“What can I say? I thought the Darth Vader and Son book was a little better, and this was kind of more of the same thing.
I DO think it’s funny, reading other reviews, that people think it’s stereotypical. I mean, yeah, it’s stereotypical that a dad would have arguments with his daughter about leaving the house in a belly shirt. But I think that’s really the whole point here. Leia is used as a device to put Darth Vader in humorous situations, not the other way around. It’s funny to watch Darth Vader have a tea party. It’s funny to have him watching her leave the house in pajama pants. It’s funny to watch Darth Vader teach a young Leia, who apparently just got her license, how to drive in a TIE Fighter.
So yeah, these are pretty stereotypical daughter/dad roles. That’s the joke. If you don’t like the joke, don’t think it’s funny, that’s cool. But there’s a difference between not enjoying the joke and blaming something for stereotyping.
And holy crap do I feel sorry for you. I mean, if this book sets off your alarm bells when it comes to stereotypes, is it possible to actually enjoy anything?
Can I tell a quick story about this?
When I was young, maybe 2, my mom gave me a doll. I was a boy, but she was into this whole idea of giving me toys that would traditionally appeal to girls as well as boys. You know, to avoid the stereotypes.
After a short time the doll disappeared, from the way she tells it. It was gone for a while, and then resurfaced when she found me playing with it in the bath tub. I’d stripped its clothes off, torn the head off, and was using the hollow plastic body as a drinking vessel.
The head was never recovered.
I don’t think I knew a lot about the glass ceiling, and I really don’t think it was any sort of chauvinist statement as I wouldn’t even know what that was.
I guess what I’m getting at here is that I don’t really know if there’s much value to looking at everything through the “is this a stereotype” lens. I’m sure some little boys responded well to dolls, smashing the stereotype. I’m extremely sure that at least one little boy did not respond as well, reinforcing the stereotype.
So at some point, do we just become a list or a balance of qualities that either reinforce or break stereotypes? And fuck that because I want to do things I like, regardless of the stereotype. If there’s a stereotype that your race likes a certain food (okay, I’ll be honest, I’m talking about the Swedes and their love of taquitos. We’ve all heard it a million times, I know) does that mean that I, as a member of that race, have some sort of responsibility to not enjoy that food in order to break the stereotype?
I’m a man who likes beer and hates wine. Should I be drinking wine and gagging just to break out of that middle class white male stereotype?
I’m a guy who likes wearing jeans. Should I be looking into wearing tight aqua pants even though I think they’re stupid looking and uncomfortable and they would make me unhappy, just to make sure I’m fighting The Man?
I’m a nerd who enjoys the occasional foray into the Star Wars universe. Should I make sure that those pieces responsibly represent a challenge to gender stereotypes, especially considering that THESE EVENTS DON’T EVEN OCCUR IN OUR GALAXY AND ALL THE PEOPLE HAVE MOTHERFUCKING LASER SWORDS?
I mean, FATHERFUCKING LASER SWORDS?
There’s a planet of LIVING TEDDY BEARS!
A giant immobile worm man is a CRIME BOSS!
There’s a guy named DASH RENDAR!
This isn’t even our reality!
Forget traditional gender roles. Vader is like the Hitler of that galaxy. And if you want to talk about breaking traditional roles, a twin brother and sister kiss on the lips in these movies. And the sexuality of C-3PO is something that I don’t think I could even begin to extrapolate without some kind of advanced engineering degree. Oh, but the way they stereotyped the Rancor as a murderous beast, that was just horrific and damaging to the race as a whole.
I work in a female-dominated office in a female-dominated field. I know many a strong lady who is still down for tea. I talk to ladies who are making their own way in the world and also enjoy clothes shopping. You have to do what makes you happy, and I don’t think you need to excuse that stuff because it’s stereotypical to your race, gender, or status as a horrifying monster that ravages prisoners in a dank pit of despair.
If humorous picture books about Star Wars are the important front to fight this battle on, then I guess you’ve come to the right place. Otherwise, I don’t know. Read something else. Stuff I don’t like or things that have a real opinion about this stuff. “