#but that doesn't make him a good person

[smallandangry24]

A Not-So-Brief Character Analysis of one Anakin Skywalker

TW for discussion of Imperialism, Nazis, and events paralleling sh00tings, brief mention of domestic violence and slavery.

Hello there, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of ranting about fascism on the internet (I know, you’re waiting with baited breath): Star Wars Edition, featuring a very beloved character -- Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader.

Star Wars is many things -- found families. Hope. Rebellion. Democracy. The importance of standing up for what is right, and for those who do not have a voice, even if the world is against you. Holding others and yourself accountable. Corruption. Accidental baby acquisition. And the first space western among them. But at its conception, Star Wars drew a very hard line in the sand (I know, we don’t like sand, but bare with me) regarding a subject that was very relevant at the time, and I would argue still is: Imperialism, Fascism, Slavery, and Nazism.  

“But Mads”, you might ask “why would you get on the internet to rant about such things, probably bringing a very angry toxic fanbase out of the woodworks against you?” For a few reasons, one of them possibly being that I’m a fool. One of those reasons definitely being that sometimes, something needs to be said, regardless of opposition, and you need to be the one to say it, especially if no one else will (and what’s more Star Wars than that?). I hope you’ll find it in yourself to stay with me, but that’s beyond my control. So here it is:

Anakin is a tragedy, in many ways. 1. He could be anyone -- someone’s boyfriend, a brother, a best friend, a son, the guy sitting two tables down in a chili’s in the middle of nowhere Iowa (idk if y’all have Chili’s but roll with it). 2. He cared about his family. 3. He WAS manipulated in fear and put in a situation no child (yes, CHILD) should have ever been put in on the battlefield, nevermind his status as a slave. It is an ESSENTIAL part of his story, but not in the way I see interpreted by so many fans. There is a MESSAGE in his character... a great many!! Sure, he is a type of prodigal son, falling from grace but returning eventually for -- here’s where we disagree. Redemption. Can we call it that? Is he really redeemed? The Prodigal Son, at least in my interpretation, is not about redemption, but forgiveness and mercy -- given because the father, who I think the story is really about, is good -- not because that kindness is deserved (because in it’s context, the story is not about what is deserved, but I digress). Anakin, Vader, can be a story about how people cannot be summed up by good and evil, and instead are made by their choices, and that we have the power to change our choices every day, and that there can be redemption for some. 

But that’s not all there is, or even the biggest part of his character.

There are more messages. Monsters can be anyone, and if we don’t hold people accountable and learn from our past, history will come back to haunt us. My problem is that very few hold him accountable. Let’s go back to the roots. Star Wars isn’t exactly subtle. “The Empire,” “Storm troopers” (the name of Hitler’s private army), the concept of a nationalistic regime taking over under the power of a charming dictator bent on expansion by force, using propaganda to unite his people against a common enemy of a peaceful people who share a religion, etc. It’s about Nazis, and more than their well known atrocities -- about the importance of accountability, uniting in rebellion, how they can come to be, and, most importantly, punching them. 

Back to Anakin. He’s young, under the influence of the man who’s a parallel of Hitler, very stressed because he’s leading an army and just got put in charge of a child, probably needed more talking to regarding healthy levels of attachment and relationships, and he’s been put in a position of power. He’s also played by Hayden Christensen (who did a remarkable job -- this is not a criticism of his performance but an applause. The problem lies in how some interpret it), who, I’ve been reliably informed, is very cute. An increasingly common reaction is “oh it’s not his fault, poor baby,” or  WORSE, “It’s Obi-Wan’s/Padme’s/Ahsoka’s fault -- he/she should have paid more attention/proclaimed his/her love more.” 

*Is violently unimpressed*

Let’s also look at what he did!! *drumroll* He betrays all of his loved ones -- strangling his pregnant wife Padme, who tries to appeal to him numerous times while also stating her love, trying to kill his brother/father figure Obi-Wan, who’s last words prior were about how proud he is of Anakin, and proceeded to tell him he loved him and also tried to bring him to his senses multiple times while Anakin is ACTIVELY TRYING TO MURDER HIM, enslaves the clones, his friends, who fought for him, were willing to die for him, were already struggling with a lack of human rights, further betrayed by Anakin forcing them to turn on their family the Jedi and help him commit mass genocide, made worse by the fact that Anakin used to be a slave, and not only participates and initiates said genocide against his own people (but let’s also not forget the genocide and coverup of the one he committed against the native Tusken people), but cuts down the children who trust him and run to him for help. He his not only a parallel of naziim, but also domestic abusers, imperialists and, currently, school shooters. AND IT’S NOT JUST THESE CHOICES!!! There are more I’m probably forgetting, but it’s the fact that it’s not just ONE time. He makes the choice to be this person over. and over. AND OVER. AND OVER AGAIN. And for what?? To save Padme?? He just choked her out! And after she DIES, he KEEPS GOING. “He was too scared to return, the canonically thought about it,” WELL?? First of all, Obi-Wan was literally begging him to come back and secondly, even if he didn’t “return” he could have stopped, idk, actively hunting down and murdering people and supporting the Empire. Just throwing that out there. 

Yes, Palpatine chose him to manipulate. FOR A REASON: He knew Anakin was powerful enough to turn the tide of the war-- which would have just ended with the death of General Grievous -- in his favor, AND because such power would have been a threat to him. Anakin had the power to threaten Palpatine and the Empire at any time.... but instead, he repeatedly chose to use that power to undo everything he had sworn to protect, everything his friends had fought and died for. And for what purpose? Last time I checked, you don’t strangle people to say “I love you.”

That’s the tragedy of Anakin for me -- the repeated choice to fall, and that he could be any one of us if we allow it. Too often, we let him hide behind a mask and a new name. I get it -- I, too, am a sucker for transformation and cinematic symbolism. But Anakin’s transformation marks the solidification of his choices and the nature being revealed in him -- the corruption of hate and anger and obsession -- but it DOESN’T MAKE HIM A DIFFERENT PERSON. He can’t escape accountability for his actions by hiding behind a fancy new title. Are you a simp, or an apologist? I get it, he’s cute, and there’s an appeal to knowing someone would burn the world for you, but be careful of the line you tread -- with this character, it’s pretty thin.... and quite frankly, my ace ass doesn’t care how hot a Nazi is.

Today, I encountered a new perspective I’ve never seen before, regarding the line, “there’s still good in him.” Iconic, I know. And despite the above... ooops paragraphs, know that I AM A MASSIVE VADER FAN. His character is incredible and complex and (I knooooow) cool. Horribly so, but yes, you can’t deny the dramatics. And I’m an even bigger fan of redemption, hope, the idea that no matter what you’ve done, you can work to be better. I’ve struggled with Anakin -- I’ve wanted to say “YES, in the end, when he choses to overthrow Sidious, he is Redeemed!” .... but it never quite felt right. Today, I encountered the phrase “so what?” Okay, not literally, but someone might as well have written it on a brick and slapped it across my face. There was good in him. So what? He still chose to do those things. And he chose to do them over and over again. Does the fact that he was capable of good excuse the genocide? the slavery? the murder? Does it not make it worse? Do we owe forgiveness to someone who could have been a good man? Are we obligated to -- RESPONSIBLE for bending over backwards to convince someone to be good again? Even at the price of more innocent blood? Or is it HIS responsibility not to spill it in the first place?

The tragedy is in that he was good, once, if a person can be good, but he made those choices anyway. The tragedy is in that he could be anyone. The tragedy is that he is MANY someones today. The tragedy -- what makes a tragedy -- is that anywhere, in all of this mess, it could have been over. It could have been prevented. He could have stopped. The tragedy is that it didn’t need to happen, but it happened anyway.

Today I encountered “It was his choice.” Today, I saw written, “Don’t take that away from him.” 

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[quantumshade]

can anyone explain to me at what point rose tyler was "unbelievably stupid". was it when she was inventing transdimensional travel

[astrhae]

Do I look like I run a bookshop?

Anthony J. Crowley, aka The Co. to A.Z. Fell and Co.

[jerswayman]

LOVE THY GOALIE. GIVE THY GOOD BOY HEAD PATS.

[sysig]

“It could be that the loss of her children drove the Queen deeper into her darker desires...but, I don’t believe she was fighting against them that hard before that particular tragedy. No monster does.” (Patreon)

Bonus:

Hmm, wonder what he could cover those holes with :3c

[starry-bi-sky]

Thinking about the CFAU and marveling at how much Danny and Jason care for one another. Does anybody else figure out that Danny is going to kill the Joker, or is that knowledge Jason exclusive? I can't see Danny being close enough to any other Batfam member to disclose his plans, but I wonder if he drops hints. They're a family of paranoid detectives. I'd be surprised if they don't figure out Danny has a PURPOSE for being in Gotham at some point. Whether Danny's able to disguise it as wanting to be closer to Jason or not is another burning question.

Its def Red Hood exclusive! You're right in that Danny isn't close enough to disclose his revenge plot to any of the batfam members -- hell, not even Sam and Tucker know his true motives for returning to Gotham, and they're his best friends right after Jason! And Red Hood knows only because Danny accidentally slipped up ;].

I do also think that the Waynes kinda think something might be up with Danny -- at least Dick and/or Bruce might since they're the only ones who actually know him beyond brief mentions of him. Tim knows about him due to his stalking, but doesn't really know him -- and Danny plans to keep a healthy, friendly distance from the family so he can carry out his plans.

It's not that he holds any dislike towards them -- quite the opposite. He appreciates what they do for Gotham and recognizes the hard work that goes into keeping their Rogues Gallery at bay (even if he is bitter about Joker, but there's an obvious reason for that) -- but, well. He knows they're the vigilantes, he doesn't want to risk them sniffing out his murder plot before he can even go through with it.

Luckily for him he can excuse any distance he puts between them as just being busy with life and trying to settle in, and they're not close enough to him anymore to find it suspicious. I do think they figure out he's back in Gotham for a reason, Danny's not going to exactly hide the fact that he's back to find some kind of closure -- but what that closure is?

I think the only person who might suspect something sinister going on would be Bruce, who saw the sinking rage in Danny's eyes at the funeral -- it was part of the reason he didn't tell him who killed Jason (beyond secret identity reasons). But that depends on whether or not Danny reveals some of his hand, and the fact that he was still holding onto that rage (somewhat unwillingly) all this time.

[sunflowerwizard]

I wish there were more meaningful insights into Wyll's relationship with his father that didn't turn into "lol daddy kink amirite" or "this is why we should kill Ulder"

[mollypaup]

i think a really great aspect of oofuri is how much it gets mihashi's ass for being overly timid and dependent. it would be really easy to write off the way he and abe interact as being abe's fault because he is overbearing, and a lot of people do, but it has some really great moments of going "hey, you cannot hide behind abe or depend on him to make every decision. it's not good for you, or him, or the team."

[ffcrazy15]

"Oh so when James Kirk refuses to believe in no-win scenarios it's 'changing the conditions of the test' and 'commendable original thinking,' but when I, Bradward Boimler, can't accept the possibility of failure and retake the Kobiyashi Maru sixteen times–"

[fandomunsexyman]

SVSSS is a novel with a fandom.

[ID: A Scum Villain edit of the "missing the point" meme. A bullet arcs from velinxi art of child Shen Jiu kneeling while furiously glaring. The bullet says, "People are not entirely one thing or the other and holding them to these extremes ignores the complexities that come with their humanity." It arcs over the head of a person across from it, who ignores the bullet and exclaims: "Wow!! Shen Jiu's only crime was being mean and was wrongly hated!" End ID]

[wisebeth]

why does the pjo series have to unnecessarily villainize goddesses (hera & athena) or show them as silly ladies (aphrodite & demeter) BUT posiedon and apollo are somehow shown as the coolest/most likeable gods, even though arguably, they're right after zeus on terms of corruption?

ares shown as the worst god after zeus and hera amuses me. last time i checked, he was the patron god of amazons and literally killed a man for attempting to rape his daughter but guess who cursed women for rejection? apollo. guess who raped women when they said no (aside from zeus)? posiedon.

[caluette]

the truth

[froschli96]

Assassin's Creed Revelations be like

[bumblingbabooshka]

My name is [BRUTUS] and my name means [HEAVY] so with a [HEAVY] heart I'll guide this dagger Into the heart of my enemy

Something about having absolutely no choice in who you marry. About being literally forced by the law to spill blood - to accept this stranger as your husband over a man you truly care for or accept the fact that the man you love might die because you put him in danger. Something about risking becoming the wife of a man you've never even seen before a few minutes prior because you know anything would be better than putting your beloved in harm's way. Something about the trust inherent in that decision and in the way she speaks of it after. Truthfully, T'Pring doesn't know the captain and she doesn't know Spock. Either one of them could have taken her as their wife but she does know Stonn. She knows that Stonn will remain by her side no matter what. They made a plan together. They have an agreement which T'Pring believes will be upheld even though the plan changed with the arrival of Kirk. Stonn will always be there, always, and Stonn will be hers. Something about the language used around T'Pring: Ownership, subservience, non-personhood. T'Pring is an object that Spock can win. She cannot reject him, she has no say in the matter other than having Stonn 'claim' her instead. Even when Spock leaves after being very clearly rejected by T'Pring he says "Stonn, she is yours." as if despite her clear rejection he still owns her and is must formally 'give' her to Stonn. But the language T'Pring uses around Stonn is a break from that: "There was Stonn who wanted very much to be my consort, and I wanted him." Stonn who wanted very much to be HER consort and she WANTED him. The language here is very particular - It's not, for example: "Stonn wanted me to be his wife" - he is HERS. And she WANTS him. There's a mutual affection there and a strong trust - a trust which seems to be well founded since Stonn (though silent) stands by her side at the end of the episode. <- That might seem small but if Spock would reject her for 'daring to challenge' (again, the language is not 'because I don't want you' but more of an implied disgust at her having the AUDACITY to reject him) then it's not a stretch to assume that it'd be considered an insult in the TOS Vulcan society to NOT choose Stonn as her champion after a prior agreement. Anyway T'Pring was a woman in an impossible situation within a society which saw her as more of an object than a person and she wanted Stonn and Stonn wanted to be hers and she trusted that he would understand if she had to publicly pick someone else to ensure his life would be spared and he did understand.

[offorestsongs]

i firmly believe that if you treat Vil with enough gentleness and affection, he will just. break.

i mean. think about it. he's used to having fans, to people adoring him, but there's usually a distance between him and others. they may idolise him as a famous superstar or be afraid of him as the strict housewarden. even Rook tends to put him on a pedestal.

so somebody who's willing to cross that distance? who's willing to be soft and gentle with him? who treats him like a person? yeah. no. this man is gone. brain goes blank. congratulations, you have just managed to make Vil Schoenheit speechless! not for long, of course, he still has an image to maintain after all, but it's still an accomplishment!