Some of us are old enough to remember when lando was literally the only brother in that galaxy far far away

@TheVeritas1

Жыл бұрын

That was me.

@madmatt1964ify

Жыл бұрын

I do

@mauriced9013

Жыл бұрын

⁠@@madmatt1964ifyI do remember too

@kmallory100

Жыл бұрын

I remember.

@dramonmaster222

Жыл бұрын

I remember.

Bro I'm 47 years old, so I've literally grown up with Star Wars. I learned a long time ago not to expect anyone else to tell our stories, or wait on someone else to include us in their stories. That's our job. We need to be creating our own stories and characters. Hopefully before I die I'll get the opportunity to see some stories written by some creative black men and women. But it's never gonna happen as long as we keep longing to be included in other folks stories.

@seneca-rb1vl

10 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@weppon5266

9 ай бұрын

You realize Rick Famuyiwa is black and has done a lot of the Mandalorian?

Lando is a under developed but one of my FAVORITE characters ever and which is why I’m still holding hope to a Lando series w Donald Glover back in the role and Billy Dee maybe doing narration or something recalling the story(it’s) of his past

@BlazinTre

Жыл бұрын

Oh that would be FIRE.

@TheVeritas1

Жыл бұрын

Agreed. Lando has a TON on untapped potential that would make for a great series.

Bro! I pretty much got PTSD from they way they did Finn in the last Star Wars trilogy! He didn't have to be the main character, but they basically gave him the Kevin Hart comedy treatment. I also read somewhere, I don't know if it's true is that they made him reshoot his scenes in The Force Awakens to make him look like a coward instead of a little tougher. I was done! I've just recently started to get into shows like The Mandalorian so I hope they do better this time!😊

@thatcomicdad1687

Жыл бұрын

John Boyega deserved way better!

@damonpatterson8293

Жыл бұрын

@thatcomicdad1687 Yes, he did! I hope his career goes well!

@damonpatterson8293

Жыл бұрын

​@thatcomicdad1687 Also, I remember before The Force Awakens came out they released the action figures and I bought my son Finn. It was to add to his collection of super heroes he had especially his black ones because diversity matters. He had characters like Cyborg, Miles Morales, Falcon and so on. Needless to say he never played with the Finn action figure.

Finn wad probably most human and likable character in Force Awakens. Until Ryan Johnson decided to make him dumb comic relief

@TheVeritas1

Жыл бұрын

Agreed.

@mickeladams1677

Жыл бұрын

God forbid we have a black male protagonist with a white woman love interest

@TheVeritas1

Жыл бұрын

@@mickeladams1677 What's worse is that interracial romances are commonplace in other genres and franchises. So, you can't claim the public couldn't handle it in Star Wars.

@uxm4life94

Жыл бұрын

@@TheVeritas1 interracial couples, diverse casts and female protagonists around forever before Disney started their heavy handed approach to pretend they invented them.

@TheVeritas1

Жыл бұрын

@@uxm4life94 How are interracial couples heavy handed?

This is deep and honest, thank you for sharing!

Justice for Billy Dee. What was the deal with his cameo in Episode 9?

As a Black guy, I get it. I kept thinking about Misty Knight from Cage and Clair Huxatable from the Cosby Show as good characters for a Star Wars story.

@thatcomicdad1687

Жыл бұрын

You know I would expect an answer like that from a lawyer! ( ref to the ep on the Cosby show where Denise bought her bee boyfriend to meet her parents)

@Blerd Without Fear Videos like this are why I'm a subscriber. You brilliantly spelled out how Star Wars Black characters lacked that intangible Blackness until now. When you nail those intangibles, you can really connect with a broader audience. For example, my mother-in-law had zero interest in superheroes, sci-fi or fantasy. But she REALLY loved Black Panther because the Black characters had that genuine Blackness that connected with her. (A quick look at the box office for the film and its sequel prove she wasn't alone.) You saw the same thing happen with the Blade and Spider-Verse films. And let's not forget the enduring appeal of Star Trek, which is due to authentic Black characters from Lt. (later Captain) Nyota Uhura to Captain Benjamin Sisko. The tradition continues with a new wave of Black characters like Captain Burhham, Ensign Mariner, and Dr. M'Benga. Thanks again for another great video that is fun and thought-provoking. P.S. What is your take on the Gemini Sisters, who have appeared in Star Wars shows like The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch.

Also the most recent Black character is also Lizzo in the Mandalorian, which I thought was awesome. I think sometimes expect Star Wars to be at the level of a film like Gladiator, ALL THE TIME. But Star Wars consistently take a variety of storytelling styles. The characters start of like bread crumbs that lead to something big.

Don't forget about Wanda Sykes voicing Phee Genoa. She also had those characteristics you have talked about.

Awesome video Ernie. As always I love all of your Star Wars videos but I admire how you provide us with the additional perspective that reminds us that reality and fantasy are not dissimilar. Glad you and the fam are good.

Who gets to decide what is "Authentically Black"?!? I'm black, Lando is good enough for me.

Fin went from jedi to janitor! I will never forgive Kk for that !

One of the problems I find with companies like Disney, is they seem absolutely terrified of diverse and female characters. Go back to the 80s and you have countless diverse and female characters leading the stories and beloved by fans. This was because they were all very well developed but human and flawed characters. Now it feels like Disney mandates all diverse characters are written as blandly, inoffensive, nice, perfect and "strong" characters. I just don't think corporate controlled and social media fearing environment is a place where good characters or stories can thrive anymore.

Great episode my man. Thanks for the recap on the Family in Star Wars. I found myself getting incensed again when you recapped Finn's tale. Banana in the tailpipe on him and all of us who excitedly expected more development. The Sana Starros limited series was great. I look forward to seeing morw of her and her family. Keep up the excellence.

Moff Gideon and Carl Weathers characters were good and showing complexity or well roundedness. This is kind of on the fence territory since thins is projecting way off into the future, so people acting a certain way may be past tense since there is probably evolution of all aspects

@TheVeritas1

Жыл бұрын

Star Wars is likely set in the past from our perspective.

Good 411 about Sana Starros. I do wonder what E. McGregor would have done with Reva in Obi-Won, if he could do it again.

I've been a Star wars fan for over 30 years. Here's what I have to say about it. I've always loved lando calrissian and I was very happy with his part. I wish we got more of them because he was just such a great addition to the team and I wish that he and Han had more interactions. That's true cuz that's the making of a really cool characters that you want to see more of him and do more things and grow with the other characters but I never looked for characters that were black or whatever. I just looked at great characters that I could relate to because they're cool characters. They did cool things. They wear cool outfits. They have cool blasters. I looked more for that and again we are in a galaxy far far away. So how can anyone say that this character would act this way and a galaxy far far away even Luke and Han act like people from a galaxy far far away. So I think that just making good characters is important and if they happen to be Asian or black that's cool. As long as they're great character now, someone who's gotten a short end of the stick and the Star wars universe and who's not black. But an amazing character is one of my top characters of all time wedge Antilles I have always been a huge wedge Antilles's fan since I was 4 years old. I would always ask about him and want to see more of him He's only second to Luke Skywalker and x-wing piloting skills. Huge awesome character but he still hasn't gotten his due. What I was hoping is time went on that we would have more time with him. And again I'm not looking at his color. I'm looking at how cool of a character he is. He helped destroy the second death Star. He helped destroy the first and he took out the first AT-AT walker in empire strikes back and there's obviously a brotherhood in friendship between him and Luke Skywalker and in the comics. They did tell some stories that were great, but I'd like to see more of wedge. And here's what I've always thought about Star wars in the galaxy far far away when it comes to humans, we're all seeing the same across the board and we're all cool with each other and that's what I liked we were all together and the same galaxy fighting against oppression against the empire. All as humans and brothers and sisters and aliens together, color wasn't important. Person's character was and that's what I liked and I've been in the game since the '80s so I'm not some new fan I even named my son after Luke Skywalker because Luke Skywalker is my favorite hero of all time, I didn't see color I saw a great hero and that's what I came to Star wars looking for. And yes, I do see myself in Luke Skywalker because he's a great character and that's what's important to me. His color has nothing to do with it. My color has nothing to do with it. If you give a character a chance to grow and tell you a story that should be all that matters

The big question to ask is what is BLACKNess in a world without a black diaspora. That said it’s feels good to be seen

Nice video, subscribed!

Great video BWOF!

Thank you 🙏 great video

About Damn Time

Well said. Great points.

Well done. Thanks.

As a black artist and devout StarWars fan, I've created many black, StarWars concepts characters for my own collection because I've always wanted the diverse elements..when I didn't feel that, that was an option, I decided to create my own concepts consisting of action figures, comic books, and character development.. I'm very pleased to share with people in my city my art..it has gotten such positive feedback and a diverse appreciation from people who are just fans like me.

This was great

Thank you for your video on Sana. She has been a favrit character since she showed up and pissed off Leia, and while I'm at it, thanks for your coverage of Doctor Aphra

I might have to pick up this mini series

@Blerd, not sure if you watch The Bad Batch show, but Wanda Sykes plays a black charater. Although she is a Lando type scoundrel with a bit of a soft spot

@TheVeritas1

Жыл бұрын

Sykes' portrayal of Phee Genoa really grew on me as Season 2 progressed. She seems like a female Lando, but then subverts your expectations in pleasant ways.

Thank you

Yesss not many people talk about her !

Now, if Mace Windu is from the planet Haruun Kal and Lando Calrissian is from Soccorro, what planet is she from?

Hopefully she'll show up in a tv show or movie 🎬 because I don't read star wars comics. I have read some of the novels.

I really liked Reva too, I do hope they end up using her more and I hope they keep her more complicated... (Not just reappear as a typical Jedi). I loved the concept of Finn so much, those trick-trailers from the force awakens had me hyped so much that I still love his character, but oh boy do I hate how he was used! The more you think about the characters teased in the films, the more you hate the sequel films... and I didn't realize that until now, because honestly, Finn and Poe, Captain Phasma, Rose... Luke Skywalker... even background characters teased to be possibly regular characters in the advertising like Sidon. I wish we could just get the whole cast together and redo that trilogy from the top down, stop trying to directly follow the formula of a chosen one and really bring it modern like the better shows and Rogue One. I mean, we didn't even get any new alien ally characters, they were so fixated on nostalgia that they just figured more Chewbacca is good enough. I really wish they could just redo the sequel trilogy... so much ruined potential!

@thatcomicdad1687

Жыл бұрын

Reva was a horrible character

Word…well presented.

Everyone be light about my man Willrow Hood, aka Ice Cream Guy from EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! I know, I know, he's Legends now...but for some reason, I can't let him go :)

I stopped reading Star Wars comic but i may go back to see that.

In the lego sequel to rise of Skywalker fin is force sensitive and training with rey to be a jedi

And make it look easy!

Don’t forget about Keeve trennis from the High republic comics also by Justina Ireland

It's only taken almost 40 years lmfao 😅

Mace Windu comes from a whole black planet and they act real black. It's in his book Shatterpoint.

Even anakin only got character development only outside the mane 9 movies in my opinion

Alll of the Starros clan is filled with badass woman but the one male of the family being an imp is wack

I'm old enough to remember Star Wars being racial free.

What about Wanda Sykes on The Bad Batch? She is throwing the cookout!!

Referring to the early part of the video... hell, I'm about as white as we get in South Louisiana (without being Republican!) and I agree with you 100% on all points throughout. You simply speak truth. 👍 BUT... I do have a question... I know all of the expanded stuff got thrown out of canon, but they brought Thrawn in anyway. Does that apply to Timothy Zahn's "Thrawn Trilogy"? I read that series when it came out in paperback, and quite honestly, without it I wouldn't have maintained any love for Star Wars outside of the Ewoks movie. Thrawn in those books was the ultimate bad guy that you loved to hate... he was awesome! And he was blue! 😁

@user-yq9im9dk9z

Жыл бұрын

No, when canon brings over non-canon/Legends characters they put them in new stories. They don't canonize the old stories.

All other inquistors are dead by the time a new hope happened except for riva

Probably a less popular way of thinking, but I don't see the type of history in the Star Wars [main] canon that would lead to cultural development the same way for Black characters; but I do know the Empire is fairly anti-alien/speciest. I can see that being spawned from racial roots, but since it wasn't stated I could imagine a less distinct voice compared to Earth's.

*sidebar* can we get a god of war style game where you okay as a warrior wookie just snapping necks, BUSSIN heads and ripping shit apart? Maybe even a compelling story looking them to the force making us help create the official wookie force user???

I guess the different aliens in the movies count as diverse

Y’all probably not gonna count this, but the Star Wars series for kids, one of the main characters is a black kid.

@mauriced9013

Жыл бұрын

Was it??

@samboo18fuksdogs1

Жыл бұрын

⁠​⁠​⁠@@mauriced9013 Star Wars: young Jedi. Main character is a little black boy. 🤘🏾

If you haven't read the high Republic Avon starros is another cool black character

Are we not considering Quinlan Vos part of the diaspora?

so what about jao assum?

um, this title is just wrong...I think Billie D williams is the coolest cat out there, and there is no way he didnt give it his personal touch, and if that ain't black, then man I don't think you really read star wars Blerd..

Sana Starros is a remake of Legends Salla Zend.

What does it even mean to black in a univers copleatly separated from what it would be here. They don't have the same history so no reason to expect them to act a certain way.

@TheVeritas1

Жыл бұрын

But the Galaxy in Star Wars does draw inspiration from real life. Thus, the Empire is inspired by Nazi Germany. Similarly, you can use real life Black culture as inspiration for how the Starros family interact with each other.

@hellblaze10

Жыл бұрын

@@TheVeritas1 I have no problem with that but being black is far more than just dark skin and curly hair. Its also about history and they don't have ours.

Also the term legends i view it as the star wars multiverse not any less important than canon similar to the "reboots" that dc ,marvel,mortal Kombat and milestone have done

I hope there isn't another Minority group that says that Blerd! All though it wouldn't surprised me from the Millennials. Its their parents fault.

Great video

I think it's interesting that Bay Area native George Lucas was inspired by Filipinos to create the ewok language and the cranes in Oakland to design the walkers but could only think to include 1 Black guy in the core trilogy. Feels almost intentional.....🤣🤷🏾‍♂️

Star Wars isn't supposed to be about white, Black or Asian characters- it's supposed to be about a galaxy far, far away. I've never felt the need to see myself in a story- because that's not how escapism works. In fact I always gravitate away from characters who are too simila to mer. That is the case for most people too- Look at Street Fighter for example- Japanese players historically more likely to select Ken, American players prefer Ryu and male players more likely to select Chun-Li than female players

@Reese91momo

Жыл бұрын

To each own

Boy Fin got screwed..

"A Force Awakens" was a big disappointment! Largely because of, Finn's portrayal.

First to actually watch the whole video then comment

You tell them Ernie black and proud lol 😂

Naw, I'm on that ride, until we can get a brother as protagonist jedi, I can't even care about this wack franchise. They're just like the rest of Hollywood. Half measures are tossed out with no intentional development.

Growing up, after Empire, the main way we experienced Star Wars as fans was the Marvel comics of the era. That was during the time of when they thought Han wasn't going to be in Jedi. So the comics really concentrated on Lando. Was disappointed in his limited role in Jedi. It was a weird shift. Finn was robbed. So if you look at the Force Awkaens Falcon comes with Finn, not Rei. Something shifted in the development of that movie.

I would say Quinlon Vos is black but good video...

Yep Thandie Newton got a cool but thankless part in Solo and frankly the whole crew in first 5 min was more interesting than the rest of movie which is why they got wasted , cause they had use mediocre Khallisi from GOT that never went anywhere 😂😂

Carl Sagan had it right: "'Star Wars' starts out saying it's in some other galaxy, and then you see there's people. It's extremely unlikely that there would be creatures as similar to us as the dominant ones in 'Star Wars.' And there's a whole bunch of other things; they're all white. The skin of all the humans in Star Wars, oddly enough, is sort of like this," Sagan said, gesturing to his hands.

@hellblaze10

Жыл бұрын

Without some sort of human analogy it wouldn't work as a story

@BlazinTre

Жыл бұрын

@@hellblaze10 Damn, I guess all of the other Sci-Fi and Fantasy stories that DON'T have any humans are all shite.

@hellblaze10

Жыл бұрын

@@BlazinTre You know damn well I was only taking about Star wars.

I think considering the ignorance of the powers that be. I like the black representation in star wars. I think its lacking but its not made by us. I have video on my channel on black fiction representation done well. But in regards to Sana, I like her as a character but I did not like her comic series. I was disappointed with each issue more got done in aphroa then in her own series. It was nice to see a black family but i have my own aunties and cousins and grandparents it wasnt the plot line for me.

Disclaimer: I'm black but I'm dumb AF about this stuff. Question: What does authentic blackness look like or is in Star Wars that these characters portray it and isn't considered stereotypical but authentic and unique compared to every other character we've seen? Again, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed or the purplest drink in the back of the fridge (Dave Chapelle joke, sorry.).

Insert the obligatory "Star Wars has gone woke" and why Star Wars doesn't need any black or other POC character. Also insert me automatically ignoring those people.

@hellblaze10

Жыл бұрын

Well it doesn't need us. Would I like it though. Maybe, depends.

@SuiteVII

Жыл бұрын

Insert me asking “How are you not white supremacist when you are creating an entire universe populated with only wypipo and aliens? 🤷🏾‍♂️” Also insert someone bringing up George Lucas’ Black wife 🤷🏽‍♀️

@hellblaze10

Жыл бұрын

@@SuiteVII well put it this way. When a Chinese man wants to make a movie he's more likely to put mostly Chinese or other Asians in. Same with Black people and Hispanics. George is white so he makes characters based on that experience. No one would ever say a Black or Asian person is racist just because they don't make other peoples more prominent in their media. Why do it to George?

@SuiteVII

Жыл бұрын

@@hellblaze10 Wrong. If any one of us made a representation of Earth, we know what it looks like here 👀 Unless the story takes place in Idaho or somewhere, there’s nowhere else that is completely populated by Whites. Even Germany has more Black people percentage wise than a Star Wars movies.

@SuiteVII

Жыл бұрын

@@hellblaze10 Just think about all the American movies that dont even have Black extras in the background. Thats eerie and sus

It’s never enough is it for y’all is it?! Smfh, and I’m black….

Star wars has literall aliens how more diverse can you get dooku wanted to enslave all alien races nobody else in the republic or empire wanted to do that the message of equality existed in my opinion?

@ytsi7505

Жыл бұрын

Star wars even has robot representation and sentient animal representation

Moff Gideon is the most flat character imo. He’s cool and fun, but nothing of much interest w his story imo

Wait wait wait... the only Black man in this family full of dope Black women is a villain? Don't get me wrong. I think all the dope Black ladies is super cool. But, but This just feels suss....

The apparent problem is that you can name every single major black character in Star Wars. Imagine trying to do this for white characters. In a universe full of so many species black people are still underrepresented compared to white characters.

WITH OUT THE PREQUELS...GRANDPA....you don't get the movies or the fans for...OBIWAAN REBELS CLONEWARS MANDALORIAN DARTH MAUL MACE VENTRESS BAD BUNCH ANDALOR ETC.......everyone who hates the prequels are old men who glorify their child hood

An important thing to point out is the fact that none of the books written before the Lucasfilm acquisition were canon. None of them. George Lucas himself said the only things that were canon were his films, and everything else wasn’t. Yes, the books were approved by Lucasfilm, but they were separate from the films entirely.

@user-yq9im9dk9z

Жыл бұрын

George sounds like BS. His company always told it was canon. He can't just say different shit from the company. It wouldn't be as popular if they were honest about EU's status.

6:01 Really? Are we really doing this? Are we actually saying that Finn a bad representation because he didn't get with white girl? Really? As for being a Jedi, Finn literally gets the force in THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, which obviously suggest that becoming a Jedi is part of destiny. And calling Jannah a consolation prize for Finn is just gross. There is no indication at least from what I saw that Finn & Jannah will be a couple other then fact they are both black and of the opposite sex. This is why having several black characters from diverse perspectives and origins in Star Wars is important as opposed to this idea that black characters have to act a certain way otherwise, they aren't black enough for black representation. The idea of authentic "blackness" is CRINGE because black is NOT a monolith and the idea that is such a thing of authentic blackness implies that blackness IS a monolith, sorry but there is no getting around it. One Black writer from the Hawks newspaper summarizes it best. v "Society tells us that we can be two kinds of black. Either we conform like our parents and grandparents were forced to do so we can avoid making waves which keeps us bound in our circumstance. Or we live “authentically”. But with that option, we have little to no room for development and growth beyond the stereotypes." The only thing this video proves is that blerds can be just as cringe as any toxic white male fanboy.

Well just like the Jetsons, black folks don't exist in the future

The Mace Windu audio book was HORRIBLE!!! worse story and portrayal of any character. He was portrayed more as an unsure padawan rather than an extremely powerful Jedi master, and let’s not talk about how he was voiced which sounded like a whyte guy trying to speak with a blackcent trying to imitate a whyte guy, it was just cringey add that to having a backdrop of a planet and people described more like Rawanda than a galaxy far far away. P.S. don’t waste your time reading this book… spend your money on ice cream. 🍦

@williamphillips3035

Жыл бұрын

I'm currently on it right now and it's a slow drag.

I don't understand what authenticly black means plus I've been to Africa and the black people there are very different from black people here

What are you talking about? There is no racism in Star Wars because humans have always been around aliens in that galaxy , (it`s kind of hard to be racist when your surrounded by millions of other sentient species, ya know). What do you mean "authentically" black? that sounds bizarre to me. Nobody acts black or white in Star Wars because it`s not on Earth so none of that`s stuff exists or matters, they just act Human, their species. Star Wars doesn`t need to be racialized. You say "Authentically Black" but your idea of authentically black is a stereotype. All of the black women shown in this comic are single mothers and there are no Black men around? oh wait one shows up and is a villain and a sellout working for the empire, that`s a gross Tyler Perry stereotype and if that`s your idea of "Authentic Blackness" it is pretty flawed , and oh look the empire made him shave his head clean bald, I guess the emperor didn`t like his kinky hair huh? and they put him next to two Klansman looking snow troopers, this is goofy. Saw Guerra was a Bad ass and Strong Leader and Lando Calrisian was a ladies man and cool Mother fucker like a Black man in real life under George Lucas but under Disney he`s a weirdo who fucks sentient toasters.

@aarojpoll

Жыл бұрын

Blerd never said they were racist he said they don't handle black characters well

@MeThinks995

Жыл бұрын

@@aarojpoll that ties to racism/white supremacy and the rest of my points are valid. It would be nice to see a strong black family unit in the republic of rebellion leading the fight against tyranny on multiple fronts and a Black Jedi Grand master, even a Black Humanoid alien.

NEWS FLASH....THE ORIGINAL 3 STARWARS ARE FILLED WITH MISTAKES...AND PROBLEMS TOO...THEY ARE SLOW AND CLUMSY...but that was your childhood so yall ignore the flaws...

I think you are confusing a fictional galaxy far far away with the real world. There is no Africa or Asia in this galaxy, so to suggest that certain facial features correspond in any way to our real world geographic regions and cultures is a total misunderstanding of everything. It is fiction and no fictional story is required or obligated to include "representation" of any type of characters outside those imagined by the author. That has never been a requirement for authors at any time or in any place ever in history. If you want to see certain types of characters represented in fiction a certain way then that is on you (any individual not just you personally) to create it. There is no substitute for actual diverse writers and creators of different backgrounds making different stories and characters and worlds of their own. Trying to shove "representation" into these stories written by other authors most often just turns into shallow stereotypes and isn't really progressive or creative. Not to mention most "black" people on earth are not in the United States, so just saying that "black" people act a certain way just shows stereotypical thinking. What about all the different "black" Africans in Africa where there are many different languages, cultures and customs? This is why I have a problem with "black authenticity", what does that even mean? You cannot even define it, as being a lesbian with dreadlocks is not "black authenticity". Did black women in America wear dreadlocks in the 1940s as part of being authentically black? Overall when you look at any character in Star Wars, you should be seeing them as alien to yourself, even if they have the same skin color because the GFFA is supposed to be escapism to another place separate from the real world altogether.

10 STAR WARS MOVIE....7 WERE COOL...THE LAST 3 SUCKED...THATS IT

Actually, stop watching Star Wars movies because of everything you’ve said,been supporting foretold years smh. There is a black stunt woman who taught herself martial arts sword fighting and handling. She would be perfect for all the rolls that you talk about with women in Star Wars. A total fucking bad ass