Ja-ja binks

Ja-Ja was the son of whaler Josh R. Binks. Since childhood, awkward, clumsy and frivolous, he constantly got into trouble. Because of JJ, his family ended up on a deserted island. It is not known what happened to her, but Ja-Ja somehow got out of there and ended up in Oto Gunga. There he looked for work for a long time, until he met the leader of a gang of thieves, Rus Tharpals, but he soon joined the army and the gang ceased to exist. However, with the help of Tarpals for JJ, a job was found with Boss Nass. But the clumsy gungan made an explosion and was expelled.

According to Terry Brooks' novelization of Star Wars Episode I , Ja-Ja crashed King Boss Nass's heiblibber (submarine) and was expelled from his home. He lived in the swampy areas of the planet Naboo until he met two Jedi Knights - Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi . Qui-Gon saves the life of Jah-Jah from the forces of the Trade Federation , and Jah-Jah, following the code of honor of the Gungans, considers it his duty from now on to constantly follow his savior.

Upon learning that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan need to get in touch with Queen Naboo Amidala, and that tanks and armored personnel carriers of the Trade Federation have landed on the planet, Ja-Ja overpowers his fear and agrees to bring his new acquaintances to the underwater city of the Otung Gunga Gungans. Jah-Jah, who arrived there and the two Jedi accompanying him, is detained and presented to the eyes of the Boss of Nass by an old friend of the clumsy Gungan captain Tapals. After listening to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, the king of the Gungans “by the way” condemns Ja-Ja to death, but Qui-Gon, with the help of manipulation of consciousness, stops the Nass boss in time, claiming that, according to the customs of the Gungans, Ja-Ja’s life from the moment he was saved belongs to the savior.

After the release of Queen Amidala from the escort droids, the queen, Jedi, and JJ Binks fly to Coruscant , but the damaged ship on which they fly makes an emergency landing on the desert planet Tatooine. There they meet the nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker. After visiting Coruscant, JJ with the rest returns to his home planet. After examining the empty city of the Gungans, Jah-Jah came to the conclusion that its inhabitants went to the "holy place" and went after them. Ja-Ja contributed to the conclusion of an alliance between the Gungans and the land inhabitants of Naboo, for which Boss Nass was promoted to general . As a general, Ja-Ja took part in the battle of Naboo , which served as a distraction for the liberation of the palace and hangar in Theed.

Throughout the first episode, JJ is involved in a number of comic scenes. For example, during the battle itself, he accidentally rolls out a number of boomer balls, which destroyed a significant number of droids and tanks of the Trade Federation. As soon as Dzh-Dzh and captain Tapals are surrounded by battle droids and they are surrendered, Anakin Skywalker destroys the station of the Trade Federation, which leads to the de-energization of its ground troops. After the victory, Jah-Jah takes part in the celebration, which marked the reconciliation of the Gungans and the land inhabitants of Naboo.

The next installment of the Star Wars movie epic is Episode II. Attack of the Clones, ”JA-JA given much less time. He replaces Padme Amidala as Senator of Naboo in the Galactic Senate . Since Padme is absent, Jah-Jah himself is forced to submit to the Senate a proposal to grant the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine extraordinary powers to create an army of the Republic - an army of clones. Palpatine used this proposal as the first step towards transforming the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire .

In the movie Star Wars. Episode III. Revenge of the Sith ”Jah Jah plays an even smaller role. He appears only three times, including at the Padme Amidala funeral ceremony next to Boss Nass. JJ had about 15 words in the film, but even cut them out (there was only the phrase “Sorry”, which JJ said, accidentally bumping into his fellow senator). In the cut scenes, Jah-Jah, realizing his mistake (a proposal to provide the Chancellor with extraordinary powers), appears as part of the “delegation of 2000” - a group of senators who opposed Palpatine to curtail democracy. After JJ, the senator from Naboo was Puja Naberri.

Ja-Ja Binks also appears in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars ; in at least one episode, he even becomes the main character.

Since there are no references to JJ's death in Star Wars, it can be assumed that he is one of the three main characters of the epic (along with R2-D2 and C-3PO ) that survive throughout all ten films. Although some Star Wars fans, unhappy with JJ's comic style, demanded that Lucas kill his hero on Alderaan when he was destroyed by the first Death Star , a scene was added to the end of the final part ( Return of the Jedi ), in which a certain gungan shouts out: “Ours is free!”

Although George Lucas claimed that this gungan was not JJ, he also denied rumors that JJ had died in Alderaan . Fresh rumors claim that the Gungan returned to Coruscant and settled on it with his family (wife and son Abso Bar Binks, who later joined the rebels), sitting in the Imperial Senate , and Jah-Jah died only when he was already old. . According to the official Lucasfilm system, it was considered the " G-canon " (that is, an event officially confirmed by Lucas Arts).

In 2015, a fan theory was spread on the Web that it was Ja-Ja who was the true lord of the Sith ^[2] . As evidence, points were given in which Ja-Ja may use the Force. The main argument was the fact that it was JJ in the absence of Padmé Amidala who advanced the idea in the Senate to give Chancellor Palpatine extraordinary powers ^[3] . Ahmed Best , voiced by JJ Binks, in response to this theory said that “he is pleased to feel when the hidden meaning of the work becomes visible; no matter how long it takes ”” ^[4] . However, in the subsequent parts of Star Wars (VII “The Force Awakens”, VIII “The Last Jedi”), JJ Binks did not appear, which casts doubt on the possibility of revealing this character in the main negative role (even if such a plot twist was originally planned as some fans believe).

Even before the episode “The Phantom Menace” was published, JJ Jin Binks was the subject of quite serious attention from the media and the public, although it was somewhat in the wrong direction, as its creators probably planned. Binks has become a “symbol” of what many reviewers, such as Brent Staples ( The New York Times ) ^[5] , David Edelstein (Slate) ^[6] and Eric Harrison (Los Angeles Times ^{[7] [8])} lack of film. The character was widely criticized and often ridiculed ^{[9] by} people who believed that JJ was included in the film solely to attract the attention of a children's audience. One of the Star Wars fans in the world, director Mike J. Nichols, created and started distributing for free a modified version of the film called The Phantom Edit , which cut several scenes depicting what Nichols called "Jah's antics." The character was also ridiculed in an episode of the South Park series called Jacobosaurs , in The Magic Parents (episode of Abra-Catastrophe!), The Simpsons (episode Co-Dependent's Day ), and in the episodes of Star Wars " Robotsypa " in which Best played his role as a voice-overs ^[10] .

Along with film critics, many also accused the filmmakers of over-commercialization aimed at young children (the criticism was initially identical with the criticism of introducing ewoks in Return of the Jedi). Star Wars creator George Lucas said he feels that there are some fans who are upset about a number of aspects of Star Wars because “these films are for children, but they don’t want to admit that ... There’s a little a group of fans who don't like comic helpers. They want the films to be harsh, like Terminator, and they will become very upset and stubborn about anything that has anything to do with childhood. ” ^[11] Rob Coleman, who was the head of the Industrial Light & Magic animation team, warned Lucas that the team believed the JJ character would be unsuccessful. Lucas told him that he specifically introduced JJ in the film to attract the attention of young children twelve years old and younger ^[12] .

Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal described the character as "the Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit on hoof platforms that annoyingly intersects with Butterfly McQueen " ^[13] . Patricia J. Williams suggested that many aspects of Jah’s character are very reminiscent of archetypes depicting minstrel show artists using make-up blackface ^[14] , while others suggest that the character is a “laid-back clown character” representing stereotypes about black residents Caribbean Islands ^[15] . George Lucas has denied any connection between the character and racism ^[16] .

• Ja-Ja Binks in the StarWars.com database
• Ja-Ja Binks on Wookieepedia: Star Wars wiki