So my wife was out shopping when she was surprised to find (among the leftover and heavily discounted Easter candy) Star Wars Easter Eggs featuring pastel Darth Vader heads.
I’m going to let the end of that sentence soak in a bit, because I had to do a double-take when I first saw them. Pastel Darth Vader helmets containing candy. To celebrate Easter. Man, and I thought the worst thing about Disney acquiring Lucasfilm would be Episode 7. Most ironic quote from the article for me?
“I had a group of very, very talented people that had worked for the company for many, many years and really knew how to market Star Wars, how to do the licensing and make the movies,” Lucas explains. “I said, ‘I think it would be wise to keep some of this intact. We need a few people to oversee the property, you know, who are just dedicated to doing that, so we’re sure we get this right.’”
Seriously? Banana yellow Darth Vader helmets is “getting this right”?
I’m trying to stay positive and upbeat about the whole thing, but Episodes I-III really rattled me. I can forgive some of the more atrocious acting moments, but the issues with the story — Jar-Jar Binks and Midichlorians, to be specific — still leave me cold. (Oh, and let’s not forget how Episode III ended by completely ruining one of the most memorable movie villains of all time. But I digress.) I had thought that perhaps with Disney gently taking the reins we’d see a certain kind of sanity return to the Star Wars universe. These things, however, are not reassuring me. As you can see the helmets come in four colors, all of which are pastel. After all, what better way to show your affiliation with the Dark Side than by presenting an assortment of light pastels, perhaps enhanced with a delicate floral scent? Break them open along an appropriately placed line, and you find the candy inside.
Really, there’s not a lot more I can say about this; I think the pictures speak for themselves. Between this and Episode III, any respect I have for Darth Vader is pretty much gone.
One good thing did come out of this though; my daughter inadvertently helped me to see what Lucas had always intended there to be behind that dark and foreboding mask…
