This is legitimately the only recent reveal that made my jaw drop- in a good way. I’m more glad to see Jar Jar than Grievous.
I never disliked the guy. I never loved him either. He was just one of the crew with very distinct mannerisms, a silly voice, and comedic slapstick relief; perfectly constructed entertainment for a 9 year old.
I also had one of these (along with every other toy associated with TPM) and loved playing with it.
Gungan City was a great addition to the Star Wars universe and ingratiated itself to me even more to me via the TPM PS1 game, which I could never complete.
Honestly? I think a lot of us were in the closet about the PT. It was sort of like Nickelback. You talk a bunch of **** with your friends, but then you’re jamming along to “Rockstar” on the FM channels.
Part of what happened, I believe, is we collectively realized George Lucas was right: he made those movies for kids.
I was too young to be aware of any backlash against TPM. As far as me and my friends were concerned, it was the coolest thing that had ever happened.
I think I managed to make it into my twenties before even becoming aware that people hated it on such a large scale, which shocked me since I still consider it my favourite of the prequels.
But that wasn’t uncommon for me- in the days when I rejected the internet in favour of playing outside- since I also wasn’t aware of negativity towards Independence Day, Hook, or even Nickelback; all of which I have openly enjoyed throughout my life. How You Remind Me will always go down well at Karaoke Night.
I also quite dislike the meme culture around Star Wars prequels, which I think is actually the primary driving factor behind its newfound popularity, especially amongst Gen Z.
You’re not enjoying the movie for its qualities at that point, you’re enjoying using recognisable moments from the movie to pursue online validation from strangers.
It’s blurring the lines between enjoying something ironically by conflating the dopamine hit from getting positive social media responses with actual appreciation of and emotional resonance with the subject matter- imo anyway.
I dislike it more after an eye roll moment when I went to a LOTR all-day marathon at the cinema and all the younger people seeing the trilogy on the big screen- presumably for the first time- would celebrate and high five when Boromir says ‘One does not simply walk into Mordor’ or Legolas says ‘They’re taking the Hobbits to Isengard!.’ Great, you got to see your favourite meme in context… Now try to actually appreciate these masterpieces of cinema!
Oh boy, I’m becoming and grumpy old man far too soon.
All that to say- no, I’m not buying this ironically. Jar Jar is, whether people like it or not, a prominent part of TPM, and he absolutely belongs in the display with the rest of the main cast.