Do you get the idea that by the time Star Wars: The Last Jedi finally comes around that we’re going to be Porg-ed out? I don’t know about making us miss Jar Jar Binks, but these cut little buggers are being pushed and pushed hard on the public and in all honesty their cuteness level is up there with the Ewoks back in their era but the potential annoying factor is there as well. But still, it might not make you miss Jar Jar Binks as much as the title makes it appear.
Hearing them ‘sing’ the Star Wars theme is a little more adorable than hearing Jar Jar speak for instance. His broken Basic is about as annoying as it gets really and makes me wish for the “yub-yub” days with the Ewoks. But on a scale of most annoying to tolerable Jar Jar is still firmly in the red. The Porgs are on their way there steadily, gradually, but aren’t picking up as much speed as Jar Jar did when he started talking.
So what is a Porg some of you might be asking? A Porg is a bird-like creature that resides on the world of Ahch-To where it was discovered that Luke Skywalker now resides. They’re little hairy buggers that build nests and lay eggs and are somewhat territorial. The males are bigger than the females, and both can fly. I know, looking at them you wouldn’t exactly think ‘bird’ right away, you might think more along the lines of a big gerbil with a guinea pig’s eyes and furry wings along with bird feet. Star Wars definitely knows how to construct an animal don’t they?
Anyway, Porg sounds are fairly resonant when heard by themselves but when put together they tend to be a little monotonous and even a bit annoying. If you make it through the entire clip then kudos, you made it through the entire clip. The sound isn’t that bad really but if heard over and over I can see how it would be nerve-wracking. Plus, the Porgs also appear to be mimics of a sort if you watch the Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer. The only indication of this so far comes when Chewbacca is seen in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon where a Porg is settled on the dash. Chewbacca roars, and the Porg tries to follow suit. The cuteness factor is definitely going to impress a lot of people, but some of us more diehard fans might raise an eyebrow and even groan a little.
Let’s put it this way, in every Star Wars movie there’s been a figure that’s been seen as either cute, endearing, or both at the same time. In A New Hope it was R2-D2, and that role was taken by the droid again in The Empire Strikes Back. Of course you could add Yoda into the mix at that point too but he was more of a main supporting character. In Return of the Jedi we had the Ewoks, which were either hated or loved depending on who you talked to. And in the prequels there was, of course, Jar Jar Binks. His involvement was waning as of the second movie thankfully, and by the third he was just about gone. I think you can assume that BB-8 took that role in The Force Awakens.
And now we have Porgs. Missing Jar Jar yet?
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