[ SECRET POST #2342 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2342 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 066 secrets from Secret Submission Post #335.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I can understand not liking the noise, but I think they're worlds apart as characters.

Chewie is one of the few good-guy sidekicks I don't loathe. He's competent, intelligent, loyal, strong, and imposing. Most of the canon jokes about him are basically about how ferocious he is. In a lot of ways, he's a better, more responsible person than Han. I can easily imagine wanting a person like that for a partner. He's not childlike or pet-like, and the main characters never have to stop what they're doing to go bail out the helpless, in-trouble-again sidekick. He's useful, level-headed, and a good friend.

The above only adds to why I was so incredibly disappointed by Jar-Jar, though. I thought George Lucas understood what a sidekick whose sole purpose wasn't making the hero look smart in comparison, or making the audience laugh at the bufoon could actually do. And instead, he gave us this offensive, obnoxious ditz with no personality traits to recommend him. Jar-jar has the mentality of a petulant five year old. He's always the first to freak out, he can't contribute anything useful, and his inattention and thoughtlessness take him from calamity to calamity. I get that we're supposed to be impressed with the way Qui-Gonn sees the force's will in their chance meeting, and then the story supports his point: the Gungans do become important in the battle on Naboo. But I don't like characters who chronically act like complete screwups, and I don't give the Jedi more credit for putting up with one. I much prefer supporting characters like Chewbacca and R2-D2 to ones who can't find their own way out of a wet paper bag.

[blunderbuss]

You make some absolutely excellent points, and I'd like to add something. What made Chewie and Han so great is that they were a team, almost like blood-brothers. Like you said, Chewie wasn't some pet but an equal, whose strengths complimented Han's weaknesses and vise versa. You really could see them as a pair who could handle everything the galaxy could throw at them, because they were two dangerous guys who made a greater whole together. Even though Chewie never spoke and their friendship was never a central part of the movies, you could see that.

Jar Jar, however, is no one's equal; even Anakin, a child, is way above him in every way. Jar Jar doesn't bring anything important to the character dynamics, like being someone's foil or compliment, or bringing a new perspective*, or in any way create that greater whole. Instead, the other characters laugh at, pity, or put up with him. How can any character that only invokes that be worth anything?

* (I'm going into a tangent here, but this really bothered me the more I thought about it. Jar Jar and the Gungans show a massive flaw in the Republic; each world has a representitive, but it's clear that said representitive might not represent all the peoples on their planet. Who do the Gungans have to represent them in the senate? If they had grievances, could they even go to the senate themselves, or would they have to go to the Naboo, who look down on them? This would have been an excellent chance to give Padme some actual character development in this film, with her thinking that she must fight for her people, but realizing that she was only fighting for the Naboo, not everyone. By meeting Jar Jar she should have developed compassion for all the people who don't even have people to fight for them in senate.)

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

Thanks for adding this. I definitely agree with you about Chewie and Han being equals, but I wasn't sure how to say that without making it sound like I was plot-dynamic blind.