It has a convenient lack of attention from the authorities (even when the Empire had a strong grip on everything, it was practically run by gangs). And yet it has multiple functioning spaceports and other nods to civilization in its cities.
I think it’s also handy to live somewhere that you can take someone into the desert, dump the body, and count on scavengers disposing of it pretty quickly.
It’s sort of like Las Vegas in space, without the fancier bits. (If you want a world that’s basically a giant casino, go to Nar Shaddaa. Which incidentally is even more attractive to lowlifes, which is why it has the nickname “Smuggler’s Moon”.)
Generally though, I don’t think people usually go to Tatooine unless they’re pretty desperate.
Go to any run-down, extremely rural place in the real world, where people are struggling to get by and ask why anyone would live there. I’ve personally wondered that myself more than once in some places.
You know, I wonder about that. We’ve seen Mandalorians in the prequel films, Clone Wars, Rebels, and so on. Their jetpacks are like personal aircraft. Yet Boba Fett almost never used his in either of the original films he was in; I think he used it once in the fight at Jabba’s barge to help him jump a gap, and then of course it was set off when Han Solo accidentally bumped it which led to Fett ending up in the Sarlacc to begin with.
It might be fair to assume that his jetpack really does have problems and has never worked right. He really should get it looked at. I’m sure he can afford it now after all those tributes.
That was because they were trying to get those Death Star plans. It’s Artoo’s fault really.
Technically it was under Imperial authority, and Bestine was their nominal HQ on the planet during the Imperial era, but even so it wasn’t a big priority for them. I believe that Bestine itself had quite a lot of Imperial activity, as they turned it from a shithole backwater town into the closest thing to a thriving city the planet had. Outside of that place though, they kept to themselves. Otherwise, Jabba wouldn’t have been able to operate the way he did.
I’m not sure whether to be pleased or disappointed about BF’s dubious fight performance in town. He wants to be the Supreme Crime Guy but just walks around and gets completely surprised when he’s attacked? WTF did he expect? This is some rookie shit.
On the other hand, it does make a change from the usual “badass beats up gang of ninjas one at a time” trope. And also the “bodyguards are completely useless” one. Way to go, pigboys!
I like to think of the critter not as a wild animal, but Just Some Guy, an alien from a spacefaring species who came to Tatooine to live out his violent fantasies.
Just imagine being a bodyguard to a guy in indestructible armor filled with a high tech arsenal. If there’s anything he can’t handle, what are you gonna do?
Especially a pig man in a fuzzy diaper carrying an axe around.
“Your job is to draw fire. Work on oinking loudly.”
Those of you disappointed by the first episode may find episode 2, “The Tribes Of Tatooine” more to your liking. Full of action this time.
Some may argue against the “outsider becomes part of the tribe” motif as problematic, but I don’t think it’s quite as bad as it might have been. And in any case, it’s okay to simplify these ideas down to tropes sometimes, especially for something like Star Wars.
I’m enjoying it, but not as much as The Mandalorian so far. I think it’s because, so far, Boba Fett seems to be so remarkably naive, and not nearly as ruthless as he needs to be, as far as being a prospective crime lord. He should be making examples left and right of the ones who aren’t showing him the respect he needs. Or if he’s become legitimately kinder and gentler, they need a good explanation for this apparent change in his character since he was working for two of the worst individuals in the galaxy (Jabba and Vader). The Tusken back story is fun so far, but it hasn’t explained this, at least not yet.
He also has no real organization, his entire crew is Fennec and two guys who tried to kill him and a robot that was probably stored in a closet. Why does he think he can just go around demanding tribute? for what?
I agree with all of that pretty much 100%. Except that I don’t think the Tusken backstory can explain the kinder, gentler Boba Fett, since he’s already kinder and gentler when he first encounters them. For example, in the first episode, when he sees the biker speeder gang beating up Random Moisture Farmer, he turns away with a look of disgust. Boba Fett, the most feared and ruthless bounty hunter in the Galaxy, doesn’t have the stomach to watch someone getting beaten? He just seems so drastically out of character from the beginning of the flashback.
Maybe Disney is afraid of making Fett a truly ruthless, nigh-amoral anti-hero. Which is odd, because I remember in the 2nd episode of The Mandalorian, the title character was disintegrating Jawas left and right. I thought that really set the tone of the character – this is a guy who really will kill you, without a second thought, if you cross him even by just stealing from him. And we saw his character change and become more decent, because of Baby Yoda (he even went so far as delivering the baby to the bad guys before changing his mind), and I thought it really worked.
But I’m still enjoying it. Maybe something will explain this.