PT Defending Anakin and the Tusken

I had a dream once: Anakin and the Tuskens were playing around on a merry-go-round. With Anakin in front with his saber ignited.

Seriously all, I think we've discussed this to death already.

 

Exactly. Even if only one of them killed her due to some sick fetish for humans and the rest of the tribe had no idea this was happening, Anakin was still going to blame them all for it and kill 'em.

In some way, maybe Anakin had always wanted to kill them and this was finally the excuse he was looking for?

 

Something like this...

 

no its in one of the non shown arcs of TCW.

 

Is that the Boba Fett and Cad Bane one?

 

Yep

 

Yep...looks like demonisation to me. Bit of an odd play isn't it? As I've said before I like to think that Lucas was referencing something other than that the Tuskens actually were 'ok to kill' but.....stuff like this...makes me wonder.

 

We're supposed to smile and be happy as Anakin gives in to his rage and cuts down the Tuskens, for great justice, as the creepy hysteria music plays. It's a good popcorn moment.

 

The arc was supposed to feature a Tusken Shaman. So it might have shed a new light on the Tuskens.

 

Slight difference between 'no getting angry, ever' and 'basically the Hulk, with a glowing sword of doom.' The whole 'wiping out an entire tribe in a
tantrum' would be frowned upon by everyone even today, not just the Jedi (judgmental as they are.) Which is what makes it more aggravating really... the whole point was that Anakin was supposed to have committed some terrible act but there's more and more justification for the Tusken being basically rabid animals that just happened to be vaguely human-shaped so it was alright to kill them all. Seems a bit have your cake and eat it from the production team ('Oh yeah Anakin did a totally bad thing... to really bad people so it doesn't actually count.) Presumably the next step will be revealing Yoda was secretly giving the Padawans super-secret training so they actually were a real threat when they got wiped out too.

 

I don't know if a killing can ever be what someone "deserves" (lots of different opinions here, death penalty etc.). The Sand People are in many ways like the American Indians--AotC's emphasizes this even more with the wigwam huts. Some of the things some American Indians did to some white settlers were like what happened to Shmi, only orders of magnitude more intense/severe. Many times they were wiped out in retaliation. Doesn't mean they deserved it. (PS, I am proud of my own American Indian heritage--but certainly not some of the violence carried out).

I think the Anakin/Tusken scene is very important--a big step of Anakin's to the dark side, played well (with amazing musical score). It even is effective making the audience complicit in Anakin's act (echoes of Hitchcock). If I were in Anakin's shoes and had the power to lash out like that at MY mother's killers/torturers, would I not have done as he did? Some serious self-reflection there.

 

Even though it's not canon any more (officially) anyone who wonders about the Tusken perspective in general really ought to check out 'Kenobi' by John Jackson Miller. There's a Tusken in that whose pretty much a second/third protagonist and it makes them properly sympathetic (in the sense of you can understand their decisions and actions) without going too far and making them humans with bandaged faces. The 'Native Americans' comparison doesn't totally hold up (Tusken are considerably more primitive) but the idea of them being rational and logical beings, just with a different moral code to humans is definitely explored. And whilst Anakin's attack is only alluded to in general terms it definitely does play into the plot...

 

No, it's certainly not a case of Tuskens=American Indians, but there are a lot of similarities (or "echoes" if you will). Also, this is Native Americans in the classic, Western Genre sense really, rather than historical. The stereotype.

(Some ways they are similar)
-The Sand People are the danger found beyond the fringes of "civilization"
-They threaten settlers, especially the unwary or un-vigilant.
-The capable mentor or warrior is a "person (almost always a white male) who knows Indians" (Obi-Wan in ANH knows an awful lot about the Tuskens, how to frighten them off, that "sand people always ride single file…and these blast points, too accurate for sand people") (this is a major trope of the Western Genre, from Natty Bumpo to Dances with Wolves).
-Referred to as "savages"

 

This if they were "Cannibals"( not the right word but whatever) then this should have been shown in AOTC by us never seeing Shmi and Anakin finding out they ate her because why would they wait a month?

Also its Cad Bane who during this scene is drunk so I would take whatever is coming out of his mouth with a grain of salt even if he was not drunk.

 

Oh yeah, I am not saying there aren't similarities but it's in the treatment of the Tuskens as Native American analogies, not them actually being space-Apaches (or Sioux, or Cherokee, etc). As presented in the novel (which is the only one I know to really get into Tusken psychology) they really are literally primitive, they have a distrust of technology any more advanced than those stick weapons of theirs, they are a pretty basic hunter-gatherer society - sadly, on a dungheap like Tattooine that turns very easily into hunter-robber and thus the conflict with humans. Might makes right to a Tusken and that's pretty much the only rule they consistently stick to.

'Real' Native Americans were at least initially willing to compromise and live in peace with the settlers but not join or serve them. Tuskens would quite gladly wipe all humans out but know they can't. They are sympathetic but as shown in the book, most definitely NOT modern human in their logic and values. The best analogy would probably be Neanderthals rather than Native American tribes.

 

Removed at request of user.

 

If the Tusken Raiders were human beings or at least rational extraterrestrial beings, I would have much more serious objections to Anakin killing the Tusken Raiders. But the script portrays them as vicious, mindless animals.

 

Interesting perspective, while I still must question the sanity of killing the woman and children too, I can see how many people in universe (Anakin excluded) wouldn't see a big problem with it. As Cliegg said "They're vicious mindless monsters" that is how most people on Tatooine see them, and since Padme only knows them as that description she might have been shocked or dismayed, but it is understandable that she didn't freak out over it. But Anakin is a Jedi and knew what he did was not right, and that is why he took it so seriously.

Truly an interesting take I think.

 

The script does no such thing. They have clothes. They have huts. The mothers care for the children not unlike humans do. They're clearly sentient, they're just societally primative. Kill the male hunters, or even the guards, sure, but the women and children? Anakin is a monster for what he did. His grief doesn't justify evil actions.

 

The entire point. What he did was wrong, and you can't justify that(Except for someone we know) however, you can understand his rage.

You can sympathize with him because the love of his mother, and the nightmares he had.

 

She wanted to escape. She wanted to deny everything he did, she was thinking of her kids, her husband.

Lucas loves to play with archetypes and tropes depending on the theme he is using(Othello, Frudian etc).

 

Supreme Chancellor does have a point: When Anakin did it the first time, she just figured he has lost his cool but seeing him break down in tears and saying he knew he shouldn't have done it, she figured he would've learned from this and do better.

The second time was pure denial. She knows that he, hopefully, won't hurt their child. She's begging the good husband she knows is still in that monster. She doesn't want to believe that Anakin, the Chosen One, her husband and the father of their child would help a Sith Lord destroy everything they fought so hard to protect, and even murder people who once called him friend.