Episode 605

[Molly]

Dan, if it helps at all I was 16.

I'm sure it doesn't.

I was twelve.

I am now married with my first child on the way. That, my friends, is how time flies.

[Rjoyadet]

I groaned when having a real job was mentioned. I still have short sleeves and a name tag when I work.

I did say that, and it wasn't cool. That had always been my attitude back then when I was basically still a kid and working full-time for the first time, and I tend to still use the phrasing today, but work is work. If I offended you I apologize.

Not at all. I did groan but it was like a "yep, you got me, ha ha" kind of groan. It is nothing compared to my fathers advice, who has told me time and again that I would not be having the financial troubles I am facing right now if I chose to go into engineering. Never mind that he has an engineering degree.

I currently work in a museum and love it. The past year my jobs have ranged from watching children to scrubbing toilets and mopping floors at 5:00 AM. That last part would have really been tough had it not been for "Bigger on the Inside." So actually I should be giving you an overdue "Thank You."

[MissDaria]

Ahh, another podcast almost the exact same length as the walk I took. Excellent!

I knew I couldn't be the only one left unmoved by a crawl that described the thrill of taxes and trade embargos. Hey, kids! Economics!

I will be 'that person', though - we've had elected monarchs in the real world (and the system continues in some places), so elected queens are an actual thing. Don't think they're usually fourteen years old, though.

(Though I just looked up Natalie Portman's birthdate and she would have been 16-17 during filming. So if she really is supposed to be fourteen, it's not quite the case of Dawson Casting I thought. She must've just looked more grown-up.)

In the spirit of being competely contrary, when Shmi says 'there was no father', I choose not to interpret it as a miraculous conception. It's just a euphemism for something like 'he was a sailor'.

[Stavros]

Yeah, Kings were once just elected from amongst chiefs, hereditory stuff didn't kick in for a while.

[Rjoyadet]

I wonder if Lucas was trying to channel the Bible. Specifically the old testament where the kings of Israel were in their teens, never mind that most of them came to that position by riling up reform or becoming a war hero.

[SuaveStar]

Part of the way through, and I like Mike's idea that Qui Gon was a Sith the whole time. It kind of makes sense, when you think about it. Finding the boy, and trying to get him to become a member of the Jedi to destroy them from within. Also, maybe this isn't the first "Chosen one" that Qui Gon has brought the council, maybe he's just showing off all these kids to keep the council busy, while he takes care of Sith infiltration business.

However, if true, Lucas probably forgot about it halfway through the script and said "Fuck it, he dies, just like Obi Wan did in Episode IV."

[dc20willsave]

There are two ways to interpret Shmi saying there is no father in my opinion.

1) Shmi was the slavecamp bicycle and, when she found herself knocked up finally, she made up an elaborate lie about there not being a father, a nice way of saying it would take going on Space Maury to find out the identity.

2) From a conversation in Revenge of the Sith, it can be conjectured that Palpatine's master or Palpatine himself could have used the force to knock up Shmi and then forgotten about it or decided there was enough time to catch the game while they put the cake in the oven. Qui Gon just happened to get there before one of the Sith could pick it up and ritually tattoo it or whatever Sith do to their apprentices. This could be taken even further if you subscribe to Mike's Darth Taken theory. Who's to say that Darth Plagueis didn't have two apprentices just in case one of them get killed as is bound to happen and Qui Gon just happened to be the one to find Anakin first?

Either way around, whatever Christ analogy Lucas may have been going for at first is definitely getting subverted. Regardless, it just sucked to be Shmi.

[Stavros]

I think the official line is that Darth Plagueis did it, although he might not have known where in the universe the child would come forth.

[Koete]

I listened to this again today because it's so much fun to listen to. The only suggestion I have for the rest of the prequel reviews is more commentary on how Ian McDiarmid runs the show.

[KnightWing]

I think the official line is that Darth Plagueis did it, although he might not have known where in the universe the child would come forth.

The official official line is that Darth Plagueis could have done it; it's left deliberately vague. But there's enough evidence from various sources to say that he probably did it.

[Delete]

Part of the way through, and I like Mike's idea that Qui Gon was a Sith the whole time. It kind of makes sense, when you think about it. Finding the boy, and trying to get him to become a member of the Jedi to destroy them from within. Also, maybe this isn't the first "Chosen one" that Qui Gon has brought the council, maybe he's just showing off all these kids to keep the council busy, while he takes care of Sith infiltration business.

However, if true, Lucas probably forgot about it halfway through the script and said "Fuck it, he dies, just like Obi Wan did in Episode IV."

No it is just poor writing and the point was that the Jedi had become dogmatic and stale and Qui Gon was the only one with a clue. This was supposed to be spelled out in Revenge of the Sith but for whatever reason the Yoda/Ghost Qui Gon scene where Yoda bemoans that if he had only listened to Qui Gon none of the bad shit would have gone down was never filmed and instead replaced with Yoda telling Obi Wan that ghost Qui Gon was going to teach him how to be a ghost.

[dc20willsave]

I think the reason Jar Jar has never achieved the status of the most hated film character of all time for me. Among other things, as annoying as Jar Jar was, Pepsi ran these ads the entire summer the year the movie came out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8wveFeeVDI

God I hate that thing.

[Rjoyadet]

I think the reason Jar Jar has never achieved the status of the most hated film character of all time for me. Among other things, as annoying as Jar Jar was, Pepsi ran these ads the entire summer the year the movie came out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8wveFeeVDI

God I hate that thing.

Yeah, I was hoping that thing went the way of the shcmoo and was forgotten by the universe.

[Badhead]

Does anyone know if the Star Wars radio dramas are worth seeking out?

[KnightWing]

Yes. Yes they are.

[Dan]

They are TREMENDOUS. The first one doesn't even get to the movie until the fourth episode, and you don't mind. It's absolutely fantastic.

[SteveJRogers]

I think the reason Jar Jar has never achieved the status of the most hated film character of all time for me. Among other things, as annoying as Jar Jar was, Pepsi ran these ads the entire summer the year the movie came out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8wveFeeVDI

God I hate that thing.

I honestly forget which brand it was for, but as bad as THAT THING was, the kid one was probably worse. Its this kid who I guess they were going for looking like Jake, and he was about as wooden as Jake was (says "I love my mom" while standing stock stiff with no emotion or expression at all) and goes on to say the character he wants to be is Obi-Won. And I'm thinking "BASED ON WHAT!?"

[SteveJRogers]

One funny "response to the haters" from the pro-Jar Jar crowd was actually "look at how Yoda was at first!"

Which is silly since, well for one Yoda was only played for LOLs in that very first scene and then...or should I say, became the character everyone knows and loves he did hmmmmm, so its not like he could have gotten THAT much fan backlash, unless Empire existed in a weird time vortex where you'd could see the movie and somehow be able to like live tweet watching it, in the theater.

Second, Yoda speak is very much understandable. Frank Oz spoke in a clear voice and not in an impression of a dialect or foreigner trying to speak English. And his...or should I say, perfectly understandable is Yoda's backwards grammar. This is not the case with Jar Jar's dialogue, especially when he is making up words as he goes along.

[Dan]

One funny "response to the haters" from the pro-Jar Jar crowd was actually "look at how Yoda was at first!"

Which is silly since, well for one Yoda was only played for LOLs in that very first scene and then...or should I say, became the character everyone knows and loves he did hmmmmm, so its not like he could have gotten THAT much fan backlash, unless Empire existed in a weird time vortex where you'd could see the movie and somehow be able to like live tweet watching it, in the theater.

Yoda was crazy popular in 1980. He was in all the advertising, all the merchandise, and he was a big part of what people latched onto. Yes, there were people who grumbled at his speech mannerisms, but on the whole he was pretty much accepted right away. If anything, C-3PO was the character that some people pointed to as annoying.

Someone (I think it was in The People vs. George Lucas) said, and I couldn't agree more, that Jar Jar was the result of someone who is intrinsically unfunny and does not have a sense of humor thinks is comedy. "He'll talk funny! People like that, right? And look at the way he walks! He got farted on! Farts are funny to people, yes?"

[KnightWing]

There's a level of humor that was intended for Jar Jar that never really showed up, probably because Lucas doesn't have a great grasp on proper multi-layered humor. Jar Jar is basically supposed to be "the fool" or "the jester", and he's supposed to be funny because of how out of place he is and how much he doesn't belong. You can tell partially because he's actually annoying the characters in the movie as well. It's not like Lucas wasn't in on the joke, so to speak. He just didn't tell it well.

C-3PO basically has that role in the OT and does it well, what with all of his rants of "I WAS PROGRAMMED FOR FANCY DINNER PARTIES, NOT REBELLION! HELP!"

The Clone Wars occasionally does a pretty decent job of showing Jar Jar as a good-hearted doofus rather than just an annoyance.