Jar Jar Binks: A Fellow of Infinite Jest and Most Excellent Fancy

The Phantom Menace had a lot of problems. Even fans who still enjoy the film admit that. While some things have softened with age, others have become even more noticeable. But no single point has taken more criticism than Jar Jar Binks. While some of that is fair, I do think that the character is a bit misunderstood. In writing this defense of Jar Jar Binks I came to an unfortunate conclusion. I like the idea of Jar Jar a lot more than I like Jar Jar.

Christopher Lunchbox Swanski, founder and proprietor of this website, has made the argument that the Jar Jar role would have been better filled by a character like Captain Tarpals. This seems to be based on the idea that Jar Jar was intended to be the Chewbacca of the Prequel Trilogy - the cool alien sidekick. I strongly disagree with this assessment. While the success rate was spotty, the Prequels were set up to tell the story of Anakin Skywalker’s journey from virtuous child to the terrifying oppressor we all know and love. Jar Jar was introduced to reinforce that innocence and to serve as a reminder of who Anakin was. Through the films of the PT, Jar Jar fades into the background, with a single silent appearance in Episode III. There’s no place for Jar Jar in the story being told there.



I’m not going to argue that Jar Jar isn’t annoying. He is. He annoys the other characters in the film, and he also annoys the audiences. That’s probably not intentional. He’s in a position to provide comic relief, but it’s like watching a bad Robin Williams movie where it’s just… too much. Too many comedic misses. It turns out there is such thing as a bad fart joke. But, is he really any more annoying than C-3PO? Ok, yes. But, let’s not pretend that C-3PO wasn’t annoying. The point is that annoying characters weren’t new to Star Wars, and really C-3PO is a way better OT analog to Jar Jar than Chewbacca.

We’re going to get a little academic here, but let’s dig into some Shakespeare. The 3 Henry plays of the Second Tetralogy tell the story of Prince Hal’s journey from a carefree prodigal son to the heroic King Henry V. During the earlier parts of the story, Prince Hal’s milieu is dominated by Sir John Falstaff, a jovial coward who many have called Shakespeare’s greatest creation. Though Falstaff is looked down upon as a loser and a drunk by the classier characters, he shows Hal the joy of life and adheres to a unique code of honor. As Hal progresses, it becomes necessary for him to leave Falstaff behind, breaking the old man’s heart. Henry’s rejection of Falstaff marks his transition from boy to man; from rogue to king.

As far back as 1999, I have been playing with the theory that Jar Jar’s purpose was similar to that of Falstaff - though Anakin’s story moves in a somewhat opposite direction. Severing his relationship with Jar Jar could have been an important and emotional step in the formation of Darth Vader. It didn’t turn out this way. My contention has been that the fan backlash made that impossible. Let’s say we go to extremes and Anakin’s fall culminated with his straight-up murder of his naïve childhood friend. Fans would have applauded. That would have been a disaster. In short, whiny nerds on the internet are why we can’t have nice things.



Last week, while I was home sick and under the influence of various medications, I watched The Phantom Menace. Despite both characters being in the movie a lot, Anakin and Jar Jar don’t really interact much. Their only direct conversations are Anakin telling Jar Jar not to stick his face in the energy binders (which he immediately does) and both expressing their disinterest in the political plotline of the movie. That’s it. While this doesn’t completely invalidate my characterization, it doesn’t help. They know each other, but I wouldn’t really call them friends. If Jar Jar was meant to serve as a representation of Anakin’s childhood, we don’t really get enough to establish a strong link. In their first appearance in Attack of the Clones, Jar Jar and Anakin greet each other warmly, but it seems clear they haven’t seen each other since the end of TPM. I believe this is their final interaction on screen.

So while Jar Jar was a lightning rod for criticism, he ultimately serves no purpose in Anakin’s story at all. Sure, he does some senate stuff, but that whole plotline is utter nonsense anyway. If there were grander plans at the start, the poor execution aborted any attempts to develop him in the later films. Jar Jar, as presented, is a failure in story-telling.

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