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The Chewbacca Defense is a satirical term for any legal strategy that seeks to overwhelm its audience with nonsensical arguments and thus confuse them into failing to take account of the opposing arguments and, ultimately, to reject them. It is thus a kind of logical fallacy, specifically a red herring fallacy and non sequitur similar to argumentum ad nauseam.
The term originated in the animated television series South Park. In its typically poignant style, the show satirized real-life lawyer Johnnie Cochran's closing argument defending O.J. Simpson in his murder trial.
Origin
The term Chewbacca Defense was first used in the South Park episode "Chef Aid," which premiered on October 7, 1998 as the fourteenth episode of the second season.
In the episode, Johnnie Cochran defends a "major record company" against copyright violation charges by regular series character Chef—that the (fictional) song "Stinky Britches" by Alanis Morissette was in fact originally written by Chef, a claim that the story makes obvious to the viewer and is supported by reasonable evidence.
In response, Cochran resorts to his "famous" Chewbacca Defense, which he "used during the Simpson trial", according to another South Park character.
- Ladies and gentlemen of the supposed jury, Chef's attorney would certainly want you to believe that his client wrote "Stinky Britches" ten years ago. And they make a good case. Hell, I almost felt pity myself!
- But ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, I have one final thing I want you to consider: Ladies and gentlemen this [pointing to a picture of Chewbacca] is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk, but Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now, think about that. That does not make sense! Why would a Wookiee—an eight foot tall Wookiee—want to live on Endor with a bunch of two foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense!
- But more important, you have to ask yourself, what does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense!
- Look at me, I'm a lawyer defending a major record company, and I'm talkin' about Chewbacca. Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making any sense. None of this makes sense!
- And so you have to remember, when you're in that jury room deliberating and conjugating the Emancipation Proclamation... does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does not make sense.
- If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests.
[It is perhaps worth noting parenthetically that in the Star Wars series, Chewbacca (a Wookiee) does not in fact live on Endor.]
In the South Park episode, Cochran's use of this defense is so successful that the jury finds Chef guilty of "harassing a major record label" and sets his punishment as either a two million dollar fine to be paid within twenty-four hours or, failing that, four years in prison.
Ultimately a "Chef Aid" benefit concert is organized to raise money for Chef to hire Johnnie Cochran for his defense. The concert (a parody of Live Aid) features his old showbiz friends - Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne (who kills Kenny by biting his head off), and others (the real-life artists recorded songs for the episode and accompanying album). In the concert Johnnie Cochran experiences a change of heart, decides to represent Chef for free and again successfully uses the Chewbacca defense, this time to acquit Chef and make the record company acknowledge his authorship.
- Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, you must now decide whether to reverse the decision for my client Chef. I know he seems guilty, but ladies and gentlemen... [pulling down a diagram of Chewbacca] This is Chewbacca. Now think about that for one moment—that does not make sense. Why am I talking about Chewbacca when a man's life is on the line? Why? I'll tell you why: I don't know.
- It does not make sense. If Chewbacca does not make sense, you must acquit!
- [pulling a monkey out of his pocket] Here, look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey! [one juror's head explodes]
Usage
The term Chewbacca Defense is used on many weblogs and Internet discussion forums, especially ones that often feature legal issues. Slashdot is one such example, where the Chewbacca Defense has been occasionally mentioned in discussion of legal affairs where the poster feels the legal arguments make no sense.
As of August 2004 the most common targets on Slashdot were Microsoft, SCO, and the RIAA. (See [1] (http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=97252&cid=8313542),
[2] (http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=97252&cid=8312673),
[3] (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=33301&cid=3597510), [4] (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=79944&cid=7058527), [5] (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=45304&cid=4691894)). See also Slashdot subculture.
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