Creating sets for my Lego Sub-Saharan African City has been a challenge. Even the most resourceful and ingenious use of today’s, admittedly, wide variety of Lego pieces has meant that, on occasions, I have had to modify more than a few bricks. For example, some pieces I have spray-painted, such as the Lego Technic toothed-gear-blocks which look just like corrugated steel sheets when lined in rows and sprayed silver; some I have cut, particularly the original car mud-guards which come in fixed pairs (limiting the width of a vehicle to only four bobbles) and need separating to make cars and trucks which can sit Lego people side by side; and still other pieces have required gluing, mostly in cases where the set is still a little fragile do to unconventional building methods, such as the Tuk-Tuk. Also, I have created personalised stickers for the various logos, signs and even fabrics represented in each set. There has even been one occasion where I have used (shudder) a Lego-compatible piece: barbed wire for the UN building and apartment compound walls (I am aware that one of the Lego Avengers sets has barbed wire but it was not appropriate for my needs). For pieces which my son and I’s Lego collection lacks I am eternally grateful to fellow Lego enthusiasts who will even sell individual bricks on online auctioning sites.
The most difficult piece by far, however, to source has been the Lego people (mini-figures) themselves. This has been particularly important given the sheer volume of figures I have required so far (56) and the somewhat limited options available to me by the current Lego sets. The problem has been that the traditional Lego range has no brown mini-figures. Can you imagine that among the literally millions and millions of Lego characters in the mainstream Lego universe all faces are yellow? I have had to look to Lego’s themed sets for assistance but even so my options were limited to basketball players, Nick Fury from the Avengers theme, Lando Calrissian and Finn from Star Wars, a savage from Pirates of the Caribbean (which would be wholly inappropriate), and a few zombies and orcs from fantasy themes (even less appropriate). Essentially, when it comes to portraying black men Lego offers only athletes and entertainers – which is uncomfortably reminiscent of 1950s America. Sadly, there are no black women in the mainstream Lego universe.
While I find no evidence of Lego being criticised for its lack of ethnic diversity, it has suffered from criticism regarding its girl-oriented themes which for years were characterised by pink and purple pieces and sets featuring beauty salons, shopping malls and pop-stars, notably the Lego Friends range. However, Lego has attempted to redress this imbalance across the board by reducing the number of pink bricks in Lego Friends and creating sets which feature female scientists and doctors (well vets), a female archer and female fire-fighters. Interestingly, in the case of Lego Friends (and some Lego Duplo sets) it also decided very early on that yellow did not represent all ethnicities and therefore features only peach, light brown and brown characters. Unfortunately for my purposes these figures are not compatible with mini-figures so I could not use them.
Devising the Lego Africa theme has led me to wonder why Lego has not applied its replacement of the standard yellow mini-figure with more natural and representative skin-tones across the entire Lego universe. This question is particularly relevant given that other franchises, such as Emojis, which began with yellow-only skin tones have realised that this colour is not only misrepresentative but could be construed as most closely resembling Caucasians. This latter point is made explicit in the Simpsons cartoons, for example, where only its white characters are yellow. Sadly, in this current climate the Lego universe could be interpreted as being populated only by white people!
The most difficult piece by far, however, to source has been the Lego people (mini-figures) themselves. This has been particularly important given the sheer volume of figures I have required so far (56) and the somewhat limited options available to me by the current Lego sets. The problem has been that the traditional Lego range has no brown mini-figures. Can you imagine that among the literally millions and millions of Lego characters in the mainstream Lego universe all faces are yellow? I have had to look to Lego’s themed sets for assistance but even so my options were limited to basketball players, Nick Fury from the Avengers theme, Lando Calrissian and Finn from Star Wars, a savage from Pirates of the Caribbean (which would be wholly inappropriate), and a few zombies and orcs from fantasy themes (even less appropriate). Essentially, when it comes to portraying black men Lego offers only athletes and entertainers – which is uncomfortably reminiscent of 1950s America. Sadly, there are no black women in the mainstream Lego universe.
While I find no evidence of Lego being criticised for its lack of ethnic diversity, it has suffered from criticism regarding its girl-oriented themes which for years were characterised by pink and purple pieces and sets featuring beauty salons, shopping malls and pop-stars, notably the Lego Friends range. However, Lego has attempted to redress this imbalance across the board by reducing the number of pink bricks in Lego Friends and creating sets which feature female scientists and doctors (well vets), a female archer and female fire-fighters. Interestingly, in the case of Lego Friends (and some Lego Duplo sets) it also decided very early on that yellow did not represent all ethnicities and therefore features only peach, light brown and brown characters. Unfortunately for my purposes these figures are not compatible with mini-figures so I could not use them.
Devising the Lego Africa theme has led me to wonder why Lego has not applied its replacement of the standard yellow mini-figure with more natural and representative skin-tones across the entire Lego universe. This question is particularly relevant given that other franchises, such as Emojis, which began with yellow-only skin tones have realised that this colour is not only misrepresentative but could be construed as most closely resembling Caucasians. This latter point is made explicit in the Simpsons cartoons, for example, where only its white characters are yellow. Sadly, in this current climate the Lego universe could be interpreted as being populated only by white people!
| In attempting to recreate aspects of Sub-Saharan African city life I have sought to represent developing countries in a, hopefully, realistic light; to inform, educate and, honestly, share the diversity of cultures other than the developed-world Lego City franchise. In light of the above, though, I would also question Lego’s yellow-only protocol for mini-figures and suggest that, given the flexibility inherent to the brand, they could simply include heads and hands in a range of colours in their sets to give the consumer the power to decide for themselves. |  |
RSS Feed
