Topic: Why do people hate Jar Jar Binks?

[shingi_70]

I guess this goes for the prequel stuff in general.  I know he's a bit grating in the first movie but I'm watching The Clone Wars series and the episodes he has been in have been enjoyable. Bombard Jedi is the first of the Jar Jar/Padme episodes and its pretty entertaining.
I guess my question follows up to the whole Prequel Part of the universe. I mean the movies are of so-so quality and don't have the same feel of the Original series. (it makes sense why though) But despite that most other media that takes place in this time period is pretty good.
Didn't know if there was a main star wars thread.   

[nickmitch]

Jar Jar was just just kind of annoying and largely pointless.

Between the prequel trilogy, there were 1.5 good movies. I think they're overall hated by people who just didn't think that the character of Anakin would grow in to Darth Vader. I dunno. Made sense to me. Story still could've been better overall.

But the Clone Wars series is largely well liked, or so I thought. Even the original 2D shorts that aired for a while was pretty popular.

[azeke]

Probably because Star Wars being super serious adult drama is no place for kiddy characters like Jar Jar Binks.

Never seeing Star Wars until late 20s is quite beneficial at times

[TJ Spyke]

Star Wars, right from the beginning, was aimed at kids.

I don't mind Jar Jar, he is one of those characters that is good when used in short doses (like Database on The Simpsons).

[bustin98]

Characters like Jar Jar in the prequels are generally perceived as stereotypes. The whole jamacans in space thing showed a lack of imagination in regards to creating alien races. Jabba the hutt may have been a mobster of sorts but he wasn't a cartoony italian or whatever.

Jar Jar represents the worst of these stereotypes.

[S-U-P-E-R]

Comic relief characters are okay but Jar Jar wasn't funny, and pretty much ruined every scene he was in.

[pokepal148]

Star Wars, right from the beginning, was aimed at kids.

I don't mind Jar Jar, he is one of those characters that is good when used in short doses (like Database on The Simpsons).

he got some amusing bits in the big battle in episode 1

[S-U-P-E-R]

[Dasmos]

Jar Jar Binks is worse than all the Ewoks put togther, he's actually probably one of the worst characters in anything ever.

[shingi_70]

Jar Jar Binks is worse than all the Ewoks put togther, he's actually probably one of the worst characters in anything ever.

1. Jar Jar is pretty cool in The Clone Wars (makes sense as its a cartoon)
2.The Ewoks were awesome like Gizmo from Gremlins. The rebels would have loss the battle without those furry little dudes.
 

[Ian Sane]

Jar Jar comes across like exactly what he is - George Lucas wanting to pat himself on the back for having the first fully CG character in a non-cartoon movie.  Ignoring his borderline racist depiction or his unfunny attempts at humour, the character looks like Roger Rabbit invaded Star Wars.  Many times he doesn't even look like he is there and his movement is often exaggerated and unrealistic.

Worst of all he started a trend that I think is generally bad for movies: using fake looking CG for damn near everything even when the effect could be achieved with practical effects.  The big battle of Star Wars Episode I between the Gungans and battle droids is literally a cartoon.  This is now acceptable and movies get away with all sorts of **** that looks faker than effects from movies that are 30 years old!  Episode I started that and Jar Jar is the most prominant CG effect in that movie.  Jar Jar Binks is the patron saint of shitty CG.

Gollum however would be the patron saint of good looking CG.

[pokepal148]

Jar Jar Binks is worse than all the Ewoks put togther, he's actually probably one of the worst characters in anything ever.

1. Jar Jar is pretty cool in The Clone Wars (makes sense as its a cartoon)
2.The Ewoks were awesome like Gizmo from Gremlins. The rebels would have loss the battle without those furry little dudes.
 

the ewoks are fine in my opinion. i don't see why so many people don't like them.

[lolmonade]

Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace is like a mosquito bite: annoying but benign. 
 
I can't speak for any of the other tv shows/movies/etc he's appeared in.

[Adrock]

Jar Jar comes across like exactly what he is - George Lucas wanting to pat himself on the back for having the first fully CG character in a non-cartoon movie.

There are several in Phantom Menace so its not even like Jar Jar even had to be there for that reason. And I find it mildly amusing that Lucas used a really weird looking puppet instead for Yoda... then just decided to have ILM CG over the puppet like a decade later.

Jar Jar was kind of pointless. He easily could have been written out of the entire trilogy. Yeah, he's annoying, but I find him to be more a betrayal of decent storytelling. The problem with the prequels doesn't begin and end with Jar Jar. He's merely part of the problem and one that is fairly obvious to anyone even half paying attention.

[Stogi]

This thread listed on the main page reads like its racist.

Wasted potential...

[Ian Sane]

Jar Jar comes across like exactly what he is - George Lucas wanting to pat himself on the back for having the first fully CG character in a non-cartoon movie.

There are several in Phantom Menace so its not even like Jar Jar even had to be there for that reason. And I find it mildly amusing that Lucas used a really weird looking puppet instead for Yoda... then just decided to have ILM CG over the puppet like a decade later.

I don't know why they didn't just use the same puppet for Yoda from the original trilogy or, if it didn't exist anymore, make an exact replica.  Yoda lives to be like 900 years old or something like that.  In Phantom Menance he is like maybe 50 years younger at best which is a drop in the bucket for someone that old and yet he looks noticably different in what I assume to supposed to make him look younger.  Why would he look any different?  Oh yeah, George Lucas is a huge moron who couldn't even make Luke's and Leia's births consistent in Episode III with Leia's story in Return of the Jedi.

I remember when Episode I came out I was really excited for a new Star Wars and was reading up on the new movie the best I could and in interviews Lucas bragged big time about Jar Jar being an all digital character and how he was making movie history and everything like that.  Obviously there are other digital characters in the movie but Jar Jar is clearly the most significant one.

Hey, maybe that is why Yoda is a puppet in that one.  Being a well known character he would clearly steal the show and take attention from the other digital characters.  By Episode II that would no longer matter so they could just use a CG Yoda.

[TJ Spyke]

You could maybe explain Yoda's aging as a result of the events of Episode III and the stress caused by the destruction of the Jedi Order.

As for Leia, there have been several plausible explanations that explain it. Once is that memories of Padme were imprinted in Leia's memory through the force. Another is that her memories may have been that of the Organas, not Padme.

[Fatty The Hutt]

My opinion of Jar Jar has swung back and forth like his ears:
1. I saw TPM on it's release as an adult. I thought Jar Jar was ... just OK. Looked neat, had some cringe-worthy dialogue. Mostly harmless.
2. I saw TPM with my kids when they were little and saw how they reacted to Jar Jar, particularly in the toy stores. My kids thought he was funny. I could see their point. I gave Jar Jar a break. I could see how he was funny. I chuckled along with my kids.
3. I saw TPM more recently in the theatres with my kids who are now teenagers. We really enjoyed collectively cringing at how dumb Jar Jar is. He was a source of ridicule but he didn't piss us off. We had fun and laughed at Jar Jar quite a bit, but not for the reasons George Lucas intended.
4. I have seen several episodes of The Clone Wars animated series that feature Jar Jar. These people got him right at last. He is worked in logically to the stories in which he appears. He is genuinely funny. He gets results in unexpected ways because he is a clown character. He achieves his successes by accident. I genuinely enjoy his appearances.

[oohhboy]

You could maybe explain Yoda's aging as a result of the events of Episode III and the stress caused by the destruction of the Jedi Order.

As for Leia, there have been several plausible explanations that explain it. Once is that memories of Padme were imprinted in Leia's memory through the force. Another is that her memories may have been that of the Organas, not Padme.

LOL, the force did it. That's some hack retcon I would expect GL to do.

[Ian Sane]

You could maybe explain Yoda's aging as a result of the events of Episode III and the stress caused by the destruction of the Jedi Order.

As for Leia, there have been several plausible explanations that explain it. Once is that memories of Padme were imprinted in Leia's memory through the force. Another is that her memories may have been that of the Organas, not Padme.

LOL, the force did it. That's some hack retcon I would expect GL to do.

If you're making a prequel wouldn't the VERY FIRST THING you would do is watch the original films and make notes about anything that references the past so that your new films don't contradict the rest of the series or introduce plotholes?  It's just such an obvious thing to do and anyone with the slightest skill in storytelling would do that.  George Lucas is making this stuff up.  This isn't like some convoluted canon created by multiple authors over decades where it's impossible to fill in the gaps without some conflict.  It's simple: Leia remembers some time with her real mother who died when she was young.  Thus Padme must die while Leia is young but old enough to have some memory of it while Luke has effectively no contact with her and never knows her.  This must happen and Episode III's story must unfold in such a way to allow it to and there is no reason it couldn't have.  It isn't like some events in I and II screwed that up.  He didn't do it because he's either a huge idiot or he is just too damn lazy to give enough of a **** to get his story straight until the movie was already done.

The "plausible explanation" is simply that the movie sucks and is broken.  Why should I force myself to buy a flimsy excuse?  I'll just do what is actually enjoyable - watch the original trilogy in their original versions and ignore anything else to do with Star Wars that came out after Episode I came out.

[TJ Spyke]

Episode III is a good movie, I would rank it in the top 3 of the 7 Star Wars movies.

And there is plenty of plausible reasons for what happened.

[oohhboy]

Now you are just trolling. Don't try to out SUPER, SUPER.

[Ian Sane]

Episode III is a good movie, I would rank it in the top 3 of the 7 Star Wars movies.

The movie where Darth Vader screams "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" after Padme LITERALLY dies from a broken heart and says to Anakin "you're breaking my heart" is a good movie?

[Caterkiller]

I didn't mind Jar Jar so much until I grew up. It was young Anikin in episode 1 that was just terrible. There was not one scene in the movie where his acting was genuine. Again I only noticed this as an Adult and understand partially why the prequels were hated so much.

I didn't realize the Leah and Padme plot hole though. That kind of crap is inexcusable and the reason why the only story I can believe in any more is the Walking Dead comics cause its still so short and One Piece because the author goes out of his way to make sure anything said or done by a character is absolute gospel even when he revisits a characters past 10 years later. Read One Piece.

[S-U-P-E-R]

Episode I came out when I was in high school, and my parents forced me to come to the theater and watch it even though I really, really didn't want to. At the time, it was maybe the worst movie I had ever seen. Now I bet they wonder why I never call or write
 
 
So yeah, Episode I has a special place in my heart.