Jar Jar Binks actor reflects on racist online trolls, star wars fan lunatics, and sellout accusations that almost lead him to commit

[get these nets]

*third episode covered the racists and star wars loonies, this episode covers him being called a sellout




=================================================

‘The lowest I’ve ever been’: how playing Jar Jar Binks led to abuse, near death – and saving Baby Yoda

Ahmed Best thought he’d made it big when cast as Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. But it turned into a nightmare of online abuse and accusations of racism. With a new podcast revisiting his story, the actor talks about why he’s still proud of his historic role

www.theguardian.com

Even before The Phantom Menace was released, Best tuned in to Conan O’Brien one night, only to find a discussion about how his character would “ruin the movie”. When it came out in 1999, reviews were not kind – and fan reactions were worse. Websites such as JarJarSucks.com or JarJarBinksMustDie.com started springing up. They hosted Photoshop mockups of Binks and Best’s severed heads. Some users called for Binks’s entire race to suffer a horrific genocide. There was Jar Jar porn and homophobic abuse. There were so many hate sites that it created a “web ring” of linked pages that anti-Jar Jar activists could travel between.

The press started reporting on the online hatred, driving it to new heights. Best’s phone number was leaked online, and his answering machine overflowed with death threats. He returned to Stomp and became reluctant to even leave his New York apartment. “It was terrible,” says Best. “It was the lowest I’ve been in my life.”

Ahmed Best with podcast host

The trickiest part of the podcast is broaching one of the biggest criticisms of Jar Jar Binks. After the release of The Phantom Menace, film critics, professors and media scholars all claimed that he was racially offensive. They highlighted his subservience to white characters, interpreted his long ears as dreadlocks and claimed that he spoke in “demeaning pidgin English that will give many older viewers an unfortunate reminder of Hollywood’s more blatant racial stereotypes”. Everyone involved in the character’s creation, including Best, deny there was any offensive intent. But Marron hands the mic to Black film critic Aisha Harris to let her explain how, deliberate or not, it’s all too easy to read Binks as a trope known as the “noble savage”.

For Best, the accusation of racism was devastating. As someone extremely proud of his African heritage and a passionate advocate of Black rights, it was the suggestion that he’d allowed himself to be exploited that drove him to the edge of Brooklyn Bridge.

 

[Seoul Gleou]

nah, fukk him. how do you read those lines, as a black man, and not think "man, this doesn't sound right".

"me sa no want go boom boom"??

 

[Neo. The Only. The One.]

Never in a million years would I have ever thought that I would see a video titled The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks.

 

[BigMoneyGrip]

he needed the fade off that character alone

 

[get these nets]

nah, fukk him. how do you read those lines, as a black man, and not think "man, this doesn't sound right".

"me sa no want go boom boom"??

Thanks

Not into Star Wars films and just remember the controversy about the character. Saw clips of the film around that time, but don't remember the actor addressing the backlash.

 

[RhodyRum]

Fukk Star Wars. Fukk Jar Jar Binks. Fukk George Lucas. Fukk whoever created Jar Jar Binks. Fukk who wrote his lines. And last but not least, fukk the dipshıt who voiced that character.

 

[Alix217]

nah, you gotta hold that L

 

[Devilinurear]

Star wars fans are racist as fukk

That is why star trek fans are better.

 

[NAUGHTY]

Even though it started out as a joke, they really should’ve made that nikka an undercover Sith Lord working for Crackatine. That’s the only way that nikka’s character could’ve been redeemed. It would’ve been one of the biggest plot twists in modern movie history and they blew it bih

 

[Sterling Archer]

nah, fukk him. how do you read those lines, as a black man, and not think "man, this doesn't sound right".

"me sa no want go boom boom"??

Exactly. That nikka was a c00n, I dont care about him getting cooked by racists cacs for that dumb shyt he took part in.

 

[Phantum]

Breh knew what time it was. He saw franchise dollar signs and thought he was coming into f you money.

 

[BronxFleeZ]

Not into Star Wars what was his role?

 

[Grifter]

Not into Star Wars what was his role?

Jar Jar

 

[Marco Zen]

His character ALONE is what made say fukk this movie so yea, I understand the heat he caught for that shyt

 

[Arianne Martell]

If you want to keep it real, Jar Jar was not the only stereotype character cloaked as an alien…it’s cringy watching episodes 1-3