Wah Wah Wah- ewoks ruined Return of the Jedi.... Blah Blah Blah....

Since I can remember- people have always had a whinge about Ewoks, and how utterly impossible for them to defeat the Imperials on Endor, how their cute fluffyness ruined the movie, and how gimmicky they were.

I've never had a problem with Ewoks. Being that I was born in 1983, I wasn't subjected to what I imagine would have been a media assault in the promotion of Return of the Jedi. And so on my first viewing of Return of the Jedi as a child, I was utterly surprised by the furry little guys popping out of the foilage on the Forest Moon- and my first feeling from them was a slight edgy fear.

These guys had trapped out heros in a net, and surrounded them with spears- and as it turns out: they intended on eating them all, before threepio enchanted them with his appearance- and they began worshipping him as a god.

Many people look at Wicket's scene with Princess Leia- and it's a cute scene that really evokes gaining trust- and is similar to gaining the trust of a small skittish animal with food. But Wicket is only a child- and curious of the stranger walking in his forest. He has his spear at the ready to defend himself, but perhaps an elder Ewok would have been less vigilant and attacked Leia.

You've gotta realise that Ewoks are cute- but they're also pretty hardcore. They adorn themselves in the bones of animals- living in intricate tree villiages safe from the predators on the forest floor. They also would have had no problems in killing a human being and feasting on it's flesh. How cute is that?

The other issue I want to address is how they gain a victory over the Imperial forces.

The first thing is- that they didn't.
The Ewoks biggest contribution was creating enough chaos to allow the captured rebel ARMY to free themselves and take up arms against the Imperials. The Ewoks didn't defeat them merely on their own!

Secondly- the Ewok uprising employed proven methods of attack when facing a more advanced foe. Jungle Guerrilla warfare. You don't see hordes of Ewoks rush into battle into the frey. They attack in more disciplined ways. Taking down the advanced Imperial Walkers using logs- taking out troopers in smaller groups by swinging from the trees- and using traps to dislodge scout troopers from their speeder bikes. All this while the rebel forces make their way into the Sheild Bunker.

And thirdly- the Ewok uprising is more of a symbolic gesture. The idea of primitive tactics and technology overcoming advanced forces. It's happened in history many times- from New Zealand Maori's to the Vietnam War.

Ultimately the Ewoks represent how a respect for other cultures can be a valuable element. I can't Imagine Imperial Stormtroopers having much time for them- you could probably even theorize that they had encountered the Ewoks and blasted a couple of them away, rather than being diplomatic with a "lower life form"

A trait like this is one of the many things you'd expect the Rebel Alliance to uphold with pride.

Hug an Ewok.