Lego is planning to pull its Jabba The Hutt-themed set (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/lego-racism-star-wars_n_2541369.html) off the shelves this year, but it wants you to know that recent accusations of racism are not the reason why.
Birol Kilic, head of the Turkish Cultural Association of Austria responsible for the accusations, doesn't appear to agree. He told NBC News that after his group (http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/01/17552848-toy-model-of-jabba-the-hutts-palace-resembles-a-mosque-group-says?lite) met with the toymaker last week, the company promised to pull the product from shelves by the end of this year. Kilic's organization argued earlier this year (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/lego-racism-star-wars_n_2541369.html) that the set resembled the a former mosque in Istanbul, the Jami al-Kabir mosque in Beirut and a minaret.
Because Jabba The Hutt is a villain in the Star Wars films, the group claimed the alleged close resemblance (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/lego-racism-star-wars_n_2541369.html) reinforced negative stereotypes about Muslims.
"This does not belong in children's bedrooms," Kilic told NBC (http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/01/17552848-toy-model-of-jabba-the-hutts-palace-resembles-a-mosque-group-says?lite). "And the minaret-like tower features machine guns. Children will become insensitive to violence and other cultures."
The world's most valuable toy-maker (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-13/lego-builds-new-billionaires-as-toymaker-topples-mattel.html), which didn't immediately return voicemail and email messages seeking comment, tweeted (https://twitter.com/LEGO_Group/status/318710129342173184) that its decision to discontinue the product was not due to criticism:
After the Turkish Cultural Association's initial complaint, Lego released a statement (http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/news-room/2013/january/reaction-to-criticism-of-lego-star-wars-product/) saying that the components of the toy were all intended to resemble characters and sets from the fictional Star Wars movies.
"The LEGO Group regrets that the product has caused the members of the Turkish cultural community to interpret it wrongly, but point out that the design of the product only refers to the fictional content of the Star Wars saga," the January statement reads (http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/news-room/2013/january/reaction-to-criticism-of-lego-star-wars-product/).
The "Jabba's Palace" controversy isn't the first time Lego has been accused of racism. In 2010, artist Chris McVeigh claimed (http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/09/lego-racism/) that almost all of the non-white lego men and women scowl, according to Wired. But Hollywood could be in part to blame; Lego sets that are based on famous movies reinforce the racism already apparent in movie industry casting, according to the Wired article.
Check out the "Jabba's Palace" set below (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=jabbas+palace&sprefix=jabbas+pa,aps,167):
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1065456/thumbs/o-JABBAS-PALACE-570.jpg?5)
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1065459/thumbs/o-JABBAS-PALACE2-570.jpg?6)
Via: HuffingtonPost