Use of a dialect is not inherently insulting. The fact that Jar Jar uses a Caribbean dialect doesn’t not make him a racial stereotype.
If Jar Jar was the only Gungan in the movie, you might have a point. But look at the other Gungans.
They’re technology is in many ways beyond the Republic-- the Queen doesn’t have those personal shields, for instance.
They risked their lives to help their ancestral enemies.
The Nemeoidians didn’t speak precisely like Chinese people. They spoke like people speaking an UNFAMILIAR LANGUAGE.
People speaking a language with longer words and different ending sounds than their own will use a clipped style-- as both Chinese people and the Nemeoidians did.
That doesn’t mean that the Nemeoidians symbolize the Chinese. It means that their native language isn’t Basic.
Lucas is getting flack because he tried to make his galaxy more diverse. In the Phantom Menace, not everybody speaks Republic Basic.
Some people speak Hutt, some people speak with an accent, and some people speak a related language.
Any movie can be racist if you say that all the negative characters represent nonwhite people.
My initial answer (without havig read other’s opinions):
I think we hate him because he belittles our mythos. Here we have a galaxy, culture and ideal that we believe in. Admit it: our dreams were given wings by Star Wars in 1977. We pinned hopes and fantasies on the story. It’s impact on our culture was quite noticable in countless ways.
It’s far more than a mere story or film to me and to many others I suspect.
And I think Jar Jar’s silliness and/or blatant commercialism left a bit of a sour taste in our mouths. It means so much to us. Having a ridiculous slapstick figure doesn’t sit well with our expectations (which, it’s important to note here, are OUR expectations and therefore our fault). Nor does having our elegant tale interrupted by what many see as a sell-out to pander to kids and merchandising.
But hey it’s the mythos that’s important here. The underlying message. Not the inane antics of one alien.
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
First of all, I’d like to say that Yue Han is completely correct and I applaud him for bringing reason to this discussion.
Now, to the point of my reply. JarJar is annoying because (and this is just my own psycho opinion) he must have been modeled after the hideously irritating Olsen twins.
Why? Think back (if you can admit to ever pausing on “Full House” long enough to see) to when “Michelle” was little and couldn’t speak very clearly yet. What did she say that everyone in the canned audience (that is where they get canned laughter from, isn’t it?) always laughed at? She said, “How rude!” BUT…she could not pronounce the “r” sound very well and it came out as kind of like, “How Wooed!” which is exactly what JarJar says at least a couple times in the movie. Also, he looks like them! Look at his big, glassy eyes, his vacant look, and he is always sticking his tongue out! I think the resemblance is frightening!
My theory is that Lucas (or whoever the peon who came up with JarJar is) looked at the marketability (sp-?) of those irritating little girls (Have you seen how many home video movies they have?) and decided to cash in on a popular idea.
Those who are dancing look insane to those who cannot hear the music.
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I finally saw the movie when it came out on video, and when I saw and observed Jar Jar Binks throughout the movie, I just said to myself, “Why do people hate this character so much?” He simply wasn’t that offensive to me. I didn’t hate him or even dislike him. I couldn’t see what the big deal was, and I still don’t. Jar Jar didn’t ruin the movie for me at all, although according to internet sources everywhere, he did for many. Just goes to show you…don’t trust everything you hear about a movie. See it for yourself, judge it for yourself. Don’t let others tell you what you should and shouldn’t like about anything.
In the grand scheme of things I really don’t care about some Lucas character, why does anyone? I just watched the movie last night. What’s the big deal, other than the fact I had to turn the sound up so I could understand his pidgin english. And where did they come up with the idea that he sounds like a black guy? Oh I see now! Damn! He’s got the Rasta thing going on! Yeah maybe. I don’t get it. What I found crashingly bad about the movie was the kid. Granted he was cute but his acting was so bad as to be non-exsistant. It’s just a kid’s movie anyway. Although some movies for kids are great. I just don’t see what the talk was about with this character. Glad I didn’t spend 15.00 + popcorn to see the darned thing. Wonder if the next installment will generate as much revenue?
Flinx, you had to have seen him on the big screen, 50 feet high, to get the full effect.
FWIW, my personal theory about how such an obnoxious character came into existence goes like this.
Spielberg says he wants a character that’s “like Goofy, only a little darker”. His design team sets to work. They come up with several ideas. He’s a busy man, so one day he takes 15 minutes to look them over. Off the top of his head he picks Jar Jar. The design team sets to work again, fully realizing the character. Somehow what they originally came up with has changed, become stupider. Again, Steve takes 15 minutes from his busy day to look it over. He says, “Okay”, and leaves. The movie goes into production, the special effects start coming out of the lab, Jar Jar looks like crap, but Spielberg is God. Nobody can think of a way to tell him that Jar Jar sucks, and even if they did tell him, chances are good that he (a) wouldn’t care, and/or (b) wouldn’t change it anyway, Hollywood economics being what they are. Announce publicly that the design he approved actually sucked, and they were starting over? No way.
Two years later, here we all are, discussing it.
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen
Frankly, I’m amazed (and pleased) at the quick response to this post. Clearly, the Jar Jar issue is tearing our nation apart.
So far, the consensus seems to be “Because he’s annoying and he was so obviously created to blatantly pander to a kiddie audience.”
Do kids hate him, too, I wonder? I saw it in the theatre, twice, and I didn’t hear ANY laughter at Jar Jar’s antics. There were a lot of kids, both times, too.
If Lucas’ kids found Jar Jar endearing, they must be abnormal or something. Maybe the Lucas kids have googly eyes, floopy ears, lizardy skin, are extroadinarily clumsy, and say things like “Yousa gonna make a movie, Dadsa?”
That would explain a lot.
Thank you! That was the first thing that popped into my mind when he said that and I have hated him ever since!!
As for the racism accusations, I heard a good point a while back. I believe it was from a local university English teacher. She pointed out that it is almost impossible to invent an entirely new dialect - that is, one that does not remind people of an existing dialect. Apparently, we have a strong ingrained tendency to identify accents with ones we’ve already heard. I dunno. Sounds reasonable to me.
Give me 15 minutes & a Bremill Moto-Tool, and I’ll MAKE him fit–boots ,armor & all!
And that “too tall” problem—I could fix that, too!!
“There is no slander in an allowed fool, though he do nothing but rail; nor no railing in a known discreet man, though he do nothing but reprove.”
Countess Olivia to Malvolio; William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 5.
I can think of one use for the Jar-Jar character: After years of following Jedi teachings of mercy and tolerance, Anakin is finally driven over the edge by Jar-Jar’s idiocy, gives himself over to the Dark side, and slaughters the doofus. Although I admit, that sounds like a good deed .
As far as the Racism goes, I think it was the combination of the accent and his manner. He acted like some horrible stepin fetchit or Amos and Andy Negro Caracature. You could almost here him say “Oh no, Massa, Jar jar be a good negro! He don’ wan’ no trouble!” Combine this with a vaguely Jamaican patois and it’s easy to see why some blacks were offended.
I still was more annoyed by the kid, though. Am I the only one who hated him?
If you were trying to hear that, I’m sure you would. He acted like a big, clumsy lizard. Next, I’m sure people will be telling us his big lips obviously point out that he is supposed to be black.
I tend to compare this whole Star Wars = Racism crap with the photographs people take of their kids at home in the tub. If you can look at a picture of a naked toddler splashing around in a tub and think, “Ooh, this is child pornography! Bad!” then you are the one with the pedophiliac tendencies, not the photographer. If something designed to be innocent and fun makes you think of vile, horrible ulterior motives, you are the problem.
Sorry, but this issue just really irritates me.
Those who are dancing look insane to those who cannot hear the music.
One-of-a-kind, custom-designed Wally sig available on request.
No, I don’t think you’re the only one who hated the kid. In fact, most people seem dissatisfied with his performance.
Not me, though, and here’s why:
I mentioned earlier that, those rare times I get depressed, I sometimes look at old photos of myself, from when I was a kid, and think, “Now look at that – see what I was like then.”
Well, that kid-that-was-me? He’s a dead ringer for Anakin Skywalker, slave. I mean, exactly. My mother has even commented on this.
So I have a hard time hating the kid. Probably more info than you needed, but…
He was given a lot of very stupid lines, and it’s clear that Lucas didn’t take the time to do retakes to smooth out his performance. Sometimes, the kid does a very good job.
Example: When he’s in the Jedi Council, and Yoda and all of them are debating his future, and they’re being kind of bastards to him, there’s a shot where’s he’s looking around at all of them, and his face just READS. You can really see him thinking, “You’re no better than me.”
Another example: “Will I ever see you again?” That line and scene went well, seemed very genuine and childish.
Another example: When he goes to say good-bye to Threepio. He’s like, “Hey, sorry I didn’t get to finish you. I’ll tell mom not to sell you or anything. Bye.” I thought he conveyed, effectively, a lack of sympathy or concern for Threepio, who’s essentially his creation and essentially a slave just like him. Interesting work there.
Another example: Although he has no lines, he’s very believable in the cockpit of the podracing scene.
There are other examples.
Other times, yes, his performance is miserable. I’m thinking of his “Yippee!”, the moment where he says “Are you an angel?” and almost all the stuff in the cockpit of the ship in the space battle scene.
I’d argue it’s the responsibility of the director to know when the performance is uneven, and to do re-takes. Lucas was working with a child actor, and it’s notoriously difficult to get something smooth from them. Yes, the kid in “The Sixth Sense” is prodigiously talented, but I’ll bet M. Night Shayliman (don’t know how to spell it) at least re-shot a couple of scenes after looking at dailies…
I don’t think Lucas did. I remember reading some interviews he did before the movie came out, and he said, more than once, that he can now “fix” anything in postproduction, with computers. The actors in the movie, as a whole, said that Lucas was “very satisfied” with first takes, and that he moved quickly.
Too quickly, I think, in Jake Lloyd’s case.
And Jar Jar’s, for that matter.
jar jar was pretty bad but you what really killed the movie for me was the way the gungans spoke to each other. i mean it’s one thing if jar jar talks in pidgin english when he meets the jedi knights, maybe basic isn’t his native language so he has an accent. But when the gungans gather and speak in ebonics, that’s crossing the line. they should have had their own language.
