Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 00:36:24 -0600 (MDT)
From: Muhammad Deeb <mdeeb-AT-gpu.srv.ualberta.ca>
Subject: 'Star Wars' Character: Annoying Goofball or Racial Stereotype


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  'Star Wars' Character: Annoying Goofball or Racial Stereotype

  World African Network,
  May 28, 1999 


  LOS ANGELES (AP) And you thought adults hated Barney. Just listen 
  to what they're saying about Jar Jar Binks, the flop-eared amphibian from 
  the new ``Star Wars'' movie.

  Many fans, echoing the views of a number of film critics, see the character 
  as an annoying goofball at best and a racial stereotype at worst. 

  Since George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace'' opened 
  May 19, the Internet has been afire with messages, and several entire Web 
  sites, calling for no less than the annihilation of
  the creature. 

  "The tally so far is running about 10 to 1 in favor a having a festive Jar 
  Jar-B-Q,'' said a Web site called Jar Jar Must Die. 

  By Thursday, the Web site deja.com had amassed 15,000 messages just 
  about Jar Jar, with many saying they couldn't stand him. 

  Jar Jar, a computer-animated character dropped into the frames next to the 
  actors, is a bumbling sidekick who steps in animal dung and says things 
  like "yousa'' and "meesa'' for "you'' and "me.'' 

  To some, his speech sounds like Caribbean-accented pidgin English, and his 
  ears suggest dreadlocks. With his bellbottom pants and vest, Jar Jar looks to 
  some like the latest in a long line of Black stereotypes in movies. (Critics 
  have also complained of Asian and Italian stereotypes in other characters.) 

  Film critic Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal described Jar Jar as 
  "a Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit on platform hoofs, crossed annoyingly with 
  Butterfly McQueen.'' 

  Rick Barrs, author of "The Finger'' column in Los Angeles' alternative 
  weekly New Times, wrote: "This digit can only hope that Massa George 
  comes to his senses before Episode II and kills off shufflin' Jar Jar among 
  others.'' 

  The Jar Jar attacks certainly haven't dampened enthusiasm for the film, which 
  made more than $100 million in its first week and is expected to go over the 
  $200 million mark by the end of Memorial Day weekend. 

  But the vitriol has caught the people at Lucas' production company by 
  surprise. The filmmaker appears particularly stung by the suggestions of 
  racism. 

  "Nothing in 'Star Wars' was racially motivated,'' said Lucas film 
  spokeswoman Lynn Hale. "Star Wars' is a fantasy movie. I really do think 
  to dissect this movie as if it had a direct reference to the world today is 
  absurd.'' 

  As for the criticism that Jar Jar is a grating presence, she said: "It's a 
  children's movie. Kids love him. He's so childish.'' 

  As one Jar Jar defender wrote on the Internet: "Get over yourselves. If you 
  want to fight real racist stereotypes do it, but stop picking on fictional 
  aliens in a kid's movie.'' 

  The voice of Jar Jar is provided by actor Ahmed Best, who is Black. He 
  didn't immediately respond to a message left for him at Lucasfilm. But during 
  a May 11 Internet chat, he said of the character: 

  "I think the kids will absolutely love it! I think the fans will love it! I 
  know there will be people out there that will want to discredit George for 
  putting Jar Jar in the movie ... and I think those people should go see 
  something else!'' 





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