MovieChat Forums > Star Wars (1977) Discussion > "I used to bulls-eye womprats in my T-16...

"I used to bulls-eye womprats in my T-16 back home."

posted 9 years ago by petekrug17
49 replies | jump to latest

There's a line Luke says to Wedge that always bothered me a bit. When they're briefing the rebel pilots on the Death Star and the instructor tells them the shaft they have to fire the torpedoes down is only two meters wide, Wedge says,"That's impossible! Even for a computer!" Luke then says,"It's not impossible. I used to bulls-eye womprats in my T-16 back home and they're not much bigger than two meters." So...this means that, in his spare time, Luke flew around Tatooine in his T-16 blasting small, helpless creatures? Makes our hero look like a sadist, if you really think about it.

[–] GreatWhiteApeofBarsoom 9 years ago

The movie doesn't elaborate, so maybe a wamprat isn't a helpless creature. On Earth, wolverines are fairly small but nonetheless vicious animals.

Requiescat in pace, Krystle Papile. I'll always miss you.

[–] christomacin 9 years ago

"Womprat" is probably racist slang for Jawas. The final solution to the Jawish Problem?

[–] dahaka-535-16877 8 years ago

LMAO! (C3PO also hates Jawas)

[–] chriscougar7 9 years ago

2 meters is not small. Nothing ever states they are helpless, I mean people set rat traps and sorry to say that arent travel agents for the rats, thats also rats less then 1/6th of the size. So you can assume a rat over 6 feet tall living in a hostile desert environment is aggressive and a problem because they arent eating grass...

[–] jayrussell1993 8 years ago

If we had 6-foot (2-meter) rats here in Phoenix, I'd be shootin em dead all day long. Yuck.

[–] Jandersonu2 8 years ago

I think you are referring to R.O.U.S', but I've heard they don't exist.

[–] woodmage 9 years ago

small, helpless creatures?

"They're not much bigger than 2 meters."

A rodent-like creature more than 6 1/2 feet long. Blasting them was probably providing a public service.

[–] Fluke_Skywalker 9 years ago

I'm guessing Tatooine doesn't have a chapter of PETA.

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A journey into the realm of the obscure: http://saturdayshowcase.blogspot.com/

[–] Nikostratos 9 years ago

If you google 'womprat' and go to images, it appears very predatorial and vicious, not cute and cuddly. But I've never believed in hunting and not eating what you kill, so I always thought that the line was in poor taste as well.

[–] Fluke_Skywalker 9 years ago

But I've never believed in hunting and not eating what you kill, so I always thought that the line was in poor taste as well.

To be fair, we don't know that Luke wasn't taking them home for Aunt Beru to make Womprat burgers with.

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A journey into the realm of the obscure: http://saturdayshowcase.blogspot.com/

[–] ncsr11 8 years ago

That's wombat, not womprat. ROFL!

[–] Pep_88 9 years ago

Maybe the womprats were destroying the moisture farm. Or they could have been predators of other animals which the moisture farmers needed to survive. He could have just been doing it for fun (since he basically is a little a-hole the entire time). Or it could have been the equivalent of shooting animals that are hunting a farmers herd. Not that the Skywalkers were farming actual animals, but who knows what the ecosystem was like on their planet. Too many womprats running around eating everything in sight may have had horrible consequences.

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[–] Nikostratos 9 years ago

Valid points, but the delivery of the line made it sound like he was having fun using them for target practice. I somehow doubt that they would have been used in a pot later.

And even if they were hunting a famer's herd, it's up to the farmer to build a bigger enclosure. I'm not exactly in favour of culling animals to keep the eco-system in balance. Much like there's no reason to kill raccoons that invade people's backyard garbage bins.

[–] Pep_88 9 years ago

They could have been an invasive species. I know there was an Asian carp crisis in the Great Lakes a while back; where they were threatening to really screw up the ecosystem. Killing them off was about the only option. But yeah, his delivery did make it sound like he was flying around shooting animals for fun. And any drawing of a womprat could have been made to make it look more threatening, to justify Luke's actions. And, if the animals really deserved to die, they should have given them a more vicious sounding name.

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[–] Nikostratos 9 years ago

Interesting read: (apologies for not hyperlinking)

http://starwarsdatabase.weebly.com/womp-rat.html

[–] GreatWhiteApeofBarsoom 9 years ago

The name "raccoon" doesn't sound particularly vicious. I wouldn't want to fight with one.

Requiescat in pace, Krystle Papile. I'll always miss you.

[–] woodmage 9 years ago

but the delivery of the line made it sound like he was having fun using them for target practice.

Maybe he was... that doesn't mean the womprats didn't need hunting.

[–] Nikostratos 9 years ago

"Maybe he was... that doesn't mean the womprats didn't need hunting."

Tell me, did you shoot squirrels with a pellet gun when you were a kid?

[–] woodmage 9 years ago

All I had were cap guns, rubber band guns, and spitwad shooters. A friend of mine did mount a couple of coke bottles on his go-cart, though, so he could launch bottle rockets.

[–] thisnameinuse 9 years ago

Really? This is where we've landed?

Womprat justice?

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Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!

[–] adolphe-artin 8 years ago

Really? This is where we've landed?

Womprat justice?

WOMPRAT LIVES MATTER!!!

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[–] jayrussell1993 8 years ago

Good point. If my grandpa hadn't shot the wild rabbits on his folks' truck farm back in Wisconsin, the family would have starved becuz the rabbits would have ruined every vegetable they tried to grow.

[–] GreenGoblinsOckVenom86 9 years ago

Pro vegetarian liberal. Nobody should have responded.
When the Story Lady tells us about the naughty boy who blew up his goldfish.

[–] hecklejecklelove-665-268403 9 years ago

Who cares? Star Wars is NOT REAL LIFE!!! No animals were actually killed... But to play along, people in Australia hunt kangaroos for fun, and not because they are dangerous, but because they destroy fences and are in such huge quantities that they eat up the grazing land for other animals. In other words they hunt them because these animals are pests to agriculture and for grazing animals like cows and sheep.

In the film Luke saying that he targets womprats served a purpose. It shows Lukes optimism and gave a good reason why Luke, an unknown 'nobody' from some desert planet, was being allowed to fly an X-Wing fighter, which the Rebels wouldve seen as a very valuable ship, in a pivotal and dangerous battle with very little experience. Luke could shoot 'wamprats', which were not much bigger than 2 meters in Beggars Canyon, which was probably very much like the artificial 'canyons'/trenches of the Death Star.

hjl

[–] Menandros 9 years ago

You're aware Lucas is a liberal?

[–] krypton_son 9 years ago

You're aware Lucas is a liberal?

Wow, I think I've see about 7 posts where you tell people this. Good to know, Lucas is a liberal. We all have our faults.

[–] Menandros 9 years ago

Having fun browsing through my posts from months ago?
So being liberal is a "fault" but when it shows in his movies, you ignore it?

[–] joshwor1 9 years ago

It was more OK in the 70s. That was a different era.

[–] lithium099 9 years ago

There's a lot of Star Wars life that needs shooting. Mynocks aren't helpless. Wampas aren't helpless. Rancors aren't helpless. I seriously doubt a womprat is a 2-meter Care Bear.