A victim of the cynical and politically correct 90s...

Rating: 9/10 (9 October 1999)

I went to this movie to watch one of my all-time favorite movie series: Star Wars. I watched, was entertained, and left. Phantom Menace did an excellent job of setting the beginning of the Star Wars story. The acting fit the movie (no bad performances) and the special effects and action superb.
No we get to the serious matter. For people to call the character Jar-Jar Binks a "racist" character is INCREDIBLY STUPID! I am an African-American that is active in the NAACP. I laughed when I saw Jar-Jar. He was funny (and a little irritating). The young man who played as Jar-Jar (an African-American) said that the character has alot of him in it. His only frame of reference was his African-American upbringing. Jar-Jar is not even close to the stereotypes in early movies depicting blacks and stupid, lazy, and slow-witted.
I find it funny that people just overlook what Jar-Jar and his people did: Fight a battle against an enormous army of robots in defense of their way of life. A slow-witted, lazy, and stupid people INDEED! Fine if you thought the movie was dull or lacked character development. BUT, to go with "Jar-Jar is racist" theme is ignorant, stupid, and DOWNRIGHT ABSURD!