PT Ric Olie -- Most Responsible for Anakin's Fall to the Dark Side?

I know there's a running meme where fans like to take it out of this character, and his forthright lines, but, in the words of Qui-Gon, "nothing happens by accident". Significantly, Ric Olie has two scenes with the Anakin Skywalker character in Episode I, and in each, I contend that he teaches him something; a bunch of "somethings", in fact. Please hear me out.

In their first scene together, Ric Olie's lines are designed, in my opinion, to ease and impress the young Skywalker, to whom Olie enthusiastically says, "The entire planet is one big city!", and even more portentously, "And look over there! Senator Palpatine is waiting for us!" In making these declarations, Olie, I would argue, aroused Anakin's awe and respect, by instilling a kind of child-like admiration for prestige and authority, and an abiding belief in splendour and fairness, that would have ruinous consequences. Suggestively, this scene between two characters -- one, an impressionable young kid (inner and outer diegesis), and arguably, the saga's central protagonist; and the other, a man firmly out of adolescence, playing a bit role in a single movie -- is shot within a well-lit cockpit, reflecting the daylight outside, and the bubbly optimism of Anakin's soul. Olie, and the other characters, are clearly oblivious to Palpatine's true nature, just as they fail to recognize any inherent problem in a planet completely overrun with technology (technology run amok, on this scale, might be the most conspicuous indicator of the Dark Side in Star Wars).

In their second scene, which also takes place shortly before touch-down on a (to Anakin) strange new world, full of unseen treasures and dangers, the cockpit is now darker, and more evocatively lit, hinting at darker instruction and darker tendencies growing inside the sandy-haired slave-kid. Again, a brief exchange between Skywalker and Olie occurs, where Olie has apparently taught Anakin the basics of flight control (more on this in a moment). In a telling piece of irony, Olie remarks, after Anakin appears to correctly identify the main function of several controls, "you catch on pretty quick!" Now, what's really interesting about this part -- and it's something, seemingly, that EVERYONE has missed -- is that it shades Anakin's "dumb luck" in the battle that subsequently takes place over Naboo. Anakin did not destroy the Droid Control Ship because he mindlessly bashed buttons, but rather, he found success because Ric Olie taught him how a ship operates, and Anakin reflexively fused these new skills with existing ones honed by numerous bouts of mechanical tinkering and death-defying podracing. Although not revealed outright, it's implied that the Jedi Council voted to induct Anakin based primarily on his improbable military defeat of a politically, economically and technologically oppressive "force" (pun intended). And Anakin might never have effected destruction in the manner he did without the connective tissue of this short scene.

In a 1999 interview with Bill Moyers, undertaken, primarily, to promote the very film in which these events happen, George Lucas saliently offered the following: "I have a philosophy that we all teach. And we all teach every day of our lives. And it?s not necessarily what we lecture. I have discovered that kids don?t like lectures at all. But it is really the way we live our lives and what we do with our lives and the way we conduct ourselves." In bonding with Anakin as he did, I submit to you, dear reader, that Ric Olie inadvertently damned Anakin Skywalker, a young boy with more midi-chlorians than Master Yoda, more than any character in Star Wars -- and the supreme irony is, on the face of it, he appeared to have the boy's best interests at heart. His teachings were basic, but powerful; and they would ultimately ripple through the fabric of the entire tale, altering everyone's destiny.

This is another reason I love TPM and George Lucas, but you may not agree with my take here, or my sentiments toward either the human being or his human-machine (i.e., movie) construct. Hopefull

 

The novel said something along those lines.

 

You assume that two throwaway everyday lines start a charakter change in Anakin? You assume much and you got no evidence to back it up.

 

Ric Olie is like the polar opposite of Sidious.

Everything Olie says is literal. Olie just spouts out the obvious. Sidious is covert and there's always more to what he says.

 

Exactly. He's just trying to impress the kid by the sheer size of Coruscant.

The second one? He's just teaching the kid the controls of the cockpit, probably out of sheer boredom.

 

Could Ric Olie be a clone?

 

Im not saying EU material is completely uninteresting, but it isnt part of my loci of concern, all things being equal: i.e., I generally dont draw from it to make interpretations. Here, I think its reasonable to infer the Jedi Councils mind was made up, in as many words, by Anakins skillful -- some might say dumb, a few might even say miraculous -- destruction of the Droid Control Ship.

Im not sure I assume that, not least because Im struggling to remember the last time I heard someone indicating, in word or deed, that a Dark Lord of the Sith, secretly disguised as a politician in classical, Elizabethan-style robes, stood on a floating platform in a city dominated by flying traffic, was waiting for someone, let alone myself or a congregation to which I belonged, or that an entire planet (presently, no human being has set foot on another planet) happens to be one continuous city (this would, I tentatively suggest, be an important discovery). Obviously, the lines DO have a "throwaway" quality, since what Ric Olie is saying to Anakin isnt meant to be grand or dripping in elegance: in this sense, you actually support my basic frame (i.e., its ironic that the lines are so understated on the one hand, but could be seen to have such a profound effect on Anakin on the other). If you lust for evidence to the degree you appear to, I recommend sticking to science and steering clear of art entirely.

Solid words, Shane. I find your perspective edifying. And this, again, is part of the beauty of these scenes, for me. While Sidious *is* covert, and basks in his own lascivious undertones, Olie "just spouting" the obvious makes him a foil for Sidious; and also a pawn in his bigger game. In other words, Olies relative lack of guile and honesty with Anakin contrasts poignantly, as a casual mentor, with the mendacious qualities of Palpatine/Sidious, and Palpatine/Sidious extensive -- baroque -- manipulation of a boy he shamelessly knows to be "special" (religiously significant and otherwise). Yet what Olie says unconsciously aids Palpatine/Sidious in his dark designs, but he (Olie) has no way of knowing this (nor, for that matter, do any of the other characters). On this level, the scenes are a microcosm of the thematic tapestry of TPM, and the greater Star Wars saga to which TPM belongs (mentorship, older-male/younger-male relationships, the unconscious strengthening of the Dark Side, etc.). George Lucas has said that Star Wars is "a much more intricately made clock than most people would imagine". So, if you imagine everything as a cog in some greater whole, than every little cog has significance, and consciously so, by Lucas. TPM, from my point of view, is, like all the Star Wars movies, and in some senses, even more than the rest (those that had yet been made, anyway: i.e., the "Classic Trilogy" or OT), a brutally-edited film, so its all the more interesting, to me, that these short "tutoring" scenes made it in. If Lucas had wanted to give them the snip, he could have -- quite easily. I think its perversely brilliant of Lucas that he fashioned them in this manner and left them in; in other words, he is saying, as short as they are, they matter: i.e., theyre both casual and not. To each, their own.

 

Personally I think Anakin's fall was predicated on the taunts from those dirty Mos Espa kids. It was here where Vader acquired both his contempt for the underclass commoners and the desire to dominate them under the aegis of ?technological terror? (Pod Racer = Executor?).

?You're such a joker, Ani!? Oh, my misguided, chortling Rodian lad, if only you knew how many dreams were to be strangled in the years to come...

 

That's one of my favorites. He's also referred to as a wild card in TCW.

 

Pff, just because I dislike baseless speculation I should stay clear from art? Who are you to recommend such a thing to me?
Anyway, despite your clear insights into my brain I will continue writing and painting. Just like other pragmatic artists of the past (yes, they do exist!).

 

[image=http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs32/f/2008/200/e/4/Darth_Joker_by_beeurd.png]

 

That reminds me, how much cooler would ANH be, if the Vader/Leia interrogation read as follows:

?Wanna know how I got these scars?

?My wife was beautiful, like you. And pregnant. Now, we just wanted to settle down, but there was a war goin' on, and it just tore...her...up. And that tore me up. So I ended it. But just as I finish, she shows up. Tells me she's leaving me...

?And right behind her, I see my old Master. She runs for him...I run for her...and what does he do? Throws me into the fire! And you what? Just before he pushes me, he tells me it was his baby!

?Now I'm always huffing!?

 

Anakin is mainly responsible for his fall.

 

I blame Kenobi.

He should have told slick Ric to shut up.... before he tainted the pathetic, but still dangerous boy that he didn't want to train in the first place.

 

When I read the subject heading, I thought it was a joke...

 

Then his name would be Riic Olie. Or maybe Riic Oolie?

 

This is very amusing. While I believe the lines were merely intended to be expository (explaining Coruscant, further reinforcing Anakin's skill and adaptability as a pilot), it is neat that they coincide with the reasons for Anakin's downfall. He was a celebrity among the Jedi, called "the chosen one" before he knew the first thing about the Force. He was a war hero, with an unspecified "reputation," though I assume it refers to his surprising strength and obvious talent in battle. Ric's "You catch on pretty quick!" goes along with this, feeding Anakin's desires for praise and attention that he longs to get from Obi-wan, Padme, and the Council for his natural-born gifts. Palpatine provides such praise, and as you pointed out, Anakin's introduction to Palpatine was seeing a powerful political figure waiting personally for his arrival (or rather of arrival of his friends). Having such a person's approval likely means a great deal to him.

In conclusion, "The Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before Ric Olie."

 

LOL! Yes, theres a certain emotional imperative behind those taunts and jibes, and thats a cool reading, drg. On the other hand, I still think, in the main, what Ric Olie says to Anakin, and shows him, has a more profound bearing on his destiny. Whats key here, for me, is that Ric Olie is deliberately teaching Anakin something ("I pledge myself to your teachings"). This is not so strongly the case in the scenes between Anakin and his friends on Tatooine. And thats what I find so attractive: Olie thought he was giving benign instruction, but he was actually greasing the wheels for the schemes and machinations of an ancient toad and his dastardly (or, from another point of view, not-so-dastardly) plans for the galaxy. Its kind of wicked sick that Palpatine and Olie come from the same planet, are of the same gender and of a similar age, and both tutor Anakin in what seems like an open and friendly manner (versus the dismissive, antagonistic relationship between Anakin and the Jedi).

It was composed, like the post that it introduces, in a slightly tongue-in-cheek manner, but with serious intentions underneath. Obviously, Ric Olie is a jokey character to many, and just someone who spouts off exposition in a mindlessly strait-laced fashion. Yet this is also what Im pivoting on: through being so straight-forward, and so lacking in guile, Ric Olie, an otherwise "disposable" side character, who merely appears in a handful of scenes in a single Star Wars movie, actually helps shape the course of the central protagonists life, without ever desiring to or realizing; and in a manner that would -- given the tragic overtones of the story -- presumably horrify the character, ultimately, if he ever knew. That, to me, is very salient of Lucas, and very glib. Almost surreal, actually. It has any number of mirrors in the same film, what with Jar Jar helping to save the day, by performing "accidents", and also Anakin, using Olies teachings, and later in the saga, especially with Threepio inadvertently attacking people (AOTC arena skit) or the way he unconsciously becomes a god with godly powers in the final movie of the saga.

Heh. I like what you said about Olie "feeding Anakins desires for praise and attention" (that, as you also say, he "longs to get" from those closest to him). Its another thing that Olie appears to be doing unconsciously. And Anakin is smiling a very satisifed smile to himself in their latt

 

So... Ric Olie... proto-Palpatine. I'll have to think about this.

"The shield generator's been hit? I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, Naboo cruiser."

 

THIS.

 

Hmmm... I've just come up with a new theory that will blow your minds:

RIC OLIE = GENERAL GRIEVOUS

 

That's a good start. Would you care to elaborate, or is that the punchline?

 

That was the punchline. Just playing on other theories I've seen about Grievous' identity, most notably, Darth Maul.

 

Though, when you think about it, where does Ric Ollie GO after Episode I??? I think this theory has legs to walk on. At least six.

 

So the next question in this train of thought: does General Grievous have a penchant for pointing out the obvious? I'm actually thinking he may.