Is Star Wars imploding?

[Anthony W]

Actor Behind Jar-Jar Binks, Ahmed Best, Reveals Backlash From The Phantom Menace Made Him Consider Suicide

[]

https://www.themarysue.com/ahmed-bes...ash-star-wars/

Still think it's the film makers that have the entitlement problem?

Yes.

While I feel bad for Best it feels like he is trying to retcon his story. The majority of the anger over Jar Jar came from the black community due to the racist overtones many people felt Best's performance drudged up. Jar Jar was called a modern day Stepin Fetchit and Best was put on blast by the black community. Lucas was called a racist. At the end of the day I would much rather hear someone say "You destroyed my childhood" then "You had a hand in creating a racist stereotype for a whole new generation to be exposed to" But I suppose if you stop to think about it, they are kinda' the same thing.

It's good to see the brother is doing better, and he is trying to get a show made but it's disheartening to see him try to use this moment to try to scrub his history. The prequels were long ago but not that long ago.

[Username taken]

I honestly think Episode IX is going to have serious issues. In the original trilogy, Empire was left off with the ultimate cliffhanger and the resolution was must see. In the prequel trilogy you knew you were getting Darth Vader's creation in episode 3 and that was where all the hype was. Right now I think most people feel like the story is such a blank slate and Last Jedi throughout so much of what Force Awakens set up that there really isn't any direction. The only thing to care about is what happens to Kylo and I don't think that is a big enough deal.

I agree.

I don't really care what happens to Kylo and Rey to be honest. Finn and Poe aren't involved in any compelling story arcs and the movie could even do without them.

For me, there's very little reason to go and see Episode IX except I hear Luke Skywalker somehow comes back or some other crazy cop-out.

[Username taken]

Yes.

While I feel bad for Best it feels like he is trying to retcon his story. The majority of the anger over Jar Jar came from the black community due to the racist overtones many people felt Best's performance drudged up. Jar Jar was called a modern day Stepin Fetchit and Best was put on blast by the black community. Lucas was called a racist. At the end of the day I would much rather hear someone say "You destroyed my childhood" then "You had a hand in creating a racist stereotype for a whole new generation to be exposed to" But I suppose if you stop to think about it, they are kinda' the same thing.

It's good to see the brother is doing better, and he is trying to get a show made but it's disheartening to see him try to use this moment to try to scrub his history. The prequels were long ago but not that long ago.

I remember this quite differently.

EVERYONE hated Jar Jar Binks particularly when Episode I came out because he was a key part of the marketing and indeed the movie itself. Yes, there were racist accusations against the character and some folks accused Lucas of racism (which didn't make sense considering Lucas' personal politics) but a lot of the backlash came from fans and the general audience.

Even in the new canon Star Wars books, Jar Jar is depicted as a total failure later on life.

[Anthony W]

I remember this quite differently.

EVERYONE hated Jar Jar Binks particularly when Episode I came out because he was a key part of the marketing and indeed the movie itself. Yes, there were racist accusations against the character and some folks accused Lucas of racism (which didn't make sense considering Lucas' personal politics) but a lot of the backlash came from fans and the general audience.

Even in the new canon Star Wars books, Jar Jar is depicted as a total failure later on life.

It feels like we are remembering different events. EVERYONE hated Jar Jar Binks? The hardcore fans hated him but the casuals who make up the majority of the general audience didn't know what the fuss was about and I remember getting into tons of arguments with people felt that nothing was racist about the character. People said it was silly to even bring that up due to Lucas' personal politics because heaven forbid that a super rich mogul who lives a life few of us could ever imagine be a little out of touch. Only when the Stepin Fetchit comparisons started getting traction in places that mattered (back then) like Time, NYT and the nightly news shows did people finally start turning on the character.

[Username taken]

It feels like we are remembering different events. EVERYONE hated Jar Jar Binks? The hardcore fans hated him but the casuals who make up the majority of the general audience didn't know what the fuss was about and I remember getting into tons of arguments with people felt that nothing was racist about the character. People said it was silly to even bring that up due to Lucas' personal politics because heaven forbid that a super rich mogul who lives a life few of us could ever imagine be a little out of touch. Only when the Stepin Fetchit comparisons started getting traction in places that mattered (back then) like Time, NYT and the nightly news shows did people finally start turning on the character.

We probably are because the backlash so strong that Lucas greatly reduced the character's role going forward. There was even that joke in AOTC where Padme shut up Jar Jar. The final nail was having him be the one to lead the senate in the vote to install Palpatine as the Emperor.

The racist accusations were there no doubt but it was just part of the large backlash against the character. A lot of mainstream critics picked on the character and he pretty much became the face of everything wrong with Episode I.

The backlash then was pretty insane. I would even argue on Star Wars fan sites people still rag on Jar Jar Binks (and Rose from The Last Jedi but that's a darker story). Didn't someone even produce an Episode I fan movie without Jar Jar?

[Carabas]

We probably are because the backlash so strong that Lucas greatly reduced the character's role going forward. There was even that joke in AOTC where Padme shut up Jar Jar. The final nail was having him be the one to lead the senate in the vote to install Palpatine as the Emperor.

I'm going to give Lucas some credit and say this was planned just that way from when he started plotting out the sequels and created Jar Jar. It's a scene that is essential not just to the plot of that movie but the entire saga.

[Jokerz79]

I remember accusations of racism over Watto, JarJar, and the Trade Federation but I remember a lot of the real hate being for midichlorians, Jake Lloyd's acting and Anakin's dialog like "yippy and are you an Angel?", next I remember hate for the confusing tone of going between political debates and juvenile humor which mostly was centered around JarJar and he got the blunt of that hate. Also remember people hating the two headed announcers and Anakin building C3PO. With the accusations of racism, his juvenile humor, and bad dialogue JarJar seemed to be the poster child for everything people hated about Episode One after going in with such high expectations.

[SuperiorIronman]

Jake Lyod honestly made a lot of sense to me because he sounds exactly like how young Anakin would sound.

He is a genius with superpowers and no social skills to speak of in a town that doesn't exactly have what you would call an education. He's a slave with a junk dealer slave master as a father figure, and a mother figure whom Anakin had spent a majority of his time with. The way he sounds makes a lot of sense in this movie. If any movie needed a bad child actor it was this one considering where Anakin comes from.

[Agent Z]

I remember this quite differently.

EVERYONE hated Jar Jar Binks particularly when Episode I came out because he was a key part of the marketing and indeed the movie itself. Yes, there were racist accusations against the character and some folks accused Lucas of racism (which didn't make sense considering Lucas' personal politics) but a lot of the backlash came from fans and the general audience.

Even in the new canon Star Wars books, Jar Jar is depicted as a total failure later on life.

Kind of like what happened with Twilight. The franchise's real problems (pushing a toxic and unhealthy view on relationships) was mostly glossed over for people bashing the series for Edward and Bella being "too emo", sparkling vampires and the fact that it committed the cardinal sin of being a franchise that was designed to appeal to girls.

As for Lucas being a racist. Well, there's the issues with Watto, the Trade Federation guys and the Gungans all being based on racial stereotypes of Jews, East Asians and black people respectively and the fact that the only person of color in the original trilogy was a guy who betrayed his friend (though he does make up for it later). I don't think he's a card-carrying member of the KKK but he does seem to have some blind spots when it comes to race in his films.

[Vic Vega]

I remember accusations of racism over Watto, JarJar, and the Trade Federation but I remember a lot of the real hate being for midichlorians, Jake Lloyd's acting and Anakin's dialog like "yippy and are you an Angel?", next I remember hate for the confusing tone of going between political debates and juvenile humor which mostly was centered around JarJar and he got the blunt of that hate. Also remember people hating the two headed announcers and Anakin building C3PO. With the accusations of racism, his juvenile humor, and bad dialogue JarJar seemed to be the poster child for everything people hated about Episode One after going in with such high expectations.

I'm not sure who was hated worse by the fans back then Jar Jar or Jake Lloyd.

I think most casuals realized Jake Lloyd was a child actor (and a rookie one at that) and gave him somewhat of a pass (kids his age didn't tho) but there was no excusing Jar Jar who when taken with Watto and the Trade Federation seemed like blatant and deliberate minstrelsy.

Lucas just couldn't stop himself from invoking/homaging racist imagery from 40's serials with the aliens (and given what that set was like there was no one around who could have even suggest to Lucas using that imagery in any way was probably a bad idea)

[MindofShadow]

Yes.

While I feel bad for Best it feels like he is trying to retcon his story. The majority of the anger over Jar Jar came from the black community due to the racist overtones many people felt Best's performance drudged up. Jar Jar was called a modern day Stepin Fetchit and Best was put on blast by the black community. Lucas was called a racist. At the end of the day I would much rather hear someone say "You destroyed my childhood" then "You had a hand in creating a racist stereotype for a whole new generation to be exposed to" But I suppose if you stop to think about it, they are kinda' the same thing.

It's good to see the brother is doing better, and he is trying to get a show made but it's disheartening to see him try to use this moment to try to scrub his history. The prequels were long ago but not that long ago.

this is some strong revisionist history.

are you forgetting star wars fans made that little kids life a living hell too?

It wasn't the black community that tore the Jar Jar dude apart. It was the same fans chasing current star war actresses off social media

[superduperman]

One of these days, someone needs to tell me what "politics" they think the movies are pushing. Too many girls? Too many non-white people? That's only "political" to people who think the movies should only be made for them. If your problem is they turned Luke into a potential murderer, that's not the same thing as complaining that one of the main characters is Asian or something. I loved Rogue One and most of the cast were Asians and the main character was a girl. And it's my second favorite movie behind Empire. Did TLJ have it's issues? Yes. I don't like what happened to Luke either. But that's not the same thing as walking away from the entire franchise because there are too many girls or whatever.

Solo bombed I think largely due to backlash to TLJ. I liked it. It wasn't great but it was good in it's own right. The prequels were the way they were because Lucas spent twenty years more or less away from the rest of the world and just lost touch with reality to some degree. The signs were there as far back as the second Ewok movie. He killed off everyone but the little girl because she was the only character his daughter liked. So it's not like there weren't red flags a good decade before TPM. It's obvious Lucas wanted to make kids movies and everyone else wanted him to make movies for the older fans. But that's neither here nor there at this point.

Disney is stuck in a bind where no matter what they do people are going to complain. The fans who think they "own" the franchise will complain no matter what because it's not the movie they would have made. Demographics are changing. That's simply a fact. Disney is more aware of this than the rest of the country. Businesses kind of have to be. This is a case of the company trying to get out ahead of changing demographics and the fans not being aware of it. They also have to contend with the world market. China is one of the largest audiences for American movies. Putting more Asian characters in their films is just good business sense in that regard. Does it work? Who knows, but it's a business motivated strategy.

[Gray Lensman]

One of these days, someone needs to tell me what "politics" they think the movies are pushing. Too many girls? Too many non-white people? That's only "political" to people who think the movies should only be made for them. If your problem is they turned Luke into a potential murderer, that's not the same thing as complaining that one of the main characters is Asian or something. I loved Rogue One and most of the cast were Asians and the main character was a girl. And it's my second favorite movie behind Empire. Did TLJ have it's issues? Yes. I don't like what happened to Luke either. But that's not the same thing as walking away from the entire franchise because there are too many girls or whatever.

Solo bombed I think largely due to backlash to TLJ. I liked it. It wasn't great but it was good in it's own right. The prequels were the way they were because Lucas spent twenty years more or less away from the rest of the world and just lost touch with reality to some degree. The signs were there as far back as the second Ewok movie. He killed off everyone but the little girl because she was the only character his daughter liked. So it's not like there weren't red flags a good decade before TPM. It's obvious Lucas wanted to make kids movies and everyone else wanted him to make movies for the older fans. But that's neither here nor there at this point.

Disney is stuck in a bind where no matter what they do people are going to complain. The fans who think they "own" the franchise will complain no matter what because it's not the movie they would have made. Demographics are changing. That's simply a fact. Disney is more aware of this than the rest of the country. Businesses kind of have to be. This is a case of the company trying to get out ahead of changing demographics and the fans not being aware of it. They also have to contend with the world market. China is one of the largest audiences for American movies. Putting more Asian characters in their films is just good business sense in that regard. Does it work? Who knows, but it's a business motivated strategy.

My biggest issue with TLJ wasn't the ethnic cast or the girls (I loved Rogue One as well) but rather how the film seemed to go out of its way to tear down everyone other than Rey.

[Moon Ronin]

One of these days, someone needs to tell me what "politics" they think the movies are pushing.

One is the PETA type message of Canto Blight where after Finn and Rose escaped Finn was up set because the mission failed then Rose freed the fathier (horse type thing they were riding) and said it was all worth it... They did not find the Master Codebreaker, had no way off the planet, the resistance was about to be completely obliterated, but freeing the fathier (which was most likely going to be recaptured) was "worth it". Another is the anti-capitalist type message between DJ and Finn in the ship after Canto Blight that the galactic one-percenters earn their money from war profiteering among the other sins of mistreating animals and having child slaves. Then the “We’re going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.” Finn had a chance (be it was to sacrifice himself) to completely destroy the First Orders upper leadership which would be a badly needed victory for the resistance, and give Finn some purpose that he did not have during the whole movie. but no Rose had to stop him so we can get this "the right fights what they hate, the left fights for love". I feel sorry for Kelly Tran, for what she has to go through because she did her job and played the part that was given to her, its not her fault that Ryan Johnson made one of the most useless characters in the franchise. The entire Canto Blight mission can be cut from the movie and it would not effect anything... Johnson is a terrible writer

Don't get me wrong I don't think that it should be completely devoid politics... as long as there is substance and it adds to the story, which none of the examples I have given did anything to add to the story. Having women and other races in the movie are not political, its just normal, and those that complain about it are the minority, empty cans that rattle the most.

At first I over looked these thing as they may setting up something for episode IX, then come to find out there was no plan for any of the characters in the new trilogy that each writer/director has pretty much carte blanche with the story... so again Johnson is a terrible writer and there seems to be no quality control in that department at Lucisfilms.

[Carabas]

...Finn had a chance (be it was to sacrifice himself) to completely destroy the First Orders upper leadership which would be a badly needed victory for the resistance, and give Finn some purpose that he did not have during the whole movie. but no Rose had to stop him so we can get this "the right fights what they hate, the left fights for love"...

I think it's more accurate to say that Rose saved Finn from making a heroic and pointless impersonation of a bug splattering on a windshield.