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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

PT Was Jar Jar Binks really that bad?

Discussion in 'Prequel Trilogy' started by Schwarma, Jan 14, 2015.

  1. Jedi Knight Fett

    Jedi Knight Fett Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2014

    See we would not have had episodes 4 and 6 if he was not there.
     
  2. Master_Lok

    Master_Lok Force Ghost star 6

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    Dec 18, 2012
    I suppose beyond being for there for the very young moviegoers, he felt like an attempt to be comedy relief in the Prequels. Smaller does probably would have been better since we had very young Anakin in TPM.

    I am not a fan of Jar Jar, but I get why he was included.
     
  3. Ambervikings91

    Ambervikings91 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 1, 2012
    I think at the time he was for the kids and the kids generally liked him, didn't they sell a ton of jar jar stuff back in the late 90s? I agree about how beloved the OT trilogy is and it escapes all possible critical comments. For example does anybody ever mention how terrible all the aliens in the cantina in ep 4 look?

    That being said I don't like Jar Jar but I think he gets wayto much negativity.
     
  4. jahyeshua

    jahyeshua Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Feb 2, 2015
    I love Jar Jar and find him a very relate able character. If I was thrown into that universe and situation it's who I would be. lol
    " I don't know. Mesa day startin pretty okee-day with a brisky morning munchy, then BOOM! Gettin very scared and grabbin that Jedi and POW! Mesa here! Mesa gettin' very very scared!"
     
  5. Bobatron

    Bobatron Jedi Master star 4

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    Sep 3, 2012
    I was too giddy throughout the prequels to be one of those who hated Jar Jar, but I did find him annoying. I anticipated seeing how he would be woven into Episode II and Episode III. While he was brilliantly used in Attack of the Clones, his almost complete absence from Revenge of the Sith just looked too much like Lucas was responding to criticism. I wonder what plans he had originally; I expected him to either be left on Alderaan or die doing something heroic.
     
  6. Darth Zannah

    Darth Zannah Jedi Knight star 3

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    Oct 28, 2014
    I think it was the AMOUNT of Jar Jar that was a downside for PHantom Menace...it wasn't necessarily his character...Phantom Menace had too much "hamburger helper" (filler) that really messed with the rhythm and pacing of the film...if you were to chop off ten minutes (some of those being Jar Jar moments) it would have helped made the film have more of a swash buckling adventure pacing to it...

    I actually liked Jar Jar in the TV show more...I had a couple if good laughs from him especially in the episode where the Gungans capture Greiveous and Jar Jar has to act like the king
     
  7. Darth Blade

    Darth Blade Jedi Knight star 1

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    Oct 29, 2014
    I didn't have a problem with Jar Jar. For those that don't get why Qui-Gon brought him to Tatooine, I thought it had to do with him first meeting Jar Jar, and finding out that he was banished from his tribe for clumsiness but he was still willing to help Qui-Gon by taking him to their leadership, risking punishment. I think Qui-Gon could see that Jar Jar had a good heart and wanted him to be part of something.

    As someone else mentioned, I had more of a problem with the goofy battle droids in the PT than Jar Jar.
     
  8. NowTHISIsPodRacing

    NowTHISIsPodRacing Jedi Youngling star 1

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    Jan 31, 2015
    Meh, I didn't like him (some lines made me "cringe" actually) but I didn't hate him either.

    I think the hate would've have been less if they had made his comedic moments more clever or natural rather than being "oh no, mes a stepped ona poopie,"
     
  9. Commander Krix

    Commander Krix Jedi Knight star 4

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    Mar 18, 2013
    Another Jar Jar thread.

    Well, I'll take what I said in another. I don't see him as a necessary character, but with his attributes, it made him a unique character that was introduced to Star Wars. There wasn't very many characters as goofy as Jar Jar in the OT, so the idea that he had a different personality from the other characters, is what made him a good character anyway.
     
    Thuro likes this.
  10. Cushing's Admirer

    Cushing's Admirer Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jun 8, 2006
    I don't either but I do think some blow the negative reaction out of hand. Same with acting like OT is never critised. Jar Jar is liked by some and OT is acknowledged to have flaws. It's simply here it's said more often what isn't liked about PT. Nothing wrong with any of it. I do weary of the needless hostility on the part of small segments on all sides however.
     
    Commander Krix likes this.
  11. MrCody

    MrCody Jedi Knight star 1

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    Dec 4, 2013
    I like Jar Jar, i do find him funny and i like the feel he brings to star wars. He brings a joyful feel to it
     
    jahyeshua and Cryogenic like this.
  12. Thuro

    Thuro Jedi Master star 4

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    Nov 7, 2013
    Once you imagine it it can't b unimagined.
     
    Commander Krix likes this.
  13. Rachel_In_Red

    Rachel_In_Red Jedi Master star 3

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    May 12, 2013
    Yes.
     
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  14. Jo B1 Kenobi

    Jo B1 Kenobi Jedi Master star 2

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    Jul 3, 2014
    When I first saw Ep1 I didn' t like Jar Jar for three reasons -

    1. I couldn't understand what he was saying and I frequently misunderstood what he was saying which confused the story for me.
    2. I associate his character very strongly with the journey through the planet's core which didn't work for me at all.
    3. I didn't understand why the Jedi would want him to join them given that he was such a liability.

    However, after I read the Episode 1 novel (by Terry Brooks I think) I got a much broader and more detailed understanding of where Lucas was going with his story in the film and with the character and I accepted him.

    Nowadays I enjoy his antics and regard him as a much loved character and proper part of the whole Star Wars universe. His character speaks to me these days of how the force can use even the dumbest beings and how they too have their own grace and their own part to play.
     
    MrCody, jahyeshua and Iron_lord like this.
  15. Beautiful_Disaster

    Beautiful_Disaster Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 12, 2005
    I never disliked him or particularly liked him in any way. I just always saw him as part of the SW universe, I guess.
    So I guess I was always kind of neutral about him [face_dunno]
     
    Cushing's Admirer likes this.
  16. squir1y

    squir1y Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 1, 2003
    I didn't care for him much in the films. I think having a clumsy goofball hop around in or following scenes that are supposed to be poignant and/or dramatic is a bit deflating. Maybe if they took his voice down a couple hundred octaves...

    That being said, he fit in very well within the context of The Clone Wars series. I actually found myself genuinely laughing at him at times. I guess its all about context.
     
    Force Smuggler likes this.
  17. redlightning

    redlightning Jedi Knight star 4

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    Feb 1, 2014
    Jar Jar is not really that bad in the live action films. Now the Clone Wars is a much different situation. I think that R2-D2 and C-3PO could have stood in much better for any comedic relief.
     
  18. XCalinX

    XCalinX Jedi Youngling

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    Feb 20, 2015
    There are no SW characters I hate, Jar Jar is ok but when I see him I feel bad because of those purists..
     
  19. Ancient Whills

    Ancient Whills Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 12, 2011
    I like Jar Jar, sure sometimes he may be a little annoying but what I prefer about him is his clumsiness and kind heart, he wants to help people (even when they clearly said they don't) and I think this is what I like about him. I never understood the hate about him, it was only when I started surfing on the web I saw the hostility,but even so, I still like him.
     
    jahyeshua likes this.
  20. Qui-Riv-Brid

    Qui-Riv-Brid Force Ghost star 5

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    Apr 18, 2013
    If Jar Jar had existed in the OT instead of 3PO he would be loved and if 3PO was his OT self in the PT and say was picked up by the Jedi at the start of TPM and accompanied them down to the planet etc I think he would probably be as despised as some people despise Jar Jar especially if he was voiced by a black man because then it would be as racist as Darth Vader and Jar Jar were due to that.
     
  21. Jo B1 Kenobi

    Jo B1 Kenobi Jedi Master star 2

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    Jul 3, 2014
    I don't really understand what you're saying here? Perhaps I've misunderstood. Are you really saying that people didn't like Vader's characterisation because he was voiced by James Earl Jones and Jones is black? I think most people love Vader's voice. Jones was absolutley fabulous in the role; he did a marvellous job. I've never heard anyone despising him.

    With the C3PO thing I think, for me, having a droid like 3PO, with all his mildly irritating English butler thing going on, turn up in the PT would have been fine and probably a little better than Jar Jar but it wouldn't have fit the story. It had to be a Gungan really.

    That said though, I think the reason Jar Jar is disliked might be twofold:

    (1) The way he became part of the group seemed poorly scripted to me.

    Him tagging along initially works really well because he takes them to the Gungan city under the lake but why they take him through the core seemed odd to me from the beginning. They are clearly aware by this stage that he's a bit of a liability and he didn't have any dialogue giving useful information about the core to the Jedi. In my mind, while watching the film, I always think that they must have taken him because Qui Gon (a) didn't want him to get into trouble for coming to the city when they asked him to go there and kind of pushed him into it a bit, and perhaps (b) because Qui Gon was maybe kind of prodded by the force that that was the right thing to do (despite the evidence to the contrary).

    If you compare this to C3PO's reason for being there - he had to go with them however irritating he was because to leave him behind may have given the Imperials informaton about where the stolen plans were.

    (2) He rarely gives any real help to anyone.

    3PO wasn't just funny he was also very useful - he sent the Imperial troopers who found him and R2 on the Deathstar away from them and so protected the plans. He made sure R2 shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level in time to save everyone. If Jar Jar had been his regular dumb self and then been a help to the Jedi a little from time to time in his own way I think he would have been much better appreciated. I think the real problem is that he rarely does anything useful for anyone and when he does do something right - like his heroics in the battle on the plains of Naboo - it is by accident. Even his massive contribution (of telling Padme about the Gungan Army) is not something he offers as help but just something he says by accident and it's Padme who picks up on the info and does what she can to get the Gungan leader onside. In this way it's not that he provides comic relief and is funny for younger fans that's the problem, it's that that is all he is. It's a real shame because he's a nice guy with a good heart and his charcter is beautifully animated. I would love to have seen him doing things to help folk from time to time in his own way. It would have really helped him to fit better into the 'team' of good guys.
     
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  22. Big_Benn_Klingon

    Big_Benn_Klingon Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 14, 2013
    I was really surprised when i found out Wesley Crusher was despised by many TNG fans. I think when the show aired many kids liked him - or at the very least didnt find him unusually annoying. Fast forward to a couple months ago and my friend's son who grew up with the PT asked us why everybody hates Jar Jar - because somehow it was a surprising thing to for him to learn. In both cases I think the primary issue was that some adults really didnt like the juvenile element and were either unaware or unsympathetic to the idea that those characters were meant to connect with a younger audience.
     
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  23. Mr. K

    Mr. K Moderator Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 1999
    Yes.

    ...and we 1980's kids did indeed despise Wesley Crusher.
     
  24. Jo B1 Kenobi

    Jo B1 Kenobi Jedi Master star 2

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    Jul 3, 2014
    This surprised me when I first discovered it. I really liked him.
     
  25. bigtukker

    bigtukker Jedi Master star 2

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    Sep 22, 2012
    I believe he is annoying at first sight, but if you look deeper you notice that he has a very poetic role in TPM.
     
    Cryogenic likes this.