As George Lucas keeps returning to the Star Wars well, I’ve become convinced of two things: 1.) that he should have left well enough alone; and 2.) anyone who breathes the air around Skywalker Ranch becomes instantly brainwashed and dubs Lucas’ every utterance a work of genius.
Case in point: Ziro the Hutt, the uncle of Jabba who’s introduced in the upcoming Clone Wars.
Shawn Adler of MTV’s Movies blog describes the purple-clad, peacock feather-wearing Ziro as “a gay stereotype that makes what Jar Jar Binks represented to the island of Jamaica look subtle by comparison. It’s not the look or design that pushes it over the top into stereotype, of course, but the voice (performed by Corey Burden), a lispy, high-pitched twang purposively reminiscent of Truman Capote.”
But how could Ziro, who should speak in a gutteral Hutt-ese that requires subtitles, end up with a lispy Southern drawl? Why, Lucas insisted on it!
“[Ziro], Jabba’s uncle, originally spoke in Hutt-ese, like Jabba and then he had a different sluggish voice just like Jabba, and then George one day was watching it and said ‘I want him to sound like Truman Capote’,” director Dave Filoni said. “He actually said that and we were like ‘Wow!’ It’s a hybrid of it but the inspiration is definitely there on Capote. It’s one of those things that takes him from being an interesting character and I think really does put him over the top and does something. He’s a favorite among the crew here.”
Yes, “wow.”
Filoni wouldn’t go so far as to label Ziro gay, though. He’s biologically asexual, apparently.
August 13th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
What you fail to understand, as Lucas apologists always insist, Star Wars is for *kids*. And kids just love Truman Capote!
August 13th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Ugh. I can sort of accept that you want to make it as accessible as possible, so you skip the subtitles. Fine. Beyond that? Making him sound like Truman Capote? Really? That’s the way you want to go? That’s going to be grating whenever the character is on screen.
August 13th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
W.T.F?
Nothing about this movie, if you can even call it that (it just seems like another Lucas grab, this one meant to take your cash and then entice you to watch the upcoming TV series), look remotely appealing. Amazing to think that, as some reviews have suggested, that Ziro (appropriate name?) might be an even more sickening character than Jar Jar. I didn’t think it was possible! Sounds like Baby Hutt (“Stinky”? Really?) isn’t any better.
Sure, this film is probably meant for kids… But like the crummy prequels, how many kids care about trade routes and treaties? Ugh. I have a buddy with two young boys who are dying to see this thing. I can’t wait to hear what he, and they, think of this after they’ve seen it.
More than anything, the animation I’ve seen just looks clunky. And I can’t get worked up for a story that we already know the ending to. Anakin turns evil, and kills a boatload of children. Are we supposed to be cheering him on? Not actually giving us the Clone Wars in the live-action prequels was a big mistake, and I really have no interest in seeing it now. Not to mention, there already WAS an animated depiction of the CW just a few years ago, and that was, apparently, much better than this movie is supposed to be.
I actually enjoyed Indy 4 quite a lot (though it was far from perfect), so I won’t give George crap for that one. But he sure has driven Star Wars into the ground. Just let it die already, George. Please.
I’d have welcomed a really good animated film (one not written or directed by George) that chronicled the years AFTER Return of the Jedi (if they could get Hamill, Fisher and Ford back to voice their parts), or even the Vader story taking place between eps 3 and 4… But since that won’t ever happen I wish George would just go off and make those little arthouse films he keeps talking about but never makes.
August 13th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Yep, and he ended up on my “The Top Ten Most Annoying Voices in Geek Movies” last week. Along with–in a surprise to no one–several other characters that originated with Lucas.
http://www.greatwhitesnark.com/2008/08/08/the-top-ten-most-annoying-voices-in-geek-movies/
August 13th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I don’t understand all the hate directed at Christian Bale’s Bat-voice lately, and as as you admitted yourself, Snark, Draco Malfoy’s supposed to be a character you love to hate. But I think most of the rest of your list is spot-on.
Well, I didn’t mind the humans in Wall*E either. It would’ve been cool if the entire film had been without actual human dialogue, but it would’ve been flat out wrong to do a Pixar movie without John Ratzenberger! As it was I got worried the first time I saw The Incredibles, nearing the end and he hadn’t shown up yet! I should’ve known better.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I get the imrpession Lucas is doing his own version of Wally Wood’s “I’m gonna make Power Girl’s rack bigger every issue until someone calls me on it” gag. He’s gonna put progressively crazier stuff in the Star Wars films until one of him employees works up the guts to stand up to him and say “This is a bad idea”. He will then give the entire operation to that employee, like Willy Wonka gave the chocolate factory to Charlie
August 14th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I sometimes wonder if George Lucas has dedicated his life to proving Voltaire’s axiom that every slave would be a tyrant if they could.
As much as I share everyone’s negative opinions of Lucas’ missteps, from the prequel trilogy forward, I always find it funny that some of the loudest objections to Lucas’ decisions come from fans who otherwise insist that the will of writers should always be seen as sacrosanct, because Lucas is basically the ultimate example of a writer without any editorial oversight whatsoever.
At this point, Lucas could make a dozen new Star Wars films that literally made no money whatsoever, and he’d still be the head of his own multi-billion-dollar empire. For fuck’s sake, the man could afford to buy a cable TV network and turn it into the “All Jar-Jar Binks, All the Time!” channel, simply to spite his own audience, and he’d still be one of the most powerful people in Hollywood.