Jar Jar Binks- Why is he so hated?

Jar Jar cracked me up, i used to laugh so hard during the scene where he gets his tongue zapped in the racing pod cross beam.

 

I don't really understand the disdain for Jar Jar, either. I think he's a pretty harmless character. If there's anything negative I could say, it's that there just might be too much of him in the first film. With a character like that, maybe less is more. Some of his TPM on-screen minutes could have been pruned and used to beef up his role in the next two films, since he seems to be doing a fast-fade over the course of the PT. I wonder if that's a result of the fan backlash, and, if so, I wonder how Binks' character arc would have played out otherwise.

 

I think it was from backlash, I liked how Lucas gave him a pivotal role in SW history, by making him be the one that gave Palpatine emergency powers, thus being able to wipe out the jedi, and rule.

 

I think Jar Jar upset the older original fans far more than he did with any younger ones, as there wasn't an outright bumbling clumsy "comedy" character like him before in the OT, so he didn't fit into the the older fans version of "their" Star Wars which they were familiar with or grew up with.

Jar Jar was a purposely child-like character for kids to identify with during his adventures in the Star Wars timeline. He has the silly looks, the silly voice, the silly walk and silly mannerisms which made him funny for kids, but unintentionally annoying to many adults. Jar Jar was an excellent for toy merchandise too. A bit like BB-8 in the sequel trilogy.

Please remember that Star Wars is for kids, its basicially a film series re-telling of old fables and morality tales for kids dressed up in a spacey sci-fi way that was in vogue during the 1970's when Star Wars was new.

I've heard various excuses from other fans that C-3PO was a similarly hated character like Jar Jar when the original Star Wars was new. I think this is an unfair comparison, as every older fan I've asked thinks C-3PO wasn't annoying at all, and wasn't purely written as a comedic sidekick like Jar Jar was. C-3PO had various roles and was playing the part he was designed to do, interpreting and protocol and often found himself in perilous situations that offered suspense and surprises.

 

My only real issue with Jar Jar is that he was used TOO much. Sometimes less is more, and I think Jar Jar could have worked well as comic relief if he didn't seem to be in every scene of the film, constantly tripping over things, fumbling things, shrieking, etc, etc.

At the same time, I completely understand why he's there. The other characters in the TPM are extremely stoic. Obi Wan, Qui Gon and Padme aren't exactly the lives of any parties. So Jar Jar is used to liven things up a bit. I guess I just would have preferred if Lucas had balanced it better: Make Qui Gon, Obi Wan and Padme a bit less stoic, and make Jar Jar a bit less wacky. It was an unusual choice to put ALL the liveliness onto a single character, and give everyone else the personality of snow shovels.

Of course, as others have said, age changes our perception of these things. I know there are younger fans who thoroughly enjoyed Jar Jar, and that's great.
About a year ago, I went back and rewatched ESB for the first time in several years. I'm someone who grew up with the OT, and back in the 80s, I thought C3PO was very entertaining. But watching ESB again now, as adult, changed my perception, and I found myself thinking, "Wow, he's just as annoying as Jar Jar." Throughout the entire final act, as they're running around Bespin, C3PO's presence just really irritates me now. Just like with Jar Jar, it's too much. The difference is, in ESB, it was even less necessary for C3PO to be so prominent because the other characters were all lively enough in their own ways.

 

Actually (please don't ban me from that forum) always a bit annoyed by C3PO I am.

And obviously alone I am not.

 

I never hated Jar Jar but now I actively enjoy the character. Maybe part of it is my contrarian nature(!) but I genuinely always thought the vitriol directed towards him was completely over the top. I sometimes find Threepio much more irritating, especially in the latter parts of Attack of the Clones, yet I don't hate him either.

I also think Ahmed Best did an amazing job and some of the grief he got for essentially doing his job well (in delivering the character George wanted) was completely inexcusable (note, I'm not saying anyone is not allowed to despise the character if that's how they feel, that's different).

 

If I must be honest, I found Threepio rather annoying throughout most or all of the films he has appeared in. I like him, but I still found him annoying. And I can say the same about Han Solo in "A New Hope".

 

"I like him, but I still found him annoying" Hah, yeah, I can understand that about Threepio. I mean, like Jar Jar, I think he's kind of supposed to be annoying some of the time at least isn't he? His fussy, prissy nature is part of why we can appreciate Artoo's frustration with him, and so it underpins the relationship between them.

Maybe the response to Jar Jar would have benefited from him having a similarly partnered character in the prequels to play off him? I don't know.

 

Because of this..



Seriously though, Jar Jar suffers as a Scapegungan (scapegoat) and is hated for being a childish distraction. But if you compare C-3PO in ANH to Jar Jar, its not as wide of a gap in obnoxicity.

I think its vogue to hate Jar Jar Binks, just like its vogue to hate TLJ and Rian Johnson on the internet. Binks was at times excessively annoying, but the truth is you can’t say hus character is a bore, nor would we have The Clone Wars without his motion to give emergency powers to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in EPII.

 

Would you find it surprising that some people would be annoyed if a slightly toned down version of Jim Carry as Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber was a constant supporting character in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon?


Cheers,
Jayson

 

As to something I've read a few times in here...

"Star Wars is for kids."

Yep. It's a kids movies folks.


Only a kids movie, just like Spy Kids.

This isn't just a film series for kids.
It's a family film.

Family films aren't just kids movies. They're movies meant for all age groups above the toddler bracket, which is why Star Wars toggles between PG and PG-13.

Star Wars has hard core crap in it that really makes it hit hard in the gut for even adults.

A kids show isn't full of Greek tragedy and irony.

A family show is.
Saying anything is out of place or fine in a Star Wars film because it's a kids film is just flat wrong, and yes I'm aware Lucas called them a kids movie, but he's just wrong.

These aren't what kids films look like usually.
They keep kids and adults in mind and tell a story everyone can be invested in - not just kids.

Jar-Jar isn't a problem because Star Wars is a kids film and everyone annoyed isn't a kid.
Jar-Jar is a problem because of how the character's idea of comic relief was conducted without concern for preservation of the srrounding narrative air. It was regularly shoved in between rather heavy and serious scenes and the distance was quite vast between the two.
If the comedic distance from the serious weight wasn't so big, it wouldn't be such a knee jerk to a lot of folks.

And it can be done. Pirates of the Caribbean and the Original Trilogy (for the most part - Ewoks debatable) are examples of having comedy in dramatic tension without causing hard knee jerk tonal shifts in how seriously you take the film.

It's not that Jar-Jar is a bad character. He's simply highly disruptive and distracting to the rest of the film's tone.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

I was about to say that "Avatar: The Last Airbender" would like to have a word with you. And then I read the rest of your post. 100% correct.
I think that's why Rebels and Resistance annoy me, despite my fondness for both. Both shows treat Star Wars like a kid's show, rather than the family show it could be. (Zeb should not have been as annoying and underutilized as he was.) Rebels admittedly tried to go more mature, but they never quite hit the level of maturity I believe the show needed. Although that might be a storytelling fault more than a maturity problem.

Resistance is even weirder. It's weird, colorful, and everyone has the weightlessness. So much of the humor is supposed to be derived from slapstick and Saturday morning cartoon shenanigans, but it works SO much better when it doesn't rely on that. And yet, the storytelling feels so much more mature than Rebels.

The line between kid's show and family show is one I'm honestly not sure G.L. fully understood. And I'm not sure Lucasfilm as it stands truly understand it either.

As for Jar Jar...there's a good bit going on. The stereotyping (either present or perceived), the fledging CGI, and the fact that TPM did NOT meet the expectations and assumptions of most Star Wars fans, and they needed a scapegoat.

 

I don't think Jar-Jar is a scapegoat, honestly.

If everyone liked the films, Jar-Jar would still be the thing folks remarked on as a bit of a miss - like Sean Connery doing a "Russian accent" in Hunt for Red October.
Not good, but won't stop the majority from thinking well of the otherwise good film (at the time).

Cheers,
Jayson

 

I think Jar Jar is just flat out ofensive!

 

I am gonna be honest right now. I kind of like Jar jar just he is funny and he does have some funny moments.

 

And I think that's kind of the crux of it.

Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber is also funny and has some funny moments.
In and of theirselves, neither Jar-Jar or Lloyd are inherently bad characters or poorly performed - quite the opposite.

It's just if you toss Jar-Jar in the PT, or Lloyd into Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, it steps a bit too much to a different drum than the rest of the film's air and for some, especially children - who are less likely to recognize atmospheric consistency, this isn't an issue, while for others this can be just too much of a schism in performance styles to place right next to each other.

So you end up with endless debates because Jar-Jar is both well executed and poorly orchestrated at the same time.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

...like bagpipes in the Blue Danube, actually.

Jar-Jar is Star Wars' bagpipes.



Cheers,
Jayson

 

He's an incredibly annoying character, that's why! Still, I suppose if I were a kid, I would love him! When you look at it from an adult perspective, Jar Jar is just the prequels equivalent to CP-30. I would have probably hated CP-30 just as much as Jar Jar if I originally saw the OT as an adult.