At this point a lot of people might want to ask John Boyega just what he has against Porgs, but then they might realize that with the whole Porg craze pretty much over and done with they really don’t care. For one reason or another, Boyega just doesn’t like the little creatures found in The Last Jedi , but of course that means that someone had to troll him about it. LEGO actually took it upon themselves to send Boyega a large-scale Porg made out of the colorful bricks, all but guaranteeing that he wouldn’t be sending it back. As Kevin Burwick of MovieWeb had relayed, Boyega thinks of the little critters as annoying as cockroaches, and has really only given the reason that he just doesn’t like the Porgs on basic principle, which is understandable since a hatred of some things in this world go beyond an easy explanation. But the Porgs were kind of an odd choice since the semi-sentient critters that were so prevalent upon the world of Ahch-To, where Luke had sequestered himself, were looked at by some as cute and endearing, and others as just an annoyance that Rian Johnson felt the need to add in for one reason or another. It could have been that Johnson added them in the hope that they’d become as popular as the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi, but while that likely isn’t the case, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway since the Porgs failed to draw that much attention from the missteps that Johnson took in the movie and became kind of an afterthought rather quickly since they were basically a typical life form on the planet and were about as exciting as a seagull, albeit a little smarter.
It was pretty amusing in TLJ when Chewbacca was trying to enjoy a meal and the Porgs were attempting to give him the best Disney eyes they could, which obviousl irritated the wookie to no end as he just wanted to enjoy a good meal. But apart from that the Porgs were an idea that came out swinging but didn’t really go anywhere since they were a here and gone kind of item that really didn’t take off that much further once all was said and done. There’s still Porg merchandise out there, and it’s still fairly popular with some people, but in terms of being a popular as other Star Wars toys, there’s no competition since they’re basically a small furry species on a backwater planet that don’t have a lot of bearing on the story. Johnny Brayson of Bustle has more to say on the topic of Porgs. The Ewoks did more when they were allowed into the story line since they actually took the fight to the Empire, while the Porgs might as well have become the next suction-cup critter to adorn a window. As far as not liking them goes however it’s easier to just discount them altogether and think that they were part of the landscape and not much else. It’s definitely one of the more confusing decisions to make about a movie, as they didn’t add anything, but they also didn’t take anything away. In fact, Chewbacca trying to enjoy his meal and having the Porgs looking so sadly at him could have been their only real scene in the movie and a lot of people might have felt that it was more than enough. Making such a huge deal about them is just utterly confusing since there was really no need for them to be there in the first place.
It’s kind of customary to have characters and creatures in Star Wars movies that don’t make a lot of sense but are there as part of the scenery to make things feel more complete. But while images of the Porgs could have been shown without a lot of fanfare the decision was instead made to market the little critters and make them more than they really needed to be. The fact that John Boyega really doesn’t like them isn’t too surprising since they’re kind of useless in a big way. Their cuteness factor is about the only reason they’ve been talked about since any other reason would be kind of silly considering that they’re basically furry rodents with avian qualities that really don’t have much of a purpose other than to breed and be part of the food chain. But as is obvious, people tend to love what they think of as cute and marketable and are going to embrace pretty much any idea that comes out of Hollywood for a little while at least, especially if there’s a cuteness factor to it. As for John Boyega’s Porg, maybe he can find a buyer for it, or maybe he can just put it in a corner where it won’t take up as much space and be forgotten, kind of like the critters in the movie are slowly being forgotten.
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