Forum Debate: Anakin Skywalker, tragic hero or cowardly traitor?

(bump) Down with redundancy!

 

I don't hate Anakin/Vader, I think he is a really really cool charecter. I just don't think he's the "coolest," or even "most powerful" like everyone else, so it just seems that way.

In my mind Obi-wan is the coolest and Palpatine is the most powerful, and even George Lucas has stated that Obi-wan as an old man is STILL more powerful than Vader.

Chosen One? Sure, he probably is. Conflicted, tormeneted, fascinating, complex, brilliant, blindingly stupid, could have been AMAZINGLY great but ended up having a pretty contraversial life. Hmm, Anakin kinda sounds like Bill Clinton! No wonder everyone loves him so much!

I like Luke a lot two, because he is kind of a split between Anakin and Obi-wan. Anakin is his true father, but in the Star Wars series Luke clearly takes after Obi-wan. Even the way that Obi-wan is described in those Jedi Apprentice books is like how Luke is in the first couple movies. Luke following Obi-wan around 'padawan style' in Episode IV does sort of remind me of Obi-wan and Qui-gon in TPM.

Plus, when Obi-wan shows Luke his crib, the first thing he does is give him a light sabre and then start smoking the Hookah. And then he was all asking him to run away and make all his dreams come true. And Luke really wants to go too, he just can't leave his loved ones, UNLIKE ANAKIN who ditches his mom at the first sign of getting off the rock.

Think about it. A real little 9 year old slave boy would NEVER EVER NEVER leave his MOTHER.

But then again, imagine if in real life some crazy old man from down the street gave you a revolver packed up a pipe and asked you to fly to Europe to save a princess from the evil Empire, you'd probably freak out and run the hell out of there. "NO I won't take you as far as O'hare Airport! Are you crazy?"

 

I always thought Anakin was a "tragic hero".

Then I saw AOTC.

He's just an emotionally-unbalanced kid who needed Kenobi to give him a good spanking a long, loooooong time ago.