Lego Accused of Cultural Insensitivity with Star Wars Set

CommanderFrank

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The Turkish Cultural Community of Austria has accused Lego of copying a mosque in Istanbul as the model for Jabba the Hutt’s palace from the Star Wars franchise. The included Lego figures did not escape notice from the group either; they were cited as being demeaning in their Lego portrayals to the Turkish community. All in all, it sounds like a lot of Istan-bull to me. :D

“The Lego Star Wars product Jabba´s Palace does not reflect any actually existing buildings, people, or the mentioned mosque,” she said. “The Lego mini-figures are all modelled on characters from the movie.
 
hmmm I wonder if that Mosque has some one encased in carbonite.
 
We have been discussing this.
hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1741831
 
Did the Turkish community just now finally get to see Return of the Jedi? Damn they suck.

That said that little part at the end of the movie "any relation to real world people are completely incidental..." that kind of gives them an out.
 
"As an indication of the anger felt over Jabba’s Palace, the organisation said it was considering taking legal action against Lego for inciting racial hatred and insulting human dignity."

Oh, the hypocrisy...
 
maybe they should go after Lucius films or Disney... OH wait they have to much money Lego is a softer target
 
OH it gets better the mosque? ITS THE HAGIA SOFIA which was stolen from the Christians LOL
yea no they need to just stop
 
OH it gets better the mosque? ITS THE HAGIA SOFIA which was stolen from the Christians LOL
yea no they need to just stop
Not to mention that not only was it Christian first, its NOT even a mosque now. Its a secular museum, an official historical artifact, and not a place of worship.

In fact, if a bunch of Muslims did start kneeling down on the floor and praying, I'm pretty sure they would be asked to leave quite swiftly.
 
I'll reiterate my amusement from the official statement here as well:

“We regret that the product has caused the members of the Turkish cultural community to come to a wrong interpretation, but point out that when designing the product only the fictional content of the Star Wars saga were referred to.”

Translation: We regret you being flat out wrong, go watch Star Wars.
 
Since when do we have to be so sensitive to everyone? I don't ever recall anyone having to apologize for calling all Catholic Priests pedophiles. I even had my post deleted from somewhere for even trying to assert that?! It's taking politically correct to levels of unimaginable stupidity.
 
This whole thing stinks of stupid. The Turkish outrage is dumb and the fact that Lego is still trying to profit from a crappy 60 year old movie about space and zapping stuff with make believe magic powers is dumb.
 
Another group of people upset over something ridiculous... yay...

Though in their defense, the mosque does look very similar to the lego set...
 
Wow. I'm sure glad Turkey felt comfortable enough to air their grievances 30 fucking years after the target of their offense came out in theaters. We should totally bow to their fucking whining. :rolleyes:
 
OH it gets better the mosque? ITS THE HAGIA SOFIA which was stolen from the Christians LOL
yea no they need to just stop

This is what I've been saying. They can dish, but they can't take it when they're hit back.

Fucking retarded.


BTW didn't know it became a museum. When did that happen?
 
Not to mention that not only was it Christian first, its NOT even a mosque now. Its a secular museum, an official historical artifact, and not a place of worship.

Totally islamophobic of you to point out that fact.
 
Hey Turks, remember something called the Ottoman Empire? Remember the Caliphate? STFU and clean your own house.
 
at one time the Islamic world was the center of learning and scientific knowledge .....
and then the extremest took over
imagine how much more advanced we could of been
 
Is it insensitivity on one side, or over-sensitivity on the other?
 
at one time the Islamic world was the center of learning and scientific knowledge .....
and then the extremest took over
imagine how much more advanced we could of been

Hey, sounds like the US with the Christian Right doesn't it?
 
Hey, sounds like the US with the Christian Right doesn't it?

eh middle ages Christians did most the damage
but yes there are some i think that would love living in caves with the islamic extremest bothers
 
Where is our apology for all the suicides bombings, 9/11 and all the beheadings? Huh? Huh?
 
Quiet, infidel! You have to apologize for the Crusades! :mad:

i think there is plenty blame to go around atm
mind that carrying on a 600 year old war is pretty lame...
but if the extremists on both sides had there way we would still be living in caves
 
To use an old school playground term: - “You started it!”
 
at one time the Islamic world was the center of learning and scientific knowledge .....
and then the extremest took over
imagine how much more advanced we could of been

This is one of the saddest parts of it. Being scholarly, being educated, and recognizing the value of science was a big part of Islam. Sadly, with the "I have the ear of God" mentality of clerics (which is contrary to the Koran - religion is between God and one's self, there need not be an intermediary), a complete lack of education (which is propagated further by madrases), and various socio-economic realities, it creates a huge problem that is very difficult to overcome. The fact that Turkey, a staunch NATO member, US supporter, and all-around Western leaning country has gone backwards is scary. Turkish women had to right to vote before US women. The Prime Minister has been a strong woman in the past, so seeing this kind of rhetoric from that kind of country in recent years is very disturbing.


Hey, sounds like the US with the Christian Right doesn't it?

Different issues, but very similar paths, that are equally disturbing to any reasonable person.

Where is our apology for all the suicides bombings, 9/11 and all the beheadings? Huh? Huh?

Sure, as soon as you apologize for all stupid people. As a Muslim, I am about as responsible for the actions of those aholes, as you would be the actions of Christian extremists. The fact is a great part of Muslims is disgusted by not only 9/11 but the actions of Saudi Arabia, Taliban, and various other governments/entities that use Islam as their sole way of controlling desperate people who sadly don't understand that you can worship one's God, and still live in harmony with the rest of the world. Anyhow, I am disgusted by this "report" and feel that the road to peace won't be through bombs and force but education, which is the biggest thing lacking currently, by design for the masses, in most ME countries.
 
i think there is plenty blame to go around atm
mind that carrying on a 600 year old war is pretty lame...
but if the extremists on both sides had there way we would still be living in caves

Here's the thing: where are the Christian extremists to rival these people? And don't say that a couple dozen abortion-related acts of violence over a few decades compares to the sheer scale of Islamic Jihad.
 
fun story
im Catholic in middle school i was good friends with a Orthodox Jew and a Muslim
and we got along great if we could the rest of world can too
 
IRA comes to mind

The IRA has kept their war isolated to one country, and their purpose is ostensibly more political than religious. Islamic Jihad has touched nearly every country in the world.
 
fun story
im Catholic in middle school i was good friends with a Orthodox Jew and a Muslim
and we got along great if we could the rest of world can too

That's because the majority of Muslim people, and the majority of religious people of all kinds, are good people who are not violent or hateful.

But they don't stand up enough to the people in their own community who talk of violence.
 
I feel like they are being culturally insensitive to my culture, which revolves around making fun of all cultures.
But they don't stand up enough to the people in their own community who talk of violence.
Or those people aren't actually the people in their community :p
 
IRA comes to mind

Just one of many. Here's one that will trip up most people, how about the Catholic Church. If we want to look at scale of death, sadly, that the no condom mandate has contributed to as many if not more deaths in the world. Can you imagine the audacity of the ear that has access to the voice of God proclaiming that wearing condoms is a sin and hence "helping" AIDS spreading like brush fire in many 3rd world countries. I am oversimplifying obviously, but there are plenty of learned scholars who had asked upon the Church to change its stance to save lives, and the Holy Body did not relent. Perhaps not as forceful but just as deadly. Anyhow, if we compare body counts of innocent people I am sure we would find there to be quite similarity in numbers on the grand scale of things.
 
Just one of many. Here's one that will trip up most people, how about the Catholic Church. If we want to look at scale of death, sadly, that the no condom mandate has contributed to as many if not more deaths in the world. Can you imagine the audacity of the ear that has access to the voice of God proclaiming that wearing condoms is a sin and hence "helping" AIDS spreading like brush fire in many 3rd world countries. I am oversimplifying obviously, but there are plenty of learned scholars who had asked upon the Church to change its stance to save lives, and the Holy Body did not relent. Perhaps not as forceful but just as deadly. Anyhow, if we compare body counts of innocent people I am sure we would find there to be quite similarity in numbers on the grand scale of things.

John Paul II did a lot to try and change that but yes the rest of the church didnt listen
he did go a long way to fixing a lot of the other issues
as much hes loved by most of the world Catholics he is disliked by many in the upper levels of the church
but as far terrorist level stuff IRA was just off the top of my head for modern stuff
but your right the Catholic church has its skeletons in the closet too
 
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