All right.
Stop me if you've heard this one.
A clumsy Gunga military officer wanders into a beloved movie
franchise, walks up to the fandom, and says,
me-sa Jar Jar Binks.
15 years pass, and the fandom goes, here's a fan theory.
You're a Sith master.
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Allow me to introduce you to Jar Jar Binks, a central character
in "Episode One" of the prequel trilogy of Star Wars films.
Jar Jar is a Gungan former exile and supposed ally
to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Queen Amidala, Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedis,
and the Galactic Republic as a whole.
In his time onscreen, we watch Jar Jar rise
in the ranks from outcast to galactic senator,
where he holds a seat of significant power, all of which
would make perfect sense if Jar Jar wasn't so-- well,
I'll let Jar Jar speak for himself.
Me-sa called Jar Jar Binks.
Me-sa your humble servant.
That won't be necessary.
Oh, but it is.
It is impossible to take this guy seriously.
And so fans are led to ask how and why anyone, anywhere,
in any possible world, would.
How has he charted the path he has?
How has he not only survived, but excelled, to eventually
be manipulated by the Chancellor,
to the detriment to the very world and galaxy he's supposed
to serve, becoming largely responsible for the dissolution
of galactic democracy.
But still, how did he even get that far?
Well, luckily--
The long and short of this fan theory
is that Jar Jar is, in fact, a highly skilled force
user and Sith collaborator.
Counter to his harmless appearance,
it is claimed that Jar Jar is actually
conspiring with well known jackboot wearing
dark fathers like Darth Vader, Chancellor Palpatine
slash Darth Sidious, and maybe even Darth Maul,
which, I mean, aside, who names these guys?
Were we one step away from calling Kylo Ren Kylo
Dastardly before JJ Abrams was like,
[SUCKING THROUGH TEETH] that's a little on the nose,
don't you think?
Anyway, the defense for the theory
that Jar Jar is in moody cahoots with all of the aging goths
of the dark side is elaborate.
The theory originated in a novella length Reddit post
and launched 1,000 and one YouTube videos.
So if you want the whole story, we'll put links all around.
The Reader's Digest version of the Darth Jar Jar thesis
is the following.
One, every success we attribute to Jar Jar's dumb luck
is actually calculated.
As theory author Reddit user Lumpawaroo says,
Obi-Wan says, there is no such thing as luck.
Two, some details can be interpreted as evidence
that Jar Jar isn't a bumbling idiot, but a physical genius.
His clumsiness is a result of the drunken fist
style, purposeful awkwardness which confuses opponents.
What looks like success by chance
is actually the result of skill.
Three, the level of physical skill,
seeming and otherwise, that Jar Jar displays
is held only by force users in the Star Wars universe.
Other details reveal Jar Jar's political successes
could be the result of force manipulation.
He moves his hands, as a force users do
when they are being suggestive.
So not only is he a physical genius,
but a trained force user.
And finally, four, accepting Binks
knows what he's doing physically and politically
while employing the force means that he was not
a pawn in the chancellor's plot to turn
the Republic into the Empire, but a willing participant.
Binks is a deciding factor in the then Galactic Senate's
decision to grant the Chancellor power to do evil stuff.
Ergo, they must be bros.
Dark side bros.
Proponents of the Darth Jar Jar theory
have even gone so far as to suggest the gangly Gungan could
be the antagonistic Supreme Leader Snoke,
head of the first order, whose name sounds less obviously
evil to me and more like a type of vegetable.
So there's been no shortage of conversation concerning
the plausibility of this theory and all of its descendant
theory.
So I want to focus on something else.
On how Lumpawaroo implies something
about how the audience's relationship to Jar
Jar plays into all of this.
Because until this theory gained traction
at the end of last year, to put it bluntly, Jar Jar was a joke.
An embarrassment, almost.
One in a long string of cringe-worthy decisions
related to the prequel trilogy.
Lumpawaroo wagers that George Lucas actually
intended a reveal in "Episode Two"
that Jar Jar is a significant antagonist.
That he would battle Yoda, who actually ends up
battling Count Dooku, a character Lumpawaroo
conjectures was hastily written to replace
Jar Jar when the collective bile for Binks began to bubble.
Effectively, what this fan theory
does is recast Jar Jar in this theoretically original
insidious role, to make his clumsiness and dumb luck not
something we as audience members have to sit through,
have to deal with, but something deeper and more meaningful,
thus making his character so as well.
This theory is an apologia of Binks.
If I had to bet, I would guess Lucas
didn't intend Jar Jar as a Yoda foil,
but a combination R2-D2, C-3PO alike.
A kid-friendly character who contributes to the plot,
but who isn't much more than a bit player.
Binks' character gets confused by bad writing
and a desire for novelty.
What if this type of character was also influential?
And the whole thing goes south.
But that explanation is boring.
What's interesting is that since Jar Jar sits
between several tropes, it's possible to read him
as bumbling mistake, scheming manipulator, or most
excitingly, both.
The Darth Jar Jar both interpretation is exciting
because it justifies Jar Jar.
It's kind of intended to save Star Wars from itself, which
you only see occasionally from fan theories,
most notably perhaps, Norm Macdonald
and Emily Nussbaum's related takes on the "Breaking Bad"
finale.
Each holds that the convenience and drama of that final episode
is flat, unbelievable, or both.
And for a show with such a command
over tone and storytelling, it only
makes sense if Walter is, in fact, dreaming it,
all while he's actually dying in the seat of a snow-covered car,
surrounded by police.
The finale, then, is not an unclever episode
of "Breaking Bad," but the hastily
imagined could-have-beens of a doomed man.
These theories are significant because it's not
generally with fan theories that fans
try to address the shortcomings of their favorite stories,
but in fan fiction.
In several of our fan theory videos,
there's been a lot of talk about the relationship between fan
theories and fan fiction.
Where the line between them is, how their value propositions
compare, and how each have a related but different bad rap.
To me, fan theories attempt to rearrange existing story pieces
in a way that can, in works, still function as themselves,
only more complexly.
Fan fiction, on its face, has no such restrictions.
Peggy Carter can hang out with the Winchester brothers
at Hogwarts, where a female Commander Riker teaches
Team Captain America how to pilot
the Millennium Falcon, except its onboard AI is Cortana.
Or what's much more likely, situations, plots, characters,
and setting can be rewritten or recombined
to have more meaning or impact on an audience that
feels either underserved or less than respected by the cannon
media itself.
Often fans address issues of representation or sensitivity,
what they feel is lacking in interpersonal connection,
romance, or even acrimony between characters.
Fan fiction allows fans to do with their beloved characters
and situations what they think can and maybe should be done,
but isn't, won't, or can't be, for all kinds of reasons.
Darth Jar Jar, I think, sits on the edge
of fan theory and fan fiction.
It is highly, highly coherent.
If you were to write it out as a piece of fiction,
it would resemble the work upon which
it is based nearly identically.
In my mind, it would be the difference
between Blade Runner's director's cut
and its theatrical release, which
includes ponderous voiceover.
RICK DECKARD (VOICEOVER): I don't
know why he saved my life.
Maybe in those last moments, he loved life
more than he ever had before.
By the percentage of new material generated test,
Darth Jar Jar resembles a fan theory.
You know, I find that Jar Jar creature to be a little odd.
But within it, that redemptive streak,
that implied desire to save Jar Jar from ruin, sure,
from the spate of vitriolic public opinion which led his
voice actor, Ahmed-Best, to call his post Menace experience
a painful one--
Yeah, it was painful.
--but also to save the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy from
at least one of its many blunders,
the inclusion of Jar Jar Binks.
Perhaps even two blunders, if we believe a lapsed commitment
to his original characterization.
This strikes me as a fan fiction like in a way
most fan theories are not.
To rewrite the story not because, or not just because it
makes it more interesting or complicated
or gives its elements additional meaning,
but to make it more enjoyable, more usable
and approachable to the groups of fans
who felt like they were wronged or disrespected
by canon choices.
--[EXCLAIMING IN SURPRISE] [LIP TRILLING]
It is a rare fan theory that's made because something is bad.
Maybe because it's just not worth the effort.
What's the payback for developing
a textual explanation for say, the horridness
of the second two Matrix films, or every other Star Trek film?
Not that there isn't any, but that there's
an imbalance related to the amount of effort
required for such complex fanapologia.
A bad movie or a flat TV episode is like a half-played Jenga
game.
Where fan fiction knocks the whole thing over and rebuilds
it with the same pieces, fan theory apologia
is like reinserting those pieces while it's still standing,
to try to make it stable again.
Except some of the pieces are probably missing.
Collectively, we've decided that this
is a worthy pursuit for Jar Jar and the entire prequel trilogy.
This is a cultural artifact that we
have spent 15 years trying to fix, save, explain, vindicate.
Fan re-edits, Topher Grace and Star Wars' correct watching
orders-- machete order king amongst them-- and now
Darth Jar Jar.
An unending process seeking to make Star Wars great again.
Which was maybe hastened along by the release of "The Force
Awakens."
But still, the prequel trilogy is
a set of works asking to be put back together,
for a million reasons, which I'll let you all
tackle in the comments.
But let's at least for a moment appreciate
that a piece of great seeming structural importance
is one thought at first to be responsible for the collapse.
There is nothing of value.
That's our problem.
What do you guys think?
Three questions.
One, is Jar Jar a Sith collaborator?
Two, what other redemptive fan theories are there?
And three, why do you think there
has been so much work and effort invested
into figuring out how to enjoy the Star Wars prequel trilogy?
Let us know in the comments, and I'll respond to some of them
in next week's comment response video.
In this week's comment response video,
we talk about your thoughts regarding aesthetic.
If you want to watch that one, you
can click here or find a link in the doobly-doo.
We have a Facebook, an IRC, and a sub Reddit.
Links in the doobly-doo.
And the tweet of the week comes from Choplogic,
who characterizes internet irony as earnestness wearing "deal
with it" shades, which I love.
And in case you were wondering, this episode of Idea Channel
is sponsored by Squarespace.
If there's an idea or project that you're itching
to show the world, you should.
Squarespace provides tools that help people showcase
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Visit Squarespace.com/ideachannel.
And the last, but certainly not least,
this episode would not have been possible or good
without the very hard work of these bumbling Gungans.
See you next week.
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