Star Wars: The Phantom Menace's Ahmed Best Talks Franchise's "Strong Political Undertones"

We talked to Ahmed Best on May 4th about how Star Wars is "a mythology that we can learn from."

By Jamie Jirak

Yesterday was May 4th, which means fans of Star Wars celebrated the franchise in various ways. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was rereleased in theaters, and ComicBook had the chance to chat with Jar Jar Binks actor, Ahemd Best, at the grand opening of Bricks and Minifigs in Pasadena, California. In addition to playing Jar Jar in the prequel films, Best also portrayed Kelleran Beq in Jedi Temple Challenge and Star Wars: The Mandalorian. During our chat, Best spoke about The Phantom Menace rerelease and how May 4th has become a huge day for Star Wars fans. We brought up the fact that "Star Wars Day" has only become a craze in recent years, and the actor joked that it was taking away from Cinco De Mayo. 

"I was just thinking, Mexicans must be pissed, because Cinco De Mayo was the holiday and now they're just like, 'Man, these nerdy Star Wars people are just taking the whole weekend,'" Best quipped. After giving the room a good laugh, Best turned the conversation a little more serious by explaining why the political sides of Star Wars are so important.

"All of these movies have very strong political undertones," Best began when asked if he had a message for fans on May 4th. "So Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Sith were all done under the George W. Bush era. And even so much so that Anakin in Sith has a line, 'You're either with us or against us.' And that's directly from what happened during the George Bush era."

"And there is a reason why there is a light and a dark and a journey in between them," he continued. "And that is a direct reflection on who we are as human beings. And I think as we watch these movies, we have to also remember that what we are watching is not just 'a galaxy far, far away, a long time ago,' but it is a reflection of how history repeats itself. And we have the ability to create a history that we can either see as a dark side of history or a light side of history."

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"So this isn't just movies that we watch that we love. This is a mythology that we can learn from," Best explained. "And as we move forward, and the more of these things that are being made, we can look at them and we can make them as a reflection of who we are, but we can also make them as a reflection of who we want to be. And if there is anything that this May the 4th day should bring to us all, it is the idea that we can actually build these universes and be these people that we want to be, and make the feeling of the Force something real, and something that could move us to be better as human beings."

Stay tuned for more from our interview with Ahmed Best. 

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