Let's just get this one out of the way right away. Many a well-meaning white man has tried to create characters and storylines depicting the trials of indigenous people throughout the world, sometimes with allegory and sometimes with actual portrayal, and have ended up creating characters who are unintentionally racist. And with his alien patois, his goofy ineptitude, and his astounding lack of dignity, Jar Jar Binks' more stereotypically racist characteristics are particularly reductive. But that's not the most worst part about him: those factors are not merely problematic, they're annoying. Binks is regularly cited as the standard-bearer for George Lucas' intent to pander to kids; the character seemingly serves no other purpose than to entertain children with his wacky antics and funny voice, and the idea of a character like that appearing in the Original Trilody is mostly an abomination. His entire plot at times seems badly shoehorned in, merely so the character can follow the action around and do the world's most obnoxious physical comedy routine to distract from the routinely tedious discussions on intergalactic trade. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time George tried to flirt with the youth market.
I am a writer and musician born and raised in Montana. I have done everything from fixing fences in Glacier National Park to curating the music library at KBGA Missoula. I am also a lazy jerk.
