What, no Jar Jar?

Undoubtedly the most reviled character in the Star Wars franchise, if not cinema, Jar Jar is a Gungan (some kind of amphibian Rastafarian) from the planet Naboo who can be kindly described as a fool, not-sokindly as a fuckwit. Banished by his tribe in The Phantom Menace, this bumbling ‘comic’ sidekick is rescued by Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), and thus embarks on a journey that will take him to Tatooine, where he pals up with young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) before leading the Gungans into battle against the evil Trade Federation. Jar Jar has less screen time in

Attack Of The Clones, though his speech to the Galactic Senate, urging the granting of emergency powers to Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), inadvertently aids the rise of the Sith’s Galactic Empire. Fool. Fuckwit. Not that George Lucas was apologising, pointing out, “At first, the fans thought that C-3PO was loathsome, and when they saw the Ewoks, they said, ‘How can he do this?’” By the time Revenge Of The

Sith landed, the fans’ unwavering backlash was such that Lucas reduced Jar Jar’s involvement to that of an extra (though he’s back squawking in animated series

Star Wars: The Clone Wars).

A fully CG creation voiced by Ahmed Best, it could have been oh-so-different; Best recently said, “Michael [ Jackson] wanted to do the part, but he wanted to do it in makeup and prosthetics, like Thriller. George wanted to do it in CGI.”

Jar Jar was accused of being both a crude racial stereotype and aimed at kids – those who had aged with the original trilogy found such childishness and crass commercialisation hard to stomach. All pixels and no soul, he is, say the detractors, representative of the prequel trilogy as a whole.

The bad news? It is thought that Mr. Binks’ presence will be felt in

The Force Awakens. The good? J. J. Abrams has hinted that it will just be a passing reference to his death. Now that’s something to celebrate.