Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Cute
By Trampas Whiteman • Aug 8th, 2008 • Category: Features, Star Wars • 211 views
(4 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)
Loading ...There is no denying that Star Wars is a sci-fi icon. The series changed the way that we looked at scifi, both on-screen and behind-the-scenes. Yet for all its accomplishments, Star Wars takes a lot of heat. Primarily, the critics love to bash the Ewoks and Jar-Jar Binks.
Let’s start with Jar-Jar. Okay, I get that some think he’s annoying. Not everyone in life can be likable. I understand that many don’t like the way he talks. So what? We don’t bag on Yoda for the way he talks.
Perhaps, though, we should paint Jar-Jar in a new light. First, he’s comedy relief. Humor has always been a part of Star Wars, and he offers it up in spades. I don’t know about you, but I laughed quite a bit when Jar-Jar’s tongue went numb in Episode I.
Second, has anyone ever considered that Jar-Jar might be an adolescent? He’s clumsy. Well, what happens to teenagers in adolescence? They become a bit clumsy and start tripping over themselves. Jar-Jar obviously lacks a certain sense of maturity, demonstrated by the much more mature Captain Tarpals. Obviously, Jar-Jar is a duck out of water and isn’t quite sure how to act within society. In Episode II, he’s much calmer, showing that maybe he grew up some.
Now, what’s up with the Ewok hate? Is it because a bunch of primitives beat up the Empire? If so, then I’ll just say that technology doesn’t always win the day; smarts and heart do. Did the Ewoks take away from Return of the Jedi? By no means. In fact, I think they helped make it so much fun. Like Jar-Jar, they’re comedy relief. They showed that the little guy can win over the big guy. And they showcase the tragedy of war, as seen when the one Ewok died and the other cried over his dead form.
Do people all over hate the Ewoks? Obviously not considering there were two Ewok movies and an animated Ewoks cartoon. Something had to spark that. They did well enough, too, that they’ve been released on DVD.
“They were originally meant to be wookiees.” Okay, so George Lucas changed his mind. I think the guy is entitled to. Yes, wookiees would have been fun, but then we would have lost the bit about a primitive society winning out over a much larger foe.
Then there’s the “cute argument.” You know, where someone has to say they don’t like something because it’s cute. I find this argument to be extremely subjective. I also don’t understand why people hate cute things. Does it harm anything? No. Do cute characters appeal to the kids? You betcha! That makes for more ticket sales. Members of the female demographic like the cute too. And hey, some of us guys are cool with cuteness as well – so long as you don’t tell our friends!
The Ewoks and Jar-Jar are but two of Lucas’ creations that have had a lot of flack. In my opinion, the flack the Ewoks gets is undue. Maybe those elements aren’t to everyone’s liking, but there are fans who do enjoy them. Perhaps it is time to look for the good in Ewoks and Jar-Jar, rather than focusing on the downside.
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There’s cute, and then there’s “Cute”. Now, as far as the Ewoks are concerned, I’m with you. I really didn’t have a problem with them. They were presented as a tribal warrior culture who’s self image was that of large and dangerous beings. They may not have had the “large”, but they were definitely dangerous. Let’s face it, they captured the rebels. If not for a bit of Jedi mind-trickery, the rebels would have have been Purina Ewok Chow. The Ewoks, while not Wookie in size, were all Wookie in heart, and when I look back at Return of the Jedi, the only bit of “Cute” that I could really do without is Chewbacca’s Tarzan yell. Really, was not needed.
Now, as for Jar-Jar Binks, I will take you to task. I’ve had friends tell me, “take a break on Jar-Jar. He wasn’t there for you, he was there for the 10-year-old behind you.” I won’t give in on this, though. If I had a 10-year-old, Jar-Jar wouldn’t be allowed to associate with them. It’s nothing to do with what Jar-Jar is/was supposed to be, it’s what he turned out to be. Shall we start with the way he speaks? I’m not going to harp on his curious use of “Meesa”, I’m not going to complain about his poor grammar. He’s alien, he’s speaking a language not his own. It would be like making fun of a German kid, because of his accent. That’s not cool. However; If we look at the choices Lucas made historically with his “Comic relief” (i.e. Droids and Ewoks) generally verbal cues are out. We can’t understand a damn thing the Ewoks say, we need an interpreter (C3P0), and we can’t understand a damn thing R2D2 says, we need an interpreter (C3P0). Half of the “relief” in the comedy came from the interpretation of it within the film. Jar-Jar has no straight-man to support his antics, he’s alone. Not only is he alone, we are impressed with the fact that he’s been exiled by his own people. He’s unwanted by the Gungans, he’s unwanted by the Jedi, he’s the 9th wheel. Now, that’s not enough for people’s ire, in fact, some might think it was compelling. Here’s this lonely Gungan, out on his own, trying to make a life for himself on Naboo. Jar-Jar’s story SHOULD have been compelling, but, in making him the obvious object of ridicule, Lucas turned Jar-Jar into a Laughing Stock instead of Comic Relief.
Jar-Jar ultimately turned out to be heroic, but only accidentally. This was supposed to be funny, but I found it insulting. I don’t discount Jar-Jar’s bravery, but in battle, he was a moron, and his succeeding in spite of this wasn’t poignant, it was pitiful. Had Jar-Jar been killed, or in winning the day lost the majority of his companions, then I might have a little more respect for him.
In the end, we can further loath Jar-Jar for being the instrument that placed the Emperor in power. Sure, he was manipulated, but it was the ease of that manipulation that proves Jar-Jar’s failure as a character.
OK. I’m done ranting.
Sorry.
Well i’m one of those people who was a young’n when Episode I came out, and i loved Jar-Jar. I thought he was hilarious, and every time i see it now i feel that childhood silliness and find it funny. So although i would think that he wasn’t just there for the kids, he was especially funny to those of us who were.
Peace, Love, and Peanut Butter.
While I don’t disagree with the premise that humor has always been part of StarWars, starting with Ep IV - it was a different type of humor. Han was always the “cool kid” in class poking fun of the “uptight religious kid”. He was who we wanted to be: snarky, quick witted, and yeah, generally cool!
Jar-jar is the self depricating stooge. Wrong place at the right time, the foil, decidedly anti-cool!
You take glee in the next malady to befall Jar-jar.
You take glee in watching Han cause that malady.
No, I see Jar-jar as being George’s “March on Moscow” He ignored everyone’s advice and went there, he continued his march despite initial failures that only spiraled into a further mire, and continued to pursue his crazy dreams right up until the point that he fell into a dead retreat back to home in utter defeat.
George we loved your earlier work, now go retire to Elba, please!!!
Trampas - I’ll agree with - and expand upon - your analysis of Jar-jar. I’ll disagree with your analysis of the Ewoks.
First, Jar-jar. Beyond just being comic relief, he actually - if unwittingly - plays a pivotal role in the expansion of Palpatine’s grab for power. Jar-jar may be perceived as a buffoon, but he is quite naive. That naivete comes into play in Episode II. When Padme leaves Coruscant, she taps Jar-jar to stand in her place in the Senate. Palpatine then plays on his eagerness to do the right thing. It’s Jar-jar who casts the crucial vote to allow the formation of the Army of the Republic, which of course becomes the tool of the destruction of the Jedi.
Without Jar-jar’s antics in Episode I, this would lose a lot of its emotional impact. (And it’s indicative of some of the subtleties of the prequels that were unfortunately overshadowed by the flaws.)
Now to the Ewoks. Cute I don’t mind. But the Ewoks never came across as capable of defeating the Emperor’s “legion of crack troops”. Seriously. They drop rocks and sticks from a towering height of eight feet down upon the stormtroopers. And not one trooper thinks to shoot back? Even with the stormtroooper’s fabled inability to hit anyone with a speaking role, they’d have been able to wipe out those Ewoks hands down. (Hell, if the Empire is as evil as the good guys claim, why didn’t they just napalm the valley and be done with it?)
On the other hand, had the Ewoks shown a vicious streak I think it would be more believable. Remember when the troopers discover Leia in the forest? What if Wicket had taken his spear and shoved it into the gap of the trooper’s armor between his head and neck? Would that make you think twice about tangling with such creatures?
I understand that Lucas wanted to show a less technologically advanced society defeating a more technologically advanced society. But the Ewoks just don’t cut it.