Fear of Loss: What Anakin teaches us about ourselves
Published May 30, 2005
First of all, I'm one of the seeming minority who really, really liked Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
Yes, the dialogue was typical George Lucas, a little cornball, but hey, this is a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away - they talk differently there, okay?
But it was really, really compelling seeing the transformation from young man with potential to evil dark lord. And while critics slam the dialogue and acting of the Star Wars saga, what keeps it going is the power of the story behind it.
Seen as a whole, the Star Wars saga is really the life story of Anakin Skywalker. It's a study in how we all have so much potential, and we can really mess it up.
I liked how Episode III really got into why he turned: fear of loss.
Perhaps the best scene in the entire Star Wars ... what do you call a six-part series, sextology? ... anyway, perhaps the best scene in the whole series is the one where Palpatine (really the evil Darth Sidious) has what seems like a heart-to-heart chat with Anakin, opening his mind to the possibility of loss, and the thought, what if I could prevent loss, the thing I fear most, using the dark side, something I fear but know little about.
In Episodes 4, 5 and 6, the bad guys do some pretty terrible things, but Palpatine in Episode III - as portrayed fantastically by Ian McDiarmid - reaches the heights of evil. He appears, in his guise as senator, as a sincere, well-meaning old man, who just wants peace. Only when Anakin is already in thrall to him does he reveal his true nature.
It's only when he's been tricked by Palpatine into the dark side that Anakin says, "What have I done?"
It's a line that stuck in my mind. Because we all have choices, although few of us have such galaxy-affecting choices as did Anakin at that moment.
But from a galaxy far, far away come lessons for us today. In our everyday micro-choices, we get to choose good or bad - acting from fear of loss, or embracing life as it unfolds.
And it's often when we let go of the need to control life, that we find ourselves well and truly in the driver's seat.
So ... full marks to Star Wars Episode III, for being the scariest Star Wars installment ever - and showing us our potential for good or evil.
Simon Young is a journalist and screenwriter from Auckland, New Zealand. He maintains three blogs, Leadership Issues, I think I'm a Fundamentalist, and the DIY Film School. He also writes for magazines including Management and Marketing.
- Fear of Loss: What Anakin teaches us about ourselves
- Published: May 30, 2005
- Type: Review
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: SF
- Writer: Simon Young
- Simon Young's BC Writer page
- Simon Young's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
I thought this fit better under the Video section, so I moved it over there.
You know, Simon, I'm with you. I think a lot of the invective that's been hurled at Sith is really leftover from the huge letdowns of Phantom and Clone (pardon my shorthanding here), botch jobs that they were. I think now that this prequel trilogy is complete, the prior two are revealed for what they are -- essentially rush jobs, throwaways that Lucas et al thought *had* to be made so he could make the really interesting one, the one he's been itching to make ever since he had the inspiration somewhere in the crafting of Empire that Vader was Luke's father (I still don't buy all the cant that he had a whole arc planned out from the very beginning, obviously).
Every movie has its flaws; some are cherished just for those (Plan 9 From Outer Space, anyone?). But for me, well, this is the first time in a long time that I've actually felt along with the speaker who has to utter the usually excreble one line "Noooooooooo!"
I've tortured myself by watching Phantom and Clones exactly once each, but I'm gladly planning to catch Sith again, and while it's still on the big screen to boot.
Thanks for putting into words my sneaking feeling that Episode Six was somehow related to Elizabeth Moon's classic Deed of Paksennarion trilogy. I couldn't quite identify the similarity - but Anakin is the Palladin candidate "spoiled" by Palpatine.
The tragedy is that, having been turned, Skywalker never sees that it is also in his power to turn away from the dark side. He made a poor choice, true, but he can choose again. Paksennarion's eventual triumph over the evil that tempts her comes from exactly that kind of better choice.
Thanks all for your comments.
Tan Hoang, I understand what you're saying but I don't think the dialogue and acting problems in Episode III got in the way of story. At least they didn't for me.
Kate Sherrod, thanks for that. I sheepishly admit that I kind of liked Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones too... but Sith has definitely been the best of the prequels, as Return of the Jedi was the best of the originals.
Dr Pat ... I've never heard of Elizabeth Moon's work. Fascinating, thanks for mentioning it!
I finally managed to see this damned movie and I agree with much of what you write, Simon. It's by far the most satisfying and complete movie of the "new" trilogy. I too enjoyed the undercurrent theme -- attachments / vices / lust / passions drawing imperfect man to the dark side. Very cool universal themes there. So much better than the awful Phantom Menace and the decent yet muddled Attack of the Clones.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/30333)
Of course the story is interesting and compelling, it's why we all watch the movies and care about them so much. But if it the story cannot be portrayed in a right way, then the story falls apart and becomes uninteresting.