By
Pike on
Wednesday July 4, 2018 06:53 am
Once upon a time, in a galaxy called the Milky Way, fans of the Star Wars movie franchise were eager to see the first film of the new prequel trilogy. Titled [url=https://www.tvore.com/?page=movie&id=19]Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, the film is still referred as one of the most anticipated film ever at this date. The reasons were simple. This was the first Star Wars movie in since [url=https://www.tvore.com/?page=movie&id=122]Return of the Jedi, released in 1982.
Seventeen years later, The Phantom Menace was in everybody's minds. Star Wars creator [url=https://www.tvore.com/index.php?page=star&id=118]George Lucas had already a cult following at this time by reaching more than just a celebrity status, but by becoming a true icon of a worldwide pop culture - Star Wars being the very first movie with such a merchandising campaign going along.
And even more, the trailer of the film was a major hit, some people would even be paying for a movie ticket just to be able to see the trailer, in a world where not everyone had access to the Internet.
Then, May 19, 1999. The movie hit the cinemas. Many people had the privilege of seeing, once again, the famous yellow text introduction on the well-known theme notes from John Williams.
But already, the text was not as simple as before. Something was odd. A trade federation? Politics? Senate? Plot holes were found one after the other and many left the cinema utterly disappointed.
Some referred to bad acting from the young actor Jake Lloyd, portraying Anakin Skywalker, who, years later, said that he regretted participating in this film, which was difficult for him as a young boy at school and throughout his teenage years.
But more than plotholes, bad acting and the story about politics, what many complained the most was the character of Jar Jar Binks. Aimed towards children audience, the character was written and intended by George Lucas as a comic relief. He would walk on alien poo, have a strange way of talking and overall be very annoying for a big part of the adult audience.
Behind the mask and CGI was actor [url=https://www.tvore.com/?page=star&id=594]Ahmed Best. One could think that the public backlash was not so hard on him, knowing that he was actually playing a CGI character. The reality was drastically different, as he revealed on Tuesday. Almost twenty years later, Best wrote the following on social media Twitter:
20 years next year I faced a media backlash that still affects my career today. This was the place I almost ended my life. It’s still hard to talk about. I survived and now this little guy is my gift for survival.
Following his message, many sent supportive messages, including Star Wars: The Last Jedi director [url=https://www.tvore.com/?page=star&id=55]Rian Johnson:
Frank Oz, the famous animator of Star Wars character Yoda:
We will end this article by a quote from author Marty Rubin:
Behind every mask there is a face, and behind that a story.
