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Jabba the Hutt in popular culture
With the premiere of Return of Jedi in 1983 and the accompanying merchandising campaign, Jabba the Hutt became an icon in American popular culture. The character was produced and marketed as a series of action figure playsets by Kenner/Hasbro from 1983 to 2004.[1] In the 1990s, Jabba the Hutt became the protagonist in his own comic book series collectively titled Jabba the Hutt: The Art of the Deal.[2]
Jabba's role in popular culture extends beyond the Star Wars universe and its fans. In Mel Brooks' Star Wars spoof Spaceballs (1987), Jabba the Hutt is parodied as "Pizza the Hutt", a gigantic encroaching blob made entirely out of of pizza toppings, whose name is a double pun on Jabba the Hutt and the restaurant franchise Pizza Hut. Like Jabba, Pizza the Hutt is a loan shark and mobster. The character meets his demise at the end of Spaceballs when he is locked in his car and eats himself to death.[3] The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., included a display on Jabba the Hutt in the temporary exhibition Star Wars: The Myth of Magic, which closed in 1999. Jabba's display was called "The Hero's Return," referencing Luke Skywalker's journey toward becoming a Jedi.[4]
Jabba the Hutt in mass media
Since the release of Return of the Jedi, the name Jabba the Hutt has become synonymous in American mass media with morbid obesity and corruption. The name is frequently utilized as a literary device — either as a simile or metaphor — to illustrate character flaws. For example, in Under the Duvet (2001), Marian Keyes references a problem with gluttony when she writes, "wheel out the birthday cake, I feel a Jabba the Hutt moment coming on."[5] Likewise, in the novel Steps and Exes: A Novel of Family (2000), Laura Kalpakian uses Jabba the Hutt to emphasize the weight of a character's father: "The girls used to call Janice's parents Jabba the Hutt and the Wookie [sic]. But then Jabba (Janice's father) died, and it didn't seem right to speak of the dead on those terms."[6]
In his book of humor and popular culture, The Dharma of Star Wars (2005), writer Matthew Bortolin attempts to show similarities between Buddhist teachings and aspects of Star Wars fiction. Bartolin insists that if a person makes decisions that Jabba the Hutt would make, then that person is not practicing the proper spiritual concept of dharma. Bortolin's book reinforces the idea that Jabba's name is synonymous with negativity:
One way to see if we are practicing right livelihood is to compare our trade with that of Jabba the Hutt. Jabba has his fat, stubby fingers in many of the pots that lead to the dark side. He deals largely in illegal "spice" trade — making him the Star Wars galaxy's answer a drug lord. He also transacts business in the slave trade. He has many slaves himself, and some he fed to the Rancor, a creature he keeps caged and tormented in his dungeon.[7]
Outside literature, the character's name has become an insulting term of disparagement. To say that someone "looks like Jabba the Hutt" is commonly understood as a slur to impugn that person's weight and/or appearance.[8] The term is often employed by the media as an attack on prominent figures. For instance, actress and comedian Roseanne Barr endured what W. C. Goodman called "vitriolic attacks based on her weight" at the hands of New York Observer columnist Michael Thomas who often compared her with "Star Wars blob monster" Jabba the Hutt.[9] Actress Sally Struthers, meanwhile, was portrayed in an episode of South Park as Jabba the Hutt.
In another sense of the term, Jabba the Hutt has come to represent greed and anarchy, especially in the business world.[10] For instance, Michael Jordan biographer Mitchell Krugel uses the term to disparage Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause after Krause made a comment about Jordan and other players' multi-million dollar contracts: "Krause added to his Jabba the Hutt image during the media gathering that preceded the opening of camp when he answered a question about the prospect of rebuilding the Bulls without Phil or Michael in the imminent future by saying, 'Organizations win championships. Players and coaches are parts of organizations'."[11]
Jabba the Hutt has likewise become a popular means of caricature in American politics. For example, opponents of California Democratic legislator Jackie Goldberg depict the politician as the Star Wars character. The Los Angeles Daily News has caricatured her in cartoons as a grotesquely overweight Jabba the Hutt-like figure and the New Times LA referred to Goldberg as "a human Jabba the Hutt who consumes the good while producing the bad."[12] William G. Ouchi uses the term to describe what he sees as the ineffecient bureaucracy of the American public school system: "With all of these unnecessary layers of organizational fat, school districts have come to resemble Jabba the Hutt—the pirate leader in Star Wars."[13]
Likewise in Irish politics, Minister for Health Mary Harney, is referred to as Jabba Da Harney on Satirical radio show Gift Grub.
- ^ A complete Jabba the Hutt playset sold by Kenner in 1983 was valued at $70 in 2003 by collectors if in mint condition and with original packaging. See Geoffrey T Carlton, Star Wars Super Collector's Wish Book: Identification & Values (Paducah, Ky.: Collector Books, 2003), p. 13, ISBN 1-57432-334-2.
- ^ Richard von Busack, "Jabba the Hutt slimes his way through a new graphic novel," review of Jabba the Hutt: The Art of the Deal at Metroactive Books; last accessed July 3, 2006.
- ^ Mel Brooks, Spaceballs (MGM, 1987).
- ^ "The Hero's Return", Star Wars: The Myth of Magic exhibition at National Air and Space Museum; last accessed July 3, 2006.
- ^ Marian Keyes, Under the Duvet: Shoes, Reviews, Having the Blues, Builders, Babies, Families and Other Calamities (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), p. 199, ISBN 0-06-056208-0.
- ^ Laura Kalpakian, Steps and Exes: A Novel of Family (New York: HarperCollins, 2000), p. 58, ISBN 0-380-80659-2.
- ^ Matthew Bortolin, The Dharma of Star Wars (Somerville, Mass.: Wisdom Publications, 2005), p. 139, ISBN 0-86171-497-0.
- ^ Errore nelle note: Errore nell'uso del marcatore
<ref>: non è stato indicato alcun testo per il marcatoreFatWars - ^ W. C. Goodman, The Invisible Woman: Confronting Weight Prejudice in America (Carlsbad Calif.: Gürze Books, 1995), p. 57, ISBN 0-936077-10-7.
- ^ Errore nelle note: Errore nell'uso del marcatore
<ref>: non è stato indicato alcun testo per il marcatoreKuiper - ^ Mitchell Krugel, One Last Shot: The Story of Michael Jordan's Comeback (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003), p. 55, ISBN 0-312-99223-8.
- ^ Patrick Mallon, California Dictatorship (Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2004), p. 235, ISBN 1-4134-6797-0.
- ^ William G. Ouchi, Making Schools Work: A Revolutionary Plan to Get Your Children the Education They Need (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003), p. 96, ISBN 0-7432-4630-6.