Watto: Good Owner?

Do you think Watto was a good owner to Anakin & Shmi, he seemed to be friendly and civil enough to Anakin in Ep 1 & 2. I don't know about Shmi, but I think Watto was decent enough to them. Anyone agree?

 

seems like he is ok... no whip marks on anakin that i can see

 

I agree. He must be better than the hutts, so thats a plus.

 

He makes Anakin, a 9 year old boy, participate in deadly pod races. But he does seem to have some affection for the boy.

 

He seems to recognize their value well enough to keep them fairly well sustained, and he's not exactly the stereotypical "abusive" master, but Watto certainly isn't the best one, either. They're still property to him and treated as such. Anakin works hours almost as long as his mother, he's pushed into risking his life in the dangerous Tatooine pod races (he might enjoy them, but still), and from the looks of it, he keeps a tight reign on how much they have. (Their food supply looks rather meager, IMO. In the novel, Qui Gon gave Shmi food capsules out of kindness. And on that note, either Anakin is very small for his age, or the kid is malnutrioned.)

He's middle-ground, basically. Could be worse. Could be alot better, too.

 

There's no such thing as a good slave owner. Watto recognizes the value of the Skywalkers, but he still treats them poorly. Bad hours, podraces, makes fun of Ani etc.

 

He's like Mother Teresa compared to real life slave owners.

 

Bad hours, podraces, makes fun of Ani etc.

Wow except for the podracing bit this sounds like every job I've ever had...

 

I always liked Watto. I thought he could be a crook and selfish, but he still seemed likeable. He'd be greedy, but he wouldn't be vicious or mistreat someone he saw as a valuable asset or property.

Not perfect, but not evil or anything.

 

Yep, he seemed like a "good" slave owner to me. It's like when you meet a new boss at work: At the beginning you may dislike-hate each other, but sometimes, a friendship may develop. I can picture Watto feeling sympathy deep down in his heart for this extraordinary kid. When he tells him to finish his work and then he can go home, I can feel that there might be some kind of friendship between them.

It may sound silly but who remembers the Disney's Alladin movies and the TV animated series in particular? Watto reminded me of Jago (the parrot, not the moons Anakin is telling Padme of): A character that is labelled a "bad guy" but ends up teaming with the heroes. How funny it would have been that Watto came along with Anakin to Coruscant and became somewhat of a sidekick of our heroes. Imagine him flying around, uttering ironic comments, thinking with his pocket, jocking with Anakin or Obi-Wan about their whereabouts. Hehe, I already think of it and smile.

 

LOL, that'd be cool....hehe.

 

waato is a good owner, i think that shmi didn['t like him tyhough

 

Sure Watto is a good owner, but if you considder that if Shmi or Ani were to try to escape they would be blown to bits (via tracking device).

I would considder that fairly brutal, other than that Tatooine doesn't have much to offer.

 

I've always believed that Watto abused Anakin as a child, and that it was the severe trauma from those events that caused Anakin to eventually snap, and turn to the dark side.

 

No Anakin has respect for him. He Hated the Hutts. Watto loves money more then killing or hurting people.

 

If he had been a good owner, he would have freed them. Like Cleig did.

However, I don't think he was bad either. It could have been much worse for them both.

 

Watto is so... elephantine, isn't he?

 

As far as slave owners go Watto is as good as it gets. He treats them pretty good. They are his slaves and you don't see him beating them or anything. I'm sure he is a better owner than 99% of the slave owners on Tatooine.

 

I agree. Watto comes across as a very good slave owner. He seems to treat Shmi and Anakin pretty well. I also don't think Shmi liked Watto but I don't think Anakin really cared because he got to race the pods and fix things in the shop, which he clearly enjoys doing. He just didn't like being called or recognized as a slave.

 

Watto was such a good owner that it didn't appear that Anakin and Shmi lived a slave life, but rather an ordinary life and jobs, which Strilo jokingly stated.