Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens
- Thread starter cooleddie74
- Start date
And had Lucas stuck to strictly telling the story on that poster, the PT would have been outstanding.
Anakin became Darth Vader the Clone Wars were just a backdrop.
And yet they were the focus of all three crawls and the vast majority of screen time. Anakin's story was the B story. That was the problem.
More to the point, the originals were about Luke and other stuff. The PT was about other stuff and Anakin.
More to the point, the originals were about Luke and other stuff. The PT was about other stuff and Anakin.
Bingo.
So?
Neither of those things change my point.
Neither of those things change my point.
The first six movies are Anakin's story. The really important question for the new movies is who's story is it?
If each trilogy focuses on the life's journey of a Skywalker then it's possible that Daisy Ridley (if she is indeed Leia's daughter and thus part of the new generation of the Skywalker family) could be a leading character and focus in all three films of the Sequel Trilogy in a similar fashion to the ways her mother, uncle and grandfather were the most important characters of the two previous trilogies.
Who knows this early on, but if following the journeys of a Skywalker and how they succeed or fail to overcome the Dark Side of the Force is the recurring theme then it's certainly possible.
Who knows this early on, but if following the journeys of a Skywalker and how they succeed or fail to overcome the Dark Side of the Force is the recurring theme then it's certainly possible.
Not according to Lucas.. The son must help forward the father's redemption. This is what is achieved in the three movies, finally happening at the end of Jedi.
Lucas also said there were going to be anymore. Then there more. Then he said there wouldn't be anymore after that. Then there were more. So anything Lucas says about the intent of the saga should be taken with a grain of salt.
Pure marketing with no regard for the series' actual narrative. Note that this suggestion was only ever pushed during the prequels' heyday. Anakin served as a cautionary tale, and represented one possible path Luke could have taken, but chose not to because he proved to be stronger than his father was.
Well, I'm sure marketing had something to do with it ... but I also think Lucas' efforts with the PT were, in large part, a deliberate attempt to frame his entire six-film saga as Anakin's story. Personally speaking, I certainly can accept that as the intent. Whether the intent translates into a result that works for an individual viewer ... well ... as with most things ... YMMV.
For the six film saga to represent a single narrative in which Anakin is the main character throughout, one would, for starters, have to imagine that the OT films are something other than what exists in the can. Vader was never the main character in any of the OT films as they've existed. The films would have to be more than simply tweaked to change that.
That said, of the OT films, Vader is perhaps most central in ROTJ, and I can see the new "Nooooo!" as a tweak to make that more overt.
That said, of the OT films, Vader is perhaps most central in ROTJ, and I can see the new "Nooooo!" as a tweak to make that more overt.
Not true (at least universally speaking for every possible audience member - it may be so for you, which is perfectly valid, btw). Anakin's story may represent the overall arc of the saga (per Lucas' stated intent) but that doesn't necessarily require Anakin/Vader doesn't take a role of prominence in each an every (or even most) episodes (or for a viewer to read more into the OT than is already there). He's a common denominator as events in the galaxy unfold around him - and because of him. That makes him central to the overall tale, without making him explicitly central to every episode.
Of course, this doesn't preclude someone claiming that these films are all about C3PO and R2, also. But then again, Lucas didn't say that this was all about their story, either.
I suppose that if one adopts a sufficiently non-standard idea of what constitutes a main character in a narrative, anything is possible.
In retrospect it appears that whatever Lucas originally intended (or didn't intend, depending on the evolution of the background story of the films' development as told throughout the decades) one thing is more or less clear, and that's that the Star Wars universe is framed by the experiences of the Skywalker family, starting with Shmi and Anakin on Tatooine and ending with Luke's defeat of the Sith, Anakin's death and his merging with the living Force, having been redeemed from the Dark Side by the heroic sacrifices of his son.
Whether Episodes I through VI are technically "The Anakin Skywalker Story" is, of course, up to the interpretation of the individual fan. To some degree the first two trilogies are indeed the story of Anakin Skywalker, but viewed through another lens only the first three films in the chronological sequence are and the next three belong to his son (and to a lesser extent, the daughter he didn't realize he had until the final minutes of his mortal life). However you frame and view the previous films, they're the greater, wider Skywalker Saga more than they are the individual Anakin Story or the Luke Story.
Whether Episodes I through VI are technically "The Anakin Skywalker Story" is, of course, up to the interpretation of the individual fan. To some degree the first two trilogies are indeed the story of Anakin Skywalker, but viewed through another lens only the first three films in the chronological sequence are and the next three belong to his son (and to a lesser extent, the daughter he didn't realize he had until the final minutes of his mortal life). However you frame and view the previous films, they're the greater, wider Skywalker Saga more than they are the individual Anakin Story or the Luke Story.
I have always found it odd that Lucas intent is thrown around rather casually, but in the original story Vader was the villain, pure and simple. Obviously, the intent of the PT was to expand upon Anakin's character arc, but I find the execution to be lacking.
However, as Ancient_Mariner noted, this experience is different for other audience members. I will also note that I am not the only one to express this opinion, though
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I think that both cooleddie74 and CorporalClegg basically have it right in terms of what we see on film.
