What is Jar Jar purpose in the saga?

Jar Jar has served his purpose in the PT by disrupting it but all good thing (or in his case bad things) must come to a end.

WHat do you think his purpose was to begin with?

Did Luca$ have a grand scheme for Jar Jar or was he just thrown in the PT for slapstick and comic relief?.

 

His purpose was revealed in Episode II. He is the unassuming/trusting fool in a position of power that Palpatine manipulates so that he can be granted 'Emergency Dictatorial Powers' and declare himself Emperor of the New Order.

 

actually I belive he was meant to be the symbol of anakins defeat to the dark side. I think he was supposed to have a much larger part in aotc. but because people hated him so much his role was shrunk to next to nothing.

I belive anakin was suppised to kill him in ep3. it would be a turining point in the saga and show he was not coming back to the good side. lucas wanted us to care about jar jar so that when this happened it would be tragic for the audience as well as the film.

but again since everybody hates jar jar. most would welcome his death with open arms and praise vader for doing it. lucas knows this so he has changed jar jar.

it's really too bad I think it would have been very dramatic and very tragic.

 

Let's see. In the first film, he saved everyone by suggesting the Gungan Army. In the second film, he was used by Palpatine; he was doing what he thought was right, just like the rest of the Loyalist Committee and the Jedi that stay faithful to the Republic.

He has served a great purpose so far, and I have a hunch that he'll continue to serve a purpose in Episode III.


EDIT:

...but because people hated him so much his role was shrunk to next to nothing.

...lucas knows this so he has changed jar jar.

Lucas has said that fan reaction has had no effect on Jar Jar's role. He was a more important character in the first film. He could easily be compared to Obi-Wan in the OT: serves a purpose in the first film, plays a minor, but important, role in the last two.

 

just like fan reaction had nothing to do with nsync from being removed.

 

I personally really can't stand Jar-Jar, but recently, I've been able to watch TPM without retching in any scene containing Jar-Jar.

What is his purpose? Comedic relief.

Actually, Jar-Jar isn't even that bad (although the voice is so grating), it's when Lucas rips apart my suspension of disbelief when he has the droid arm/rifle stuck to his leg and he kills 3 droids by flopping around.

Same thing with Threepio's head in AOTC - although I think that was funnier, it was still too much.

Now I'm just ranting.

I still think we could see Jar-Jar die in Episode III, but it might not be Anakin stabbing him with his saber (unfortunately).

One interesting way I just thought of would be to have Jar-Jar in distress and have Anakin walk right by him, not even noticing.

 

just like fan reaction had nothing to do with nsync from being removed.

No one ever said it didn't. It had everything to do with that. Personally, I think every fanboy who whined about that one should be slapped for denying a few fellow fans a chance to be in Star Wars. But enough about that...

 

Jar Jar has been in the PT for comic relief but interestingly hes not very comical.

 

He's a bridge (?ambassador) between 2 antagonistic cultures in TPM.

He's a senator in AOTC and we know the rest.

 

There's a book called "Lila" by Robert M. Pirsig- the sequel to "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenence."

The main focus of the book is on the ideas of Static and Dynamic Quality. Basically, the idea is that Static Quality is about the things that hold a group together- for example, the laws and customs (or "codes"...) of a society. The things that generally stay the same from day to day, month to month, year to year.

Dynamic Quality is the capacity to change- obviously, in order for a society to survive, it has to be able to adapt to change. Which, obviously, can only be done in the here and now.

The static patterns are the bigger, invisible elements which hold a society together. The dynamic elements allow it to change- which can either lead to it adapting and surviving, or to it collapsing and dying. Obviously, with no way to see into the future, there is no way to tell in the "here and now" which one a particular change will lead to...

(Hopefully a Star Wars parallel will be becoming visible already...)

Anyway, in this book is a story about an indian tribe in America, which illustrates the idea of dynamic and static quality.
There's this one guy in the tribe who is pretty unpopular, who get's banished for "looking in windows"- apparently a sign of being a witch. Basically, for no real reason that seems to justify the action, he gets kicked out.
So this outcast goes and lives on his own, and meets a bunch of settlers. Meanwhile, the tribe that cast him out is struggling to survive alongside these settlers.
The outcast eventually returns to the tribe, and rather than being punished for returning from exile is bizzarely made a mayor or priest or some high-ranking position in the society which I can't recall the exact details of...

Well, the reason being that he was kicked out for being a dangerous element- he brought a dynamic element which threatened the stability of the tribe, by challenging the static rules that were what held the tribe together. This was put down to "being a witch", so he was banished.
However, when the new element of the settlers got involved, the tribe faced a challenge- they had to learn to adapt and live longside one another. Which the tribe simply wasn't capable of doing...
When the outcast returned, he'd lived amongst the settlers, and had got to know them. Again, he brought the same dynamic element which threatened the static rules which held the society together- the difference being that now, these static rules that had served the tribe perfectly well for generations suddenly weren't looking as useful when they had to share their land with the new settlers, and were in desperate need of a shake up.

Through having lived amongst both cultures, he was able to bridge the differences between the tribe and the settlers, so that they could learn to live alongside one another in peace.


That is basically the same as Jar Jar's story in TPM. The Gungans don't like the Naboo, and don't consider their problems to be of any concern.
Jar Jar is banished by the Gungans for what seems to be no real reason, and when he returns is made a "bombad general" by Boss Nass for bringing the Naboo and the Gungans together- for breaking down the cultural barriers that existed between the two, enabling them to come together. It's actually Jar Jar who tells/reminds the Queen that the Gungans have an army, and won't go out without a fight- leading to the Naboo to turn to the Gungans, which in turn dispels the Gungans view of being looked down on by the Naboo.

Ever wonder why Jar Jar is a frog-like, seemingly insignificant character? Because, as Lucas knows, it's a traditional archetype in myths and fairy tales;

I wanted Yoda to be the traditional kind of character you find in fairy tales and mythology. And that character is usually a frog or a wizened old man on the side of the road. The hero is going down the road and meets this poor and insignificant person. The goal or the lesson is for the hero to learn to respect everybody and to pay attenti

 

your post is really interesting. I wish jar jar had been toned down a little bit, because things you wrote about are really cool...

 

just like fan reaction had nothing to do with nsync from being removed.

But there was no proof they were even in the film. I do not believe they ever were. Just some dumb rumour.
I also second what Lucas said. i read or saw and interview where he said that. His role was not reduced because of any fan reaction.

 

Jar Jar's purpose was in Ep. II. He was introduced as a bumbling but well-meaning fool in Ep. I (which would've been perfectly fine, had he not taken up so much screen time with utterly unfunny antics) and then finished his purpose in Ep. II, granting Palpatine emergency powers. Ep. III will probably only have Jar Jar in it at all to bring a closing, in one way or another, to his poorly started character arc.

 

After TPM, I can recall reading a post on the purpose of Jar-Jar, which went along the lines of comparison to a Shakespeare play (yeah, just bear with me for a sec, OK?).

For example, if you want to use a dagger to kill someone in the final act, then you show it hanging on the wall in the first act, and thus create drama.

The theory was that Jar-Jar is the proverbial dagger, and his role would be fully realised at the end of the prequel story, and that he may serve to be another illustration of how evil and callous Anakin becomes.

 

But there was no proof they were even in the film.

I'm pretty sure LFL commented on it, and I know members of N'Sync did.

And good point, MOH.

 

It is pretty ,uch established fact that a few of the members WERE going to be in Episode 2 and it was them that opted out after "fan" backlash, not George who removed them. Some say that they are still in there. I can't pick them out so I don't really care one way or the other.

 

Got to love those "established facts"...

Especially the ones with no evidence other than the ravings of a thousand angry fanboys on the internet to back them up...

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Thanks, [b]CCK[/b]. If you like that kind of stuff, I highly recommend the book it's from (actually, I recommend both of them.) I'm utterly convinced that Lucas read Lila before starting work on the prequels. The whole idea of "Dynamic Quality" seems too similar to the "living force" idea for me to accept it as coincidence.

 

thanks! i'll definately check it out! sounds like a great read for a star wars fan or a fan of storytelling/writting in general!
opps- almost forgot-the idea of jar jar serving a more important puropose than just humor makes me appreciate the character more.

 

Do any of you think that Jar Jar is the PT version of those little fury things known as Ewoks of the OT? I have always thought that. I hate Ewoks, and I hate Jar Jar, and they both are clumsy. Maybe Gungans evolve, and turn into Ewok's. So maybe, when we see a Ewok in ROTJ, it is one of them actually could be Jar Jar somewhere. Maybe Wicket is seen in TPM when Obi-Wan and Qui-Gonn arive to the underwater city on Naboo, maybe he is the gungan that is with the other gungan that prods Jar Jar with the electro-prod.

I am not serious people, but Jar Jar is the equivalent of Ewoks in the OT.

 

Jar Jar is there for his looks & to draw in the female crowd. Plain and simple.

 

Offhand, Jar Jar's purpose is to singlehandedly allow Palpatine's rise to power.

It's all his fault!

YubYub and TG- Protecting fangirls from hormonally gifted fanboys since 2002

 

comic releif. nothing more. nothing less.

 

scott3eyez has hit the nail on the head.

lucas is known for misleading us for putting something out there on one level but holding a much deeper meaning.

lucas really wanted and expected people would like jar jar. I think he was disapointed that people did not like him.

I still belive jar jar was supposed to die in ep3 as a symbol of anakins downfall. because thats waht everyone wants now the meaning of his death would be lost so jar jar will live.

 

What is your purpose in posting it is always negative!!

 

why are you posting it's always pointless!

just kidding. I actually totally agree - it's debatable whether or not Lucas thought Jar-Jar could possibly be as popular as Artoo and Threepio, but he definitely thought Jar-Jar was going to be a big hit.

IMHO, there's only 2 "mistakes" Lucas has made in the PT: Jar-Jar and casting Natalie Portman.

I'll stop now, I can feel the flames tickling my feet.