PT Influences on the creation of Jar-Jar

Why is it so important to some folks to, inaccurately, distill the influence on Jar Jar to just Keaton or Chaplin?

Is it because Keaton/Chaplin has some historic respectability?

 

Martolo77 have you been reading any of the posts? Everyone is saying Buster Keaton is simply one of the influences, along with goofy and others.

Why is it so important to distill the influences of his character? Well that is the point of the thread.

Does Buster Keaton have historic respectibility? Sure, just like goofy.

The real question is why you and realjim are so adamant that Buster didn't influence Jar Jar. At this point you are just being stubborn to deny it. Nobody is saying JarJar's only influence is Buster, or that the influence makes Jar Jar something special. It doesn't mean anything at all. It's just a fact that Buster is one of the influences!

Does nobody want to discuss the voice? I feel that's an important piece.

 

Yes, both Keaton and Goofy have been influences in the creation of Jar Jar Binks, it's very possible and both influences have been confirmed by the actor playing the character and the man himself so do we call them liars then? Personalities do not have to match for them to be influences. Mannerisms can be influences too.

 

It's kind of rich to write something like that. You were the one who turned it into a big deal, you are the one who is still ignoring facts even though comments and visual proof have been delivered, and to top things off you put words into other peoples mouths.

You basically put your fingers into your ears, went "lalalala I can't hear you" when other mentioned facts and now proceed to pretend others made a big deal out of it, when it is in fact you who turned a simple issue into a huge discussion for no good reason whatsoever. No one suggested that Jar Jar is a 100% copy of Keaton or Chaplin, no one talked about any historic respectability, all that was offered was the actual basis for certain elements of the character, based on proof that was delivered in this topic as well. All of that was a simple and correct answer for question that had been asked. No one talked about how this made Jar Jar an excellent comedic character or how he combined the essence of both Keaton and Chaplin into one.

Instead of accepting that you were wrong, you opted to move the goalposts, or worse, flat out lied about what people actually wrote.

 

Lucas said he wanted Best to base his performance on Buster Keaton, as revealed by Best in the first link below. In the same interview Best also admits that he, himself, was a fan of Charlie Chaplin. He doesn't outright say whether or not he used the latter as an influence, but I think we're meant to infer that he did. Lucas, himself, also said Goofy was an influence on Jar Jar, as seen in the second link.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5gjddd/ahmed-best-jar-jar-binks-interview

http://www.cbr.com/george-lucas-is-determined-to-make-you-like-jar-jar-binks/

So, it's been confirmed that Goofy, Keaton and Chaplin were influences on Jar-Jar. However, I wouldn't say they're the only ones. After all, Lucas grew up during the Golden Age of Looney Tunes (1944-1964), so he was probably a fan of characters like Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, as well as stuff like Tom and Jerry.

The point is, there were probably lots more influences than the ones we've already been told about. And, as I specified in the OP, the purpose of the thread is to, calmly and reasonably, talk about what you think those other influences might have been.

 

How about that voice though?

 

I’d argue that even the mannerisms don’t really match Buster Keaton, though. Keaton was very stoic, deadpan and restrained. The joke with Keaton is that he maintained his composure no matter how ridiculous or dangerous his situation got. Jar Jar is constantly screaming, wildly gesticulating and claiming his arms around, quite unlike Keaton.

Did Keaton influence some of the slapstick set pieces that Jar Jar is thrown into? Yes. Is Jar Jar a Keatonesque character? Based on a direct comparison between the two, no he isn't. He borrows next to nothing from Keaton’s screen persona, regardless of what George Lucas and Ahmed Best intended.

Here is my point. The situations they find themselves in are similar. Their reactions aren’t. There is no commonality re: their behavior. Their personalities are totally different. Keaton may have influenced certain things, but the resemblance is greatly overblown and overstated.

And I do have to ask to all of those people citing similarities, have you ever actually seen a Buster Keaton film? If you haven’t, your opinion means nothing to me, as you’re speaking from a position of ignorance. If you have, we’ll just agree to disagree.

 

Okay yeah, you can think that if you want, that is fine, but I think we are all avoiding the elephant in the room here.

Jar Jar's voice! This is my 3rd mention of the voice. I think it is an interesting topic of discussion, it just doesn't seem to catch.

And yes, I've seen a Buster Keaton movie and a couple Chaplin movies. Have you seen Dr. Zhivago? Cuz if you haven't then I don't care what you think. Cuz one of Zhivago's love interests was played by Charlie Chaplin's daughter. Watch it, or you have no right talking about Jar Jar's influences, because that's how it works.

 

I have seen Doctor Zhivago (not the biggest fan).

My point is that if you’ve actually seen a Keaton film, then you’re at least qualified to comment on his screen persona and compare it to that of Jar Jar Binks. If not, you’re just taking Lucas at his word rather than forming your own opinion based on the evidence at hand. And I hate it when people talk about movies they haven’t actually seen.

 

Hey dude, I was just joking with you. I don't agree with your or Martolo77, but I I want to move on.

I'm legitemately interested in discussing Jar Jar's voice.

 

He’s a lot more Goofy than Daffy Duck, in terms of his posture, mannerisms and general physicality. Goofy with a duck bill. Only even dumber.

 

The voice? My opinion is that it's a combination of Goofy, Bugs Bunny, and Elmer Fudd, with a little bit of Bob Marley thrown in for good measure.

Of course I could be totally wrong.

 

A friend once said that Jar-Jar's voice reminded them of Stitch, from Lilo and Stitch.

Which obviously can't be an influence on the voice, as L&S came out 3 years after TPM.

 

What everyone is saying is that Jar Jar was influenced by Buster Keaton, which you appear to be agreeing with. No one is saying they have similar personalities or personas.

Yes, I have seen literally every Buster Keaton film, some of them multiple times. Good Lord, stop being so condescending. There's no reason to assume people are arguing in bad faith or to accuse them of doing so for no reason other than that they disagree with you.

 

Jar Jar the real Dark Lord lol. He's just comedy relief, an Ed Norton ( from the Honeymooners ) type of character. After watching all the film's over and over I kind of feel for Jar Jar, at the end of ROTJ when he screamed " Wessa Freeeee " was an emotional part of the film for me. After reading Empire's End reading Jar Jars fate, I feel bad for him, Palatine fooled most of the Galaxy not just Jar Jar.

 

That's not Jar Jar, it's a random Gungan on a roof.

 

Are you serious ? It sounds and looks like him, not all Gungans sounds alike.

 

It doesn't look like him, it looks like every other gungan on that rooftop, not like Jar Jar.



It was even voiced by sound editor Matthew Wood, not Ahmed Best.

 

I am still not sure, but you showed me information I didn't know. I still feel that was meant to be Jar Jar, but I could be wrong. I would think Jar Jar is somewhere in the celebration, but everyone in Naboo is celebrating.

 

It wasn't meant to be Jar Jar, otherwise it would be Jar Jar. It's simply a regular Gungan, one of the people from Naboo, celebrating their freedom.

 

It sounds nothing like Jar Jar to me.

It COULD conceivably be him, though.

 

Nothing written to say who exactly is that Gungan, so it could be him. He's a CGI character and many characters have been played and voiced by more than one actor. It sounds like him and looks like him, so it might be him. That scene was meant to connect the PT to the end of the Empire, so I think that was Jar Jar.

 

The fact is that it isn't. Evidence indicates that it's not him (the frame was taken from the film), it's just a regular Gungan, same model (Gungan soldier) as every single one in that rooftop.

 

It's not a fact, it's your opinion. You don't have undisputed evidence supporting any of our arguments. Jar Jar looks similar to the generic Gungan, he dresses like the typical Gungan, any of the Gungans in that scene looked similar to Jar Jar, the voice sounded like Jar Jar and last time any cannon information from Jar Jar was found a couple years after ROTJ in Naboo. In TPM you heard 3 Gungans speak and all had different district voices.

You could say someone else voiced him, but so many StarWars characters were voiced by multiple individuals.
You could say Jar Jar dressed different in AOTC, but that's when he was working under Padme for the Senate.

 

Easy now gentlemen, I've got the solution for you. Obviously, if you listen closely, the voice of the gungan closely resembles the voice Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin used in each of their films (excepting The Dictator of course.) So we can conclude that the Gungan you see atop the roof is in fact inspired by Jar Jar, and clearly the situation the gungan is in is one we'd likely see Jar Jar in.

I know this because I've extensively researched all Buster Keaton lore, and if you two haven't seen a Buster film, then frankly you have absolutely no ground discussing the origins of ANY gungans.