Something you’d think they’d have explained in Star Wars by this point is how everybody is some sort of master linguist when it comes to alien languages throughout the galaxy. While it is entirely possible that several characters have learned languages just through their experiences and travels from planet to planet, and also possible that there is some sort of universal translator for other folks, it is still something that seems to be glossed over.
You don’t expect a film to just explain silly details in the midst of a major plot, but they can always throw fans a bone elsewhere. This cut-for-time SNL sketch tries to address this with the help of Charles Barkley, a guy who you would naturally expect to be a little confused by all of the alien languages flying around during a Star Wars film.
Here we see Barkley just blindly following his team in the latest Star Wars spin-off, The Mos Eisley Five: A Star Wars Story. He has teammates that he can’t understand, speaking to aliens who he can’t respond to, all while his other partners are treating him like the odd man out. I’m not entirely sure how you learn to understand astromech droid beeps and whistles, but I think the folks that can are the truly odd ones.
The disappointment in this sketch is that Barkley is clearly dressed up like a Jedi and we don’t get to see him flip on a lightsaber or use any force powers. Is it any wonder that he got the cold shoulder from Obi-Wan Kenobi and the other force ghosts that one time?
(Via SNL)