Simon Pegg Regrets Making Fun Of Jar Jar Binks

Ever since the film hit theaters back in the late-’90s, it’s been perfectly acceptable to insult Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and more specifically, to insult the character of Jar Jar Binks. As fans of the original trilogy, Jar Jar really punctuated one of the problems with the prequel trilogy — that George Lucas didn’t really understand what made his original films so successful, and that he was using forced childish humor as a crutch.

But still, as Star Wars fans tend to do, we took things too far. Several weeks back, we reported on a tweet from Jar Jar actor Ahmed Best, who admitted that he had contemplated suicide due to fan backlash against the character, and in light of that, one reporter from Now This! News asked actor Simon Pegg if he had regretted things he’d said about the character. Here’s what Pegg said:

“I feel so ashamed of the fact that there was actually a victim, a human victim in that. I think most people were regarding Jar Jar Binks like he was a real creature and wailing on him for being annoying, or whatever, or not liking him. But there was a person behind that. And I read that and just thought, ‘Christ, I’m one of those people.’ It makes me feel awful.”

I couldn’t agree more. It’s easy to hate on someone and the performance they gave, but all too often, we underestimate the impact our voices actually have on the people behind the scenes. The fact that both Best and actor Jake Lloyd were so negatively affected by this is, I think, a stain on fandom in general, and are examples of what to avoid in the future.

What do you think of Pegg’s comments? Do you agree with him, or do you think he’s being overly-sensitive? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Now This!

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