redxavier wrote:Anyhow, more on topic, how do people feel about George Lucas? I felt that Leia was a pretty good female character, and she's possibly one of the first actiony females in Western cinema (just pre-dating Ripley by a couple of years). She rather intelligent hides the plans in R2, talks back to Vader, insults Tarkin, and even treats her captors with exasperation and aids in her own rescue. But then Padme came long, who I think is possibly one of the worst female characters ever written - essentially a walking and talking baby-maker.
I brought up George Lucas and the portrayal of Leia earlier... I think that she is one of the stronger female characters in Science Fiction/Fantasy movies to date. I wonder how much we might have Marcia Lucas to thank for that portrayal. Padme is just horribly written on so many levels, I recently re-watched the prequels and was stunned again by just how horribly her character is written.
More broadly, I think it will be interesting to see where this discussion goes in 20 years, much intolerance is taught/learned, as is stated in a great, often eliminated, song from South Pacific (I won't get into that discussion here). I think we're already seeing a country which in general is becoming more tolerant, but in many ways and as Eddie pointed out these things start at home. People who move into/out of their home areas eventually realize things which are offensive and possibly change, however a large portion of America will continue living in the same rural area their entire life so that is where the portrayals in media can make a significant difference.
I think another important thing is for parents to help their kids learn that some people are going to look different than them. I'm short (4'8"), I encourage parents to let their kids, who by the 4th grade are normally taller than I am, ask me questions rather than trying to hide the fact their kid is pointing and staring, let the kid ask the question, its part of the learning process. We also have to accept that not everyone is going to understand, or share opinions for various reasons. I've realized recently that I don't mind being called "little" anymore, that many people don't mean anything negative by it, and I think that's something which applies to things like being called "sweetie" or "darling" when living in the south... its just the learned behavior not a negative necessarily.
I've rambled enough here, but I think a large part of the discussion we're having here is part of the learning process, and I think its great we can have a discussion like this here.