.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)I'm not sure how Leia could have served as Jabba's sexual plaything, exactly, but I'm admittedly unfamiliar with the particulars of invertebrate hermaphrodite sexuality.
Judging by the role of her predecessor, it may be that Leia was expected to dance for the entertainment of Jabba's guests. Still demeaning, and still emblematic of slavery, but maybe not as bad as an actual comfort woman.
Also, it seems fairly clear that Leia knew about the risks she was facing when she entered Jabba's palace, and it's also likely that she knew of Luke's contingency plan. Given that she agreed to the mission with this in mind, it makes her less of a slave girl and more of a successful infiltrator.
Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)Orrex
(63,212 posts)Was Han asking for it when he submitted to carbon freezing?
Or when he returned to help Luke @ the Death Star rather than settling his debt with Jabba, knowing the dire consequences that he would face?
Was Luke asking for it when he joined an attack mission that he knew was almost certainly suicidal?
Or when he confronted Vader when he knew that he wasn't ready?
Throughout the series, the three primary characters suffer actual torture as a consequence of their actions, and Luke even lost a hand. Why must we consider Leia's capture to be worse?
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)A sexual component along with her look of disgust when she was pushed towards him.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)Did he lick her, or did he lick his lips? I honestly don't remember.
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)Tongue which he stuck out towards her, as if to tell her "this is what awaits you."
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)The non-female half.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)a 'sex slave' to Jabba. I would assume his 'parts' are on a scale with the rest of him, if he even has any. We certainly never saw any. I thought the implication was that he might eat her at some point. (In a non-sexual way.)
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)Doesn't have to be just about penises and vaginas. The slavery scene had a physically intimate overtone to it that she couldn't escape.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)It also occurs to me that I wasn't even a teen at the time I saw the movie, so sex wasn't really something I'd gotten to thinking about then.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)Glad to see her back in Star Wars Rebels and looking so good. Having her in the new film, even as a cameo, has me excited at the possibility.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)While Ms Tano runs around in a tube top? Hmm...
snooper2
(30,151 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)There are other female padawans in the "Clone Wars" series that are more clothed. For example, one green-skinned species wears an outfit that resembles a nun's habit.
Now, we can argue that the 'normal' clothing is still problematic.
prayin4rain
(2,065 posts)little girls how glamorous sexual slavery can be, how are they going to grow up to seek empowerment by being sexually attractive to men?
Oh wait..... we all know "choices" exist in a vacuum. Nevermind.
Just a heads up, you're about to be accused of:
1.Hating sex
2.Being a pearl clutcher
3.Being a bible beater
4.Trying to take away "choices" for women
5.Being ignorant and uncaring of the more horrible things that go on in the world
6. Hating men
But, I agree with you. Good luck!
Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)Never shall anything untoward or wrong ever be shown to them until they're of... how old now?
prayin4rain
(2,065 posts)Bad Thoughts
(2,524 posts)By all means, show the dark side. Don't glorify it.
jonno99
(2,620 posts)she didn't change out of her demeaning outfit before she saved herself from her oppressor. THAT is the lesson you can teach your kids; that we can overcome terrible circumstances - we don't have to remain the victim.
My two cents...
Bad Thoughts
(2,524 posts)The movie did not in itself glorify sexual slavery. Maybe teenage boys did.
jonno99
(2,620 posts)to discuss the sexual exploitation of women and why it is demeaning not just to women - but to men as well.
How else is the problem going to go away? Teach empathy - not apathy; don't ignore it...
Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)They're certainly glorifying it more than the people buying the toys?
Bad Thoughts
(2,524 posts)I am more concerned with how he receives images about women and how they are processed. I'd rather he not think that a slave, be it Leia, Orion slave girl, concubine, etc., is an appropriate object of desires.
jonno99
(2,620 posts)about the toy.
IMHO, the toy can be given and presented not as "sex slave" Leia, but as prisoner Leia - who was finally escaped, etc. etc.
Is that not a good role-model for young girls?
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Bad Thoughts
(2,524 posts)I don't need to buy my son this toy to teach him how to respect women.
jonno99
(2,620 posts)Bad Thoughts
(2,524 posts)At least with regard to the movie, Leia's sexual enslavement has some (downplayed) context. It is obvious that she is not doing things according to her own will, and her forced sexualization is somewhat visible. The toy is out of context, giving no indication of her suffering or the indignity she suffers.
jonno99
(2,620 posts)btw - this discussion is not a hill I'm going to die on. I just have a problem with with folks like those portrayed in the OP. If you don't like it, don't buy it, and don't pitch a fit. As someone else opined, making a big deal out of a subject is a sure way to draw your kids attention.
What is the alternative? Constantly sheltering your kids - not from the grotesque - but form subjects that simply require discussion?
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)jonno99
(2,620 posts)was that the toy does not "glorify" her status as a slave - it simply portrays one of many aspects of the character Leia.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)the audience watching relates to her, not to her captors. The message of the scene is 'creeps treat heroes like playthings'. The creep is a full tilt villain, criminal, kidnapper, torturer, slaver. Leia strangles him to death defeating a monster who had controlled many with great ease, liberating all who were in his chains. Second message 'creeps don't know real power when they see it'.
That's the fiction.
Arkana
(24,347 posts)Seriously, you think that Jabba the Hutt taking Leia prisoner and enslaving her is part of some underlying anti-woman agenda Star Wars is trying to propagate?
Bad Thoughts
(2,524 posts)This isn't about the movie, but the constant glorification and sexualization of the particular image. Out of context it has most definitely promoted the woman in chains as a sexual object.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)who does one terrible thing after another, two of our heroes are captured by this Hutt, who is eventually strangled to death by Leia herself, unaided by anyone and using the chains that bind her as a weapon. What about those events suggests to you a message that 'sexual trafficking is ok'? The part where the 'trafficker' tries to murder all of the good guys or the part where he dies an brutal death at the hands of the trafficked?
Bad Thoughts
(2,524 posts)... about the sexualization of the slave Leia image outside the film?
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)Oh wait, that didn't happen....he was a slimy disgusting slug who Leia choked to fucking death with her chains the first chance she got. Spoiler.
Bad Thoughts
(2,524 posts)That's what Ross wanted Rachel to do to fulfill his fantasies and that's why there are posts like "20 Hottest Slave Leias."
And Leia's slave outfit is not an expression of her strength and personality. It is a symbol of her captivity.
randys1
(16,286 posts)of the toy being something it isnt.
Iggo
(47,552 posts)If he's the father of young children, he should definitely NOT provide that action figure to those children.
Daddy job done!!!
Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)The Star Wars Black series is aimed at the older collector, which is who buys the bulk of the action figures in places like Target and Toys R Us these days. Largely because kids don't play with action figures like they did back in the 80's.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Response to pnwmom (Reply #47)
Orrex This message was self-deleted by its author.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)If images of black people in chains were being sold at Toys R U for entertainment, would you be fine with that, too?
Making the slavery victim white doesn't make it into a fun game.
Response to pnwmom (Reply #54)
Orrex This message was self-deleted by its author.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)It's a store that sells a wide range of things.
Across the aisle you get the movie section, where one end cap features all the latest movies with the end cap next to it featuring all the kids movies.
Your favorite animated treat basically right next to the latest Fifty Shades movie or something violent and so forth.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Response to pnwmom (Reply #70)
Orrex This message was self-deleted by its author.
prayin4rain
(2,065 posts)children are brought into the United States each year as sex slaves. There are over half a million worldwide. None are in gilded bikinis or otherwise have any glamor in their lives. If sex slavery was not a real thing, nobody would care about this doll on the toy aisle. Women and children are being tortured and murdered, in real life, all over the world right now and we have a sex slave doll wearing a gilded bikini with a chain around her neck in our toy aisles. It's fucked up.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)Your point is 100% correct and valid and shame on me for getting distracted by one form of slavery at the expense of another.
I'm checking out of this discussion now.
Rex
(65,616 posts)The Empire outlawed them on their home world. Why do you not take fiction seriously? Can't you see how branding effects the sale of lifesabers?
Think of the Wookies, will you please?
prayin4rain
(2,065 posts)I'm very impressed with your maturity and willingness to see another perspective.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I'm beginning to think the same half-wits would also argue for the manufacture and distribution in toy stores of Sex Slave Trade Barbie to better validate their biases, too... because, well "it could be a good way to discuss it with your kids." A great way for the myopic to maintain the fictional veneer of cleverness.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)I'm beginning to think that you should have your posts hidden when you call peopel half-wits.
Why should such personal attacks be permitted, especially since you've been doing it for years?
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I referred to no one specifically or in particular. I often refer to demographics as such, though.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)In the dozens of examples that I've checked, your target has been clear in every single case.
Funny that we see daily complaints about "alert stalking," yet you get to piss on everyone with impunity while hiding behind an openly deceptive claim of non-specificity.
You're fooling no one.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Believe what validates you. No doubt it will warrant all the credibility and relevance it in fact, deserves.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)Last edited Tue Jul 14, 2015, 06:15 PM - Edit history (1)
I'm not alone in that belief, and you yourself validate it with nearly every post you write.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)...you've never dumped a litany of personal attacks on people here.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)That's very different from getting my feathers in a ruffle and calling people half-wits simply for disliking what they post.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)Nothing you say is credible.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)And in fact I have several suggestions along those lines.
The ravings of an intellectually dishonest buffoon do not impress me or anyone else, and yet you prattle on.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)Good luck getting a sympathetic jury now that your colors are shown.
Never ceases to amuse me when someone pretends to be taking the high ground but then shows their nasty side.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)Since I have previously demonstrated that you are intellectually dishonest, I have no fear of jury alerts.
Further, I defy you to link to posts in which you have admitted that you were in error in a matter of judgment (rather than, say, aesthetic preference). Intellectually dishonest blowhards like you are incapable of such reflection.
Beyond that, it's pathetic that you envision people having only one "side." A fully developed human adult has a multitude of "sides" appropriate to different interactions and circumstances. When I'm calling out your nonsense, for instance, I strike a different tone than when I am celebrating the SCOTUS ruling on marriage equality.
It's a great tragedy that you are so limited that you can manage only one "side." Perhaps one day you'll achieve a breakthrough, but until then you'll have to be content with being a lame caricature.
Good luck to you.
http://sync.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=43917
Here's the thing, you make things personal, and that's why you're being hypocritical here when you try to take some high road on name calling. You have this innate desire to tear people down, which is why when I'm wrong I move the fuck on over whatever it is, because the internet is full of people who tear other people down. And I admit I fall into the cycle too, and it disgusts me when I do and realize it after the fact.
In this case? I'll happily point out blatant hypocrisy when I see it.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)And telling someone that they're "making it personal" is a sure sign that the accuser is desperate to change the subject. Next you'll tell me that I'm getting "defensive."
LaternWaste "makes it personal" by calling people half-wits. You've got your shit in a twist because someone had the nerve to call out that personal attack. And then you call me hypocritical? You clearly don't know what it means.
Your first link is hardly an admission of error, it's an insult to the readers in that thread, and you were rightly called out for it in the very first reply.
The secomd link is a little better, but not because you changed ypur thinking; you were forced to admit that you'd made a factual error, and even you apparently aren't a big enpugh fool to lie in the face of facts, at least not that time. And anyway that was three years ago! Pity that you can't endure a little introspection now and then, and that you think you have no need to grow. No wonder you think people only have one side.
How fucking sad for you.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)...it's impossible to know whether I agree it was half-witted or not.
Orrex
(63,212 posts)You know--the kind of introspection and self-awareness of which you are incapable.
On an unrelated note, while walking outside this morning I spotted a heap of dog shit near the sidewalk. I decided not to make a big deal about it, because I sure as hell didn't want to get my hands dirty over a disgusting mess that was someone else's responsibility. I knew that paying attention to it wouldn't make it go away, and since it was away from the sidewalk I realized that it would only bother people who decided to pay attention to it. So I left it there and walked away, ignoring it.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)You do exactly what LanternWaste did, but, unlike you I won't be self-deleting any posts, as I've done nothing worthy of the implied "dog shit" insult.
An edit would've sufficed if you really thought you were in error, instead it appears you were trying to hide the half-witted comparison. Delete the posts, then cry foul when called out on it, after the fact. Talk about intellectual dishonesty.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)Yeah, but should she be hidden twice?
Gman
(24,780 posts)pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Good for him for speaking out.
The thing doesn't belong in a toy store for kids.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Sure, FOX talked to a few others to cover their ass (so to speak) but those other parents were more "meh" than "furious".
I guess it fills the airtime, though, without having to talk about any actual news.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Duh. Did you let your kid see Star Wars? Well, there's the action figure.
WTF is wrong with people?
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)person has seen that movie or would recognize that figure and its significance.
Out of context, it's a half naked female doll in chains. Sold as a toy. And no, I wouldn't like Slave Barbie, either.
Rex
(65,616 posts)or a handful of families is about as succesful as hitting your head against a wall. Yes yes I know, capitalism is way kewl...until it is not.
Consumers are such fickle people.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)nt
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)Bratz: Because Barbie didn't dress enough like a prostitute.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)I bet Strawman Barbie would probably be a huge seller though.
Rex
(65,616 posts)I'm just glad the didn't make the AT AT walkers anotomically accurate, however it would have made a kewl cannon er something.
Personally I cannot abide by the way they let Chewie run around NEKKED like a hippie at Woodstock! And they made him use a bow!? What kind of shit statement is that? Oh yeah we hairy potheads can only use some laser weapon you have to cock (hehe) each time you want to fire the dam thing!
MY GOD THINK OF THE BRANDING won't you?? Down with crossbows, they feed the lies!
I hear sporting good stores sell crossbows! WON'T YOU THINK OF THE WOOKIES!?
Rex
(65,616 posts)What do they say? I don't know, but I am sure there is something they say.
Jester Messiah
(4,711 posts)The entire world doesn't have to be rendered fuzzy and soft and non-threatening. There's a system in place to protect children from the rough edges, it's called "doing some goddamn parenting."
Rex
(65,616 posts)Do we "think of the children" when they are a wee older and pointing weapons at strangers in foreign lands? I find the entire notion to be swill.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Until most hit 18 and face one of three potential futures: meat for a meat grinder in some foreign war, the unemployment line, or >100k student debt.
We never really think of the children beyond protecting them from boobies and marijuana.
Rex
(65,616 posts)WTF is up with that?
LWolf
(46,179 posts)In context, the character was not a slave, but an undercover operative.
To be honest, I don't know if this version of Leia is what I'd make into an action figure for kids, but his shock is 3 decades late.
clarice
(5,504 posts)Marr
(20,317 posts)MicaelS
(8,747 posts)olddots
(10,237 posts)Telcontar
(660 posts)Wish my wife would wear the outfit I got her.
liberal N proud
(60,334 posts)Get a life man, get a life.
Gothmog
(145,242 posts)These parents need to grow up