Subject:
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Re: Arkham Asylum - A cool set, but a bit disturbing.
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Sat, 9 Jun 2007 21:08:36 GMT
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Viewed:
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8927 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, David Koudys wrote:
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Crossing between reality and fiction, I’ve never been able to reconcile
this--I saw Star Wars when I was 10. Darth was tall, black and evil--he
kills people by crushing their necks and he blows up planets. And then in
‘Return of the Jedi’, I’m suppose to feel sympathy for him ‘cause he saves
his kid and, in the process dies himself?
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You’re supposed to feel sympathy for Darth Vader because right before he redeems
himself, we see Luke on the verge of making the same monumental mistake that his
father made before him. Of all six movies, that is easily my favorite scene,
because everything comes together so powerfully, especially with the Emperor’s
theme being hummed the way it is (and if you ever want to send a shiver down
your spine, listen really closely to the song that the Gungan band is playing
during the parade at the end of Ep1). Anyways, Luke is ostensibly the last hope
of the Rebellion (in spite of the fact that the whole base is on the verge of
being blown up, Emperor and all), and yet he’s presented with the classic
Catch-22. He can’t kill the Emperor without falling from grace like his father
before him, and potentially becoming a worse monster than either of the
then-current Sith Lords. He can’t not kill him either because he’s the last
Jedi, and he knows that’s what he has to do. Plus, not killing the Emperor
pretty much means he’s not going to leave that room alive. Cue father, stage
left. Vader is the only character in the entire mythos who holds within his
mechanical hand the power to change Luke’s fate, since the Emperor obviously has
no interest in doing so, but in his weakened state it’s highly unlikely that he
can save his son’s life without sacrificing his own (one could argue different
scenarios where he might pull it off, but I think it was a necessary part of his
redemption that he pay the ultimate price for his past sins).
And finally, you’re supposed to feel sympathy for Vader because deep down, you
know he is fully aware that this simple act of rebellion doesn’t begin to even
make a dent in the monument of evil he’s erected during his life as a Sith
Lord...and yet there’s nothing he could have possibly done beyond what he ended
up doing. It’s like intending to set up a terrorist bombing, having a sudden
change of heart, sacrificing yourself at the last moment to save have of the
intended victims, and dying knowing full well that because of your past mistakes
you would be completely powerless to save the rest, and you would be reviled for
killing them. Likely noone of consequence will ever give you credit for at
least trying to rectify your mistakes, possibly not even some of the very people
you saved, especially if they friends or family of those who ended up dying
anyways.
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Futhermore, what are we to think of regarding ‘cute little Anakin’ in
Episode 1 of Star Wars? Here he’s all cute and worried about mommy and the
like, when we, the viewers, *know* he’s going to grow up and become Darth
Vader--killer of people and planets.
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That’s one of the more philosophical moments that gets overlooked in the storm
of criticism that surrounds Ep1. Yes, Anakin was a cheerful happy child. And
yet one chance encounter was pretty much all that was required to set him up to
become one of the worst villains in the history of Star Wars. It didn’t turn
him evil in and of itself, but it placed the pieces on the chess board of his
life, and the next two movies show how that game plays out. Ep3 may have by far
the darkest overtones, but in terms of undertones it doesn’t even come close to
Ep1 and how we can see the inevitable monster hanging over one of the most
innocent characters in the entire series. You can’t look at that little boy and
not think to yourself in some back corner of your mind that this is the kid who
will grow up to help destroy the Republic, nearly wipe out the Jedi order, blow
up planets, strike terror into the hearts of anyone he meets, and choke the life
out of anyone who even remotely ticks him off. Hopefully, however, you can also
see within that same boy the compassionate Vader who betrays his master to help
save the galaxy, rather than to simply wrest control from him as he’d planned
one year earlier.
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