I must be getting old if this bugs me...

[bluegargantua]

Hey,

So, there's this commercial on TV for a Star Wars Clone Trooper set. You get a Clone Trooper helmet and a rifle and the add has dozens of kids in the helmets running around with their rifles.

I've decided that this really bugs me. I know that in the prequels the clone troopers are sort of "good guys", but I don't know if I want kids being jazzed to be faceless super-soldiers. And in a larger sense I'm a bit saddened that grown-ups choose dressing up like storm troopers over Rebel troopers.

Are we always attracted to being one of the jack-booted minions of evil? It'll be interesting to see how fans react to the GI Joe movie. Will we see lots of blue-suited Cobra troopers or will people embrace the wide range of colorful Joes? Actually, if the movie stills are anything to go by, the Joes won't be as idiosyncratic as they were in the cartoons.

later
Tom

EDITED TO ADD: For the longest time. Possibly well after I saw the first three movies, I believed that Storm Troopers were just robots, not guys wearing armor. After all, they looked like robots and it seemed exactly what an evil empire would do. Luke and Han dressing up as troopers merely meant that they wore the exterior shells. These movies got a lot more violent once I realized there were people under there.

Comments

[kadath.livejournal.com]

The 501st was founded and is still primarily made up of hardcore props guys, and the Rebellion just doesn't have costumes that are as technically challenging as the Imperial ones. The 501st has a sister organization, the Rebel Legion, for people who want to costume the good guys.