Star Wars WI: Darth Vader depicted as black.

[Georgepatton]

Or makeup will make James Earl Jones look white - or at least white enough to make it plausible that he fathered two children that look caucasian.

When the mask is uncovered, he doesn't have a natural colored skin anyway, and if the force ghost has white hair...

The question is, how will that be recieved by the public, both racists and anti-racists?

So instead a just having Luke's father be black, he'll just be a black actor in whiteface?

Somehow that seems even worse.

 

[Arkenfolm]

Wait, who plays Vader in the scene in ESB where he's in his chamber, and Piett (I believe) walks in before his mask is fully on? His head is pure white there. Is that David Prowse? So if you wanted James Earl Jones, you'd need to make him in whiteface, which could be more palatable by making it obvious the man's face and skin is horribly mutilated.

But why not just use David Prowse? Just explain the jarring difference in voices by the voice modulator in the suit or something.

 

[dartingfog]

We are talking 1982 or whatever. All people are going to see is a black man with a white son, and they'll say WTF?

Perhaps Anakin started out white, but then he turned to the dark side.

(I'm a little surprised no one said that yet).

 

[Trust me I'm an Engineer]

Oh man, you can already hear the echoes of the REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE that timeline would produce lol.



Folks, have you actually seen James Earl Jones? The dude ain't exactly Wesley Snipes. Here's his twitter avatar:

He's not "High Yellow" but he's pretty far up there on the African-American gradient scale. Perhaps a shade above Obama.

Its hard to tell for certain of course, because us light-skinned negroes can vary depending on the light.

Makeup can make you look even whiter.

So yeah, audiences wouldn't be distracted or think "Lol Luke's mom cheated on Vader". He'd fit. Even the most eagle-eyed racists might be fooled until the credits.

Shit, Lucas should have done this. Mustafa would've knocked this out of the park. I think his voice work makes people sorta forget how got damned top shelf THULSA DOOM is as an actor. And it'd be far superior because it'd really be Vader's voice as he wheezes and dies. Skywalker Sound would use a lighter compressor and a low cut filter on his voice once the helmet came off to complete the effect.

Dammit, I'm adding this to that perfect "Spielberg directs RotJ with Kashyyyk instead of Endor" timeline.

Someone should play a timeline where Rick James plays Han Solo.

 

[Perkeo]

So instead a just having Luke's father be black, he'll just be a black actor in whiteface?

Somehow that seems even worse.

Darth Vader's skin is already established as white in ESB. The problem is Anakin Skywalker's force ghost. And there indeed we have the problem of making James Earl Jones a plausible father for Mark Hamil and Carrie Fisher without creating a race issue. A good start would be to give him white hair.

OTOH he doesn't have to look caucasian, just not completely non-caucasian.

 

[pattersonautobody]

Perhaps Anakin started out white, but then he turned to the dark side.

(I'm a little surprised no one said that yet).

RRRRAAAYYYYYCCCCIIIISSSSTTTT!!!

 

[HesitatedEye]

Chasing Amy will need a new opening if that happens.

 

[Max Sinister]

That's James Earl Jones Twitter avatar, he can definitely pull it off.

And first I thought you were shitting me... he certainly looked different in the Zamunda movie.

 

[Perkeo]

And first I thought you were shitting me... he certainly looked different in the Zamunda movie.

2 reasons:

• This picture is slightly overexposed
• The white hair and the mustache makes him look less african

But looking at different pictures at imdb, it looks actually feasible. His face is that versatile.

 

[Saci]

Anakin was created by the Force itself (and we don't know about his paternal genes. We don't even know if his mother transferred her genes to him), it isn't far fetched to explain that his children got access from a more expanded/mystical gene pool.

 

[Nivek]

Umm that remind us the idea of a General Vader being played by JEJ in Once Upon Time...

 

[Arkenfolm]

Darth Vader's skin is already established as white in ESB. The problem is Anakin Skywalker's force ghost. And there indeed we have the problem of making James Earl Jones a plausible father for Mark Hamil and Carrie Fisher without creating a race issue. A good start would be to give him white hair.

OTOH he doesn't have to look caucasian, just not completely non-caucasian.

There's still the question of why wouldn't you just cast the guy in the Darth Vader suit the whole time, David Prowse, as the force ghost at the end of ROTJ, and for the brief scene where he talks to Luke one last time.

Anakin was created by the Force itself (and we don't know about his paternal genes. We don't even know if his mother transferred her genes to him), it isn't far fetched to explain that his children got access from a more expanded/mystical gene pool.

Not explained on screen in the OT. That could easily be another Midichlorian type moment if explained on screen in the prequels. Best leave that to some supplemental material.

 

[Archibald]

Perhaps Anakin started out white, but then he turned to the dark side.

(I'm a little surprised no one said that yet).

And Mickael Jackson took the reverse path...

 

[Emperor Norton I]

It's an old joke I heard at school years ago--"How do we know that Darth Vader wasn't black--Because he admitted he was the father!" Haw haw haw, amirite?

Oh, 1980s. You thought you were the modern, tolerant achievement of the Civil Rights era, and your racism is adorable.

 

[CalBear]

Perhaps Anakin started out white, but then he turned to the dark side.

(I'm a little surprised no one said that yet).

It is rather unfortunate that anyone did.

 

[Stolengood]

And first I thought you were shitting me... he certainly looked different in the Zamunda movie.

Maybe if he was in the sort of shape he was in for The Great White Hope:

​

...but, in case anyone was still wondering; yes, it was David Prowse's head we saw the back of in Empire Strikes Back:

 

[Retiarius]

Most movie viewers would have assumed we were supposed to believe Vader's wife cheated on him and he was too gullible to see it.

Hey, that might be an interesting direction to take the Prequels, with Anakin succumbing to Palpatine's temptation when he sees his children & realises that his wife was being unfaithful. Then after he becomes Vader, he spends the first little while pretending he never was Anakin, then concocts some unlikely explanation that lets him think that L&L were his, which Palpatine proves right by calling Luke his son.

 

[NORGCO]

Hey, that might be an interesting direction to take the Prequels, with Anakin succumbing to Palpatine's temptation when he sees his children & realises that his wife was being unfaithful. Then after he becomes Vader, he spends the first little while pretending he never was Anakin, then concocts some unlikely explanation that lets him think that L&L were his, which Palpatine proves right by calling Luke his son.

Sounds like a lot better plot than what they actually used.

 

[Emperor Norton I]

I assume it would have been a cultural reference and joke that Luke Skywalker (white as snow Mark Hammill) was actually Black.