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With its saddle bags and close resemblance to an obese shaggy bison the Bantha obviously takes its inspiration from the American desert plains and the Spaghetti Western, and Sand People are the warlike natives who are being squeezed out of their own homeland in a way reminiscent of the fate of the Native Americans. Lucas, however, also seems to have looked to the Middle East for inspiration. For one thing, as most of us know, the Lars Homestead was filmed in Tunisia. Less obviously though, Lucas surely must have had Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in mind when the Gaderffii stick was named. As the leader of a rogue desert state, this is actually quite fitting, and Gaddafi did love having things named after him so I'm sure he would have approved. This, moreover, is not out of keeping with Lucas's naming conventions for his desert planet. Tatooine itself is almost certainly named for the Tunisian town of Tataouine which is famous for its underground cave dwellings such as that occupied by the Lars family. Lucas didn't actually film in Tataouine but it was only about 30 miles away and he must almost certainly have been familiar with the place name.

Gaddifi came to power through a Popular Revolution in 1973 and there were anti-Gaddafi student protests against him in Libya in 1976. He would have been in the news when Lucas was filming in Tunisia so the name would have been floating around on TV, radio and in the newspapers for him to grab hold of and adapt for the Sand People's close combat weapon.

When I was a child I remember them being just referred to as Gaffi sticks and I'm not really sure when or how the two differing names came about. There has been a movement to change the name of the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore and I wonder if the Gaderffii stick will ever suffer the same fate. There's one thing for certain though, this is one of the very few instances in which a contemporary cultural reference point appears to slip into the timelessness of A New Hope. The influences upon the film are usually either fictional or historical or a combination of the above (the Spaghetti Western, WWII movies, Icelandic Sagas, Western Christianity, perhaps even Greek Tragedy and there are even traces of Lucas's Orwellian first science fiction movie, THX 1138 from 1971) and not from the morning's newspaper.

Many of the species in the Star Wars world seem to have an intrinsic nature, that of the Tusken Raiders however seems to be somewhat subject to change.

There is rather an odd difference in the nature of the Sand People between Episodes IV and II. In A New Hope their motivation appears to be purely theft and, however brutal and violent they appear, they seem to have little interest in cold-blooded killing. In the prequel Attack of the Clones though they become almost pantomime villains who are quite happy to tie up women, beat them up and leave them to die just for the sake of it, or just because it is in their intrinsic nature (much like the pejoratively represented Red Indian in early American cowboy movies).

When looked at together the two sets of behaviour don't quite add up. That is unless we somehow draw the conclusion that Anakin's massacre of them in The Attack of the Clones has made them more cautious, which in turn leads us to draw the more uneasy conclusion that Anakin's atrocity has somehow taught them a lesson and kept them in check over the intervening years. It's an uncomfortable message that Anakin's brutal methods may have some efficacy and therefore some justification. The message we take from The Attack of the Clones is that the ends don't justify the means, but when the two films are looked at together it's possible to glimpse a universe in which they somehow do.

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All Star Wars action figures, vehicles, collectibles and Star Wars toys shown on this website are the 3.75 inch scale and from my own private Star Wars collection unless otherwise stated. Where possible original vintage accessories have been used but in some instances I have placed Kenner Star Wars figures with either reproduction weapons and accessories or for Hasbro figures close approximations have been used. This is mostly the case for modern Star Wars lightsabers where the correct item can be very difficult to identify on some ocassions. Vintage Star Wars action figures are shown with their original weapon or accessory when I have them. When a vintage Kenner action figure is shown with an accessory which is not original I have tried to point this out where possible.

All of the Star Wars action figures shown were purchased second hand, usually incomplete, and in bulk. They have been reunited with their original weapons and accessories where we could get hold of them.

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