What’s The #UnWhiteWashTheBadBatch Campaign And Why Does it Matter?
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Season 2 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch has officially begun. Premiering this past Wednesday with its first two episodes titled “Spoils of War” and “Ruins of War,” the series continues to follow the titular team of turncoat clone troopers as they struggle to survive in an Imperial galaxy alongside their sister Omega. While The Bad Batch has been well received overall by those inside and outside the Star Wars fandom, there have been several issues brought up by those who have noticed a disappointing pattern throughout Star Wars animation.
Since The Clone Wars, a good number of fans have been pointing out the inconsistency in the design of the clone troopers, with many noting the lighter skin tones and general Euro-centric features exhibited by the characters. This is notable, especially since the clones are visually based on Temuera Morrison, the Māori actor who plays Jango Fett and all of his clones in every live-action Star Wars project. Even though the Star Wars animation style is known to exaggerate the features of certain characters, this is still an example of whitewashing characters of color, as uninformed audiences could easily mistake the clones to be white rather than Māori. This is especially noticeable with Omega, who is established to be a direct clone of Jango himself despite lacking his distinctly Māori features. The one clone on the Bad Batch who retains their Māori features is Wrecker. However, he is portrayed as being slow-witted and aggressive, which carries its own uncomfortable implications in itself.
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Others have noted that the Bad Batch themselves possess abilities that make them superior to the other clones. This has the rather unfortunate undertones of the lighter-skinned characters being inherently better than the rest. Outside of the clones, fans have also taken notice of more odd choices in regard to non-white representation in the show. For example, Cid, the Trandoshan who supplies the Bad Batch with their missions, has a distinct accent and behavioral tendencies around money that are rooted in stereotypes and caricatures of Jewish people. In addition, the Empire’s occupation of Raxus in the first season of the show alludes to the Tiananmen Square protests. The issue is that the Imperial who leads the suppression of the protests on Raxus is coded to be Asian, while the Bad Batch, who are largely coded to be white, are the ones who end up helping the people of Raxus against the Empire. Either intentionally or otherwise, this plays into the white savior trope.
With all these notable flaws, fans of color within the Star Wars fandom have put together a Twitter campaign under the hashtag #UnWhiteWashTheBadBatch. Said hashtag has been used to compile every instance of whitewashing and stereotypical portrayals of people of color seen in The Bad Batch. #UnWhiteWashTheBadBatch also includes examples of whitewashing in The Clone Wars and Rebels, such as Boba Fett’s notable design change in the fourth season of The Clone Wars. Sadly as of now, Disney and Lucasfilm have yet to officially respond to any of the aforementioned criticisms or update any of the character designs. This may be partially due to the second season’s animation being virtually finished by the time the hashtag took off on social media. With any luck, we might see the issues start to be addressed when Season 3 comes around.
Star Wars as a franchise is designed to be enjoyed by everyone. And while the galaxy far, far away has made enormous strides in terms of onscreen representation over the last few years, there is still more work to be done. While I doubt we will see any major changes to the characters’ designs this season, I do hope Lucasfilm take these criticisms to heart and make the Bad Batch better resemble their live-action inspiration, while also addressing the criticisms aimed towards the rest of the series as well. The Bad Batch has the potential to be one of the most diverse and nuanced Star Wars series in terms of Māori representation. Much like with the Bad Batch themselves, I would love to see that potential be realized.
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Source(s): Twitter
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