Jar Jar Binks Actor Opens Up About Suicide

[Deleted member 32374]

Good. I didn't accuse you of any of these things. I'm still wondering what it is that makes you so comfortable about repeating shallow, hurtful opinions in a thread that is nominally about the harm those opinions cause. You may call somebody who asks that question a troll, but that doesn't change the fact that you chose this thread of all threads on which to repeat your unwelcome and unsolicited opinions.

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You choose this thread to be morally superior. I separated the actor from the character and reasonably believed that an actor would separate criticism of a poorly written, animated and offensive character from themselves. I never even gave a thought to blaming the actor, its a lucas film all the way, you can write it but you can't say it. Doesn't take away from anything Lucas has done either, btw, he's just created some bad characters.

Long story short, I'm suprised to hear that the actor had such problems and was unware of them, but that can't make me change my mind on the character. You say that those opinions shouldn't be in this thread, its disrespectful (I doubt Best is reading any of this, btw) and actors should be able to live in peace. I agree with the live in peace and not harassed, I just don't understand how you expect everyone to do a 180 on Jar Jar because of something most of us had no idea happened. I didn't even know the name of the actor who played Jar Jar in front of the camera. I didn't see a threadmark from a mod telling people what they can and cannot say in this thread. PM a mod to create a threadmark if you want.

 

[phonicjoy]

It's true as in, if the actor did put a lot of himself and efforts in characterising jar jar and thought he did a good job he's basically being told that he's a failure at what he does, which can be crushing.

Besides, that's an actual quote it seems: you can't just dismiss it as not true when the actor himself feels like that even when criticism is directed to jar jar and not himself specifically, as he pointed out.
I don't know how much freedom he was given but apparently it's enough for him to feel "responsible".

Me I don't remember much about the JJ besides thinking it was insufferable. But I blame the design for a huge part of it.

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Its the exact opposite of "fans" attacking him for his role. If he actually feels that way he should see someone because thats really unhealthy.

One CAN critique a character without dismissing the performer or even the performance itself! Thats what I was referring to.

I think his performance was fine.

 

[Thordinson]

Damn...That's terrible but I'm really happy that he's doing much better now. I've never understood the need to crap on things one doesn't like. It's much better to be positive about the things one does like and just leave things one doesn't like alone.

 

[HibbySloth]

Fuck what anyone says. I loved Jar Jar as a kid. I had one of those water squirters from KFC and I would bring it to the public pool all the time. I still have a soft spot for him.

Of course as an adult I can tell Jar Jar wasn't written well, but Best never deserved the hate he got. It wasn't his fault. Star Wars fans are monsters.

 

[Mivey]

Fandom can be and often is a disease.

 

[rokkerkory]

Or just leave Lucas alone and watch something else. That's an option too.

Don't get me wrong I've said terrible things about Lucas too but I think the point of the video is that it causes real harm to real people and we shouldn't assume they have thick skin or signed up for decades of cruelty.

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Yeah agreed. It is terrible to take it to that level.

 

[JetSetSoul]

This was before social media, so he was probably getting letters and crap.

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That's even worse right.

What a gross thing, to be fan of things.

 

[CortexVortex]

The SW fan base is absolutely toxic.
I can't even imagine how hard it must be to live with that amount of hate coming from complete strangers.
Didn't the Asian girl from TLJ delete her social media because she got attacked by assholes as well?

 

[HibbySloth]

Didn't the Asian girl from TLJ delete her social media because she got attacked by assholes as well?

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Yes.

 

[Double]

Yeah dumbass fans should be questioning Lucas no way this guy came up with the stupid character.

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So the solution is to put the hate on someone else?
(it isn't!)

 

[eso76]

Its the exact opposite of "fans" attacking him for his role. If he actually feels that way he should see someone because thats really unhealthy.

One CAN critique a character without dismissing the performer or even the performance itself! Thats what I was referring to.

I think his performance was fine.

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Again, if he has reasons to believe Jar Jar was his making, it turning out to be the world's most despised character ever would be crushing.
People can direct their criticism at the character and not the performer all they want, but we don't know how much he brought to the character's personality: obviously he thought (knew?) that IS his performance and it's his own failure.

But to clarify, I'm not saying people should always be kind because they might hurt someone's feeling.
Hate, toxicity and harassing are another thing entirely, obviously.

 

[HardTimesFamilyPride]

So I was an actor for 8 years. I was in a band for 10 and booked bands from all across the US for 3 years between my house and a bar in town. Have had at least 110 individual bands crash in my basement (so we're looking at 200-300+ individual artists sleeping on my floor). Here is the list of the bands that played in my basement if you don't believe me. I've spent my life within the arts, around artists, etc. In my experience, artists taking criticism like this of their work personally does not mean that they think people hate them as a person, or are attacking them as a person.

Spoiler: Personal thoughts based on experience

What usually happens, again in my own personal experience, is as follows: artists put a lot of themselves into their work. It's hard not to do this in a creative industry. Some people just see this as a job, and can separate it from their day-to-day, but historically many of the most remembered artists have had a personal connection with their work, often to the point of it affecting their personal lives. Often, artists use their personal lives to influence their work, and many revered artists made art specifically because they were troubled people. Artists don't want you to just like their work and only say good things about it (in fact, many bands I have hosted have said that "Hey great set!" is annoying because there's hardly any substance to that either) - but they usually care about whether or not people actually understand that work and the effort they put into it. Ahmed Best was the first major (if not the first ever) mocap character in a major film. He busted his ass to help ILM make it work. He knew it was a character to entertain the kids. I don't think he expected everyone to fall in love with Jar Jar, but I think he at least thought that people would take the time to acknowledge that they understood what the character was (in terms of what I just listed) if they didn't like it. Instead he faced a tidal wave of vitriol for what didn't work with, as far as I can tell, little to no acnowledgement of what was accomplished. Add to that the hate directed toward him as a person, the harassment, and if he's anything like the artists I've worked with the response is likely "What did I do to deserve this? Why are people behaving like this?" He was just playing a role in a movie, right? People were telling him to separate himself from the character, to not take it personally - while he was watching others take that character personally. When these questions and contradictions start popping up in one's head, especially if mental illness is involved, it can very quickly spiral.

Spoiler: Connection to the conduct in this thread

This thread is actually an example of the disconnect at play here. I will admit that I've taken some of these comments personally. But all the responses I keep getting don't make me think y'all hate me. They don't make me think y'all are attacking me personally, or comparing me to some other vile group of people. What makes me take it personally is that I am having to sit here and consistently watch people take my comments, where I have explicitly stated that I am not saying people can't criticize things, and twist those comments around to claim I'm saying exactly that, or to start on some slippery slope shit to say that my statements are going to open the door for that. Having to watch people dismiss Best taking comments about Jar Jar personally by stating that they themselves are taking some of us pointing out that this isn't just about harassment personally, because they think we're comparing them to harassers. Seeing people projecting their personal assumptions about how other people can or should treat their creative work. Watching people go through their mental gymnastics of looking for some singular entity to place "blame" on without stopping to think that stuff like this is often a huge chain of cause-and-effect that every single one of us (including Best, including Lucas) has some piece of responsibility in. And worst of all, seeing people tacitly if not outrightly acknowledge that the nature of the response Jar Jar got (aside from the needed discussion over racist implications) is the baseline for discussion, that it's something we can't do anything about, even within ourselves, and that people who can't accept this or aren't willing to tolerate it shouldn't engage in these discussions, or even go into work they might be passionate about. It's in seeing effort go to waste. Due to this, I have to deal with a swelling of disorientation in my head, in trying to balance what I'm doing wrong to communicate what I mean with the nagging frustration of feeling like I'm beating my head against a wall that isn't interested in understanding what I mean in the first place, because of how thoroughly my words are being misrepresented. It becomes hard to engage others without this frustration seeping to the surface. It becomes hard to approach the discussion in a civil manner. And it culminates within me as self-criticism and sense of dismay at how people can be like this. At how I can be like this. I love creating, its one of the only things that brings fulfillment to my life, but if this is how people choose to respond to art that they don't personally like how could I ever survive attempting this as a career? If this is the level on which people engage with work that people put themselves into, what the fuck is it worth anyway? I will be honest and say that last night my mental health took a hit trying to process what the hell is going on in here.

Spoiler: Clarifying my first post

"It's important to keep in mind that your words and actions affect others even if those words and actions aren't directed towards them" doesn't mean "Don't criticize things." It means "Put a little thought into your criticism, because words have real-life repercussions." Criticism is healthy. Critique is important, because critique is the discussion where we break down what works, what doesn't work, what's problematic on a societal/cultural level (yes Jar Jar is included here), how things could have been done better, where some of us may go on to become directors or actors or what-have-you and use these discussions to grow beyond what came before us. But digging your heels in on hyperbole without putting effort into leveling with other people doesn't contribute much to that conversation. Sure, it's valid that you feel whatever way you feel about it. That was your experience and none of us can make you have a different one. But your desire to express feeling that way, in a public arena toward a bunch of strangers, while being shown that expression like this has harmed people, is not more important that the effects your words & actions have on others. That's peak selfishness.

Spoiler: Closing remarks

That's all I have to say on this. I'm still a little disheartened by how some of this discussion has gone and I'm not willing to take another hit trying process more comments misrepresenting what I've said, or trying to shift the blame to a person or to mental health by saying "Well if x just y" or "Well they shouldn't have blah blah blah" (thanks Stinkles), or taking any of this as me saying everyone should like the character, or whatever else, so I'll be out after this and y'all can argue with each other about what I said if you want. I just felt like this needed to be elaborated one more time, as thoroughly as I can muster. I will only ask that, if you read this and it makes you feel a certain kind of way, try to take a step back and really think about what I'm saying for a few minutes before typing out a response, and ask yourself if what you're saying I'm saying is really what I'm saying. But I can't control if you're gonna do that. I can't control how y'all choose to read my comments. I can't control what y'all feel is acceptable to say in the face of evidence that what you're saying might be harmful to others. I can't control whatever you're gonna come up with to dismiss this comment because I stated that I'm not interested in playing the same song and dance I've already played throughout this thread and others. The only thing I can control is my actions, within my means. Fortunately it's easier for me to remove myself and go on about my life than it was for Mr. Best.

Having said that, though, I apologize if I became aggressive toward any of you in this discussion. And I acknowledge that I can't control whether or not you think I am being sincere in saying that. All I can control is that I can acknowledge when I crossed a personal line I drew for myself, and express my regret in doing such.