In Defense of Jar Jar Binks

This is the first of what I presume to be many differences of opinion that I have with the majority of humanity, at least the vocal minority that believes itself to be the majority.  I suspect that many potential readers will skip this entry entirely and may avoid my young blog forever more simply because of the title.  But do you know what?  I really do not care.  Since Disney announced the acquisition of Lucas Film this winter, Jar Jar hate has once again come to the forefront.  After reading numerous articles and comments about how much Jar Jar sucks for over a decade, I can no longer take it.  The idiotic Gungan is not as terrible as he is made out to be.

Meesa notsa bad guysa

Lucas with his security detail

Let's get this out of the way first.  Jar Jar is quite annoying, especially in Episode I.  It's not his fault; he was designed that way.  He is a clumsy moron that George Lucas utilized in a poor attempt to bring slapstick comedy to the Star Wars universe.  As an individual, Jar Jar comes across as dimwitted at best.
Jar Jar was immediately identified as a racist character.  His physical mannerisms and voice are cited as evidence of Lucas' intent to depict Gungans as African Americans and, by extension, African Americans as dimwitted and lazy.  These accusations have baffled me from the get go as nothing about Jar Jar or any other Gungan comes close to indicating that they are in fact meant to be depictions of any human race.
In reality, these individuals are projecting their own stereotypes or in some cases what they perceive to be the stereotypes that others hold onto the characters.  They are applying their own cultural bias onto a fictional character whose only physical similarities to humans are its opposable thumbs and bipedal gait.  A virtually identical situation occurred when Paramount released the second Transformers movie.
Ahmed Best, Jar Jar's voice actor, is an African American.  The claims of racism suggest that everybody involved with the character's portrayal - especially his voice actor - was complicit in the offense.  Needless to say, this irritated him significantly.

"Not only do I think that has no validity, I think it's really stupid for anyone to put their own prejudices and their own homophobia on a complete fantasy movie," Best says.

Imagine the controversy if this made it into the final cut...

If people accepted the fact that Jar Jar is in fact not a CGI minstrel, they quickly latched onto another point of contention.  Often they focused their hatred on his speech.  While it's true that Jar Jar utilizes some unique slang and a distinctive speech pattern, he is far from the first character in the franchise to do so.  Yoda is the most notable example, setting aside the various species that do not speak Basic (or English as we call it.  The little green Jedi Master is famous and loved for his misaligned sentences and Grover-esque voice.  His phrases are cultural treasures that adorn posters, t-shirts, and memes.  Yet when a Gungan talks funny, the fans get up in arms...

Better vocalization than Jar Jar have I?

Forget about the trouble of creating the thousands of unique species and cultures that populate the Star Wars universe for a moment.  Instead think about the single species inhabiting our world.  Consider the sheer number of cultures that exist on Earth.  How many languages do humans speak?  How many dialects of each language exist?  Consider the different speech patterns and slang across the US.  For that matter, listen to the differences between urban and rural residents in any given state.

Especially the characters that use a fake British accent for no discernible reason

What Lucas has done with Jar Jar - all of his alien races really - is apply human experience and amplify it.  If a universe like that depicted in Star Wars exists, we should expect such differences in speech, even when the speakers are using the same core language.  The truth is that Jar Jar's speech pattern is far more plausible than the majority of the human characters.

Dismissing both the allegations of racism and the troubles with his speech, Jar Jar's simplistic nature is also a cause for anger.  It is clear that Lucas played up the Gungan's slow nature and clumsiness in an effort to create humor.  We see this time and time again throughout The Phantom Menace.  The other characters, Jedi and Gungan alike, treat him like an utter imbecile throughout the film.  His people shunned him.  The Jedi  and Naboo relegate to hanging out with the not-yet-active droids on the Naboo ship.  Not even Anakin puts much faith in him as he warns Jar Jar to stay the hell away from his podracer only to see the Gungan get zapped by the energy binder.  The latter two examples demonstrate Lucas' attempt at slapstick humor while the first is something more, whether Lucas realized it or not.  Kicking Jar Jar out of Gunga City was one of the brightest moves in the film...
A New Hope, the first Star Wars movie ever released, utilized the narrative of the hero's journey.  The story focused on Luke Skywalker as an everyman character, somebody the audience could relate to.  He wasn't a soldier or a pilot or even a Jedi knight.  He was simply a boy living with his aunt and uncle farming moisture on a desert planet with two suns.  Following a fantastical turn of events that he played no role in, he meets two offworld individuals (C3PO and R2D2) who lead him on a quest.  His journey takes him on a grand star ship and across the galaxy where he ultimately plays a critical role in a major battle.  The film ends with Luke being recognized for his achievement.
The Phantom Menace begins with a trade disagreement or some such heavy handed political mumbo jumbo that results in two offworld individuals (Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan) arriving on Naboo where they encounter the simplistic Jar Jar Binks.  He joins their quest.  Before long he is on a grand star ship heading across the galaxy.  Eventually he leads the Gungan army against the Trade Federation's battle droids which leads to him being recognized (along with his fellow Gungans) for his efforts.
Yes, you read that correctly.  Jar Jar Binks is the Luke Skywalker of Episode I.  He is the everyman character that the audience identifies with.
Unfortunately, the fact that he is an alien species among human characters makes this hard to recognize.  Further complicating matters is his forced relegation to comic relief.  The marketing campaign focused on Anakin and Obi-Wan as the heroes of the story did even more damage.  One of the primary reasons (of which there are many) that this film failed to resonate with fans is the lack of a strong lead character.  Qui-Gon was already an established hero; he knew everything and could handle anything in his path.  No challenges awaited the Jedi master.  Obi-Wan was a brilliant supporting character, playing a more serious parallel to Han Solo in the original

Who are you calling Jar Jar?!

 film.  Lucas's stated lead, Anakin, was a useless child that not only created C3PO in the story, but also played his role in the film.  He is little more than a side character whole only "success" came through pure luck and whose role did nothing more than move the story along.

George Lucas's idea of humor...

Had Lucas examined his script more thoroughly, and with an eye for storytelling rather than merchandising, he should have realized who his true hero was.  Such consideration would have removed the slapstick moments while retaining the core elements of Jar Jar.  Using a CGI alien as the lead character would have been a risky endeavor, but it would have paid off in the end.  Fans may not have embraced Jar Jar as they once did Luke, but they would have made a stronger connection to the story itself.  Instead Lucas squandered his best opportunity by relegated the character representing his audience to the punchline of several terrible jokes.
Recognizing Jar Jar as the hero in Episode I only strengthens his portrayal in the following films.
Before I came to the above realization, I already found respect for Jar Jar as a character due to his portrayal in Episodes II and III.  Like many war heroes before him, Jar Jar found himself in the role of rising politician.    And like an unfortunately high number of his real world counterparts, he is tragically under-prepared and unqualified for his duties.  His trusting and simplistic nature makes him exploitable, which works to Palpatine's advantage as he manipulates Jar Jar in Padme's absence.  Also from Naboo, the Chancellor is familiar to Jar Jar who supports his positions without question.  The Gunga's likability and honest nature brings others into the fold.  Unwittingly, Jar Jar is a major force in the destruction of the Republic.

Meesa gonna run for Presidentsa!

Over the course of three films, Jar Jar went from being in the wrong place at the wrong time to being the key to the end of the intergalactic democracy.  All of this happened because of his decision to take the Jedi to Gunga City, which kicked off the hero's journey in Episode I.
Even with a diminished role in the latter films of the prequel trilogy, Jar Jar still parallels Luke more than Anakin or Obi-Wan.  A key decision in each character's second movie dictated the course their journey would ultimately take.  In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke chooses to leave Yoda in order to save his allies, ultimately leading to his confrontation with Darth Vader.  This decision leads to the revelation that Vader is Anakin Skywalker which ultimately leads Luke to seek redemption for his father.  Jar Jar is the first to endorse the Grand Army of the Republic in Attack of the Clones, which leads to a massive war and the eventual rise of the Emperor. Whereas Luke ended his journey in Return of the Jedi as an unquestioned hero, Jar Jar's journey ended in Revenge of the Sith in disgrace.  Regardless, both characters experienced significant growth over the course of their respective trilogies.
If only Lucas' ignorance had not mishandled Jar Jar, we might have had two great Star Wars trilogies...

Instead we got this...