Jar Jar Binks

[Largo]

I've been stewing about something since Star Wars: Episode I, the Phantom Menace came out. I have to get this off of my chest.

The Jedis are walking through the forest on Naboo, and meet Jar Jar. He has a speech impediment, so they assume he is stupid and treat him badly. He tries to defend himself by saying "Meesa Spek." Then Qui Gon Jinn, the A-hole says, "The ability to speak does not mean that you possess intelligence."

OK. If you are really this enlightened, powerful, protector of the weak, then why do you make fun of people (or things) that are weaker than you?

And it's not just Qui Gon Jinn. Obi Wan could have said something. But he didn't. You know why they only let people begin the training when they are little kids? It's so they can indoctrinate them in their elitist B.S.

Don't even get me started on Yoda. Hey Yoda, you got Napolean syndrome much?

And Mace Windu. Why don't you crack a smile once in awhile? The inability to express joy is a sign of childhood abuse. Too close to the truth?

The Jedis have too much political power.

Your thoughts?

[SlvrDragon50]

Analogy

Qui Gon Jinn : USA :: Jar Jar Binks: Rest of the non G8

:P I'm a bit too political tonight...

Im impressed that you can actually spell that stuff.. I would have just said, " the person that died in episode 1"

Actually.. I would have never recalled it

[Largo]

The U.S.A? What galaxy are you living in?

[SlvrDragon50]

Well.. its sort of stretching the relationship but its about the CIA destroying foreign regimes..

Off topic :P

[Largo]

CIA?

Coruscant International droid Association?

[SlvrDragon50]

NERD

You know too much Star Wars.. even though I did go for a 6 episode marathon before.

[Largo]

You know. The USA is a lot like the planet Aldoran. Aldoran was terraformed by people (and things) from many different planets.

Due to its large size, people were basically allowed to do what they want, and police themselves. Most independent-minded people want to build a future for themselves, and their children, and they also want to do good things so that after they die, people think of them fondly. That's what happened on Aldoran, and the people were prosperous.

Aldoran entered the Galactic Republic reluctantly. They didn't want their economy to be connected to other planets, but their politicians convinced the voters that by strengthening other planets' economies, inter-galactic warfare would be much less likely.

Next, they found themselves signing mutual defense treaties. After that, they were drawn into shooting wars. Because they had a strong industrial sector, and also because most of their men were healthy (they grew up on Bantha farms and did lots of hard work), their Army was usually victorious.

This made other planets envious. Other planets began to hate Aldoran. They sent agents to infiltrate Aldoran's media outlets, and universities, government entities, and even their private sector.

Eventually, the citizens of Aldoran began to bad-mouth their own planet. They would say things like, "Even Jaba the Hutt could govern Aldoran better than that idiot, Governor Organa."

What they didn't realize was that they were rooting for the very people (and things) who wanted to kill them...literally. Eventually, the Galactic Empire blew up Aldoran with the Death Star. And all of the other planets were happy. Because, they had wiped out the only planet where the people stood up for themselves, and said, "You will respect me because I am a person (or thing) and I will respect you, because you are a person (or thing). The only problem was that Aldoran was the economic engine of the galaxy, due to the Midiclorian work ethic. Also, the Aldoranians are the only people in the galaxy who actually donate their own personal income to charity.

So. That could be like our life. Yours and mine. Let's all bad-mouth our own planet and bow to the will of the Galactic Empire, and things will be just great in Two-Thousand-Eight.

[torrey]

Perhaps the characters are a reflection of the elitist attitude of the writer himself?

[DevilDiver]

I could never stand the Jar Jar charicter.....

I do not believe their is any grounds to say that the Jedi were discriminating dealing with Jar Jar. The whole Gungan species spoke this way when using "Basic" and the references to Jar Jar was because he was an idiot not because of his communication skills.

As for the comments on "Aldoran" (correct spelling Alderaan) I have never found any reference to the planet being Terra-formed or Bantha's much less any history regarding their membership in the Republic.

Starwars.com - Databank:

Alderaan





From the Movies

If ever one needed an example of the irredeemable evil that was the Empire, turn to the shattered remains of Alderaan. An influential world, Alderaan was represented in the waning days of the Republic by such venerated politicians as Bail Antilles and Bail Organa.
A peaceful world, Alderaan was bereft of weaponry in an era of galactic strife. It was not without spirit, however. Alderaan was one of the earliest supporters of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, though its officials prudently kept all ties to the Rebellion covert.
During the time of the Empire, Alderaan's representative in the Senate was Princess Leia Organa. Using her political stature and inherent diplomatic immunity, Organa was able to skirt past Imperial blockades on missions of mercy that aided beleagured Rebel units.
Her compassion and the tyranny of the Empire would doom poor Alderaan. Leia was captured intercepting vital Imperial plans, and taken aboard the unspeakably powerful Imperial superweapon, the Death Star battle station. There, Grand Moff Tarkin demanded to know the location of the Rebel hidden fortress. When Leia refused to divulge that information, Tarkin targeted the Death Star's prime weapon on Alderaan. Leia attempted to spare her homeworld a horrible fate by giving Tarkin a false answer. It was no use. Tarkin unleashed the Death Star's power regardless. With a single blast, Alderaan was reduced to rubble, and its population, numbering in the millions, was killed in the blast.
From the Expanded Universe

Alderaan, a revered Core world, had long been a center point in galactic politics, exploration, and culture. Alderaanian exploration vessels plied many of most important trade routes in the galaxy. Colonists from Alderaan settled many scattered worlds.
Alderaan was a beautiful blue green orb lacking moons, and was the home of a peaceful society. Unlike the crowded Core worlds like Coruscant, Alderaanian society struck a harmonious balance between urban centers and undisturbed wilderness. Alderaan was once home to a native sentient species that had long ago died out, an insectoid culture known as the Killiks, who left behind impressive hive-edifices -- called Castle Lands -- on the Alderaanian grasslands.
Much of Alderaan was covered by gently swaying grasslands and prairies. Alderaanian artists used the landscape itself to create living works of art, planting grasses of different hues and textures along carefully plotted paths. The savannahs supported a variety of ruminant life-forms, such as grazers and nerfs, and ranching was a common occupation on rural Alderaan.
The few metropolitan areas of the planet were designed in such a way to complement their surroundings. The city of Aldera's skyline consisted of gently curved, gleaming white buildings that formed a subtle bridge between the green grasses and white clouds. Here, students from across the galaxy studied at the famed University of Aldera, a learning institution that promoted freethinking, much to the chagrin of the Empire. Other centers, such as Crevasse City, melded so perfectly with their surroundings as to be almost invisible from a distance.
The planet had no weapons or military force, but it wasn't always so. During the Clone Wars, violence and warfare almost destroyed Alderaan. As a result, Viceroy and First Chairman Bail Organa outlawed all weapons, and declared a state of peace. This period of regrowth was spectacular, and Alderaan was renowned for its beauty, hailed as the "Bright Center of the Universe."
The destruction of Alderaan had a great polarizing effect on the galaxy. Worlds that attempted to remain neutral in the Galactic Civil War soon found themselves taking side -- those terrified by the act of Imperial brutality and hoping to avoid similar reprisals sided with the Empire; those offended by Alderaan's destruction began to openly or covertly support the Alliance. Many residents of Alderaan who were offplanet when their homeworld was destroyed were quick to join the Rebellion, though a few became fanatical supporters of the Empire, blaming Alderaan's involvement with the Rebellion for its destruction. Alderaanian survivors operated the massive ion cannon on Hoth's Echo Base. Survivors who wished to continue a peaceful existence, and not be involved in combat, were transported to New Alderaan, an Alliance safe world.
All that remains of Alderaan today is an asteroid field known as the Graveyard. Many Alderaanian survivors return to the area, to pay respects to their deceased loved ones and revisit cherished memories of their dead world.
Behind the Scenes

Early draft scripts of Star Wars had the Imperial capital world named Alderaan, which was sort of a cross between Coruscant and Bespin. In these early versions, Princess Leia came from the peaceful world of Ogana Major. Subsequent rewrites reshuffled names and settings. Much of the action that once took place in a prison complex on Alderaan instead took place aboard the Death Star, and Ogana Major was renamed Alderaan, with Ogana being slightly respelled to become Leia's surname.

[thor]

Originally Posted by Largo

I've been stewing about something since Star Wars: Episode I, the Phantom Menace came out. I have to get this off of my chest.

The Jedis are walking through the forest on Naboo, and meet Jar Jar. He has a speech impediment, so they assume he is stupid and treat him badly. He tries to defend himself by saying "Meesa Spek." Then Qui Gon Jinn, the A-hole says, "The ability to speak does not mean that you possess intelligence."

OK. If you are really this enlightened, powerful, protector of the weak, then why do you make fun of people (or things) that are weaker than you?

And it's not just Qui Gon Jinn. Obi Wan could have said something. But he didn't. You know why they only let people begin the training when they are little kids? It's so they can indoctrinate them in their elitist B.S.

Don't even get me started on Yoda. Hey Yoda, you got Napolean syndrome much?

And Mace Windu. Why don't you crack a smile once in awhile? The inability to express joy is a sign of childhood abuse. Too close to the truth?

The Jedis have too much political power.

Your thoughts?

I beg to differ. I think the Jedis major flaw was that they were incompetent and lazy. Apparently they sat around all day in their little star chamber hanging around in their futuristc lazy-boy recliners waiting for some chosen person to show up and liberate the galaxy. You would think with all of those Jedi powers and being one with the force, that they would have suspected that Senator Palpatine was really the Dark Lord. I mean who didn't see that one coming? Apparently every single Jedi. I mean Obi Wan can sense that millions of people die when Princess Lea's homeworld is destroyed light years away, but he can't sense that the good Senator has Sith breath when he standing right next to him. Maybe he was smoking whatever Jar Jar Binks was smoking. And why was Yoda hanging out on some swamp planet, while a war was going on, knowing that Darth Vader was running amuck. This is especially disturbing because Yoda was such a bad a$$ with a light saber.
No wonder why they were almost completely wiped out. Silly Jedis.