JUSTICE FOR JAR JAR. When The Phantom Menace debuted, Star Wars fans did not react well to Ahmed Best’s gangly Gungan. They wanted Jedi being cool. They got a big-eared, blithering buffoon. Lucas chopped Jar Jar’s screen time for Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith, but those films could have done with more of Jar Jar Binks’ playful slapstick to mitigate the murk of Anakin’s downfall. Jar Jar, like the Ewoks, was a character conceived by Lucas to appeal to the younglings and, if you’ve ever had the chance to watch him with a child, boy does he hit that demographic. They love him, and so should we. After years of being a (literal) fall guy, he deserves a renaissance. Maybe even his own show. ’Tis demanded by the gods, it is.
CHRIS HEWITT