I have writers block so I intend to ramble a little bit:I think that Darth Vader is one of the greatest characters of all time, for many reasons:
He turned bad for a good reason, love. Thats pretty sad, and exemplifies how "the road to hell is paved with the best intentions."
Also, he is redeemed in the end of the Star Wars series. Good for him! Luke knew there was still good in him, but in the late 70's-80's....did we?
When he was bad, he was an evil fuckin' bastard. Apparently he was Hitler on a galactic level. Jesus!
I believe redemption is one of the most interesting themes to any good story, especially when the character struggles with difficult choices. Usually, they start good, turn evil for some reason, and are finally redeemed. Very uplifting. Stories (characters) of this nature represent the pitfalls of REAL life, and how easy it is to lose who you are. I find it quite inspiring. Another character of this type is the Gunslinger from the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, or maybe even Dr. Frankenstein. Victims of their own destinies!!
One thing that is sad, is that Darth Vader never reached his full potential as a Jedi OR a Sith. It is implied throughout the movies and EU (Expanded Universe) novels that he was the most gifted force-user ever. However, he obviously cut his Jedi career VERY short to become a Sith, but didn't really want to BE a Sith like the Emperor did. He never truly embraced the evil doctrines, therefore was never really the top dog at either profession. Also, in the novels it's stated that because of the loss of his limbs and health, that he could NEVER truly obtain full Darkside prowess. An example of this is the absence of the lightning that the Emporer uses. Vader can't do it because he has no hands.
Squandered talent, and a sad story. Redemption minutes before death, and a tainted legacy. :( A moment of silence for a tragic character.
The most tragic thing about Vader is that he was portrayed by Hayden Christensen.
ReplyDeleteActing jabs aside, seeing Anakin as a happy 12-year old kid and then again as an evil Sith Lord is powerful stuff in the big picture. More stories should follow the route of "show evil guy, show his happy-go-lucky childhood self." Maybe not that specific.
Seriously though, what a tragedy that Anakin fell in love with a cardboard cutout of Natalie Portman. At least she was hot.
Vader was pretty great, I mean, in the long run, he killed an awful lot of Jedi and Sith. I guess when you consider he was supposed to bring balance to the force (Ugh... cheesy new movie stuff...) he apparently did it through killing a whole mess of'em. But you can totally tell he's got some humanity left in him when they're about to go and see the Emperor in VI and he's chatting with Luke about his new lightsaber.
ReplyDeleteOh my, this dusted off my memory. I liked how you really had a strong argument for Vader. You used legit facts from the movie to fuel your opinion. Vader was so iconic and still is; I think its great that you randomly picked him to write about. I'm sure you were sitting in front of your computer wondering what to write about and just saw his face and was like "thats it Darth Vader, lets go"
ReplyDeleteyeah i have a frankenstein/vader bobblehead on my desk lol
ReplyDeleteI've never felt so sad about Darth Vader's character. You made me realize how much potential he wasted in that second to last paragraph... How depressing is that to never fully be the best at being bad or good when he had the gift inside.
ReplyDeleteLuke turns to the dark side eventually too in the books for a bit. It's hereditary apparently.
ReplyDeleteThe classic battle of good vs evil only it takes place internally...like that evil monkey that sits on my shoulder and bitches about me doing good things...or is it a good monkey bitching about me doing evil? I get confused easily. Whatever. You do your best writing when you ramble...you seem to free yourself when you ramble. I always thought the DV character rocked!
ReplyDeleteI love the whole Shakespeare like feel of the complete Star Wars series and Vader is DEFINITELY one of the greatest villains of all time. So complex!
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