Rian Johnson's Comedy in TLJ

Seeing this popup reminds me of what to this day I consider the most cringe worthy line in Star Wars history. Yes, worse then anything Anakin said about sand or Jar Jar said. To this day the half-witted scruffy looking nerf-herder conversation/insult/joke between Han and Leia makes me cringe. So bad and so badly delivered.

 

That one doesn't bother me too much (maybe because I've just gotten used to it) but most of the other Star Wars curses and slang sound awful to me.

"Karabast" did at first, too, but it's also grown on me. Though, if I ever saw a grown adult use it, I think I would literally implode from the cringe.

 

Hating that exchange is one of the things I remember most from my 1st viewing of ESB way back in 1980 when it arrived in theaters.

 

As much as I love ESB I hate this, hate it, hate it, hate it. Every time I hear it it is like finger nails on a chalkboard.

 

The prank call/mama joke played out well the first time I saw the film, but I cringe when I saw it on all subsequent viewings.

Thought the Luke milking the blue milk thing was way out of place.

Outside of that, nothing stood out to ruin the film comedy-wise.

 

I love the humour in TLJ and I think almost every humourous moment has a serious point underlying it, which is part of why I like it. But humour is a very individual thing and I can understand why some don't like it, with some examples especially more than others.

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 15, 2019, Original Post Date: Jul 15, 2019 ---

(sorry for the double post)
I was reminded of a post I wrote somewhere else a while back in response to a similar discussion - someone brought up the 'hugs' scene and Poe mentioning his mother... I know that one riles a lot of people, but anyway, this was my thoughts on that - maybe it'll change how some of you think about the exchange, maybe not(!):

....

I had never really thought about Poe making reference to ‘Hugs’’ mother before. And yet this subject being brought up here got me thinking, - just why did Rian Johnson use that particular insult?

And as usual for TLJ for me, the answer I came to was very satisfying.

For me, there are several layers going on with that line, and how it relates to the characters and plot.

1) It’s a known form of insult, as you say, a reference to the ‘yo momma/mama...’ joke. Well ok, I can see how that might bother people. It’s not exactly high-brow, is it?

2) It’s a really intelligent choice of insult for Poe to use. Of all the insults he could choose to use while he plays for time (which is itself an important foreshadowing of what Luke ultimately does at the end of the movie) he picked Hux’s mother... and it gets Hux angry. Poe wants Hux angry, and not thinking clearly. He succeeds in this.

3) Furthermore, just ask yourself the question - who is Hux’s mother? Why does it rile him so much to have her mentioned? This is where it gets really interesting to me. In Hux’s backstory, his mother was a kitchen worker with whom his father had an extra-marital affair. This in part explains why it’s a touchy subject for Hux. He was born out of wedlock as the result of a betrayal and later killed his own father.

4) Beyond Hux himself, it is a sly allusion to the subject of parentage in general. A subject we know was a big thing for audiences going in to the film was Rey’s parentage. Kylo Ren later tells Rey her parents were nobodies... junk traders buried in the desert. So in a way, that ‘yo mama’ joke was foreshadowing the hard truth(?) that Rey is going to hear later. Planting the thought at least, of ‘who is _ ‘s mother...?’.

5) Hux’s father betrayed his wife. Hux killed his father. Kylo killed his father, who was separated from his mother. Ben betrayed Luke, and Ben thinks Luke betrayed Ben. Even Luke thinks he almost betrayed Ben for most of the movie.

As usual though, you don’t need to know the backstory, you can just watch the movie. Hux’s mother is mentioned, and aside from it being an obvious insult, she is a character who is absent from the movies, and Hux reacts by getting angry. You can choose to draw an inference from that, if you want to.

6) There’s also the interesting comparison to be made with Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and what we do know about who his mother is (Leia of course) The contrast between Hux and Kylo is really interesting on many levels, they have such similarities and yet the differences are marked too.

 

After having to deal with Jar Jar Binks, I was more willing to overlook the childish humor in TLJ.

The humor that bothered me the most were the porg scenes. I put porgs on the same level as Jar Jar. But fortunately they didn’t get too much screen time.

Regarding Poe’s mamma joke at the beginning, I felt it was consistent with the way he mocked Kylo Ren at the beginning of TFA. The joke fit the character IMO.

 

Another difference is the porgs are fairly incidental to events - they are not integral to the story in the way Jar Jar's presence is. They could be edited out and make no difference to anything, so if you don't like them being there it's also easier to turn a blind eye to them.

 

The way I saw it, they are like therapy-pets for chewie, who just lost his best friend. Not an integral or important part of the story, but it sure made it less depressing to see Chewbacca hanging around on ach-to and the falcon. But as you maybe can guess, I am biased and shouldn't be allowed to comment on Porg-posts.

 

Luke's "Alright that is pretty much nowhere" line sums up why Rian Johnson is terrible at directing comedy. The line itself could have worked if JJ had directed, because Luke would have delivered that line over a campfire while he was turning his fish with a funny expression.. or something like that.

Rian had so many moments with characters just standing talking in a deadpan manner.. like characters from a PS1 game.

 

I agree with this, the Porgs didn't bother me. I mean, it was painfully obvious some corporate marketing exec told the production crew to include something cute and adorable so they can sell stuffed animals to 5 year olds…. but they weren't integral to the plot and, as mentioned above, it is easy to turn a blind eye to them.

 

Sure.... and then ramped their inclusion up to 11!

The porgs are elevated to slightly more than just general fauna - they take centre stage. While still having no bearing on the story of course.

 

Oh yeah... I don't mind them either.

I have no memory of being all that irritated by Jar Jar Binks either at the time. I think maybe his reputation preceded my first viewing of TPM so I he didn't seem as bad has had made out. I can be like that with films in general. I hear lots of bad reports about it, go and see it anyway and come away thinking.. "Well.. it wasn't THAT bad... what was the fuss all about?"

(And thanks for the porg. Have one yourself from me. Don't eat it all at once though )

 

They pretty much pulled the same stunts as Threepio in the Falcon - hopping around on one leg, getting caught up in wires, getting in the way of romance, lol

 

It's almost like a trope of kids fantasy is to use humor to provide levity in tense moments to help make the situation more palatable for a 12 year old