sambargestuff replied to this post:
Interesting. Having watched ROTJ in the theatre when it was released, I can tell you that the grief of the rancor's keeper was played for laughs. And it worked. People in the theatre around me laughed at the keeper. Of course, people think Boba Fett is the hero of the movie, so people are fucking stupid.
I mean ... I'm not sure the reactions of the theatre tell us much about what the intended purpose of the scene is or how to interpret it.
Roger Ebert's 1983 review opens with:
Here is just one small moment in "Return of Jedi," a moment you could miss if you looked away from the screen, but a moment that helps explain the special magic of the Star Wars movies. Luke Skywalker is engaged in a ferocious battle in the dungeons beneath the throne room of the loathsome Jabba the Hutt. His adversary is a slimy, gruesome, reptilian monster made of warts and teeth. Things are looking bad when suddenly the monster is crushed beneath a falling door. And then (here is the small moment) there's a shot of the monster's keeper, a muscle-bound jailer, who rushes forward in tears. He is brokenhearted at the destruction of his pet. Everybody loves somebody. It is that extra level of detail that makes the Star Wars pictures much more than just space operas.
Lucas said, "I like the idea that everyone loves someone. And even the worst, most horrible monster you can imagine was loved by his keeper. And the rancor probably loved his keeper."
