George Lucas on The Jar Jar Binks Fan Backlash and How Everyone Felt The Same Way About C-3PO
I have never ever heard anyone trash the Star Wars character C-3PO. The thought of people hating that character as much as Jar Jar Binks doesn’t make sense to me. But, according to Star Wars mastermind George Lucas, he explained that the harsh fan response to Jar Jar was similar to the first initial response to C-3PO.
While talking to StarWars.com about The Phantom Menace, Lucas explained:
"The main thing they obviously got upset about was Jar Jar. But they got upset at Jar Jar because he was there for the kids. When I did A New Hope, everybody felt the same way about Threepio. They hated him. They thought he was too childish and the jokes were bad. They said the same thing. It’s just that the initial wave of Star Wars sort of overwhelmed the criticism of Threepio. We even played on that in Empire, making fun of him and acknowledging the fact that he was annoying. And then in the third one we did the same thing with Ewoks. People just went berserk. They said it was horrible, it ruined the movie, and how can you watch this, and all that kind of stuff."
Maybe there are a group of Star Wars fans out there that do hate C-3PO, but I have yet to come across one. Maybe they will make themselves known today in the comment section! Lucas went on to talk about how the news and fandom changed over the years, saying:
"So I was used to that sort of thing, but for some reason, the criticism through the internet became more alive. And the news media began to listen to the fans. Obviously, when a fan, or a group, or a blog says something terrible, they take it seriously, and suddenly that became the reality. It was very hard to turn back from that."
Lucas went on to talk about the reason he was defending Jar Jar and wanted to keep him in the movie, saying:
"The fact is that Phantom Menace is actually about some different kinds of things, and the story is a little more complex. I knew it would mean a lot to kids. I kept defending it by saying, this is for 12-year-olds and kids are going to love Jar Jar."
And you know what? He was right, the kids loved Jar Jar. It was the older established fans that didn’t care for the character. Lucas introduced Jar Jar to keep the kids entertained. I’ve met several Star Wars fans that grew up with The Phantom Menace that loved Jar Jar as kids.
What do you all think about Lucas’ reasoning for including Jar Jar in the film?