8. Samuel L. Jackson's Questionable Casting
Star Wars is a very white movie franchise, and has over the years been pointed at as...
kinda racist. With Lando Calrissian being the one African American amidst a sea of white faces (and he's a double-crosser, just sayin') it's not hard to see why many think George Lucas may possibly be a tad on the racist side. However, at least Calrissian worked. Sam Jackson's casting in the prequels is particularly insidious. They literally said "hey, which black guy makes the most money right now? Sam Jackson? Get me his agent." And who's going to say no when Star Wars shows up at their house with a lorry full of freshly printed money? Suffice it to say, Jackson was woefully miscast, an actor famed for anger and intensity in a role that required him to... well, just die really. It was not an attempt at diversity - if it were, Windu would have, you know, done something - it was an attempt to pander to a demographic, and a lazy one at that. Abrams is clearly trying to remedying the situation by casting British actor John Boyega as a black Storm Trooper who's impact on the story looks to be quite considerable (much to the
chagrin of internet racists everywhere).