Loving Jar Jar....not a red herring

[lovelucas]

And not a hidden purpose either. . .
Perhaps no character before or since has generated such polarization as the goofy guy with the loose tongue. Just want to present two theories – that Jar Jar was a necessary character due to plot advancements - In TPM Queen Amidala relied on him and his people to rally against the Separatists’ army of droids. In AotC it was Padme’s vote by proxy/Jar Jar that enabled Palpatine to obtain the sanction (thus the entire senate is now behind him) to create an army of the Republic (as we all know that was in word only since the Kaminoans had been working on producing that clone army for years). You can boo him here but let’s remember that Queen Amidala was also duped into presenting that vote of no confidence in Valorum.

and here’s a kicker –

Look at the differences in how Obi Wan and Qui Gon treat the “unloveable” Jar Jar: Obi Wan considers both Jar Jar and Anakin as “pathetic life forms” illustrating arrogance and total lack of the compassion while Qui Gon is tuned in to the Living Force and respects all, even Jar Jar. Obi Wan, who is a mere Padawan Learner here yet talks to his master with the arrogance one might assumed belonged to the Anakin of the future. The arrogance of Yoda (can not admit that they are losing power to use the Force, perhaps illustrating that first step of fear - fear of loss), shared by the Council is passed on to all of the Jedi, except Qui Gon. Yes – the Force is out of balance but the Jedi contributed to the tilt – if they are forbidden to love, and they are removed from compassion – they are neutral and they shouldn’t be. The Sith are evil and bathe in the dark side – the Jedi are not the opposite, opposing force if they are neutral. Thus the Force IS out of balance.

So the Jedi order had to fall with a painful, long, long detour to restore the balance. And Yoda becoming Qui Gon’s apprentice on Dagobah is the first step.

You can say that Jar Jar was an intentional inclusion for the kiddies and I wouldn’t disagree with that.
But it’s all about the love…even of Jar Jar.

[Kam Solusar]

Just as a point of fact, Qui-Gon may respect Jar Jar as a life-form, but he barely tolerates his presence. He even makes very cruel comments at Jar Jars expense early in their meeting.

[lovelucas]

are you referring to the speech = intelligence refutation by Qui Gon?
that's not actually "cruel" - less than a loving observation, yep.

[92se-r]

I don't think that I would have hated Jar-Jar so much, if it wasn't for that voice. I didn't hate any other Gungans, mostly because they didn't sound like high speed versions of muppets. That is just my opinion though.

As for being an important character, I would have to agree. He was needed to help things along.

But it's that voice... I can still hear it!

[lovelucas]

and I can still hear Boga's voice - just loved that noble critter although many had a problem with her . . . .vocalizations.

when she and Obi Wan were blasted and they began that long long fall the music choice just got to me almost as much as Order 66. and she was falling to her death...

[electric]

IMO Jar Jar is really just a foil. He's a character whose extreme silliness is designed explicitly to bring out Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's personnalities better. It's an old storytelling trick, having a character who's the complete opposite of the main character just to contrast them together and make the main character's personality more apparent.

I think in that regard Jar Jar served his purpose well in TPM.

[Mothman]

IMO Jar Jar is really just a foil. He's a character whose extreme silliness is designed explicitly to bring out Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's personnalities better. It's an old storytelling trick, having a character who's the complete opposite of the main character just to contrast them together and make the main character's personality more apparent.

I think in that regard Jar Jar served his purpose well in TPM.


Whether it is true or not, the book "Star Wars: The Power Of Myth" describes various aspects of the saga's storyline and how it is drawn from classic mythology. In the case of Jar Jar, he is categorized in the book as representing "The Fool" - which is supposedly a classic mythological character type. If I remember right, this book gave the example of a Court Jester being the "Fool"-type character with whom we would be most familiar.

IMO, I just think that Mr. Lucas was trying to amuse the kiddies. I know that my youngsters always smiled when Mr. Binks appeared onscreen, but we all know that the concept of that character pretty much backfired to the overall SW audience.


:bye:

[Kam Solusar]

are you referring to the speech = intelligence refutation by Qui Gon?
that's not actually "cruel" - less than a loving observation, yep.

I do hope you're being facetious. There's no way that this exchange was "loving observation":

Qui-Gon: You almost got us killed! Are you brainless?
Jar-Jar :I speck!
Qui-Gon: The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Now get out of here.

[lovelucas]

facetious? moi? no, I wasn't being that.

I think his response still doesn't fit the criteria for "cruel" - It is true - the ability to speak does not necessarily indicate intelligence. Evidence of that is everywhere. And he did almost get them killed. Heat of the moment conversation, I'd say. It is still Qui Gon who comes to Jar Jar's rescue repeatedly, including his request to Boss Nass that Jar Jar be allowed to accompany them. and there's a huge difference between his treatment of Jar Jar and Obi Wan's. and actually that applies to how Qui Gon treats Anakin too. Which full circle, is my thesis.. . .the arrogance of the Jedi and the hard lesson learned.
and that compassion and love is the true message of The Force.
That of course is not my idea - if the scene of Yoda meditating with Qui Gon had been filmed as written this thread would be redundant.

[Kam Solusar]

Meh, the "are you brainless" accusation and the quick dismissal seems cruel and rather un Jedi like to me. That's always stuck out.

[lovelucas]

but he stood by him....
he brought him with him.....
he is someone of value to him.....

[Kam Solusar]

Well, yeah, obviously he ultimately saw something there, but he was barely tolerating his presence the entire time. Like when he was screwing around and slurping food with his tongue.

[Solo]

Well, if I am not mistaken it was Qui Gon who saved Jar Jar from the Gungans when Jar Jar led the way to the hidden Gungan City. Jar Jar may have been stupid, but he had a role in many important events either with the help of his stupidity or his luck. Frankly speaking Jar Jar was the one, who was showing us that Star Wars Universe also had clumsy and stupid personalities, besides good and evil.

People we have to accept this. Our world is not only black and white. There are many other colors. Star Wars Universe is no different. Lucas loves to make things look natural. Haven't you seen any rusty space ships? Haven't you heard any of these space ship sounding weird as if something is wrong with their engines? Between all those super heros, he put a clumsy and stupid guy, who got a chance to alter the course of events without even knowing it. We needed to see some natural life forms. Everyone was either a Jedi, a Sith or a Trade Federation member until we met Jar Jar in TPM, right?

I personally liked Jar Jar. He was stupid and clumsy, but hating him because of these will be too much, in my humble opinion.

[Kam Solusar]

I can't disagree with any of that. I simply wish they had made him less cartoonish, I guess.

[Sarah-Leia]

I think that his character was a big mistake.

[Basill]

Although he still makes me cringe on occasion (heck, I have co-workers that force me to that daily) I have to say that Jar Jar has become more endearing to me over the years.

I have to agree with the notion that he was a necessary character, playing a crucial role in the Galactic events as they unfolded, albeit involuntarily. Nevertheless, I also have to agree that he was an overcooked caricature that could have been more appreciated had he not been portrayed/displayed in the manner Lucas chose. His more high-pitched voice and the slouchy gate, which appears to require more energy than necessary for upright walking, aids to his more recognizably artificial CGI moments. Some try to explain the walk away by referring to his cartilaginous skeleton, but no other gungan seen on screen appears so "distinguished." If it was only to make him stand out, production could have gone with something a bit more subtle. His design alone never bothered me, since I really liked the Gungan Captain Tarpals and how they pulled him off in his few scenes. Boss Nass was mostly well done, with the exception of his weird blubbery vocals at the end of executive orders.

Jar Jar does have some more serious moments that I find perfectly executed. TPM- He and Queen Amidala looking out the windows as the sun sets on Coruscant, wondering how things are going to turn out on their mutual homeworld, was a very nice touch. AOTC- Another small but nice moment, in Padme's apartment, was his nervous swallow while Obi-wan and Anakin vocally spar about the true nature of their Jedi mission.


All in all, I just have to use my imagination to look past the Jar Jar I don't care for, and appreciate the Jar Jar that I have actually grown to like.

[P-Ray]

I think that his character was a big mistake.
I think that his character accomplishes what was intended!

[Master Magnus]

I've never had any problems with Jar Jar. TPM was released in August '99 here in Sweden (the simultaneous releases started with AOTC) and while I stayed spoiler-free for the movie, it was hard to miss the Jar Jar hate which was quite abundant in reviews and on various sites and I thought based on the little I read about the movie that I'd loath the character and I almost prepared for that. However, when sitting in the theater and watching TPM, it soon became clear to me that Jar Jar was one of the best things about the movie. A slapstick, funny and realistically created character (although it became somewhat cartoony during the ending battle).
Jar Jar served his purpose.

[Emalin]

I was eight years old when TPM came out, so Jar Jar added lots of sparkle to the movie. And I think he added some needed comic relief. At least he's better for laughs than R2-D2 burning droids in oil slicks, IMO. :wink:

I'm still rather childlike at heart, so I still love Jar Jar. Hate 'im if you like, but me? Never! :nahnah:

[Darth Massacrus]

Actually, I dont really dislike Jar Jar, but I do feel his character could have been presented better. Whats interesting is that no story, EU or not, has revealed his final fate. Might make for an interesting tale, that.

[P-Ray]

My son and sister in law absolutely love the character!

He doesn't bother me at all(except when he is freakin out in the planet core scene:wink::)) I actually like his goofiness!

[Solo]

I liked Jar Jar, too. I do not like movies where all women are beautiful and men are handsome. Jar Jar was not acidentally made clumsy. He was meant to be clumsy. He was quite funny as well.

[lovelucas]

and he and Boss, walking together behind Padme's casket, broke my heart - certainly more than Padme's smiling mother.

and I wanted to be tremendously sad there - Jar Jar did it for me.

[Master_Kinnon]

Jar Jar didn't really bother me. I like the progression of him from comedy idiot to standing in the Senate.