PT Do you think Jar Jar Binks is as annoying as fans actually make him out to be?

The harm for me is that Jar Jar's humor often comes at the expense of the movie. It's not just the scatological humor, that's just the lowest example. An example is the Battle of Naboo where Jar Jar's antics take a battle scene at the climax of the movie and turn it into a silly farce with no tension or stakes. Seeing him bumble around without getting shot makes the villains seem harmless and lame. This would be equivalent to C-3PO accidentally getting stuck in an X-Wing and flying around with Luke during the battle of Yavin, accidentally shooting down TIEs. The first two OT movies generally knew when to be funny and when to take situations more seriously, TPM feels sloppy by comparison.

Also, aside from the Sarlacc burp which I never found funny, the others are natural reactions to the situations the characters were in and feel more natural. I haven't seen Jurassic Park in forever so I can't comment on that scene.

 

Jar Jar Binks turns The Phantom Menace into a kind of bizarre Star Wars parody because of all the daft slapstick. He is a terrible character and deserves the derision he gets.

 

I never found Jar Jar annoying. To me, he's just another part of Star Wars.

 

Jar Jar doesn’t bother me, either. He’s something new and it is what it is.


I laugh every time I see this:

 

I believe Jar Jar is better handled in the novelizations of the prequels than in the films. But you could say that about most of the characters. The only characters portrayed well on screen are Darth Maul and Jango Fett. Lol.

 

That scene works because Qui-Gon is speaking for the audience here. It's Liam Neeson that sells the joke, not Jar Jar.

It's also a display of Jedi reflexes which motivates Anakin's "You're a Jedi, aren't you?" line. It's not just there for laughs.
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I understand the intention behind it. But it doesn’t change the fact that Jar Jar doesn’t bother me. I can just as easily overlook him.

 

I love Jar Jar. His innocence is charming to me. Some of his antics don’t work for me, but I find Threepio way more annoying at times (mainly once the action starts in Attack of the Clones and in the entirety of the sequel trilogy). Hell, there are even times when I find Han more annoying than Jar Jar.

 

I have never had an issue with Jar Jar. to an extent, i can see why his antics could annoy people in TPM. but his role was reduced in AOTC and as a whole, i don't see him as this character that should be despised just because he is on screen at all.

 

I think this dislike toward Jar-Jar is stemmed from some "cool factor". He's not a droid or a tiny alien like the Ewoks. If anything, I find myself wondering if Jar-Jar's gauche personality reminds a lot of fans of themselves. And they hate it. I found him annoying at times. But if I must be brutally honest, I can say the same for a good number of the major characters in all three trilogies and the stand alone films.

 

Jar Jar has always been hilarious and only gets better with age. Not only is the character funny, but also holds a purpose within the plot, as well as thematically.

 

I voted no, but not because Jar Jar is not annoying. For me, he is. But I voted no because the fan backlash was (and remains) insanely overdone and overwrought. Some fans went so far off the deep end with their vitriol and hatred... I mean the amazing and talented Ahmed Best contemplated suicide partly because of it. That ALONE answers the poll question for me.

That said, the issues I have with Jar Jar are pervasive but I would not throw away the character. First and foremost, for all of the PT films, his voice and performance should have been more subtle and less in-your-face. Then, for all of TPM, the character constantly goes over the line of what works. In a given scene, it's like "this works.... this works... this is too far... this is too far... this works." It's like that for all of TPM. It's just too much. The character was badly written and handled by George Lucas. Jar Jar (and much else about TPM) needed another few revisions to get things right. The story is solid, but the script and the final film have issues. The design of the gungans is amazing. The character and story purpose of Jar Jar needed a lot more work to get it dialed in.

 

Some of his scenes are dumb timewasters with shamelessly "kiddy" jokes, but there is something endearing about Jar Jar. I don't mind the concept of him as this funny side character that has dumb luck, a good heart, and a knack for stumbling into trouble like he's the SW equivalent of Goofy. But he really should've been a minor character that only appeared on Naboo; that's really the only purpose or signifcant role he plays in TPM. He doesn't do anything on Tatooine or Coruscant that really warrants him there.

 

I think his being on Coruscant is actually fairly important for two very significant reasons. One, his presence near the Queen is a big reason she decides to say "screw this" and head back to Naboo to fight back. Jar Jar actually mentions to her that the Gungans have a big army....
And the other reason he's important is because he learns how the Senate works and eventually becomes the ill-fated Senator from Naboo who will be tricked by Palpatine to pass emergency powers for the Chancellor.

 

^I don't really think any of that warrants him being on Coruscant. Amidala sounded like she was going back to Naboo regardless ("My fate will be no different than that of our people".) She could've gone there, encountered Jar Jar, then learned about the Gungan army and the movie could've gone on the same. And I don't think Jar Jar being on Coruscant served to show him how the Senate works either. But it wasn't necessary for him to know how the Senate works at that point anyway.

 

What Tina said. His words are what push Padme to action. He also helps to unite the Gungans and the Naboo. The narrative driving purpose is there. The symbolic and mythological reasons are there. It's all just a mixed back of good and bad executions of individual elements.

Didn't she say that line about their fate after Jar Jar's line about her thinking the Naboo will die and that the Gungans have a huge army?

 

^ IIRC, there's nothing that indicates that Jar Jar's line is why she goes back. She says she wants to share the fate of her people. Before that she's just unsure and hoping no one dies. She could've gone back, been approached by Jar Jar, and he'd still play a role in uniting the Naboo and Gungans.

 

I mean he says it and then she goes back. Do you need a line of dialogue to tell you he was part of the reason and her decision making process?

 

No, but nothing in the line she actually does say about going back implies it was solely because of what Jar Jar said, so... *shrug* It's hard to say. Regardless, I don't think Jar Jar needed to be on Coruscant for that to happen.

 

EXACTLY!!

She's staring out the window, looking uncertain. You might think she's barely paying attention to Jar Jar. But she's actually been listening closely and weighing her options. A few seconds later she announces she's decided to go back to Naboo.

IT COULDN'T BE ANY MORE OBVIOUS.

Lucas doesn't get credit for the things he did very subtly, precisely because many people didn't pay close enough attention to what's happening.

No offense, but why expect every bit of information to be spoon-fed to the audience? I mean, do you really expect the Queen would just blurt out, "Gee whiz, talking to this well-meaning Gungan has given me a bold idea to take back control of the planet!"

It would make no sense for her character to explain things like that.

 

^ I'm not so much disagreeing that there's a good chance Amidala was influenced by Jar Jar;, she does mention needing his help when they're on her ship. The point I'm getting at is I don't think Jar Jar was needed to make her come to that decision, that's all.

 

I think it's actually really interesting how Jar-Jar phrases his lines in that scene. He describes the Gungan forces as literally a 'Grand Army'. What term does Palpatine later use to describe the Clone army in AOTC? The Grand Army of the Republic.

There's more of a link between the culture of Naboo and Jar-Jar's connection to Palpatine than often gets brought up. I also quite like how what is the salvation for the heroes in Episode I is made into something much more morally grey in II. No longer is an army a sign of some inherent positive moral bent, and I think it's rare that media really touches on that.

 

Was Qui-Gon supposed to leave him in Theed? At Best he would've been thrown into a prison camp. And then how would Amidala have talked to him about the grand army when she returned, if she indeed did return?

Other than that, the purpose he served was comic relief. Being that R2 & 3P0 had less screen time than they had in the OT. And it was enjoyable to see how the droids responded to him.
He also helped serve as part of the core of the more 'children's movie' tone of TPM. I feel it was important for his particular presence to be a consistent thread throughout the film.

 

But Lucas has a theme of the more nature oriented and "primitive" race of beings having wisdom and input and experience that helps the good guys. The Ewoks were an early example of this. I believe the Gungans and Jar Jar are too. The simple unsophisticated jester mythical archetype passes along valuable wisdom to the heroine and helps her find and walk the path in front of her. Classic mythology and classic Lucas. It was absolutely intentional and Jar Jar has to be along for the ride to Tatooine and Coruscant to see what he sees and help Padme as he does.

 

Qui-Gon could've just parted ways from Jar Jar after they left the Gungan city. No need to drag him along and endanger him on their mission.

And saying Jar Jar imparted "wisdom" to the heroes is... a stretch. I think all these plot points could've easily been rewritten and the movie could've had the same outcome, but I don't want to keep repeating myself here. Agree to disagree.