Star Wars encodes Orientalist stereotypes into its imagined desert planet.

Evidence

The Star Wars franchise also relies on a medieval narrative form, functioning collectively as “a neomedieval romance with a futuristic setting.” All of the Star Wars films are marked by Orientalist imagery. In the first film, the planet Tatooine is a desert wasteland with a single oasis of “civilization”—Mos Eisley. The planet is named after one of the cities in which the film was made, Tataouine, an Amizagh word that translates to “mouth of the springs.” Outside the white (human) encampments, Tatooine is populated by all kinds of creatures. According to Star Wars lore, the Jawas and the Tusken Raiders are the only “indigenous” inhabitants of the planet. The Jawas are small, unthreatening, and wily creatures. Known for bargaining skills (just like the Arab merchant), the Jawas dress in the type of robes seen in Lawrence of Arabia and other films situated in the Arabian Desert. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 607

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: how a sci-fi franchise marketed as ‘diverse’ quietly imports the full Orientalist schema — desert wasteland, wily merchant aliens, veiled princess — because it is following a medieval romance template.
• SHARE: Share with a friend who loves Star Wars lore: Tatooine is named after Tataouine in Tunisia, and the Jawas are copied from Arab merchant stereotypes in Lawrence of Arabia.