Friday, September 6, 2013

A Tale of Two Fetts

(Originall Written for Jedi News)



I’ve touched before on my opinion of perennial fan-favorite Star Wars character Boba Fett. Namely: The polar opposite of the most vocal of fandom.


Now before I continue, I must stress that this is mostly my opinion here. Different people will connect to different characters for different reasons, and they all serve their purpose in the story. And while it can certainly be debated whether one has interpreted the character correctly or incorrectly (and whether that’s the fault of the viewer or the filmmakers), there is never anything wrong with liking or disliking any of the characters, especially in Star Wars.

Just don’t try to model your life after Palpatine.

With that out of the way…



I’ve mentioned more than once that Boba Fett, contrary to the near divinity assigned to him by a number of fans, left so little impression on me that it took me several viewings to even register that he was part of the cast. Why might that be? Well, that’s tough to answer, since my first viewings were so long ago and the fandom has been drilling his presence into my head ever since.  If I had to guess, it would probably be ironically the same thing that made others notice him immediately: his aesthetics.


When most people talk about Boba being their favorite, the thing most often brought up first is that he just looks cool. He’s got the armor, the weapons, the jetpack, you name it. But let’s look at this for a second. I've always found the Stormtroopers to be very dull, and Boba’s armor is interestingly similar enough that at first it didn’t really stand out for me, especially next to Vader whom I have a hard time taking my eyes off of. On top of that, the Jetpack and the Arsenal don’t get any use whatsoever until shortly before his demise in Jedi, and even that’s too little too late.


By contrast I was paying far more attention to characters like C-3PO and Yoda, and later Jar Jar and Watto. Characters with designs completely unlike what we’ve seen around, plus with numerous great bits of dialogue in memorable voices (Fett has about three or four lines, all of them in Empire, and done in a tough but generic gravel). Even after I finally noticed him and really understood his role, I still didn’t see what anybody else went so crazy about. Therefore, when I heard that one of the big selling points for Episode II was going to be the origins of Boba Fett, I’ll admit my first instinct was that it was merely fanservice in order to “make up” for some of the things certain people felt dissatisfied with in Phantom Menace.

In a sense, that’s exactly what it was. However, I should have given George Lucas more credit, since he’s the king of turning “Sure, Why Not?” into “Perfectly Planned All Along.”


Just as Boba’s original debut in the films was Lucas taking the only popular thing from the disastrous Holiday Special and sticking him where he needed a generic bounty hunter, so too did Lucas gravitate towards the most logical choice when he needed someone reasonably believable to be the template for the new Clone Army. When I finally saw Attack of the Clones, it was hard not to notice the big daddy of them all: Jango Fett. While Boba was there too (as a frankly disturbing little boy), his role this film didn’t really change my opinion of him. But Jango, well I was very intrigued by Jango from the get-go.

Because his armor is blue (I kid, I kid….kind of).


Not only does he have a more complex and relatable personality than just standing around, growling, and looking vaguely menacing, but Jango puts his money where his mouth is. He actually does get some fair use out of his wonderful toys and manages to hold his own against one of the most powerful Jedi in history – not bad for a mere mortal. And yet, again, because this cold-hearted mercenary cares deeply about his “son,” there are times when you’re almost rooting for him.

Also, while Boba’s main weapon is a rifle, Jango is a fan of Guns Akimbo. Despite duel-wielding being shown repeatedly to be impractical in the Star Wars universe as in real life, it’s still pretty awesome.


More than that, though; by being the genetic template for both Boba Fett and the Republic Troopers, he gives Boba’s reputation validation and gives us new reason to fear the somewhat less-than-useful Stormtroopers. Furthermore, it immediately shows us that this fresh batch of Clone Troopers are not ones to be messed with.


Even Jango’s death carries more weight, though it’s nearly as anticlimactic as his “son’s”. Rather than having a comic jetpack misfire caused by a blind man, Jango’s pack is damaged by a charging animal thus he is unable to use his advantage when one of the Jedi Order’s master swordsman comes gunning for him. Before that, he was once again holding his own in the fight.

Because of Jango Fett, I have a deeper understanding and respect of both Boba Fett and the various Troopers as they evolve over the course of the Saga. And while Boba will probably never approach my top 25 favorite characters in the Saga, Jango just might.


To read more about the thematic and philosophical influences and implications of Jango Fett by people far more qualified than I, visit both Paul F. McDonald at the Star Wars Heresies (and be sure to pre-order his book) and D. Trull at Lard Biscuit Enterprises.

25 comments:

  1. I dunno, I always found both Boba and Jango to be fairly useless in their professions...Boba, as we see, only gets his bounty through sheer luck ('cause let's face it, "Imma gonna hang out here in the trash in case the Falcon decides to as well" is not the most brilliant of schemes) and then does nothing until finally being killed by, as you say, "a comic jetpack misfire caused by a blind man". The coolest thing about him was probably his voice- but he doesn't even have that anymore.

    Jango doesn't fare much better, though, as his attempts on Amidala's life repeatedly fail (to the point where he's actually hiring *other* assassins to get the job done for him), he loses Skywalker in an asteroid field, and then once again dies as a result of a damaged jetpack (really, you'd think the Fetts would stop using the damned things given how much trouble they seem to cause). Like father, like son, I suppose.


    Still, it's rather interesting the fascination fandom has with the characters...'Cause "villain in a crappy Holiday Special cartoon" to "two-or-three-line background character" to "retconned origin of the entire army of the films" is quite the promotion for our dear little Boba, and it's indicative of just how much importance was imbued on the character by the general fandom. A similar thing is happening to Darth Maul, interestingly enough, and with both characters I suspect it's down to the designs. Amazing what an iconic look can do for a character.

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    1. Hate to nitpick, but it was Kenobi that tailed Jango to the asteroid field (a.k.a. the rings of Geonosis), and just like their scrap on Kamino Jango had the upper hand and would have won if not for some last-minute Jedi ingenuity (also showing how Boba knew what to look for in Empire).

      Also, I love Tumera Morrison's voice.

      Other than that, yeah I agree. Lucas has this talent of creating minor villains who suck at their jobs (at least where the heroes are concerned) yet develop fandoms due to sheer charisma (I think General Grievous also falls into this category, and he's a top fave of mine).

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    2. Though to be fair, Jango does come closer than any of them, and our heroes are barely shown scraping by (including the collaboration with Zam Wessal; they at least managed to kill a handmaiden).

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    3. Actually, Maul kills Qui-Gon, and Grievous is a good tactician, so maybe useless is a bit harsh.

      Boba in Empire merely tails and tattles, so I'm not sure how to score that.

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    4. Jango was actually a much more skilled fighter than his son was. At least to what is shown in the films. The issue with the minor villains is that they don't get much screen time, however with what little they get, they can manage to impress the audience, regardless of whether they succeed or not. Besides, Grievous massacred the Nightsisters, and killed several Jedi.

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    5. Yes, but all this happens offscreen or in EU material. That's not to say that it doesn't add to the character: it does! But with even the Clone Wars being dubious canon, I have to mostly go by the films and filmmaker interviews/making-of material.

      I do plan on writing about the EU, Clone Wars, and their place, purpose, and merit. But that will be some months coming.

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    6. "Also, I love Tumera Morrison's voice."

      I've nothing against it, but I get a bit ticked when it's used to overwrite another actor.

      And any credit I give to Maul offing Qui-Gon is immediately lost by Maul being an idiot with Obi-Wan. I mean, I get that they're going for "oh, he's underestimating him" and all, but man that death could've been handled a bit better (also, are we ever actually *shown* that Greivous is a talented tactician? 'cause I don't remember really getting that impression from him).

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    7. What I liked is how the two have different fighting styles. How Jango has clean armor and is a pistol gunslinger while Boba is a battered rifleman. Jango did use more of his toys than Boba ever did in the films.

      As for Jango hiring Zam, she was a fallwoman. IMO, no matter if she succeed in killing Padme or not, Zam was always going to get a saber dart for her trouble. Zam was just a breadcrumb for the Jedi, that was her real purpose.

      Lastly I liked the easter egg of Jango bumping his head on the slave 1, showing where the Stormtroopers inherited that trait, from their clone daddy LOL.

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    8. I meant to mention the head-bump, but I couldn't fit it in a way that flowed well. It is an awesome bit.

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  2. I wouldn't neccesarily say that CW is ''dubious canon''. Lucasfilm policy is simply a policy. As Dave Filoni sees it, The Clone Wars and the films are part of George's vision of the universe, and Filoni is pretty much George's apprentice as far as Star Wars is concerned.

    And to the other point of calling Darth Maul an idiot, you could use the same logic to say that Palpatine was an ''idiot'' in the end of ROTJ.

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    1. Yeah, if villains didn't hold the Idiot Ball once in a while, we'd have no heroes and thusly no story

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    2. I think the difference is that Palpatine's mistake in ROTJ is in not realizing that Vader would react in that way when seeing his son in danger. It's entirely keeping in his character through the film that he dismisses the idea of love and emotion as powerful things, and assumes a cold and mechanical being like Vader would've left those behind.

      To put it simply, his mistake is something born within his character, whereas Maul's is a bit of strutting about in a Bond-villain sort of way. It'd probably rankle a bit less if he had a bit more depth to him as a character.

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    3. I fail to see where Maul mishandled the fight with Obi other than not putting his lightsaber in the way of Obi's final leap (which was not only unexpected in-universe, but story-wise was kind of necessary).

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    4. Well, after Obi-Wan falls he just stands and struts for a while instead of actually doing anything.

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    5. Actually, he keeps striking the edge of the pit with his saber, sending sparks down to try and get Obi to let go and fall.

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    6. If you do any kind of metal working, you know sparks which are droplets of molten metal don't tickle. It is why metal workers wear heavy gloves.

      His line about revealing themselves (the Sith) to the Jedi tells alot about himself. Being a showoff looking forward to a fight.

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    7. "Actually, he keeps striking the edge of the pit with his saber, sending sparks down to try and get Obi to let go and fall."

      Rewatched it again to make sure, and he only strikes it twice as a bit of a flourish rather than any actual attempt at combat.

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    8. I just watched it too. It was definitely Maul trying to make Obi let go. Then when Obi concentrates, Maul looks at him like "the hell...?"

      It's apparent to me that Maul had been at this at least as few minutes before we got there.

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    9. I agree Nilbog, Maul is creating sparks to make Obi-Wan lose his grip. Sparks really sting and burn on bare skin.

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    10. I had missed that it was after a scene- the vid I watched had them all cut together. Still, I don't think there's really enough there to give it *enough* leeway. I can now see it read that way, but I think it's very easily read the other way as well.

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    11. Just goes to show how much we take editing for granted.

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  3. An important thematic link between Jango Fett and the clone troopers is Fett's nature as a mercenary.

    The clone troopers are very much the Republic's proud professional soldiers, but the fact is they are brought in from outside to crash remilitarise the Republic in order to fight what seems to be a gargantuan Confederate droid army on the verge of bringing the Galactic government to its knees. They're not hired guns, but they are the outsourced guns. The whole Grand Army of the Republic is outsourced at the start. At the end of the day, after the heroics of the Clone Wars, the downfall of the Jedi is a backdoor that is apparently built into the clone trooper genome or training regimen that allows one person, the Chancellor of the Republic (funnily enough the guy who probably created them), to declare all the Jedi enemies of the state. Outsourced soldiers, the spawn of a mercenary, are the downfall of the Jedi and the Republic.

    One can draw parallels with the "barbarian" auxiliary forces of the Western Roman Empire, who formed their own client kingdoms when the Empire fell into disarray and thus put an end to the original core Roman Empire. The clone troopers, being loyal to the Chancellor above all else, could also be compared to the famously loyal Varangian Guards of the Eastern Roman Emperor. They were technically mercenaries. Another famous group of outsourced soldiers, nominally devoted servants of the state, are the Mamelukes of medieval Egypt. Their loyalty was to a higher calling than just their ruling Sultan, so the Mamelukes overthrew the decrepit Ayyubid Sultanate in order to preserve their realm. Their Ottoman Turkish counterparts, the Janissaries, never succeeded to that extent.

    All of the above were outsourced military forces. Palpatine depends on these on all sides in order to execute his plans for the Galactic government. The clone troopers themselves may all be devoted professional soldiers, but their origins are mercenary. Their origins are in the convergence between a mastermind's machinations and the amoral business dealings of a simple man trying to make his way in the universe. The Clone Wars, Order 66 and the Empire are the result of that. That for me is Jango Fett's thematic significance.

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    1. It's comments like this that make me question how qualified I really am to talk about any of this.

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    2. Dude, I know for a fact that I'm absolutely not qualified. Neither history nor literature are close to my field of study. I'm no expert; I'm just a fan who has put too much thought into a work of fiction.

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    3. And I'm not nearly as well-versed as I sometimes think I ask and know I should be. A depressing amount of what I know regarding classic arts and/or history is through reference and reputation.

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