Jar Jar Hatred

[Athaniar]

Jar Jar Binks: often hated very much. I think we can all agree on that. But why all the hatred? I like him, and I can understand that others can dislike him, but why are everyone delighting in wishing him dead in the most gruesome ways possible? Surely he cannot be that annoying? I, for one, was dissapointed of his lack of screentime in the other films.

[kpenguin]

*cough* *cough*

You wanted him to have more screentime?

For one thing, the absolute stupidity and silliness of his actions and speech. The gungans could have been a very cool race if Jar Jar didn't act the way he did.

[Athaniar]

Stupidity? Yeah, he was indeed a bit clumsy, and acted kinda stupid, but without him, the Trade Federation would have conquered Naboo. His speech? Show me a gungan with another kind of speech.

[Emperor Demonking]

I hated how he spoke and how lucky he was.

[kpenguin]

Stupidity? Yeah, he was indeed a bit clumsy, and acted kinda stupid, but without him, the Trade Federation would have conquered Naboo. His speech? Show me a gungan with another kind of speech.

That's plot. Plot can be worked around without a dumb character.

As for his speech... his accent didn't bother me as much as the tone he used while speaking. I wasn't annoyed when Boss Nass was talking or that Captain dude.

[Dervag]

*cough* *cough*

You wanted him to have more screentime?

For one thing, the absolute stupidity and silliness of his actions and speech. The gungans could have been a very cool race if Jar Jar didn't act the way he did.On the other hand, you have to say this about the Gungans:

Any species which exiles Jar Jar Binks from their homeland under penalty of death can't be all bad.


That's plot. Plot can be worked around without a dumb character.

As for his speech... his accent didn't bother me as much as the tone he used while speaking. I wasn't annoyed when Boss Nass was talking or that Captain dude.True. The problem was at least as much that he used a whiny voice as that he had a silly accent.

Personally, I think that if anyone ever does a remake of the Star Wars movies (and I could so see that happening 50 years down the line), they should simply replace the character of Jar Jar Binks with something that isn't a happy-go-lucky moron with a whiny voice. They might still be a comic relief character, but at least it should be possible to take them seriously and their behavior should not be a discredit to their entire species.

Of course, I also think that the Ewoks should be replaced with Wookiees because it's more believable that a bunch of Stone Age Wookiees could overrun a group of stormtroopers than that a bunch of Stone Age Ewoks could do so. I am not a representative sample of the population.

[Athaniar]

I can understand your points, but do they really make you want to kill him?

[kpenguin]

I can understand your points, but do they really make you want to kill him?

Usually, when people say they want to have a character die a horrible, horrible death, its an exaggerating. This is not the case with Jar Jar.

Don't forget, without him Palapatine wouldn't have had those emergency powers.



Personally, I think that if anyone ever does a remake of the Star Wars movies (and I could so see that happening 50 years down the line), they should simply replace the character of Jar Jar Binks with something that isn't a happy-go-lucky moron with a whiny voice. They might still be a comic relief character, but at least it should be possible to take them seriously and their behavior should not be a discredit to their entire species.


Of course, if Jar Jar wasn't annoying in the remake, people might complain that the director wasn't being true to the source material.:smallwink:

[Logic]

There is a reason this movie exists. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Edit) However, I also agree that Jar Jar did not get enough screen time in Episode 3. The only reason he has only one line in Episode 3 is because rabid fans still hated him, and the fact that he had any lines in 2 was not enough for most.

I honestly think that Jar Jar's appearance in Episode 2 is spot on. It's all that is required to set up the character as being semi-important to the story. However, like most fans, I think that in Episode 1, Jar Jar is mostly a waste of space and oxygen.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Of course, I also think that the Ewoks should be replaced with Wookiees because it's more believable that a bunch of Stone Age Wookiees could overrun a group of stormtroopers than that a bunch of Stone Age Ewoks could do so. I am not a representative sample of the population.

No, you're just being heightist.

Anyway, wookiees aren't stone age, they have railgun crossbows and know how to repair spaceships for *** sakes.

[kpenguin]

No, you're just being heightist.

Anyway, wookiees aren't stone age, they have railgun crossbows and know how to repair spaceships for *** sakes.

All of which came after RotJ. If they had stuck with the plan and kept wookies Stone Age, we would all be a bit happier.

Of course, then we'd never have heard the ewok celebration song, but I think we could all manage.

[Malik]

I still cannot understand why people hate Jar Jar so much i enjoyed watching him. And i think Ewoks are awesome and play a good part in the movie, Wookies are cooler but the Ewoks fighting was pretty good.

[valadil]

I think people point to Jar Jar as what is wrong with the prequels not because he's a horrible character, but because he's representative of what's wrong with them. He didn't add anything to the movies, but it's not like removing him would have fixed them. Did we really need to see him stick his tongue in a a pod racer and get eletrocuted? His existence was pretty much useless.

But it didn't bother me that much because he was so peripheral. What bothered me about the prequels was Anakin. He's central to Star Wars and they couldn't even give him a decent line.

[comicshorse]

OF course the problem with replacing Ewoks with Wookies is : would the Emperor really put the most vital base in his Empire on a planet filled with 8-foot, furry, killing machines ?

[TheElfLord]

OF course the problem with replacing Ewoks with Wookies is : would the Emperor really put the most vital base in his Empire on a planet filled with 8-foot, furry, killing machines ?

The first death star was built mostly by wookie slave labor, so it makes sense to build the second one near the labor source.

Also just to clarify if people don't know why the poster started talking about wookies on Endor, Lucas originally planned for wookies to live there but ended up replacing them with Ewoks.

[Setra]

I dislike Jar Jar simply because it feels like he has some Sue elements to him, which isn't that bad if the character is good but...

In any case I heard Jar Jar was designed by Lucas' kid(s)

[Zenos]

I think they placed Ewoks there simply to say "stone age gnomes can fight the ones too" or something like that. I hope you understand my meaning because I am not sure if I worded that one well at all.

[Zakama]

I think people are taking it to seriously. Yes, he's kinda annoying, but it's a movie, you don't have to watch it if you don't like it. Grow up a little.

[Telonius]

This (http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/darthsanddroids/episodes/0017.html) makes some sense out of Jar-Jar.

[Zenos]

This (http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/darthsanddroids/episodes/0017.html) makes some sense out of Jar-Jar.

Wow, it makes so much sense now.

[kpenguin]

Wow, it makes so much sense now.

It gets better. Jar Jar's player is whole reason Naboo is ruled by a 14-year old elected queen and has watery center.

...

Full of big fish.

[Mr. Moon]

Any species which exiles Jar Jar Binks from their homeland under penalty of death can't be all bad.


Sigged.

Personaly, I loved Jar Jar when I was little. Still do.

Think about it this way: Parents who were fond of Star Wars in their teens were going to probably have kids by then. You think kids will care about Darth Vader? Probably not. So Jar Jar was created to amuse them. But then he needed to be dragged along to keep kids from whining about being bored - or even worse, playing in the movie theater. Teh horrorz!

Or at lest, that's how I see it.

[tyckspoon]

It gets better. Jar Jar's player is whole reason Naboo is ruled by a 14-year old elected queen and has watery center.

...

Full of big fish.

And bigger fish, we can't forget them. They're important summonable allies.

[kpenguin]

Sigged.

Personaly, I loved Jar Jar when I was little. Still do.

Think about it this way: Parents who were fond of Star Wars in their teens were going to probably have kids by then. You think kids will care about Darth Vader? Probably not. So Jar Jar was created to amuse them. But then he needed to be dragged along to keep kids from whining about being bored - or even worse, playing in the movie theater. Teh horrorz!

Or at lest, that's how I see it.

Here in the US, the movies are PG-13, so you're not supposed to bring them anyway...

[Mr. Moon]

You and your technicalities. It wouldn't be the first time kids were put in a theater to see a movie they shouldn't be old enough to see.

[Ganurath]

Sigged.

Personaly, I loved Jar Jar when I was little. Still do.

Think about it this way: Parents who were fond of Star Wars in their teens were going to probably have kids by then. You think kids will care about Darth Vader? Probably not. So Jar Jar was created to amuse them. But then he needed to be dragged along to keep kids from whining about being bored - or even worse, playing in the movie theater. Teh horrorz!

Or at lest, that's how I see it.Yes, there's nothing more lovable than someone who hijack's the leader's private transport and crashes it into a power plant, shutting down the shields for a chunk of the city.

...What, was I the only one who could understand his rant about why he got banished?

[puppyavenger]

Here in the US, the movies are PG-13, so you're not supposed to bring them anyway...

even the first one?

[kpenguin]

even the first one?

*checks IMDb*

I stand corrected. The first movie was PG.

However, most kids old enough to watch PG movies I know would rather see some lightsaber action than goofy comic relief.

[Mr. Moon]

I dunno. Maybe boys, but girls like goofy cute things. Frankly, in the non-Jar Jar scenes I was bored stiff until Darth Maul came along.

[FoE]

I hate the character Jar-Jar because he's pointless (and frequently irritating) comedic relief who contributes nothing to the story — even C-3PO had a use beyond making smarmy quips and acting silly.

But Jar-Jar is hated also because he personifies what is inherently wrong with the Star Wars prequels: it's completely out-of-touch with people's tastes. George Lucas is a money-grubbing loon who's been out-of-touch with regular society for the past 20 years. As a result, we received three movies filled with awful dialogue, terrible acting, broad racial stereotypes and cheesy plotlines. Sure, Jar-Jar is annoying, but he's also a somewhat deserving target for all the scorn that we wish to heap upon the Star Wars prequels and the crushing disappointment we all felt when we realized that the best we could hope from the films was "moderately entertaining."

[Otto-Sieve]

I don't see what's so wrong with him.

[Dervag]

Here in the US, the movies are PG-13, so you're not supposed to bring them anyway...Actually, the PG-13 rating simply means that a preteen seeing the movie must have a parent or other adult along. They aren't telling you you can't bring your kid, only that your kid can't see the movie if you don't bring them.


Think about it this way: Parents who were fond of Star Wars in their teens were going to probably have kids by then. You think kids will care about Darth Vader? Probably not.I think they would, or at least there's a pretty good chance of it.

[sun_tzu]

This (http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/darthsanddroids/episodes/0017.html) makes some sense out of Jar-Jar.

Darths and Droids' Jar-Jar is the best Jar-Jar, bar none.:smallcool:

[The Extinguisher]

See, if I was someone else, I'd use this time to point out that most people fond of Star Wars when it came aren't actually likely to have children. But I wouldn't do that.
Oh wait :smalltongue:

Seriously though, he's rather annoying. But I wouldn't say I hated him. He was good for a few laughs.

[Argent]

I don't see what's so wrong with him.

What bugged me about Jar-Jar is that his very presence in the movie is jarring and out-of-place. When I look at the original Star Wars trilogy, it was a fairly serious setting with occasional light-hearted banter ("I am not scruffy-looking!"). There were some very serious and dark moments; the confrontations with the Emperor and Darth Vader, Luke losing a hand, Han taken by Jabba the Hutt... all pretty dark. The comic relief that was present (mostly through R2-D2 and C3PO) was definitely there but it wasn't enough to detract from the overall tone. I was expecting the same kind of seriousness in Episodes I through III.

Then Jar-Jar shows up, and it's like telling a knock-knock joke in church. Jarring, out-of-place and it took me out of the movie. His presence just doesn't fit with all the other characters. He's too goofy and nonsensical. So it was more his bad fit with the other parts of the setting that bugged me. If the movie were more lighthearted and silly, he'd be perfect -- but it's not, so he just sticks out like a sore thumb.

[Jayngfet]

Jar jar was the worst thing in star wars history, yes im including the christmas special, no I've not taken leave of my senses, if he didn't mary sue his way through the plot with that 5 year old voice I'd tolerate him, I didn't mind the Ewoks because they actually had the brains to pull off their plans.

moral of the story, don't let your little kid make characters.

[EntilZha]

All of which came after RotJ. If they had stuck with the plan and kept wookies Stone Age, we would all be a bit happier.


Actually, in Revenge of the Sith, they were quite a bit above Stone Age. They had sophisticated, powered ornithopter flying machines, timed explosives, railguns, and escape pods.

Concerning Jar Jar:

"Meesa muy muy love you, mon. Weesa can go back to Jamaica and smokea some ganja, mon." :smallannoyed:

If not for the infantile dialogue, I might have had a better opinion of Jar Jar. If he hadn't made the Empire possible by proposing to give emergency powers to Palpatine, I might have had a better opinion of him. As another poster said C-3PO was actually useful in addition to being comic relief. If Jar Jar weren't a total buffoon, if he some additional dimension beyond the schtick, I might have thought better of him. As it is, I hold with those who shout at the movie screen or TV set, "Die, Die, Jar Jar. Nobody likes you!"

[kpenguin]

Actually, in Revenge of the Sith, they were quite a bit above Stone Age. They had sophisticated, powered ornithopter flying machines, timed explosives, railguns, and escape pods.


Revenge of the Sith came after Return of the Jedi in production order. I meant that the wookies were originally planned to be relatively primative, but they decided to make wookies relatively technologically capable and replaced them with ewoks.

[Flying Platypus]

Jar-Jar looks cool in about one scene when he is jumping and landing. That makes me realy think they should have a Gungeun Jedi:smallsmile: But Not Jar-Jar (I also think a Jawa would make a perfect sith:xykon:)

[North]

Jar Jar was the epitome of everything wrong in the prequels. Fancy CGI no substance. He was pointless and then some. Every scene he was in was ruined by his absolute dumbness.

[bosssmiley]

Jar-Jar Who? In "The Phantom whatnow"?

Hey, my mind appears to have edited out the existence, not only of the character in question, but of most of the prequel trilogy. :smallamused:

Why JJB is bad. Go re-watch the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in the original SW. Then watch any part of the Phantom Moron Menace which has the cretin-frog in it.

See the difference?

Yeah!

The gulf between the two films is the chasm of FAIL! that George Lucas fell into. :smallannoyed:

[Dervag]

Actually, in Revenge of the Sith, they were quite a bit above Stone Age. They had sophisticated, powered ornithopter flying machines, timed explosives, railguns, and escape pods.Yes, but that was the product of 30 years of evolution through the Expanded Universe.

Back in the 1970s, George Lucas could have given the Wookiees any tech level he wanted. But once the novelists got ahold of them, they became a technologically sophisticated species.

Granted, if the Wookiees were primitive it would seem a little odd that Chewbacca could use advanced technology. But many people from technologically primitive cultures have learned to use technology quite well over the course of a few decades.

[Jerthanis]

Jar Jar was the least of the problems with the prequel trilogy, but he's the easiest to point at, and the most visible. He was an attempt to be a new C3P0 that failed horribly, and I can't get too upset over that. He doesn't help the movie, but he's not that detrimental to it.

What I can get upset at is the fact that the movies are clogged to bursting with inconsistencies, and the movies have destroyed so much about what was good about the original movies. From my image of the Jedi, to the true motivations of Anakin, to the nature of the Force, there's little about the SW universe that I liked that survived contact with the prequel movies. (The other half got destroyed with the Legacy of the Force books, but that's another thread) I have to ignore the prequel movies if I want to think any positive thoughts about Jedi at all. If you were to only watch the prequel movies, you'd have nothing but shallow philosopher hypocrites who are nonsensically dumb to be eliminated as easily as they were. The nature of the Force as it appears in the prequels is not the multifaceted animist style Force that was described in Episode V, but a bio-weapon that gets stronger when you're evil arbitrarily. The fact that the Rebel good guys of Episode 4 and beyond are in fact, an extension of the Rebel bad guys of episodes 1-3 makes the viewer realize that the whole conflict is meaningless in terms of any social organization or civil rights, but is in fact Designated Goodguys Versus Palpatine.

Then there's the fact that some of the most memorable lines of the OT have become non-canon somehow, or at least very very odd for them to say. Obi-wan talking about Owen Lars worrying about Luke following him on some "Damned Fool Idealistic Crusade like your father did..." when Anakin did very little idealistic crusading, and hardly interacted with Owen in any way.

And then there's my very favorite line in all of Episode IV, "Don't try to frighten us with your Sorcerer's ways Lord Vader, your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up those stolen datatapes, nor given you clairvoyance enough to find the rebel's hidden fortre--" *Chokes* The officer would not be nearly so dismissive of the religion if he was old enough to be alive while the Jedi were the most powerful galactic religious institution, which wielded significant political power, and were documented heroes of a galactic civil war that occurred in that officer's own youth.

ARGH! I could go on for days like this... Let's just say that the prequels have destroyed my love of Star Wars. Where once I was a huge fan, now I can barely suffer the thought of the series, and now all I get out of the entire series is the book "Traitor" and the novelization of Episode III, both written by Matthew Woodring Stover, who is my favorite author. Oddly, The Phantom Menace is my favorite of the prequel trilogy. (I came out of that movie saying, "The next one can't possibly be that bad..." and found myself repeating this phrase when walking out of the second, and saying "I can't believe that was even worse than the second one" when walking out of the third.)

[dehro]

Don't forget, without him Palapatine wouldn't have had those emergency powers.


aye...but who's to blame for that? I mean, who put him there?
anyone who has the stupidity to put someone with the brain of a wet teaspoon in the one place where he can do the most damage, does not deserve any better than all the damage he can get..and some.
Yar-yar was exiled on grounds of being -ing stupid to begin with..who in his right mind could put him in charge of things when the future of civilisation is at stake and then say that it's his fault?

frankly I found yar-yar's lines better than some of obi-wan's, especially the ones with anakin

[ZeroNumerous]

Granted, if the Wookiees were primitive it would seem a little odd that Chewbacca could use advanced technology. But many people from technologically primitive cultures have learned to use technology quite well over the course of a few decades.


Chewbacca is a Wookie.

He's a wookie from Endor.

Don't wookies live on Kashyyyk?

I don't remember who said it, but it's true. Endor was intended to be the Wookie homeworld (hence the striking resemblance to descriptions of Kashyyyk).

[DomaDoma]

Jar jar was the worst thing in star wars history, yes im including the christmas special, no I've not taken leave of my senses, if he didn't mary sue his way through the plot with that 5 year old voice I'd tolerate him, I didn't mind the Ewoks because they actually had the brains to pull off their plans.

moral of the story, don't let your little kid make characters.

Mary Sue? Jar Jar is an utterly repugnant character in every way, but Airy Oohs are not cowardly buffoons who are played for laughs and vote to give the evil overlord emergency powers.

Poll: What's the most overused literary criticism, Mary Sue or deus ex machina?

[Eita]

aye...but who's to blame for that? I mean, who put him there?
anyone who has the stupidity to put someone with the brain of a wet teaspoon in the one place where he can do the most damage, does not deserve any better than all the damage he can get..and some.
Yar-yar was exiled on grounds of being -ing stupid to begin with..who in his right mind could put him in charge of things when the future of civilisation is at stake and then say that it's his fault?

frankly I found yar-yar's lines better than some of obi-wan's, especially the ones with anakin

I'm sorry, but who the hell is yar-yar?

[thorgrim29]

Well..... some of his lines were a bit Jar Jarring (sorry for the pun), but all in all he was'nt THAT bad. Though I've only seen the french version of TPM, maybe it's worse in english.

[Dervag]

Then there's the fact that some of the most memorable lines of the OT have become non-canon somehow, or at least very very odd for them to say. Obi-wan talking about Owen Lars worrying about Luke following him on some "Damned Fool Idealistic Crusade like your father did..." when Anakin did very little idealistic crusading, and hardly interacted with Owen in any way.Arguably, Anakin's noninteraction with Owen would make it make more sense- Owen would have very little idea of what Anakin was actually doing. All he'd know is what he read in the papers- Anakin Skywalker, Hero of the Republic, vanquishing .


And then there's my very favorite line in all of Episode IV, "Don't try to frighten us with your Sorcerer's ways Lord Vader, your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up those stolen datatapes, nor given you clairvoyance enough to find the rebel's hidden fortre--" *Chokes* The officer would not be nearly so dismissive of the religion if he was old enough to be alive while the Jedi were the most powerful galactic religious institution, which wielded significant political power, and were documented heroes of a galactic civil war that occurred in [I]that officer's own youth.Yes, and then they were all killed overnight and the entire Galactic Imperial military evolved out of the conventional, non-Jedi forces that fought in the Clone Wars.

Strikes me as a textbook example of the consequences of a Stalinist purge. Kill all the Jedi, bar a few; crack down on anyone who acts like they liked the Jedi, and within twenty years or so you'll have mature military officers who are convinced that the Jedi were never really all that powerful or important after all.


Well..... some of his lines were a bit Jar Jarring (sorry for the pun), but all in all he was'nt THAT bad. Though I've only seen the french version of TPM, maybe it's worse in english.Does he have a stupid accent in the French version?

[Indon]

Poll: What's the most overused literary criticism, Mary Sue or deus ex machina?

Jumping the shark.

[Mr. Scaly]

Was I the only one in North America who liked the prequal trilogy?

[Tirian]

Well..... some of his lines were a bit Jar Jarring (sorry for the pun), but all in all he was'nt THAT bad. Though I've only seen the french version of TPM, maybe it's worse in english.

That seems likely to me -- the voice was both grating and (in the opinion of many at the time) racially offensive, recalling the era of American minstrel shows.

At the same time, I agree with the bulk of posters that JJB didn't ruin the movies so much as heighten an already sucky experience. Let's keep our franchise-ruining character hatred squarely focused where it belongs -- on Scrappy Doo.

[dehro]

I'm sorry, but who the hell is yar-yar?

lol...:smallbiggrin:

[Jayngfet]

Mary Sue? Jar Jar is an utterly repugnant character in every way, but Airy Oohs are not cowardly buffoons who are played for laughs and vote to give the evil overlord emergency powers.

Poll: What's the most overused literary criticism, Mary Sue or deus ex machina?

I have a very loose interpretation of mary sue, he managed to go from an exile to a high ranking military leader with little effort, he survived a battle with FIERCE ROBOT WARRIORS, without a mark on him

[DomaDoma]

Especially in context... yeah, that's pretty loose.