PT Why did C3-PO, R2-D2 and Chewbacca work for comic relief but not Jar Jar?

I've never really heard this question answered well. Could someone please explain this to me? Explained easy to please?

 

I think jar jar worked. I don't get why people hate him. Maybe they didn't like his stupidity,

 

Because 3PO and R2-D2's humor were based on good old fashioned witty banter, in the same vein as comic duos like Abbot and Costello. It worked within the realm of Star Wars because the main characters exchanged banter as well, Han usually being in the middle of it. Jar-Jar was slapstick. He fell down, made goofy noises and gestures and stepped in poop to be funny. Star Wars is not that kind of humor and so it didn't fit in with Star Wars.

 

I'm indifferent to Jar Jar, but the reason I prefer the droids is they don't seem to be as in your face like Jar Jar. Their humor for the most part is more subtle, where Jar Jar is seemed like he was trying to hard to be funny at times. I don't hate Jar Jar, but that's just how I feel.

 

Because Jar Jar wasn't exactly the same kind of humor as had been seen in Star Wars before. The Phantom Menace overall is easily the most child-like of the Saga in many ways, and he is right at home within it. So he did work for who he was meant for: The kids.

But part of it I think is the general anti-PT mentality. It's why there's even hate for 3PO and R2's antics in AotC.

 

IDK, I found Jar-Jar to be amusing compared to Chewie. Hell, I forget Chewbacca exist sometimesI mean, I'm indifferent towards the so-called comic relief in ALL the films cause I never cared for R2, C-3PO, Chewie, and Jar Jar.

 

Is Chewie really a comedic figure?

I never really think about Chewie much either. He doesn't really have much a story on his own, being more a prop for Han.

 

But from my point of view Jar Jar is funny.

 

Because George Lucas didn't make it sufficiently clear that Jar Jar's clumsiness was just a cover for his true and dark nature...and just misinterpreted as comic relief.

 

I do think Chewie is there for comic relief and I don't like him about as much as I don't like Jar Jar. I find them both grating. Jar Jar is a bit over the top clumsy and played for stupid laughs. It's too slapstick without a break. It like Steve Urkel in the later seasons of Family Matters without the pathos. I keep expecting a Jar Jar "did I do that?" Chewie is a bit more useful and does have that pathos, but his whiny yell gets on my nerves.

C3PO can be charming and dedicated and there are breaks where he's useful. R2 is sometimes heroic and his humor is usually in being that scrappy little droid that knows more than anyone. It's a different dynamic.

 

This will be a repeat of what I alread wrote in a similiar thread in the community section, although with a twist:

I think it's difficult to compare the characters on equal terms.

C-3PO and R2-D2 have six (actually seven) films to unfold their personality, and the jokes they take part in throughout the Saga rarely feel forced or deliberate. I found C-3PO quite boring when I was younger, but I believe it's because I was too focused on the lightsaber-action to care about the droid's (often unintentional) witty remarks. These days I simply adore the ping-pong between them, and I find it hard not to laugh at C-3PO's fruitless attempts to be in control of whatever situation he finds himself in.

Jar Jar Binks, on the other hand, only plays a part in the PT and mainly in TPM. I'd argue that, in retrospect, that fact alone makes it hard for him to make a positive, lasting impact, because his contribution to the series boils down to silly antics and a funny speech-pattern. While a lot of his lines are quite funny, it's essentially hard to take him serious throughout the movie. The same can be said about C-3PO, but he has plenty of opportunities to show different aspects of his character (his moment of despair in ROTS and his "low key" conversation with Luke about R2-D2 in ANH are both good examples). I prefer Jar Jar when he's not just functioning as comic relief, but does something that show his serious side. His scenes in AOTC comes to mind; It may be a bad decision, but it's done with the best of intentions, and it shows Jar Jar genuinely cares about the Galaxy.

Chewbacca never occurred to me as a comedic character. Rather, I'd say that Chewbacca functions as the OT's soul. He's the loyal side-kick, who will gladly put his life on the line to save his friends. He may appear quite dangerous on the outside, and while he's big and strong and capable of ripping your arm off, he's quite soft on the inside. He does have some goofy moments, but he's mostly the guy who "serves" the joke to Han Solo, who then delivers it.

Bottom-line.... I may like C-3PO, R2-D2 and - especially - Chewbacca a lot more than I like Jar Jar Binks, but I don't hate or dislike the latter.

 

jar jar was too silly for people and not funny enough. they also didn't like that he was clumsy and failed at everything while actually doing good, even though that's the "fool" character archetype that sw was missing. they didn't get the physical comedy was taken straight from buster keaton and was comedy of an older era.

they basically wanted comedy written like the ot and tfa and jar jar isn't that. gl isn't known for dialogue writing and had help but it was too different for people. a lot of people also see "innocence" as weak and stupid and it irritates them. probably because we're taught that in life as kids.

 

Buster Keaton. Thats one of the reason I like JJ Binks.

He was more integrated into the plot and the overall thematic narrative of SW than Chewie, C3PO and R2D2.

 

I never really regarded Chewie as comic relief. There are some silly moments with him, but there are with a lot of the heroes at some point or another.

It's things like stepping in poop, having his mouth go numb, having an Eopie fart in his face, fumbling his way through a battle with success, etc. That made the character painful for me to watch. I can't even blame it on slapstick, because there is a bit of that in ROTS at the beginning, but R2 makes it work. He's the adorable character that you don't want to see harmed. Jar Jar is the village idiot.

I can't say it's because he is dimwitted, because Star Trek has gone there with the Pakleds, in which a species speaks in a way to make people write them off (in universe) as simpletons, when they are fairly clever.

Had Star Wars gone that route, where the Naboo think the Gungans aren't intelligent when they actually are would have been one thing, and to an extent they played that angle a bit with Qui-Gon telling Jar Jar that the ability to speak does not make him intelligent, but by and large Jar Jar was a fool among goofballs. It was like Lucas wanted a character that would appeal to 5 year old boys.


Poop joke? Check

Fart joke? Check

Silly hooting, hollering and screaming? Check.

Faints when given rank of general.

Fumbles with bombs that end up helping the heroes.

Kills threatening droids by stomping his foot with an entangled, damaged droid wrapped around his leg.

He just wasn't entertaining to me. Heroes weren't cracking jokes when destroyingbthe Death Star, or during the Battle of Hoth, etc.

There was a time and place for humor, and the Battle scenes weren't it. In the prequels, we got that to an extent in every film. And for the record, I hated the C3PO/Battle droid head switch gag. So no, C3PO isn't given a pass for every gag. Jar Jar stepping in poop isn't even as bad, IMO, as him fumbling through a battle. It makes it so I can't take the scene seriously.

 

I think he did work as comic relief.

In terms of trying to answer that regardless I think it's pretty simple.

Chewbacca and the droids are really side characters while Jar Jar was an actual support and feature role in TPM who isn't simply in a subservient position.

Chewbacca is basically a faithful dog friend who doesn't much exist outside of Han and the same goes for the droids in regards to Luke and Leia.

Jar Jar is his own independent character who isn't simply in a subservient position.

Chewbacca of course does have a life outside of Han but it's not actually in the movies themselves.

 

Chewie works as the straight man to Han's Joker. R2 and C3PO have a comic back and forth even if all the intelligible talking is done by one of them. Jar Jar though is his own punchline. He falls over! He goofs up! He says something stupid! All without any real set-up or context beyond ''this guy is a moron.'' It's noticeable he's far more tolerable in TCW episodes where other characters actually react like most people would to a slapstick idiot or his actions somehow end up causing actual effects instead of being just to laugh at. The episodes pairing him with Mace Windu, straightest straight man in the galaxy, are gold, and he's still basically the same stupid clown.

 

Because most of the jokes sucked for (almost) anyone over the age of 8. And those under 8 would realise they sucked just a few years later.

Lucas did not do humour well in the PT. The lame JarJar stuff was compounded by the cringeworthy 3PO puns in AotC. Mercifully the humour improved a bit for the early part of RotS.

 

I watched TPM yesterday and I didn't see a problem with Jar Jar, just like I never saw it before.
Threepio on the other hand is quite annoying when Artoo is not around, and sometimes I find Chewie annoying too, but for me they all worked as a comic relief, at least in some scenes.

 

I think subtle humour always works best. Jar Jar is in your face! I think R2, C3PO and Chewy bounce really well off other characters...

Question - Do any of the characters in the PT ever laugh at Jar Jar? They all seem to be irritated by him and dismiss him also...

 

He works for his target audience. Kids.

 

Which is silly bcs kids aren't kids for long. Better to write for a general audience that kids can also enjoy (which is the tone for most of the Saga). That way the kids won't grow out of that level of humor.

 

Star Wars fans are!

Though some of them forget that and can't reconcile that when they were kids they would love Jar Jar just as much as anything.

Besides that there are always more kids coming along.

As for growing. I eventually became very annoyed at C3PO as i grew up and couldn't stand him but got over that. He is still by far the most annoying character in the saga but I don't mind it.

 

A strange question to ask since Jar-Jar works perfectly well as a comic relief.

 

& they're only kids for a brief few years, then they have decades as an adult hopefully enjoying SW. So aim the movies at a general audience. There are kid specific movies, they can laugh at them in the meantime. TFA did well to get back to a more general audience tone (as did RotS & most of AotC).

 

I think the characters represent different types of humor.

Jar Jar is an actual comedic character that purposely does funny or wacky things. He even talks directly into the camera as if to the audience and in one scene seems to be calling for the director to cut the take because his hand is stuck in a podracer engine. Jar Jar can actually break down the third wall to communicate directly with the audience and even brings awareness to the movie crew working behind the camera. Jar Jar is also literally a cartoon character and demonstrates many of the magical powers of a cartoon character. (Lately people are attributing this to him being a Sith Lord, when really it is in character with Roger Rabbit or Bugs Bunny.) This is a totally new type of character for a Star Wars movie whose behavior and actions are not ruled by the same in universe realities that apply to every single other character.

R2, C-3PO, and Chewbacca in the original trilogy all react seriously to what is going on around them. The humor is in the situation itself and the irony or absurdness of their serious reactions to it. Chewie being afraid of the dianoga is funny because chewbacca is himself a scary monster. R2 and 3PO bickering is funny because they are robots and the insults are so on the nose. C-3PO talks to himself often as an aside - which is similar to directly talking to the audience - but he doesn't acknowledge there is a camera on him. It's all contained in world.

The best blurring of the two styles of comedy is C-3PO in Attack of the Clones in the Geonosis Droid Foundry and Arena Battle. C-3PO suddenly has arm strength getting tossed around like a cartoon and his disembodied head can talik. C-3POs quips are him verbalising his internal thoughts to himself, but he is really talking directly to the audience. What he says are still his "serious" thoughts, but his quips are now puns instead - he's literally telling jokes. Yet C-3PO still works in those scenes under that same rules that he did in the Original Trilogy.

Some of Jar Jar not working for the audience is the character's own personality - but a lot of it is how the character breaks the imaginary reality of Star Wars for the audience and through his jokes shows the imaginary world is fake. For some people it's as bad as continuity errors.