Saga Here is my unorthodox Star Wars opinion: change my mind!

Jar Jar and Han are nearly interchangeable.

 

Nope, it's entirely accurate.

 

How is it a defense? How is it even an opinion? It's merely pointing out the actual fact that Jar Jar and his antics were inspired by/a tribute to filmmakers like those mentioned. And Goofy.

 

Is this just a made up fan theory or has anyone from LFL ever said that? Either way it has no place in a SW film to the extent it was in TPM and the film is the worse for it. Terrible.

 

If Jar Jar has no place in SW then SW wouldn’t have a place for me as a fan.

 

And if SW wouldn't have a place for me as a fan, then I will instead watch Star Trek

 

Hi, George! I didn't know that was you.

 

seems to suggest Lucas himself thought Jar-Jar as a tribute to a said bygone age.

 

Anyone who actually knows something about filmmaker George and his movies can tell that he was inspired by the slapstick heroes of old.

 

I think we are discussing point of view. I am generally fine with Anakin's portrayal. I am in the group that thinks that Episode 3 was the best live action version of the character. I also tend to agree that TCW show really helped round this character and made him more well rounded. That said, I totally understand what @Samuel Vimes is saying as well. A lot of fans found Anakin not engaging.

I also enjoy Jar Jar Binks, but I think some of his Buster Keaton inspired antics come off more like Roger Rabbit. There's a difference.

 

And yet it was George Lucas who vetoed Jaxxon .

 

If only Jaxxon were a duck.

 

So glad he didn’t apply his love of slapstick to that extent in to the original trilogy then. Because up until Jar Jar he’d hidden it quite well.

 

Of course, since George also gave the clumsy comic relief character a heavy patois accent, it might raise the question of whether he also had a hidden love for Stepin Fetchit...

 

While it is true that the Republic was fraught with issues, such as corruption, inefficiency, and internal strife, it remains indisputable that it was far preferable to the totalitarian dictatorship established by the Empire. Despite its flaws, the Republic maintained a foundation of democracy and rule of law, allowing individual planets and species a voice in governance and some degree of self-determination. By contrast, the Empire imposed absolute control, expanding its reach through force and terror rather than diplomacy. Under the Republic, issues could be debated, and injustices, while certainly present, could still be challenged within a framework that respected individual rights. In the Empire, these same rights were obliterated, and any dissent was crushed with violence. The Empire’s daily atrocities, like its use of mass genocide, its brutal military conquests, and its enslavement of entire species, highlighted a regime that not only ignored, but actively suppressed any concept of moral governance. Therefore, while the Republic was imperfect, it was undeniably preferable to an Empire that employed cruelty and oppression as tools of power. For instance, my country, Italy, faces many of the same challenges today as the Republic from Star Wars. Yet, I have never once found myself longing for Mussolini's regime. Anyone with common sense would choose modern Italy, despite its issues with political corruption and a dysfunctional bureaucracy. For all its flaws, modern Italy is better than it was under Fascist rule. The same applies for the Republic.

The reason arrogance is crucial to Anakin's character and, indeed, essential to understanding his fall is because it underscores his journey as a flawed individual whose choices are primarily self-centered rather than noble or purely goal-driven. Anakin was not written as a tragic hero who gradually compromises his noble goals for morally ambiguous means. Rather, he is someone driven by personal desires, insecurities, and ultimately, a deep-seated fear of loss, all of which coalesce into an arrogance that fuels his sense of entitlement to power. From the beginning, Anakin exhibits a belief that he is somehow exceptional and deserving of more recognition, more influence, and even more control over the lives of those around him. This arrogance is not an incidental trait; it is a foundational aspect of his character that the story uses to explore the dangers of unchecked ambition and the lure of power. His inability to accept limitations, to humble himself, and to defer to others stems directly from this sense of entitlement and self-importance. He consistently feels that he is better suited than others to decide what is best. Without this arrogance, Anakin’s fall would lack the deeply personal, ego-driven motivation that defines his character. Yes, he does begin with some noble intentions, but these ideals quickly become overshadowed by his belief that he alone knows the best path forward, regardless of who he has to betray or what moral compromises he must make. Anakin’s arrogance makes him vulnerable to manipulation by Palpatine because it blinds him to the flaws in his own reasoning and inflates his sense of what he "deserves": power, respect, and control. If Anakin had simply been driven by a noble cause gone awry, his descent into darkness would reflect a fundamentally different story, one that might focus on the unintended consequences of moral compromise for a greater good. But that is not Anakin's path. He falls because he believes he is owed the power to shape destiny itself, a belief rooted in his arrogance.

Anakin’s willingness to believe Palpatine’s promise of power over death does not make him gullible; it makes him desperate. His desperation overrides rational thinking, and this is a crucial distinction. When people find themselves faced with something as terrifying and irreversible as death, they often turn to improbable solutions, hoping against hope for a miracle, even if they know on some level it may be unfounded. This does not make them foolish; it makes them human. This kind of irrational hope is a phenomenon we see often in real life. For example, individuals facing terminal illnesses sometimes turn to questionable or outright pseudo-scientific treatments because they simply cannot bear to accept the reality of their situation. They are not gullible for doing so. They are merely people in despair, seeking any glimmer of hope to relieve their suffering, and Anakin is no different. His intense fear of losing Padmé and his feeling of helplessness lead him to grasp at any promise, no matter how improbable it might seem. Palpatine exploits this very human vulnerability. He does not need to craft a logically convincing argument; he only needs to feed Anakin’s fears and offer him a way to control what feels uncontrollable. Anakin’s decision is not made from a place of naivety but from an emotional collapse, driven by fear and despair. He believes because he needs to believe.

 

I wasn't suggesting that the Empire was better than the Republic. Did you interpret my comments that way? I am not sure why you are going in depth about this.

 

You said: «This would have made their fall more tragic while still being realistic - not because they were perfect, but because something genuinely worth preserving was lost to carefully orchestrated corruption.» I simply highlighted how this is the case, even with the Republic we were introduced to in the Prequels.

 

Steve McQueen was a prime example of this. He was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in 1979. Instead of using conventional treatments, he sought out alternative medicine treatments including coffee enemas. Nothing worked and he died in November of 1980. Then you have those who underwent psychic surgery, including Andy Kaufman, to remove tumors.

It's easy to label them as gullible, but in reality they were desperate people looking for hope via alternative methods.

 

The droids miraculously crossing the corridor during the Tantive IV shootout. Artoo's pratfall after being shocked by the Jawas. Adding a sound effect to the Stormtrooper door blooper. Artoo being spat out in a perfect comedy arc by the monster on Dagobah. Luke losing control during his handstand and dropping Yoda. Boba Fett's "death" at the hands of a confused blind man. Pretty much everything the droids do on Jabba's Sail Barge. 50% of the shots of the Ewoks during the Battle of Endor. Artoo getting shocked by the scomp link outside the shield bunker.

Granted, most of these examples feature Artoo and Threepio, but then they were intended to be the comic relief of the original trilogy, same as Jar Jar was designed to be the comic relief of the prequels. The fact remains, Star Wars has always featured a healthy dose of physical comedy.

 

Few of those could be considered good examples and frankly are a stretch to be equating to Jar Jar levels of slapstick. Certainly nothing to say “its blatantly obvious in George’s films that he loves slapstick”, which come on, we all know is the apologists excuse for Jar Jar being (un)funny. Of course we get the odd moment of comic relief on the OT, but out of that bunch of examples I would say none of the moments in SW or Empire are supposed to be funny and weren’t written to be funny. I would concede that the closest is a couple of the Ewok moments during the battle. But there’s nothing that’s anywhere near close in any way, shape or form to what Jar Jar gave us continuously throughout TPM in the vast majority of scenes he was in. Tonally it’s very different to the OT because of him and it stands out like a sore thumb. It’s too much.

 

First, interesting read but is your argument that Anakin HAD to be this arrogant, that it was impossible to make a PT without such an arrogant Anakin? If this is just your preference then fine.
I think that you could have made PT with Anakin less arrogant and it could still have worked.
As I said, doing arrogant characters without making them off-putting to the audience takes a certain amount of skill.

Second, where does this mega-arrogance come from? Is he just born this way?
When we meet him in TPM, he seems a very well adjusted kid all things considered. The one thing you can point to is him mentioning that he is the only human that can pod-race. Beyond that, I did not see him as very arrogant.
In AotC he comes off as more arrogant, self-centered, selfish and a show-off. But he has been training as a Jedi for the last ten years. Did Jedi training do this to him? Speaking of the Jedi, is them calling him the "Chosen One" in part to blame? If he is told he has the highest midi-count ever, the savior of the galaxy and all that. Did that make him more arrogant?

In the OT, is Vader over the top arrogant?
He puts down Motti over his boasts of the DS and puts him in his place when Motti mocks him.
Vader is confident yes and takes risks but super arrogant? Not seeing that. Motti was that, Tarkin too and also Palpatine.

Anakin does look up to certain people, Palaptine is the most obvious one and seeks his advice.
When Anakin suggest that someone should be in charge, he says this should not be him. In RotS, after he has fallen, then yes he says that he could take out Palpatine and rule the galaxy. But that is standard Sith MO.

Lucas made a point of Anakin being young in TPM to make the separation from his mother a key piece. Did that cause Anakin to become arrogant? Not seeing how.
Instead it grew the fear in Anakin, his fear of loss and that was made worse in the terrible manner Shmi died.

First, this desperation that you talk about is the main reason for his fall, so why make him exceedingly arrogant as well? If him being arrogant does not impact his desperation, why have it?

Second, to me it made Anakin gullible and a lot of the characters in the PT are quite stupid. Except Palpatine since he needs to win.
Anakin has been a Jedi for over a decade and he is told about this Force power that he has never heard off before. Not asking how Palpatine knows this. He just accepts that this is a thing that exists.
Since the Sith were considered dead for 1000 years then as far as Anakin is concerned, Plaug would be before that time.
He takes no precautions with Padme, like taking her to see a doctor. Even when finding out that Palpatine is a Sith and behind all the troubles of the last decade and more. And working with people that have tried to kill Padme. Anakin still does not question this.
And when Palpatine admits that he does not actually have the power that he promised Anakin just before, Anakin does not react. If Anakin was really this desperate, would he not flip out when told that Palaptine does not have this? And he is given just some vague promises?

Third, he very quickly is cool with killing Jedi children and somehow thinks that the Jedi are plotting something.
Had the turn been more about his distrust of the Jedi and thinking that they were plotting something, like how it was at first, then his later actions could have made a bit more sense. But if he just wants this "stop-death spell" why say anything about a Jedi plot. Just have Anakin kill children as that is what he needs to do to be able to cast this "Stop-death spell" and be done with it.

Had Anakin read stuff about the Sith, which would make sense since he is the one who is supposed to kill them all. And found examples of Sith extending their lives beyond normal and surviving wounds that would have been fatal. Then him accepting Palpatine's talk would work better to me.
Or you could have what I think was in some earlier draft, that the Sith, Plaug and Palps, "created" Anakin and Palpatine told him this and thus showed that he can create life.

In closing, Anakin being desperate works in part, he lost his mother and now he gets visions like before and fear that this will happen again unlike last time, he does not wait around. But focus on that, cut the stuff about a Jedi plot since that does not really matter. And don't have Palpatien admit that he does not actually know how to do this.

Bye for now.
Blackboard Monitor

 

The core theme in the Lucas series is that evil is blinded by sheer arrogance. Palpatine, Vader, Tyranus, Maul, Tarkin, Needa, Nute, Grievous and Jabba were arrogant. They each paid the price for it. And as Lucas said, it's easier to become incredibly arrogant the more powerful you are.

 

Yes. That's why Lucas showed how the Republic became an Empire and the Jedi couldn't prevent the war.