In Defense of Jar Jar Binks

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Jar Jar Binks. Yes, there is a strong argument that his character is the worst thing in the prequels. However, you could also easily argue the same for Hayden Christiansen’s acting or the stiff dialogue between Anakin and Padme. Still, as easy a target I may find Jar Jar to be, that is not to say that that any of my criticism is aimed at the actor behind the big floppy ears and tongue, Ahmed Best.

From an acting perspective, he actually did a pretty great job. He was not only doing the best humanly possible with the script he was given, but he was also laying the groundwork for making motion capture a reality. Laugh all you like, but without Jar Jar there would be no Gollum, King Kong, Cesar, Tron Legacy, and even characters like Maz Kanata and Supreme Leader Snoke from the upcoming Star Wars The Force Awakens.

To top it all off, there’s also the great fan theory that Jar Jar was secretly a Sith operative. After all he was personally responsible for Emperor Palpatine gaining control over the Senate.

Why bring all this up? Well, I was just listening to a recording of Ahmed Best from around a month ago on The Rogue Theater Machine and any feelings I may have had about Jar Jar are overshadowed a million times by respect for the guy who brought him to life.

Source: Twitter