Discussion of Anakin's behavior in AOTC

Just a thought I had.
Did they maybe INTEND on Anakin being over the top and creepy in Attack of the Clones?

After all, this is a flawed human being, a person who acts without thinking, takes his anger out in a few ways (killing children women), someone who was desperate to be powerful and taken seriously...maybe that's just how it was supposed to be. This is his character.

Am I the only one who thinks this was intentional? I don't think we were ever supposed to LOVE Anakin, we were just along for the ride. there to witness his story.


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He was intended to be awkward and emotionally repressed.

For example, when he first meets Padmé, he's all "So have you...grown more beautiful I mean. Well...for a Senator I mean!" It's deliberately awkward. Same with when he's arguing with Obi-Wan and the camera cuts to Jar Jar (who swallows uncomfortably) and Captain Typho. He's meant to be an awkward character who isn't comfortable -- just look at the way he sits in that scene for example. He's hunched forward, embarrassed, arms buried in his robes.

He can definitely be threatening, though, as we see with how he behaves towards Watto in AOTC where Watto immediately realizes that trying to play games with Anakin is going to end poorly for him.

I do think that Anakin wasn't intended to be charismatic (or charming). He's very intense and I think that this is what many find discomforting.

 

That makes him relatable especially for teenagers though. Teens are prone to frustration to authority and feelings of insecurity or awkwardness. It's a stage most people go through at least once in their lives. Of course, Anakin is a bit more over the top due to the fact this guy will become Darth Vader.

 

Yes I feel the older folks forgot what it's like to be a teenager (or didn't want to be reminded).
Also, I don't think he's creepy (and I've seen some creepy in my life, trust me).

Maybe because I'm much older now but the transition from TPM to AOTC doesn't seem as jarring to me any more. In fact, Hayden seems almost as innocent or naive in the beginning of the movie as Jake Loyd

It's weird to think Anakin got married at 19 (think high school graduate). Padme was a few years older but girls usually mature faster. I don't think Anakin was ready for the responsibility of having a family.

 

Anakin doesn't do anything creepy beyond his lingering smirk at Padme. The rest of the romantic scenes are him fumbling around, trying to be poetic, and he relents when Padme says 'enough'.

Now the Tusken Slaughter doesn't make him creepy it makes him outright psychotic, but as I've argued many a time within the context of everything going on I could see Padme forgiving this trespass. His mom was just kidnapped and murdered. Own Lars describes the Tuskens as "animals". For all she knows based on this information that's all they are, and often times love is blind. Then there's the possibility that she was turned on by his display of power...not supported by really anything, but it's certainly possible and not unprecedented in a real-world context.

 

What's interesting everyone seems to dig Anakin's rage in TCW

 

Exactly. I see no problem with Hayden's portrayal. I found him to be incredibly relatable when I was a teen which technically was only a year ago. There is a lot of pressure on kids these days to become lawyers, doctors, etc due to the amount of technological advances that have been made. There is a zero tolerance for kids to be young and naive or ignorant due to the ease of finding information quicker. Anakin is quite relatable in his mannerisms and his feelings of being manipulated is nothing new in high school. Haha. It is strange Anakin was that young but I believe he was 20 in AOTC. I know he was 23 in ROTS and Luke was 23 in ROTJ. It makes me wonder if there is a significance in the age that both protagonists end their respective trilogies.

 

Wow. I was willing to give that series a chance, until that clip. No. Thank. You.

 

Yeah, I hate that arc. AOTC and ROTS show that Anakin had issues, but, the Clovis arc strongly hints at Anakin being more than just someone with fear of losing someone he loves, but a tendency towards physical and emotional abuse. I believe he even orders PAdme around in not wanting her to do things that he doesn't approve of. Something that I never thought of Anakin being like in the movies. He may have had issues, but, I always felt he was far more open and understanding that Padme was who she was and he wasn't trying to change her, or control her.

 

"Creepy" in that he didn't know what he was doing, but honestly, I find his stare a lot less cringe worthy than half the stuff Han says and does, despite the fact that Harrison is far more charming than Hayden in their respective portrayals.

well, the scene on naboo with the new queen suggests that he might be controlling, but not that he would make a complete ass of himself like in the clovis arc (sharp words are so much more effective than fists).

 

Not controlling of Padme because he believes he has some ownership over her though. That scene more represents his arrogance in thinking he was a Jedi and knew better than Padme. Some of the scenes from TCW seem to suggest that Anakin feels he has ownership over Padme, and tries to control her decisions, movements etc to appease himself.

We don't get that from him in ROTS. Even after Anakin has his visions of Padme's death, he doesn't try to control her movements, or what she does, who she sees etc. No scenes of him trying to lock her away, tell her where she can or can't go, can or can't do.

It' such a stark difference in what we see of him in TCW sometimes.

 

well he does try to control whether she lives and effectively kills Mace, Cin Drellig and the younglings in her name, so that is similar in a way, but obviously a completely different kind of control.

 

To play devil's advocate on the situation, I don't like Anakin trying to control Padme's actions. It's quite creepy in the show. I like his portrayal in ROTS the best. At the same time, it would make sense if that was the writer's intention. Vader seems to be very controlling of his officers and troops.

 

The only real "creepy" moment that comes to mind is when Padme says he's describing a dictatorship and he says, "Well...if it works."

It's creepy. And, I love it. I guess I'm weird like that. When I watch the prequels I see the makings of a complicated villain. He is a gray character.

I don't find his interactions with Padme creepy. I really despise the corny dialogue between them and the corny scenes, but that's it.

 

I don't mind the creepiness in itself, but it's sort of in conflict with trying to make them appear like they're falling in love. It's odd that the creepiness works on Padme.

 

Good posts.

He was definitely intended to be whiny and petulant. His "creepiness" may be the flip side of him being utterly sincere, which is the big quality I think Padme sees in him.

 

Yeah, I'd say he's more awkward than creepy in the films. As for TCW, those relationship issues presented were a natural extension of Anakin's extreme fear of losing her though. His crazy jealousy and need to control things when it came to Padme there are still very in line with Anakin's character overall.

 

I always found Anakin to be intense and being bad at filtering himself as opposed to 'creepy' in AOTC. His emotional honesty(sometimes evolving into real emotional vomiting of his feelings) is what puts off a lot of people. And this characteristic is not only present when with Padmé(his venting of his apprenticeship, fireplace love declaration, etc), but with Obi-Wan as well.

'Don't say that, Master, you're the closest thing I have to a father' comes to mind, particularly when one considers the context of that admission. It is said from a student apprentice Jedi to a Temple-bred teacher who learned and is attempting to pass on that attachments of any kind, romantic or otherwise are dangerous, and thus, to be avoided. Anakin wants to connect, is stating his connection to Obi-Wan, who, mostly because of his upbringing, is incapable of doing the same or validating it. The 'Then why don't you listen to me' line that comes after that is something I've always seen as purposefully steering the conversation away from that topic(father/son bond). Tragically, Obi-Wan will only be able to admit his own attachment when Anakin is being consumed by the flames of Mustafar.

We live in a very constipated society in which anything other than a forcefully nonchalant 'whatever, man' attitude, a playful delivery or sheer indifference towards emotional connections(especially those that aren't romantic and when it concerns a male) is mocked/seen as weak and scares(dare I say scars?) a lot of people for some reason. Anakin connects quickly, intensely and eternally and lets that be known, all raw and crude, to the recipients of those connections. That frightens the easily weary, the 'mold-fitter', the constipated. Especially the constipated.

 

Yet another thread to warm up that old anti-prequel "argument". Anakin creepy?? No way! How could a teenager be creepy that turns into such a nice loving family man later? You are imagining things. Anakin/Vader is the saga's #1 nice guy after all.

 

If blowing up your daughter's home planet, killing billions which include the people who raised her, isn't a great birthday gift, then I don't know what being a good father is.

 

Exactly. I'm confused here. Vader had been my role model perfect father/uncle figure since I was a child. Every kid can only hope to have a parent like him. And now people start calling him "creepy"? My whole image of the SW universe is shattered now.

 

Same here. You telling me that cheering for Vader to kill good people and hoping those terrible prequels were 3 movies of killing Jedi isn't a cool totally awesome idea but I shouldn't be mad when Anakin kills an entire tribe of savages that slaughtered his mother? Outrageous

 

So true! Bad bad Anakin, bad bad Lucas, terrible writing, horrible Hayden Christensen! To turn that nice old gentleman dressed in black we all so adored in the OT into such a creep that even dared to smile a few times at the woman he loved. How could they do that to us? Hah! Killing a tribe of Tusken? Killing Jedi younglings?? No problem. We could all have forgiven him that, but definitely NOT that one look he gave Padme in her room and most certainly not those looks he gave her on Naboo. Why did they turn our charming beloved hero into this.... MONSTER?

 

Pure disgrace to a badass character. Anakin should've been an evil little jerk from the start and he should've been likable too. Instead we got some nice teenager with issues. ISSUES!!!! Why can't he just decide wearing black armor is cool and deliberately join the dark side because evil is evil and good is good? Damn George for dare trying to give an actual reason for Anakin's fall. Oh well, at least I can cry how amazingly cool Vader is when he chokes Imperial officers for fun. What a true hero.

 

You said it man! Issues?? In STAR WARS? No way! We don't need all that psychological BS, we need good old black and white characters, we want to know who the good guys and who the bad guys are, simple as that. But with all that prequel nonsense we true fans are so confused! Who does this guy Lucas think he is anyway? Some kind of Woody Allen? Trying to sell us characters that are unsure of themselves! We want villains that always do bad stuff and heroes that always do good, and NOTHING in between. Please leave all that "mature" character development stuff to filmmakers who make complicated movies for adults, George! Don't confuse our childlike innocent minds even more.

That and only that! Back then we knew who to cheer for. All that Force-choking your own officers stuff, that was cool! And now? Some creepy teenage kid that only SOMETIMES kills people and even dares to fall in love. Love? in STAR WARS? The only acceptable love we will ever need is between Han and Leia, period! No other characters in the SW universe are to fall in love, EVER.
P.S.: NOT being anti-OT here. I love the OT like any other SW fan.