Why give Anakin a Dark Outfit in AOTC?

I've noticed that Anakin seems to be wearing the same thing in ROTS as he does in AOTC. But even before I saw what he'd wear in ROTS i still wondered why Lucas made Anakin wear very dark colors in AOTC?

Its like he didn't even want people to think that maybe anakin will turn out ok (if you haven't watched the old movies)

Not only does he seem to rush to give anakin dark colors to make him look like he's not accually a good guy, but even the way anakins character hurries up and acts like an idiot to obi wan.

I would of loved for Anakin to have been more in the state luke was in ESB. Luke wore greyish/light brown in ESB.

I would of like for anakin to have worn something not as dark as an outfit as he's already wearing in AOTC.

and I would have like to have seen much more of a friendship between anakin and obi wan in AOTC too.

in TPM they barely talk and in episode 3 they gonna be fighting each other, so the only movie that could of really shown us that obi wan and anakin were "good friends" would be in AOTC.

I dont see why anakin couldn't of been made more of a hero like luke is in the old movies. Imagine if luke turned at the end of the ROTJ. Everyone would be so shocked. their hero turning to the dark side. I dont think that many people think of anakin as a hero. from the start of AOTC anakin has been showing hints of darksideness.

No one cares for anakin. At least anakin in TPM is good. To bad they couldn't of shown a mix between anakin from TPM and what he is in AOTC.

ooo well.

 

"I dont see why anakin couldn't of been made more of a hero like luke is in the old movies. Imagine if luke turned at the end of the ROTJ. Everyone would be so shocked."

I was thinking the same thing. We should follow him like Luke, except at the end he turns. It just seems to me that Lucas wrote these prequels with the idea in mind that everyone knows Anakin turns, and not as if he were actually writing the first three chapters of the story. Anakin's fall is foreshadowed too much. Yoda saying, "Grave danger I fear in his training..." even has a quiet bit of the Imperial March playing. It would have been so much more dramatic if the Jedi weren't so reluctant to train Anakin. Like you said, everyone would have been shocked, and it would have been better for future viewers who will watch the series in order.

 

I've noticed that Anakin seems to be wearing the same thing in ROTS as he does in AOTC. But even before I saw what he'd wear in ROTS i still wondered why Lucas made Anakin wear very dark colors in AOTC?

The same reason why Luke wore black in ROTJ.

 

That was at the end of the trilogy though, when he was closest to turning. Like JMaster said, Luke wore gray in ESB, because he was teetering on the edge at that point. Anakin was never on that edge. He was a nice kid in TPM, but from the start of AotC he just seems to be on a set path to the Dark Side. Remember how it was watching ROTJ thinking Luke is the hero and he would never turn to the Dark Side. Only imagine how you would have felt if he did and killed most of his friends. That's what it should be like watching the PT for new viewers. The topic title is about what Anakin wears, but there's more to it than that. That's just one example of Anakin's fate being set up too early instead of being an unexpected twist.

 

I thought the whole problem in the prequels was that Lucas gave no hint of Anakin's darkside. Did he foreshadow too much or too little?

 

"Grave danger I fear in his training..." (Dun dun dun!)

That was too much for me. I'm pretty sure I posted this on another thread, but at the end of the PT Yoda could basically turn to Obi-Wan and say, "Told ya so."

 

Hayden looks good in black.

 

Actually, Anakin's costume in AOTC is significantly lighter than what he wears in ROTS. His costume in ROTS is almost black.

 

Interesting post--considering so many critics carped about this issue when TPM was released.

 

But then Obi Wan could reply, I told you in AOTC, but no, you and Mace had to send him off on his own.

 

Well, yeah that was pretty foolish of them. But my point was that nobody should be able to say, "Told ya so." It would be a lot more shocking and dramatic if the heroic, well-liked Chosen One betrays the Jedi and they never saw it coming. Instead the Council is reluctant to accept him from the start, Yoda says his future is clouded and he senses danger, and in the end he does in fact turn to the Dark Side. Too much foreshadowing, in my opinion.

The best foreshadowing I think was Anakin telling Padme he was "very cold." Since, in ESB we learn that that's how the Dark Side feels. But Padme just tells him it's because they're in space and he's from a warm planet. She doesn't recognize it as a sign of the Dark Side and at that point viewers watching the series in order for the first time won't see any significance in Anakin feeling cold either. Most of the other examples of foreshadowing in the PT lack this subtlety, and just seem like obvious red flags that the characters acknowledge but for some reason ignore.

 

That's just one example of Anakin's fate being set up too early instead of being an unexpected twist.

I don't think it was a question in anyone's mind that Anakin was going to turn to the Dark Side RotS. If we are discussing what people who have never seen the OT might think, then I think the twist works. There is nothing overt about his robes in AotC. They are dark brown, and nothing about dark brown implies "evil." Those of us who are as familiar with the OT as I am are the only ones who will read "evil" into dark brown. In the Visual Dictionary, all it says about Anakin's robes is that they are "non-traditional." This fits with Anakin's character, because his acceptance into the order, and training are very non-traditional.

 

^ Precisely. We react to it because we're familiar with the OT and the way Lucas uses color symbolism.
When I was younger, I never thought about Luke as evil just because he had black clothes in ROTJ. I just thought that he was cool, because I liked heroes with black clothes. That's why ROTJ was my favorite
Later on, I learned about the significance of all the colors used throughout the Saga.
So, if I'd seen the PT first, what would I think about Anakin's clothes in AOTC? That's right: "Cool. Anakin is awesome!" Anakin would be my favorite character just because of the way he looks, dresses and acts.
I would never believe that he would actually turn evil, because what do those old geezers know? Anakin can overcome anything! That's why ROTS would still be shocking. I would feel betrayed by Anakin because he didn't prove the oldtimers wrong.

That's powerful storytelling.



Anakin Skywalker is awesome
/LM

 

The clothing is just one thing. But overall i just dont like how we dont even get a chance to think of anakin as the hero. Anakin was a sweet nice kid in TPM.

We saw how much anakin was amazed by Jedi "no one can kill a jedi" "i had a dream I was a jedi" "your a jedi too? please to meet you"

I would have liked to see the grown up version of this anakin. I would have liked to see anakin respecting Jedi more. Still in aw of them. I dont see why Anakin couldn't have respected and been more "friends" with obi wan.

yeah he keeps throughing out the line "he's like a father to me" but those are just words. We dont see that close friendship.

I know anakin is suppose to start out towards the dark side. But so was luke in ESB. but luke wasn't so obvious. THere were little hints that luke might be leading towards the darkside like him taking his weapon into the cave and chopping off vaders head.

But overall everyone thought of luke as a hero. As a good guy. I'm not so sure that many people will view anakin as a good guy (even if they haven't seen the old movies)

And the outfit anakin wears in AOTC just goes to show you that anakin really isn't ment to be viewed as a hero. Which sucks cuz then there is no point in rooting for anakin to stay good.

Imagine obi wan or qui gon turning to the darkside. That'd be a shock because we know how good of a people they are. But anakin just seems from the start of AOTC to be heading towards the darkside.

And the problem with that is we never got a strong goodside base for anakin. We never established that anakin accually was good in his life. (not counting TPM because face it. Mostly everyone was a good person when they were 8. I'm sure even Hitler was a good kid when he was 8)

So basically i would have liked to have established that anakin was "a good friend" before he turned to the darkside.

 

AOTC did establish a close friendship between Anakin and Obi-Wan. It's obvious that they know eachother very well, which is why they bicker sometimes and are tender towards eachother sometimes.
Just from watching AOTC, you would never imagine the two of them trying to kill eachother one day. They don't have a perfect friendship, but they're far from enemies.
And we haven't seen ROTS yet.



Anakin is fond of Obi-Wan
/LM

 

I've noticed that Anakin seems to be wearing the same thing in ROTS as he does in AOTC. But even before I saw what he'd wear in ROTS i still wondered why Lucas made Anakin wear very dark colors in AOTC?

I've heard in some EU reference sources, Anakin wears darker robes to be rebellious, but I'm not sure. Story-wise, it's to make him stand out and add a bit of darkness to his character.


Its like he didn't even want people to think that maybe anakin will turn out ok (if you haven't watched the old movies)

He's not supposed to turn out okay. He's the villain of the story. Even without seeing the OT, you're supposed to understand that Anakin isn't what he should be. His actions throughout AOTC leave him at crossroads at the beginning of ROTS - will he take the right path or not? He still has the power to choose. For a viewer with no background with Vader, it sets up plenty of tension and suspense to see whether Anakin will overcome or not.


Not only does he seem to rush to give anakin dark colors to make him look like he's not accually a good guy, but even the way anakins character hurries up and acts like an idiot to obi wan.

He doesn't act like an idiot, he acts like a petulant, arrogant, stubborn young man. That's alot of typical teenage attitude mixed in there with Anakin's many personal failings (well, okay, he DOES act like an idiot, then ). Anakin isn't Luke; he isn't a hero. He's a deeply flawed, selfish, trouble young man.



I would of loved for Anakin to have been more in the state luke was in ESB. Luke wore greyish/light brown in ESB.

But Anakin isn't Luke. That's the whole point of them being different characters.


I would of like for anakin to have worn something not as dark as an outfit as he's already wearing in AOTC.

How would this change anything? He's still going to behave the way he was before.


and I would have like to have seen much more of a friendship between anakin and obi wan in AOTC too.

They seem to me like a fairly typical father/son-ish relationship, with the younger chafing against the older. They do obviously care for each other; there's just alot of tension in between. But I'll let you have this point.


in TPM they barely talk and in episode 3 they gonna be fighting each other, so the only movie that could of really shown us that obi wan and anakin were "good friends" would be in AOTC.

There's no evidence in AOTC to suggest Anakin and Obi Wan hate each other. They merely frustrate one another, which is bound to happen with a student as difficult as Anakin. Anakin states quite firmly early on that Obi Wan is like a father to him and that he does think of him as a great master. He simply feels held back. (Which is true, albeit it's done for a good reason.) Later, during the Dooku fight, he practically throws himself into the way of Dooku's blade in order to save Obi Wan, despite still trying to recover from the lightning attack. As far as the AOTC novel goes, Anakin tells Obi Wan flat out that he loves him. Then there's ROTS. Trust me when I say ROTS isn't going to be evil Anakin all the way through. There will be moments of close friendship between them. If nothing else, there's also the Clone Wars cartoons and the rest of EU that show a more developed friendship.

I never personally had a problem with it. Others might, and I'll give you all the credit that you were probably expecting something much different in terms of Obi Wan and Anakin's interactions. I can only hope ROTS clears this up a bit and makes it work better for everyone. Though, in the end, we have to keep in mind that it's not *our* interpretation of their relationship that matters, but rather how Obi Wan feels how it was.



I dont see why anakin couldn't of been made more of a hero like luke is in the old movies. Imagine if luke turned at the end of the ROTJ. Everyone would be so shocked. their hero turning to the dark side. I dont think that many people think of anakin as a hero. from the start

 

In a interview with costume designer Trisha Biggar in Insider about a year ago she went over why they costumed each character the way they did. Anakins dark browns was foreshadowing, They wanted something similar to the traditional Jedi gear but with some bit of what is to come with the character. So they went with dark brown and the leather(to remind people of the Vader Suit a little). Lucas told her that he wanted Anakins clothing to look black scenes with poor lighting like in the Tusken Camp in AOTC. Dooku is similar because he was a Jedi prior to being a sith he is wearing a very Dark brown as well.

 

>in TPM they barely talk and in episode 3 they gonna be fighting each other, so the only movie that could of really shown us that obi wan and anakin were "good friends" would be in AOTC

Now that the Clone Wars are over what is left to show/do in ROTS? I think that it will mostly be Anakin and Obi bonding and subtly seeing a deterioration in their relationship.

I haven't read any spoilers, this is just speculation.

 

""I dont see why anakin couldn't of been made more of a hero like luke is in the old movies. Imagine if luke turned at the end of the ROTJ. Everyone would be so shocked.""


I completely agree. Lucas is piling on all these reasons for anakin to go to the darkside, yet I had no trouble buying Luke's (almost) turn in ROTJ despite that it happened so quickly. The darkside is magical just like the one ring in LOTR and it infects you if you let it in for even a moment.

I don't care about anakins turn in ep3 because I don't feel we ever saw a good guy anakin. we just saw a less bad anakin and a kid.

It would of helped bridge the gap between ep1 and ep2 anakins if Hayden's jedi outfit looked like the one Jake Lloyd had on in the last scene of TPM. It would of made him seem on a visual level like more of a good guy hero. Even if he changed to something darker later in the movie that would be alright. But the coruscant stuff he should of been wearing white, tan or grey

 

"I thought the whole problem in the prequels was that Lucas gave no hint of Anakin's darkside. Did he foreshadow too much or too little?"

Waaaaaaaaaay too much.

People who bash people who don't like one or more prequel always say that the reason people don't like the PT is because anakin isn't evil yet. I totally disagree. I want a likeable heroic anakin that when he turns it will truly be heartbreaking. As was said by JMaster Luke. Imagine if Luke had killed vader in rotj and turned to evil how shocking that would be.

Its the same with the poorly established friendship between obi and ani. who cares if they become enemies, they don't even like each other anyways!

Imagine if Luke had turned against Han how gut wrenching that would be.

thats how the break down between kenobi and anakin should feel.


"I was thinking the same thing. We should follow him like Luke, except at the end he turns. It just seems to me that Lucas wrote these prequels with the idea in mind that everyone knows Anakin turns, and not as if he were actually writing the first three chapters of the story. Anakin's fall is foreshadowed too much. Yoda saying, "Grave danger I fear in his training..." even has a quiet bit of the Imperial March playing. It would have been so much more dramatic if the Jedi weren't so reluctant to train Anakin. Like you said, everyone would have been shocked, and it would have been better for future viewers who will watch the series in order."

exactly.


"The clothing is just one thing. But overall i just dont like how we dont even get a chance to think of anakin as the hero. Anakin was a sweet nice kid in TPM.

We saw how much anakin was amazed by Jedi "no one can kill a jedi" "i had a dream I was a jedi" "your a jedi too? please to meet you"

I would have liked to see the grown up version of this anakin. I would have liked to see anakin respecting Jedi more. Still in aw of them. I dont see why Anakin couldn't have respected and been more "friends" with obi wan.

yeah he keeps throughing out the line "he's like a father to me" but those are just words. We dont see that close friendship.

I know anakin is suppose to start out towards the dark side. But so was luke in ESB. but luke wasn't so obvious. THere were little hints that luke might be leading towards the darkside like him taking his weapon into the cave and chopping off vaders head.

But overall everyone thought of luke as a hero. As a good guy. I'm not so sure that many people will view anakin as a good guy (even if they haven't seen the old movies)

And the outfit anakin wears in AOTC just goes to show you that anakin really isn't ment to be viewed as a hero. Which sucks cuz then there is no point in rooting for anakin to stay good.

Imagine obi wan or qui gon turning to the darkside. That'd be a shock because we know how good of a people they are. But anakin just seems from the start of AOTC to be heading towards the darkside.

And the problem with that is we never got a strong goodside base for anakin. We never established that anakin accually was good in his life. (not counting TPM because face it. Mostly everyone was a good person when they were 8. I'm sure even Hitler was a good kid when he was 8)

So basically i would have liked to have established that anakin was "a good friend" before he turned to the darkside."

its so weird i was gonna start a thread on this very point today. Nicely put guys.

Lucas keeps saying how the PT is to show how a good man becomes bad, but that really isn't what it is. It showw how a jerk teenager becomes a bad man who becomes a monster. and we know he was a good kid at one point but don't know how he turned into the jerk teenager.

Now we have this ending in ROTJ that makes no sense with jedi anakin ghost looking like Hayden. but it makes no sense, because there was never a good version of anakin that looked like that.

he has the hair of ep3 anakin, but no scar. He has the robes worn by old ben that he never wore when he was alive, and his ghost is ol

 

"Just from watching AOTC, you would never imagine the two of them trying to kill eachother one day."

You're kidding right?


"His actions throughout AOTC leave him at crossroads at the beginning of ROTS - will he take the right path or not? He still has the power to choose."

but it feels like anakin got to the cross roads before AOTC started and already decided which way he was going to go. It feels like we missed an episode between 1 and 2 with crucial development for anakin.

Anakin is more evil in ep2 then Luke is in ROTJ.

"But Anakin isn't Luke. That's the whole point of them being different characters."

actually the whole point, even according to Lucas is that they are virtually identical characters except Luke was able to overcome the temptation his father was not.

even before the PT was a glimmer in Lucas' eye, that was the whole point of the OT, Luke follows in his fathers footsteps, history repeats itself until the very end when Luke goes right where anakin went wrong.


"How would this change anything? He's still going to behave the way he was before."

visuals and costumes do a lot of the storytelling in these movies.

What if Palpatine wore a clown suit but acted the same way? Its not the same thing is it.

Lucas uses costumes as a strong part of who the character is. In Aotc Anakin is dressed like Vader. Even his cape has those droopy things in the front just like Vaders. He looks menacing.

"There's no evidence in AOTC to suggest Anakin and Obi Wan hate each other."

There is little if anything to suggest they like each other, other then a few half hearted comments to that effect. And since TPM not only did not show them as friends, but actually that Obi-wan does not approve of anakin AOTC had a lot of extra work to do to show them as friends.

what is more interesting to watch?

1)two people who get on each others nerves turning into enemies.

2)Two best friends turning to enemies.

"Anakin is NOT a hero. He was never meant to be."

according to Lucas he was.

 

A Jedi chooses what style and color for clothing.
Anakin chose the lesser used dark robes in rebellion from the common pedestrian tan and brown robes which are used by almost everyone else.

He wanted to be different.

-Seldon

 

But the coruscant stuff he should of been wearing white, tan or grey

And the difference would've been....?

Let's not act as if Anakin's wearing the Darth Vader outfit in AotC, it's not nearly that big of deal as this thread is making it out to be.

I had no trouble buying Luke's (almost) turn in ROTJ despite that it happened so quickly.

But Anakin turns into an "agent of evil", Luke was merely on the verge of doing something evil.

There is absolutely nothing in RotJ or the OT that even hints that Luke would ever serve Palpatine or become a mindless killer, the one evil act of Luke isn't even an act because he's able to stop himself.

His "fall" isn't nearly comparable to the one we know Anakin will have.

Imagine if Luke had turned against Han how gut wrenching that would be.

thats how the break down between kenobi and anakin should feel

Luke = not Anakin
Han = not Obi Wan

Luke & Han = not Anakin + Obi Wan

Besides, Luke & Han fight about as much as Obi Wan & Anakin do. It's the moments when either parties in danger that their closeness and caring for each other is shown...and hey, whaddayaknow, the same applies to Anakin + Obi Wan.

They just have bigger problems with each other than Luke & Han do/did, but i have no idea why people are so suprised at that since.........they end up killing/hating each other (sorry for that huge spoiler)

and we know he was a good kid at one point but don't know how he turned into the jerk teenager.

It amazes me that for all the so-called whining Anakin does in AotC, people still don't listen to him. He tells "us" time and again why he's frustrated, why he's acting like this etc etc.

Really, it's all in the movie.

Anakin is more evil in ep2 then Luke is in ROTJ.

Anakin is supposed to be more evil than Luke, ya know, the Darth Vader thingy? (again, sorry for the spoiler)

even according to Lucas is that they are virtually identical characters

"virtually identical"?

Where did that come from?

In Aotc Anakin is dressed like Vader

LOL, come on now...

what is more interesting to watch?

1)two people who get on each others nerves turning into enemies.

2)Two best friends turning to enemies.

Best friends don't get on each others nerves?

I wish that were so...

- O_F

 

"But Anakin turns into an "agent of evil", Luke was merely on the verge of doing something evil.

There is absolutely nothing in RotJ or the OT that even hints that Luke would ever serve Palpatine or become a mindless killer, the one evil act of Luke isn't even an act because he's able to stop himself."

of course it is. thats the whole point. if luke had murdered vader then he his journey to the darkside would be complete.

these are lines from the movie.

once he turned to the darkside, Palpatine would be able to control him, because luke like his father would be addicted (for lack of a better term) to that evil power, and before long he would be serving palpatine, even it meant killing han or leia the very people he wants so badly to protect that he lashes out at vader.

"Luke & Han = not Anakin + Obi Wan"

I'm not saying they are the same, but their friendship should be at the same level. especially given the way ben talks about it.

"Besides, Luke & Han fight about as much as Obi Wan & Anakin do."

Not nearly as much, and when they do it always comes from a place of concern. but we also see genuine caring between them more often then not, that they enjoy each other company. We never get that with obi and ani

"They just have bigger problems with each other than Luke & Han do/did, but i have no idea why people are so suprised at that since.........they end up killing/hating each other (sorry for that huge spoiler)"

and good drama would come from starting their friendship in a better place and watching it fall apart.


"Anakin is supposed to be more evil than Luke, ya know, the Darth Vader thingy? (again, sorry for the spoiler)"

The point is to show a good man turn to evil. We dont have that. we have not so good man turn to evil.

"even according to Lucas is that they are virtually identical characters

"virtually identical"?

Where did that come from?

if you can't accept that as the basic premise of the whole saga then this is really going to be a pointless discussion



"Best friends don't get on each others nerves?

I wish that were so... "

of course they do, but that is the only thing Lucas is emphasizing.

 

actually the whole point, even according to Lucas is that they are virtually identical characters except Luke was able to overcome the temptation his father was not.

No, the whole point according to Lucas was that they traveled very similar paths, just made different decisions. That does denote them being the same character.


even before the PT was a glimmer in Lucas' eye, that was the whole point of the OT, Luke follows in his fathers footsteps, history repeats itself until the very end when Luke goes right where anakin went wrong.

Exactly. And why does this happen? Because Luke is a better person than Anakin. The story is the same, the characters are not.


visuals and costumes do a lot of the storytelling in these movies.

What if Palpatine wore a clown suit but acted the same way? Its not the same thing is it.

You're talking about extremes. Going from dark brown to tan is not an extreme. I'm talking about Anakin's actions speaking louder than words or symbolism.



Lucas uses costumes as a strong part of who the character is. In Aotc Anakin is dressed like Vader. Even his cape has those droopy things in the front just like Vaders. He looks menacing.

Costuming doesn't hold a candle to story and character.

Dress like Vader? Darker coloring, yes. Vader, no. Anakin's outfit during the CW cartoons was Vaderish.


There is little if anything to suggest they like each other, other then a few half hearted comments to that effect. And since TPM not only did not show them as friends, but actually that Obi-wan does not approve of anakin AOTC had a lot of extra work to do to show them as friends.

Just how do you expect Obi Wan to interact with Anakin? Anakin is a difficult, stubborn, bullheaded teenager. Obi Wan HAS to react the way he does. Obi Wan and Anakin might not be at the point of blood-brothers in AOTC, but I didn't expect them to be. Their relationship reminds me of a teenager and his strict father - chafing, but underneath it, they still care.

Am I missing something? I'm not catching anything majorly extreme in AOTC to suggest Anakin and Obi Wan don't like each other. I see alot pointing to Anakin being an unlikeable jackass, but most of what goes on between them is fair game for any father/son relationship.


what is more interesting to watch?

1)two people who get on each others nerves turning into enemies.

2)Two best friends turning to enemies.

Considering #2 was the part of the whole "Anakin turned to the darkside" part of the prequels, yeah, it is.


according to Lucas he was.

No, he said Anakin was a tragic hero. Enormous difference. Look it up in the dictionary.