Star Wars is not now, nor has it ever been, a superhero franchise.
(The comment section isn't sufficient enough for my reply to this comment below, but originates from this post.)
*screeches loudly into void*
Thank you for proving my point. This is what I mean when I say people are committed to vilifying and misunderstanding the Jedi Order.
It is wild work to criticize the Jedi for not being more like Superman when we're looking at two completely separate genres of movies.
The Jedi are not the Justice League or the Avengers. They are not vigilantes operating outside the law. They do not perform acts of goodness for the camera. They exist to mediate disputes and prevent conflict. They exist to maintain balance and intervene only when necessary in order to preserve life and peace. They are a monastic, diplomatic peacekeeping order and they operate within the structure of the Galactic Republic, which spans the majority of the galaxy in which they live.
Tatooine exists outside of Republic control and the Jedi do not have jurisdiction to operate there. Their authority is not recognized. Qui-Gon couldn't even use Republic credits to pay for the parts he needed in order to repair the ship they'd arrived on. The Hutts, who control that space, are still a sovereign power, and any intervention from the Jedi would have been considered an act of war. The Jedi cannot invade a sovereign system just because they disagree with its laws. They are not an army, they are peacekeepers.
It's also vitally important to remember that Qui-Gon was already on a mission to help Queen Amidala and the people of Naboo as they dealt with an illegal blockade by the Trade Federation, which was orchestrated in secret by none other than Darth Sidious, aka Senator Palpatine.
Qui-Gon is the only Jedi who actually met and interacted with Shmi. Who's to say he wouldn't have returned to Tatooine to try and free her if he hadn't been killed on Naboo? It's certainly a thought that crosses my mind a lot. We will never know for sure though because Qui-Gon died, and it doesn't change the fact that Jedi authority meant nothing on Tatooine.
"Why didn't the Jedi do more about slavery?" (They actually destroyed the Zygerrian slaver empire in the Clone Wars, but okay.)
Context is super fun, so I'm gonna give you some.
Here's a super fun map of the Star Wars galaxy (clicking the bottom of the image will take you directly to the website, you're welcome).
Whoa! That's a lot of places and a lot of distance to cover!!
I wonder what those numbers look like...
Those are some big numbers and big distances. "Millions of sentient species" is actually underselling the actual number, which is more likely in the quadrillions (something far bigger than we could ever truly comprehend considering we struggle to comprehend just how fucking wealthy billionaires truly are).
And how many Jedi Knights were there protecting the galaxy? 10,000 (as stated by Kanan Jarrus). The Jedi make up less than 1% of the entire galactic population (even on Coruscant, which had a population of three trillion). The Jedi are not Superman. They cannot fly, they are not "made of steel". But they are every bit as kind and compassionate as he is. Again, Star Wars is not a superhero story.
The Jedi cannot be everywhere at once, and there is a lot of territory to cover within the Republic itself. So you tell me...why didn't they do more? Again, they aren't an army and they aren't even large. Are we insinuating that the Jedi should work themselves to death to fix every single problem in the galaxy despite the fact that they made up less than 1% of the population? Is that what we are going to demand of the good guys in order to classify them as good? Because it feels like some of y'all are just mad that the Jedi didn't simply lay down and die to prove they were selfless, or y'all continue to place this unrealistic expectation on them that requires them to solve all the problems.
There were literally not enough Jedi to fix every single problem in the galaxy and it is honestly so wild to me that people don't take the time to think about this.
Palpatine knew this and he took advantage of it!!!
Remember in Attack of the Clones when Mace Windu said...
"There aren't enough Jedi to protect the galaxy."
It's one line that I think about all the time!! They were trying to avoid going to war and Palpatine made sure the Jedi had no choice but to fight against a droid army that vastly outnumbered them alongside soldiers who were secretly programmed to execute them when they were at their most vulnerable.
Some fans are so focused on blaming the Jedi for everything while ignoring the fact that they fell victim to A REVENGE PLOT 1,000 YEARS IN THE MAKING!!! The patience of the Sith paid off and the Jedi Order collapsed in a brutal genocide that killed 99% of them!!
Some fans are so attached to their black and white views of good and bad that they completely disregard all nuance, which Star Wars is famous for providing within all their characters.
The Jedi were not perfect, and they did make mistakes, but they were never the villains!
There is a lot more nuance that goes into everything that went down during the prequel trilogy than some people care to acknowledge, but for some reason it's just easier to say "Jedi Bad, Anakin Innocent" and ignore the fact that Anakin slaughtered younglings because Palpatine told him destroying the Jedi would help him save Padme (spoiler alert: it didn't).
And I'm going to finish off with this particular excerpt from the comment that spawned this whole post.
"We also expect GOOD to be GOOD - to help downtrodden civilians like Shmi, to pet a dog sometimes, to be nice to the waiter, or refuse to be part of slavery. And…that didn't happen. It got cut for cooler lightsaber fights. So as fighters against evil? Jedi are experts at fighting evil. As GOOD people? Eh…"
Okay, here ya go! (I'm including moments from TCW because they are canon). I'm pretty sure I've covered your personal definition of "good".
Obi-Wan *checks notes* ...being nice to someone in the food service industry.
Yoda's not petting a dog here, but animals clearly like him.
Obi-Wan helping downtrodden civilians like the Twi'lek hostages
Yoda educating the younglings (and showing how much he respects children as well..."Truly wonderful the mind of a child.")
Anakin, Ahsoka and Aayla defending villagers from Separatists
Ima-Gun Di sacrificing his life for the Twi'leks so they can escape
Plo Koon taking care of his clone troopers
Mace Windu helping Cham Syndulla fight against the Separatists
Anakin training farmers to fight back against pirates
Mace Windu defending the Zillo Beast
Shaak Ti defending Kamino
The Jedi destroying the Kadavo slaver facility after freeing Togruta prisoners (interesting since the claim was made that the Jedi didn't refuse to be a part of slavery)
The Jedi training Onderon rebels
Mace Windu defending the Bardottans (Jedi haters favorite Jedi scapegoat sure did a lot of good things)
Obi-Wan devoting the rest of his life to watching over and protecting Anakin and Padme's children
Damn, what cold-hearted assholes those Jedi were...
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