Saga The Rise of Skywalker showed Anakin is a popular character?.

First off I am a fan of the PT. So, it was dark times when it came to Star Wars talk before the ST in my experience.
Once the ST movies started, the biggest question everyone I talked to had was,
"Are we finally going to see Anakin in this one?".
From what I heard, he received a nice ovation at a Celebration, and everyone assumed he was going to be in Episode IX.
Once it came out many people seemed disappointed that he didn't have a nice role.
So is it just me?. Or did the ST reveal how popular Anakin is?.

 

TCW probably did the most to boost Anakin's popularity in the eyes of many (not so much for me, I think he's almost too different in TCW to have bothered making him Anakin in the first place). But even without that, I wouldn't say the ST "revealed" that Anakin was popular, more that he goes with the whole renewed appreciation for the PT that the disappointment of the ST created.

That and the all-but-absent presence of Anakin in the ST, which was weird. Sure, don't appear to your depressed son or psychotic grandson, but act as a cheerleader for Rey in one scene. Sure, Disney, that's exactly what the redeemed Anakin Skywalker would do. Sure.

 

I never heard from anyone who thought that or asked whether Anakin would make an appearance in the ST, much less have any sort of noteworthy role.

Maybe that's something that existed for those who grew up between the PT and ST and watched The Clone Wars, which would make those characters their focal points of the saga, but outside of that there wasn't really much reason for anyone to assume that Anakin would have anything beyond a vague reference at best.

Almost all the talk was about the return of the original heroes and what possibly connection there might be to the new characters.

A hearty laugh at the idea that the "renewed appreciation" for the PT has anything to do with "disappointment about the ST". It didn't. The idea doesn't make any sense at all. No one who didn't like the PT would go "I don't like the ST, therefore I like the PT now". At absolute best you would see those who criticise Abrams for being too much into nostalgia and old plot points argue that Lucas at least tried something different, which is more of an "the PT may have sucked less than I once thought", and not a shift to suddenly liking it.

The reason why the PT looks more popular now then it did back then (and make no mistake, there is nothing that indicates it is more popular than the ST), is because after two decades even the most obnoxious complainers seemed to have grown tired of badmouthing them all the time, and more importantly, because those who grew up with the PT are adults now, and thus far more capable of voicing their opinion. Something that will also happen to the ST as well in the distant future.

Beyond that, you also seem to have missed larger story-points, or you wouldn't have written that last sentence. You make random assumptions about how things work, while ignoring that the very same thing never worked that way in the older movies. But why let that get in the way of a complaint, it's just much more fun to just attack people then trying to offer thoughtful criticism, right?
Did Obi-Wan and Yoda appear to Anakin while he was Vader? No, they didn't. Only when he turned and then died, did they appear with him. There has not been an instance of force-ghosts appearing just for the fun of it. It always was in connection to a person who was accessible to it. E.g. Obi-Wan appearing to Luke. Then in the end, Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin appearing to Luke (and no one else, not even Leia). We haven't seen an instance of a force-ghost appearing to someone who had lost his way, or even to someone they hadn't met while they were still alive. Vader didn't even recognize force-ghost Obi-Wan talking to Luke when he was in somewhat close proximity, only Luke's strong connection to the force, so what makes you assume that it was possible for any of them to appear to Ben, a person they never even met in their lives?

As for Luke. Luke, as the movie couldn't have made any clearer, had cut himself off from the force. Kind of hard to communicate with someone who has cut himself off from the only means you could interact with him. Notice how once he reconnects to the force, Yoda appears soon afterwards. Kind of ignorant to criticise movies for something when you missed the explanation that was handed to you on a silver platter.

There was nothing weird about Anakin not appearing in full. This wasn't his story, nor was it the one ofthe OT-heroes. His voice was part of a bunch of force-spirits supporting Rey in her battle against the Emperor. And yes, that is exactly what a redeemed Anakin would have done when the fight between dark and light hinged on Rey vs Palpatine in that very moment. As the movies have made it abundantly clear time and time again, force-ghosts cannot actively interfere in such a struggle. But hey, why stick to facts when you can instead take some lazy pot-shots at "Disney" (proving you have little idea how production of these movies actually worked, as Disney is the owner of the IP, not all-controlling entity that makes every single decision in a movie)?

 

Well, I'm not reading all of that, but I get the gist. You disagree, whatever. But this thread isn't about debating Disney and a bunch of plot points of the ST.

I agree that many people softened toward the PT because of nostalgia or just because it grew on them with time, without the ST to compare it to. Whether the same renewed appreciation will happen with the ST though, only time can tell. But like I said before, I also think people appreciated Anakin more in retrospect like they did the PT, because of the massive disappointment of the ST. And yeah, that makes sense to me. Classic case of 'You never know what you have until it's gone' (or in this case, given bad/ worse sequels).

 

Honestly,
There's a lot of emotion coming from your reply and it almost feels personal.
saga_symphony didn't agree with everything, but he showed his disagreements in a more civil tone.
If the ST proved anything, it's that they had no idea how to continue on from The Skywalker Saga.
Those movies should either have been in the past, or later in the future, with new characters and themes.
Even Lucas scratched his head on how he would create a ST.
Back to the original topic though,
If you're going to call something an extension of the Skywalker Saga and announce a final entry called "The Rise of Skywalker, which JJ was quoted saying he had a task of, "tying up three trilogies", then it's totally normal, for people who grew up with star Wars, to expect the main man Anakin himself to show up in a role bigger than a "listen hard, or you'll miss it" voice role.

 

The issue is this: Lucas (fairly late in the game) retconned Anakin into being the protagonist/central figure to the entire saga. Lucas claimed this was always the case/intent, yet it wasn't. The OT doesn't actually tell the story in this manner.

Remember, in the OT era, Darth Vader presented largely as the big bad. He is not the central figure/protagonist. He's the antagonist (and sometimes more of a secondary antagonist).

Ergo, Vader/Anakin wasn't the focus or what the story was about. The saga was no more about Anakin's and his backstory/redemption then they were Obi-Wan or Yoda's comeback.

In the PT era, Lucas changed his stance and stated that the saga was always centered around Anakin aka "The Tragedy of Darth Vader".

What's the problem? When creating the ST they are creating films that follow the events of the OT (which weren't really about Vader/Anakin). So, to drop Anakin into Episode 7-9 could feel a bit like shoehorn and fan appeasement. It would be a bit like digitally inserting Hayden into ROTJ. Narratively it could work but it's a bit clunky.

Bottom line: Because Lucas retconned the focus of the story for the PT, but could only alter the OT presentation/narrative, dropping Anakin into the ST would've been a bit wonky.

 

I don’t believe the prequels are more popular because of disappointment from the ST. But I also don’t think it’s entirely because the haters grew old and kids grew up with it, or that that is bound to happen to the ST.

The prequels were hated from day one because they were more challenging and bizarre than most movies. The Force Awakens was not as immediately controversial as The Phantom Menace, the sequels reputation got worse with time. It’s ultimately the artistic value of the film that determines its legacy, not nostalgia

 

I agree with this. Also, the prequels are different in tone and feel from the OT whereas (imo) the ST is a bit too much like the OT in terms of tone and feel.