The Most Despised Character In ‘Star Wars’ Speaks Out: ‘I’m Proud Of It And I’d Do It Again’

In the Star Wars universe, one character is despised by fans more than any others – and that creature is the long-loathed and uniquely annoying Jar Jar Binks.

When Jar Jar first tainted the silver screen during Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace, the grotesque simpleton nearly single-handedly destroyed the franchise and became not just the most despised charter in Star Wars, but perhaps the most vile and irritating character ever to get a foothold in cinematic history.

Jar Jar looked like how you’d imagine Frankenstein’s monster would if he’d been created not by the good doctor, but a peculiar breed of sunlight shunning and basement dwelling script writers who had just been given a high grade batch of psychedelics and carte blanche to create a Star Wars character that kids, who possess all the emotional intelligence and savvy of a three-hour-old blade of grass, could really identify with.

Jar Jar doesn’t look good, he doesn’t look bad, he just looks annoying with a capital ‘A’. And that’s before you even get to Binks’ hugely irritating speech impediment.

If manure could talk, it would sound like Jar Jar. This is one Star Wars character who even E.T would shun for looking and behaving like a nauseating clown made somewhat aggressive and bold by a lifelong addiction to crack cocaine.

Jar Jar Binks may have eyes like saucers, but they’re not cute or endearing, these saucers of Ja Ja’s may as well be overflowing with sour milk or pooling with puddles of putridness, such is their deeply calamitous and toxic effect on your average Star Wars fan.

Also, can anything in the universe which has eyes protruding from floppy stalks be a force for good?

Additionally, when this infernal creature attempts to be endearing or humorous, it provokes nothing but a hellish and overwhelming surge of violence in the most gentle of souls. Which is why the polluting influence of Jar Jar’s unique ‘charisma’ and geeky mannerisms is best avoided and shunned like a virile and persistent parasite.

Lest we forget, exactly what kind of witless fool is called Jar Jar Binks in the first instance? The very name conjours up a seething of the senses, a raging of the blood and a surge of adrenaline. In short, Jar Jar Binks sounds like some sort of savage and terrible tropical disease that Penicillin got the better off way back when.

As is only right in a just and noble universe, the name Jar Jar Binks is still greeted with a fierce scowl, a hardening of the arteries, and a reddening of the cheeks, yet say a prayer for the actor who played the most despised Star Wars character of them all.

Jar Jar Binks and the universe he inhabits may not be real, but the talented thespians who bring such, for the most part, wondrous creations to life are. You’d have thought being the man responsible for unleashing Binksy on the world would be a heavy burden to bear. But Ahmed Best not only remains fiercely proud of playing Jar Jar, he’s adamant that, given the chance again, he’d reprise the role.

Talking to Yahoo! Movies, Ahmed reflect on the nature of Binks and how in the early stages of the rubber-faced buffoon’s development, George Lucas believed that, far from being problematic, Jar Jar’s role was integral to the the success of The Phantom Menace.

The great director would often enthuse while watching back the dailies, “Jar Jar’s the key to all this, if we get Jar Jar working.”

Best, who is a lifelong Star Wars fan, was picked by George Lucas to play Jar Jar because, although Binks was scripted to be a completely CGI character, the head honcho realised he’d require an actor to provide the rest of the cast with a visual point of reference.

Best was both theatrical and funny, and he was well liked by both production members and the rest of the cast. Lucas often invited him for dinner, Natalie Portman raved about his abilities, and Liam Neeson called him “a very gifted actor.”

It’s safe to say no one was prepared for the almost universal and overwhelmingly negative reaction towards the character of Jar Jar Binks when The Phantom Menace opened at the box office. Best in particular was particularly upset.

“There was never a question or comment about my performance or the character that arose while we were working, So when the movie came out and there was such a reaction, it was a little bit jarring.”

I thought [The Phantom Menace] was going to be the beginning of a blossoming career, and it never really turned out that way. The doors I wanted it to open didn’t really open.”

Jar Jar may have damaged Best’s career but he remains proud of helping to usher Binks into creation and being part of the Star Wars universe, and although he remains a bit miffed that he didn’t get enough credit for being one of the pioneers of motion-capture in the same way as Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in Lord of the Rings, he swears that if he could, he’d do it all again.

“I’m proud of it, I’m glad I did it, and I’d do it again. Because it’s a part of history. Not a lot of people can say that.

“Kids really relate to Jar Jar because he’s a kids’ character, plain and simple. And that’s who the movie is for. So if kids like it, I did my job.”

Ya Ya Jar Jar.

(Image Via Wikimedia Commons)