| Jar Jar Binks - what's all the fuss about? |
It's well known that Jar Jar has become somewhat of a hate figure in America; subject of running jokes on the Jay Leno show, and so on. What you may find interesting is that, since the release of the film, all mention of Jar Jar has been removed from the official Star Wars website! Strewth, etc. But what's the truth?
My two-penneth...
I've heard it said that Jar Jar, regardless of his
quality as a character per se, has no place in a Star
Wars film. Admittedly this criticism comes mainly from the sort
of hardcore fans who would rather the film had been two hours of
martial arts toss between the Jedi and the Sith. But even so, it
doesn't hold water.
Jar Jar's function is largely comic relief, and in this he is most reminiscent of C3P0. Like Jar Jar, Threepio gets a lot of screen time in Star Wars while contributing relatively little to the plot. Yet nobody complained that he was wasting space which could have been filled with plot development. By contrast, I would say that TPM desperately needs something to deflect attention from the often overbaked narrative, and Jar Jar does this admirably. Although he is aware of the serious events going on around him, he - alone of all the characters - doesn't let it stop him having fun. Good for him!
Of course, Threepio has also been unpopular with many viewers, if not quite on this scale. As many people are irritated by his fussiness, pessimism and tendency to panic as find such traits funny. Yet it is clear that underneath it all, C3P0 is one of the good guys. When the chips are down, he can be as brave (distracting the stormtroopers on Endor), shrewd and useful as anyone else. His most vital contribution is winning the Ewoks over to the rebels' cause, in the course of which he overcomes his previous lack of confidence in his storytelling abilities.
There are echoes of other Star Wars characters in Jar Jar. His clowning on the tank in the final battle reminds one of Wicket on his stolen speeder bike. In the Moss Epsa marketplace he proves he is 'always thinking with his stomach', like Chewbacca.
In a nutshell, Jar Jar combines R2D2's naivety, C3P0's cowardice and Wicket's irrespressible curiosity. That's why he is fully deserving of a place in the Star Wars universe. These characters are essential to Star Wars; like the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, they represent aspects of the human experience in their purest form, while the actual humans are busy being complicated and adult. They also represent the children in the audience - lowly and dispossessed, but trying their best to figure out the complicated and violent world around them.
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