PT Working on a PT Editorial

I'm currently working on an editorial piece where I discuss the story arc of Anakin, how the audience relates to his character development, and how it falls in line with the saga. The two problems I'm facing is whether I'm drawing it out and maybe repeating myself too much, and if I'm making my points concise and clear.

I was wondering if I could post what I have so far here, and maybe get some input on my points. I'm a big Star Wars fan, but I know there are people out there who will definitely have a better understanding of the story and it's philosophies than I do, and may be able to help me piece some of the puzzle together a bit better.

 

Sure! Sounds fun.

 

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

 

Why not? (If you don't mind me asking.)

 

I thought it would be clear I was joking.

 

Haha, okay so here's what I have so far. It's about 1900 words.

Spoiler

 

Oh okay. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I was just wondering if there was some obscure rule about not making topics about anything we intend to publish or something.

 

Neomic

Just to clarify, but would you like us to give you feedback on whether your points are well written and easy to understand? Or would you like our feedback on whether we agree or disagree with what you are saying?

Thanks!

 

A little of both. I'm open to hearing other people's perspectives.

Also, ignore the typos and mis-spelling of some of the names, those will be taken care of. I just wanted to get my thoughts down. lol

 

Yeah, I'm sorry.

 

Neomic

Just as a note, I have some pretty different opinions concerning the PT, and Anakin's character in particular, in comparison to your own. I'll post my response in sections, but if you are not interested, please let me know.

Okay, now to business

• I wouldn't use the term "we" in your article. It depends on who your audience is, but using the term can be a bit alienating for those who don't share your opinion.
• In regards to Jake Lloyd, I disagree. I feel he accomplished what Lucas likely wanted him to do -- showing Anakin as a relatively normal young boy who, despite harsh circumstances, was even-keeled due to having a loving mother. He was gifted with the Force, yes, but he was also very normal in temperament.
• I also think it's a tad unfair to compare the screen presence of a child to Darth Vader. And I doubt Lucas is really going for that, either. Anakin in TPM is at his most innocent.
• AOTC takes place 10 years after TPM. Anakin notes he hasn't seen Padmé in ten years.
• I'm not sure why Anakin was supposed to be a "noble, honorable" Jedi apprentice. Obi-Wan did say that he was the "best star pilot in the galaxy, a cunning warrior, and a good friend," but nowhere was anything mentioned about him being particularly noble and honorable. Perhaps it's just me, but I always felt that Anakin having a rebellious streak was a good choice. Especially when one sees how Palpatine is constantly inflating his ego and his dissatisfaction with the Jedi way of life (particularly attachments). I think it's important to consider that Anakin has been friends with Palpatine for over a decade by this point and thus, he's not going to be a paragon of Jedi virtue.
• In regards to the clones, I'm not sure how you can say that no one cared, especially since we see the Jedi leading them into battle. They didn't stay behind and send the clones off alone to fight on their behalf. Of course, there's no personal relationships between any of the Jedi and the clones because they've just met, but that's to be expected is it not? By ROTS, when they have names such as "Oddball," it makes more sense for the Jedi to show a more personal interest in them. There's friendship and familiarity. But in AOTC, the clones arrive in the middle of a battle and there's little time to stop and lament the dead.
• The sudden change on the clones actually makes perfect sense -- Anakin's become attached to them. He barely had time to meet them in AOTC and they were embroiled in a battle.
• I don't really see why Anakin killing Dooku means he "has no morals." It was certainly against the Jedi Code, but Palpatine is Anakin's head of state and Dooku is the leader of an opposition that has waged a galactic war against the Republic for three years. From Anakin's perspective, he's like an American soldier being told by the President to kill Hitler or Osama bin Laden. It's against the Jedi Code to kill an unarmed prisoner, certainly, but I don't think it suggests that Anakin is devoid of morals. It's not abnormal to want revenge and to want to stop someone who has caused so much suffering.
• I don't know that Anakin was necessarily guilt-tripped into becoming Palpatine's apprentice. I would say that he feels more trapped, truthfully. He's lost confidence in the Jedi, he has no other option for saving Padmé, and he knows now that he has implicated himself in Windu's murder. There's guilt to be sure, but it's also more complicated than that --> there's fear, loss of hope, and desperation as well.
• I wouldn't say that Padmé takes a backseat necessarily. But I think it's clear that Anakin is rationalizing his actions. He knows very well that killing so many to save Padmé is horrific and wrong by any measure. But...if the Jedi are a threat, if he can convince himself that the galaxy will be better off without them, that he's doing the right thing by ending the war and creating an Empire, then (in his mind) it becomes justifiable. He can have exactly what he wants -- Padmé and power -- and rationalize his actions away. Deep down, he's aware he's doing evil, but he also feels trapped.

 

I'm actually going to take your notes (and anyone else's, should they be provided) and rewatch the films with attention to them. Your last note about Padmé has me the most interested.

In regards to Anakin having no morals, it wasn't in correlation to that specific part, but rather the culmination of his actions up to that point. His constant badgering, disobeying orders, and even the slaughtering of the sand people. I understand the last one is a deep, emotional reaction, but he clearly feels no guilt for doing so, "They're animals... I slaughtered them like animals." To me, this really makes his transition to the dark side less impactful because it feels like it was a long time in the making, even before Sideous began twisting his mind.

 

I don't really think his badgering and disobedience is indicative of lack of morals, though. Rather, I think it's more reflective of frustration with his situation and misunderstandings between himself and others (particularly Obi-Wan).

In terms of the sand people, on the contrary, I saw a great deal of guilt and confusion in his reaction. When Padmé asks him, "What's wrong?" for instance, he doesn't say anything about his mother (such as his inability to save her). Instead he tells her that he killed the sand people. And it hurts because he hates them for what they did to Shmi, but at the same time, he knows what he did was wrong, that he's a Jedi and should be better than that. Then he breaks down crying.

Note also, right before he confesses to Padmé, he throws a wrench and then stares down at his hands in shock, thinking of what he's done:



http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheseHandsHaveKilled

 

I'd actually never noticed him looking down at his hand before.

Now I'm beginning to think that maybe there were more subtle things I never picked up on. lol

And this is why I came to you guys.

 

Neomic

• In regards to Anakin being lied to, it seems to me that it's always been clear that Anakin knows that what he's doing is wrong, but he's too weak to do the right thing and feels trapped by the choices he's been offered. He's aware that Palpatine is wrong ("I can overthrow him!"), yet at the same time, he's lost all confidence in the Jedi. Part of the problem here is the Jedi's mistrust in Anakin means that he hasn't been privy to many of their discussions (see the scene of Mace Windu sending Anakin out to tell Palpatine that Obi-Wan is confronting Grievous. Windu is careful to make sure that Anakin has left the room before discussing Palpatine and whether he will need to be removed from office). There's also the fact that, regardless of whether Palpatine is lying to Anakin about being able to save Padmé or not, he's the only one who is proposing any kind of solution.
• The war itself complicates Anakin's situation because, by allying himself with Palpatine, Anakin is able to go to Mustafar, kill the Separatist leadership, deactivate the droids, and end the Clone Wars in hours. And he can tell himself he is saving countless lives by temporarily accepting Palpatine as his Master. Furthermore, AOTC shows that Anakin believes that a dictatorship would be more effective. And we see his justifications again and again in ROTS --> "I'm going there (Mustafar) to end this war." "I have brought peace to the Republic" "I have brought peace, freedom, justice and security" "Things will be different, I promise." And so on.
• In regards to Palpatine being Sidious, I think one also has to take into account that Anakin has known Palpatine for 13 years. He considers him a mentor and a friend who has always looked out for him. That and, importantly, Anakin is well aware of the difficulties between the Jedi and the Chancellor and he sides with Palpatine -- wanting to put more power into the executive to get more done. When Anakin's trust in the Jedi is shaken, it doesn't surprise me that Palpatine would bring up the Sith because it's a way of demonstrating that the Jedi are no better than those they consider their mortal enemies. He's trying to tell Anakin that they're hypocrites, in one sense.
• In regards to Anakin's surprise at Palpatine, I think that their personal relationship needs to be taken into account. If Anakin merely worked for Palpatine, I agree that the reaction you describe would be more appropriate. But Anakin has always trusted Palpatine (such as with the knowledge of what happened to Shmi) and for Palpatine to reveal such a thing is an enormous personal betrayal. And it's something that Anakin would not want to believe his friend capable of.
• For me, I have always been able to relate to Anakin because losing the people I love is my very deepest fear. There's a part of me that's always frightened when I watch his scenes because I always wonder: how far would I go to save the people I love? It often comes down to a choice I can't bear to think about: would I rather be a murderer or would I rather (if I even could) live with myself knowing I let someone I love die?

 

First thing I noticed as well, and I would also advise to not judge characters based on the audience perspective since only they have the overall knowledge of the events that are happening.

I'll just take one paragraph to give my own opinion on it, since I'm a bit short on time:

I'm not sure where the "much of the audience could not relate or sympathize" comes from, but I guess that counts as the baseless generalization that PiettsHat has pointed out. I would assume that kids of his age, or even people who were separated from their parents at a certain point of their life could relate to him. But then again, it's all irrelevant assumption.

Even if true, it's unfair to compare the role Vader had in the original trilogy (as the main villain) with a secondary (although important) character of the first movie. Anakin in TPM was not meant to be Vader either in presence, character, screen time or intensity. In fact, the point was for him to be the exact opposite and see how his character changes from a good, young and kind boy to the villain he is in the OT.

Here, I would avise to hear the audio commentaries of the movies present on the DVD/Blu-ray. Lucas explained that using an older boy would make the separation from his mother and the fear to lose her or never see her again much less dramatic and impactful.

 

There were definitely other options. Doesn't necessarily have to be someone older. If you look back to the film The Sixth Sense, Haley Joel Osment was only a year older, but had 2-3 years more acting experience and was far better and being able to convey his emotions. I really feel they could have picked someone much better to play the role of Anakin. I obviously wasn't in the meetings when they decided who to pick and why, and I can see that he conveys a fair amount of vulnerability, but that's really all I get out of him, and that's only because he has a pouty look on his face. I was about his same age when I seen the movie in the theaters for the first time (9 in 1999), and I couldn't identify with him at all.

As I'm watching Episode II, I just feel that they shouldn't have made him so arrogant, and the plotting from Palpetine should have started later on in this film with telling him how powerful and great he will be with him slowly becoming more arrogant and wanting more. Shmi dying would definitely take a toll on him, and they could show his anger, but I don't think him killing the sand people was effective. If softens the blow of his eventual turn because we see his underlying nature too soon. Maybe have him become more aggressive in his lightsaber battles and then beginning to disobey orders. I feel this would be a more effective build-up to his turn, and make it feel like more of a "tragedy" with him being seduced by Palpatine's promises of being able to save his loved ones.

 

Any chance of making a video, instead? It's the only way to get your point across, nowadays.

Also, you mentioned that Anakin seems to have less morals by the third installment? That's because he's a different person by the end of the war. War changes people, and I'm sure it also changes your perspective of the side you're on. Bottom line is: Anakin was a slave his entire life (whether it was with Watto, the Jedi Order, or the Emperor) and was the biggest reason of what shaped him into the villain we all came to know in the OT.

Don't forget to put that in your book.

 

I would even go as far as to say that Anakin's hand in Attack Of The Clones represents what's generally happening to him in that film. Episode II, for me, is the film that "breaks" Anakin. I think there is something lost within him in that movie. When his mother dies, something dies within him too. He loses a bit of humanity.

And if you go through the film, it is captured by his right hand.
First there is this sign of compassion (he closes his mother's eyes) because he suffers from a murder:


He wents on to kill with his own hands (although he uses his lightsaber):


He realizes that he has probably lost more than "just" his mother:


He says good bye to his mother and his early life on Tatooine (look at his hand and sand ):


He loses his hand:



He is a bit more maschine and less human: