Why the hate for Jar Jar?

[castletonsnob]

I don't get why Jar Jar is so hated. Honestly, he's the LEAST of the prequels' problems. A bigger problem is the fact that the dialogue is so bad that you wonder if George Lucas has ever even heard two humans have a conversation.

[James Fabiano]

Well yeah, at least Jar Jar was only a major part of the first of the three...the bad dialogue was there until the end.

Basically I guess he was just The Scrappy, simply put. But I wonder if SW fans overblew that cause they wanted a scapegoat for why the prequels out the gate were not what they wanted.

Other than that, my own explanation continues to this day: outside of Artoo and Threepio, Star Wars just cannot make a GOOD comic relief character. They peaked with the droids, and keep failing otherwise. (modern day example: Amy Sedaris' character on Mando/Fett. As I said, it turned into an SNL spoof whenever she was on camera)

[Fade is a CodyCryBaby]

My big impression of jar jar was mainly “lame and unfunny” as a 10 year old kid. If I had been older at the time…? I may have hated the character too lol

[Milkman Norm]

Multifaceted.

1. Fans built up Star Wars as something greater than it was which was Lucas' homage to the science fantasy serials of his youth mixed with a healthy bit of Kurosawa. So where a comic relief character would fit in well in that environment, they didn't once fans considered Star Wars to be serious art.

2. TPM suffered from to much relief and not enough tension. We knew which characters had to survive because we knew where the story was going. It's hard to build dramatic tension when that's the case & a bumbling idiot who fails upwards being a prominent side character didn't help.

3. Both the Gungans, and the Trade Federation came off as horrible racial stereotypes. I found them to be embarrassing the first time I saw the movie. Because of that I could never accept or have any affection for the characters.

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

He's basically a walking minstrel show whose also hideous to look at.

[chrom]

He came off as an annpying stereotype plus he was pretty useless. One think he was made General in the hopes he'd be killed in battle

Still better than Rose and Holdo though

[Hit Girl]

Because he's unfunny, intrusive and shitloads of screentime is devoted to him at the cost of more important elements of the story.

Plus, having this shitberg be responsible for giving Palpatine dictatorial powers over the galaxy was just the final insult. At that point you knew Lucas didn't give a shit about the plot to his movie/two hour SFX reel.

[Sponsored by Groose Wipes]

He's a bad attempt of comic relief in a movie that really doesn't need it.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Awkward design that’s too busy looking, cringey routine, he takes up screen time where he’s really not needed.

If they had made him like a capable thief or scout character or something and not such a load he may have actually worked.

Ahmed Best deserved much better.

[Dr. T is an alien]

If I had been involved I would have pushed for some serious character changes. He could still be comic relief, but more in the vein (though not quite) of Drax from the first GotG film. He could be a legit warrior (which is why he is made a general) but has the social skills of a less narcissistic Sheldon Cooper. His success as a warrior could have put him on the radar of the leader of his people but his overall dork-like qualities and his utter lack of social skills could have consequently severely offended the leader whose attention he just gained. That would explain why he was exiled, which would be many times better than he is clumsy.

That, and it would be a little more in tune with his portrayal on The Clone Wars. There he still had few social skills but demonstrated a distinct lack of clumsiness. He was quite capable when he had to be as well as having some strategic abilities.

[6pathsoftommy]

As many have said before he was an awful stereotype and had too much screen time. I feel for Ahmed Best because he got the brunt of the anger from the fans. With Nute Gunray and the rest of the Neimoidians while an awful stereotype themselves at least Gunray and the rest of them got a fitting death in RotS.

[Deleted]

The sheer blinding power of my white suburbaness has shielded me from this: Who are the Gungans and Neimodians stereotypes of? I don't get it.

I'm guessing the Gungans hit uncomfortably close to like, carribean black people?

[Cyno]

The Neimoidians had stereotypical East Asian accents. Though they were named in tribute to Leonard Nimoy, a white Jewish man.

[Toates Madhackrviper]

As a kid I loved Jar Jar. As an adult I kinda still want to like him but I realize that he's a racist stereotype as well so I can't really.

[Johnny B. Decent]

Jun 27, 2022 13:16:57 GMT -5 @kinciad said:

The sheer blinding power of my white suburbaness has shielded me from this: Who are the Gungans and Neimodians stereotypes of? I don't get it.

I'm guessing the Gungans hit uncomfortably close to like, carribean black people?

The Neimodians dress like Qing Dynasty Mandarins and have incredibly stereotypical Japanese accents.

[James Fabiano]

Jun 27, 2022 14:48:17 GMT -5 Johnny B. Decent said:

Jun 27, 2022 13:16:57 GMT -5 @kinciad said:

The sheer blinding power of my white suburbaness has shielded me from this: Who are the Gungans and Neimodians stereotypes of? I don't get it.

I'm guessing the Gungans hit uncomfortably close to like, carribean black people?

The Neimodians dress like Qing Dynasty Mandarins and have incredibly stereotypical Japanese accents.

That one I picked up on early. Even Toyfare mocked it (a Twisted Toyfare Theatre had them make comments about "wonton soup" complete with stereotypical accent).

I think the Gungans' VOICES at least were seen as dodgy stereotypes of Jamaicans. (unfortunately we'd get the next, more direct step in this "evolution" nearly 10 years later with Skids and Mudflap)

Phantom Menace seemed to have a lot of dodgy stereotypes in different manners. Wasn't Watto believed to be one of Jewish people?

[Dr. T is an alien]

Jun 27, 2022 14:48:17 GMT -5 Johnny B. Decent said:

Jun 27, 2022 13:16:57 GMT -5 @kinciad said:

The sheer blinding power of my white suburbaness has shielded me from this: Who are the Gungans and Neimodians stereotypes of? I don't get it.

I'm guessing the Gungans hit uncomfortably close to like, carribean black people?

The Neimodians dress like Qing Dynasty Mandarins and have incredibly stereotypical Japanese accents.

Honestly, it's hard to add an accent to a fictional world and not hit some stereotype. The Empire dressed like Nazis and spoke with the received pronunciation of Imperial England (as it would have been too on the nose to dress and speak like Nazis). The Twi'Leks speak in a French accent. All clones of Jango Fett speak in a Kiwi accent (the original actors in AotC both used their natural accent). Many of the alien languages you hear are legitimate real Earth languages. It's impossible to avoid any real accent unless you speak like Peter Cook in The Princess Bride, but that also would be problematic AF because then people would accuse you of mocking people instead of using stereotypes.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

Even his dad hates him

From Star Wars Tales 20






EDIT: I removed the last excerpt, where George R. Binks attempts to shoot himself in the head after his wife tells him "Please think of your son!"

[Johnny B. Decent]

Jun 27, 2022 15:02:56 GMT -5 James Fabiano said:

Jun 27, 2022 14:48:17 GMT -5 Johnny B. Decent said:

The Neimodians dress like Qing Dynasty Mandarins and have incredibly stereotypical Japanese accents.

That one I picked up on early. Even Toyfare mocked it (a Twisted Toyfare Theatre had them make comments about "wonton soup" complete with stereotypical accent).

Phantom Menace seemed to have a lot of dodgy stereotypes in different manners. Wasn't Watto believed to be one of Jewish people?

Oh yeah, Watto is a massive antisemitic stereotype. Incredibly greedy, giant hooked nose, he even wears a yarmulke in Attack of the Clones.

[Bones58]

Jun 27, 2022 15:04:21 GMT -5 Dr. T is an alien said:

Jun 27, 2022 14:48:17 GMT -5 Johnny B. Decent said:

The Neimodians dress like Qing Dynasty Mandarins and have incredibly stereotypical Japanese accents.

Honestly, it's hard to add an accent to a fictional world and not hit some stereotype. The Empire dressed like Nazis and spoke with the received pronunciation of Imperial England (as it would have been too on the nose to dress and speak like Nazis). The Twi'Leks speak in a French accent. All clones of Jango Fett speak in a Kiwi accent (the original actors in AotC both used their natural accent). Many of the alien languages you hear are legitimate real Earth languages. It's impossible to avoid any real accent unless you speak like Peter Cook in The Princess Bride, but that also would be problematic AF because then people would accuse you of mocking people instead of using stereotypes.

Well said. Almost everything in sci-fi is borrowed from culture in the real world. You’re going to bump into stereotypes eventually. If we really want to play it safe then we can use Siri to provide voices for all of the aliens.