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The Gungans have their own religion. As Jar Jar tells Qui-Gon, he owes him a life debt because it is demanded by the Gods. Aside from the Ewoks, the Gungans are the only species we encounter that definitely has its own religious beliefs that are non-Jedi ones. The message is that the dominant religion in the Galaxy is the Jedi one and that the only other societies who hold different beliefs are primitive ones who worship false idols out of ignorance of the larger world.

Segregation and Race on Naboo in The Phantom Menace

The segregation of the Gungans from the surface dwelling Naboo-ites has obvious resonances with US Black-White relations as does their being co-opted into a war which they don't initially see as being theirs pretty much on the promise of equal rights and equal recognition. We usually expect (as a sophisticated modern audience) such scenarios to be the subject of social satire, condemnation and such-like rather than the glossy and innocuous portrayal which we get here. It strikes me as Disney-fication a good 15 years before the franchise released Episode VII.

There is a strong sense that the Gungans are untermench in a separate underwater world, segregated from the Naboo and that they feel they are the victims of prejudice. As Boss Nass puts it:

Yoosa, thinks ya better than mesa (You sir, think you’re better than me sir.)

It even feels like there is something servile and primitive built into the Gungan dialect. With 'meesa' even being slightly reminiscent of the 'massa' (master) of the plantations. So many words here suggest unsettling race power relations from our own world: Sir, Master, Boss.

This might be a slight over interpretation of the Gungan dialect, but the Gungans are represented as comical, primitive and annoying and are even derided by the Jedi initially. Obi-Wan's initial comment on encountering Jar Jar for the first time pretty much casts him in the role of flora and fauna; i.e. non-sentient beings who as such don't have civil rights or property rights.

Jar Jar's apparent flaws are explained superficially by his clumsiness, something for which he says that the other Gungans banished him, and this is somehow meant to innocuously explain away the Jedi's perception of him. He represents the antithesis of the Jedi's heightened reflexes but, as they consider themselves to be at the pinnacle of civilisation, he also represents the primitive. Obi-Wan's comment about Jar Jar is in fact no less imperious than that made by the Imperial Officer about Chewbacca in the prison bay in the Death Star in ANH 'What is this thing?'.

The Gungan's don’t gain their recognition out of morality but out of necessity so it seems.

The conclusion the film asks us to make is that the Naboo are actually benign and that it's all been one big misunderstanding owing to a lack of communication, and that perhaps the Gungans even suffer from a bit of an inferiority complex. Prejudice was all a big mistake and a matter of misunderstanding so it seems on the surface, but once we dig a little deeper the representation of the Gungans and of species prejudice even amongst the supposedly most enlightened characters is a little unsettling.

By contrast, the Wookiees on Kashyyyk are more or less represented as belonging to the Noble Savage archetype; something illustrated by the Tarzan yell of the Wookiee swinging across the water to attack a Trade Federation amphibious vehicle. This is a movie reference which places us right back in the Darkest Africa of British colonisation. Prejudice in the Star Wars world can be hidden with benignity too and reaches across religion, species and ideology. It is perhaps a reflection of our own world and world history that we are being shown almost as an allegory. Cultural Imperialism is alive and well before the rise of the Empire even and we are being shown the conditions which may well lead to (or fail to prevent) such a totalitarian future.

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All Star Wars action figures, vehicles, collectibles and Star Wars toys shown on this website are the 3.75 inch scale and from my own private Star Wars collection unless otherwise stated. Where possible original vintage accessories have been used but in some instances I have placed Kenner Star Wars figures with either reproduction weapons and accessories or for Hasbro figures close approximations have been used. This is mostly the case for modern Star Wars lightsabers where the correct item can be very difficult to identify on some ocassions. Vintage Star Wars action figures are shown with their original weapon or accessory when I have them. When a vintage Kenner action figure is shown with an accessory which is not original I have tried to point this out where possible.

All of the Star Wars action figures shown were purchased second hand, usually incomplete, and in bulk. They have been reunited with their original weapons and accessories where we could get hold of them.

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