Answer me this: Why do we care about non-human characters who exhibit racial stereotypes?

The latest uproar involves two Autobots — the good guys — in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. These twin robots allow Transformers to traffic in pretty obvious black stereotypes: illiteracy, gold teeth and even an obsession over the status of one’s “rims.” The bots are just one of many stereotypes in Transformers, which is less about solid character development and more about, well, big robots that fight each other and do cool stuff.

Immediately, of course, Jar Jar Binks is whom everyone thinks of first. When such a beloved film series (Star Wars) goes so hopelessly down the wrong path, it’s bound to raise eyebrows. Jar Jar is one of the most obnoxious characters in recent movie history, and George Lucas will forever regret him. He is the 21st century reincarnation of Stepin Fetchit. For the next 100 years, all Stepin Fetchits will heretofore be known as Jar Jar Binks.

Yet Jar Jar and the Autobots are not real. As in cartoons — from Looney Tunes to South Park — fictional non-human characters very often traffic in stereotypes. They are not like us, so we have to make them like us in the most obvious way possible. Stereotypes are obvious, which is why they’re so common.

Now, there are smart ways to do this, and there are stupid ways. Transformers and Star Wars took the stupid route. But they are stupid movies and should be treated as such.

We care about stereotypes in television shows and movies because they poorly represent how complex and delicate people are. Yet when the stereotypes aren’t people, I think we should all just calm down and laugh it off as the lunacy it is — don’t take it too seriously, but only as seriously as it takes itself. In the case of Transformers, the answer is not at all serious.