Star Wars: Here we go again...

[Set Harth]

...which seems to indicate that he is.

Only if we somehow find proof that Obi-Wan, as a rule, only befriends the "heroic" and "likable". What we do have is a film which depicts the "unlikable" Anakin actually having a friend ( in pure Grey's Anatomy fashion ). As far as being the "best starpilot in the galaxy" or "a cunning warrior", those descriptions are about combat skill and say nothing of heroism, a topic which Obi-Wan's actual dialogue curiously avoids.

They are far too divergent, and I simply don't believe they are the same person.

I agree; for them to be the same, PT Anakin would need to have an absurdly enlarged bobble head and the sashaying walk of a Kaminoan.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'll take the cool, fun bobble head over the nauseating whiny live-action punk, thanks.

Only if we somehow find proof that Obi-Wan, as a rule, only befriends the "heroic" and "likable".

So you think Obi-Wan gets his kicks befriending nauseating whiny punks? That's an intriguing thought, but why? Does it make him feel superior? (No, Obi-Wan doesn't seem that petty.) Does it make him look better to the ladies by comparison when they're out hitting the bars? (N/A in the case of Jedi.) Does he consider it his Jedi-ly duty to befriend the unlikable? (Maybe, but that's not friendship, that's pity.) Does he have no standards whatsoever in who he chooses to become friends with? (Nah, he's too much of a tight-ass in the PT, and even in the OT, he does seem capable of discernment and taste).

 

[Set Harth]

The reason Anakin needs to be heroic is that he needs to do what any fictional character must: convince us that he's worth telling a story about, or hearing a story about.

By that logic, all fictional characters must be heroic. Obviously, Star Wars fails spectacularly in that regard, as does any other fictional work.

Does he consider it his Jedi-ly duty to befriend the unlikable? (Maybe, but that's not friendship, that's pity.)

This is rapidly becoming akin to self-fulfilling prophecy: the "unlikable" ( according to some viewer's subjective standard ) simply cannot have friends, regardless of circumstances. ( See: Grey's Anatomy. ) That's not friendship, that's "respectability". And he did consider it his duty to Qui-Gon to train Anakin, which resulted in the situation as depicted in the beginning and middle of ROTS. No "getting his kicks", no "feeling superior", no "looking better to the ladies" or any other such hallucinatory rewrite - just the sequence of events which actually took place in the previous films.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The reason Anakin needs to be heroic is that he needs to do what any fictional character must: convince us that he's worth telling a story about, or hearing a story about.

By that logic, all fictional characters must be heroic. Obviously, Star Wars fails spectacularly in that regard, as does any other fictional work.

They don't have to be heroic, but they do have to have some quality or combo of qualities that makes them worth bothering with. I'll trot thru some effectively written and acted villains to give examples:

Darth Vader - Strong, decisive, powerful, self-confident, determined, insightful, intelligent. He has his own vision about how things should be and doesn't let anything stand in his way. He also has a great dry sense of humor, if a tad on the fiendish side. And he's a devoted father, in his own way. If PT Anakin had lived up to at least some of this description, it would have been a huge improvement and also made it much easier to believe that Anakin and Vader are essentially the same person, which the way the PT left it, is simply impossible.

Gul Dukat - Highly intelligent, determined, resourceful, cultured, charming, adaptable, great sense of humor, shows loyalty to friends and allies.

Scorpius - Highly intelligent, determined, resourceful, intimidatingly powerful, fair-minded (oddly enough). When you understand the full scope of his story, you start to wonder whether he's even a "villain" at all.

Gaius Baltar - The other guys are all "strong characters" so in fairness, I'll include Baltar as an example of why being a contemptable, snivelling weakling is not fatal for a character, as long as there are some counterbalancing qualities such as: intelligence, charm, great sense of humor, admirable survival skills, and strategic cunning (when he isn't being self-defeating, that is).

 

[Set Harth]

They don't have to be heroic

Q.E.D.

He has his own vision about how things should be and doesn't let anything stand in his way.

...Remind you of anyone? Especially the bolded part which is almost a PT quote verbatim?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Are you talking about PT Anakin? He doesn't have a vision for anything. He's just a puppet who gets dragged around by Palps because he's too stupid to realize what is going on.

I do remember a scene where he and Padme are talking politics. She's all blah blah democracy is wonderful and he basically says democracy is weak and idiotic and should be abolished.

I'm sure I'm paraphrasing, but that was the right idea. I would have liked Anakin to have a viewpoint on something, that he actually took action in pursuing. I would have loved it if he'd figured out Palps early on and had never really been manipulated into anything, but rather saw Palps as useful to his own agenda. Anakin should have been miles ahead of both Palps and the Jedi, who were a bunch of dumbasses who deserved to get slaughtered. The way Anakin was written, he was far too helpless, too unobservant, and too much a victim of the plotline. He should have been driving the plotline.

But even with a rewrite or two to get the character right, you still have the problem that Hayden Christensen's whiny performance would have frakked it all up. I really don't think he has it in him to play a strong, magnetic character. I think the script did have some of the right elements and rewriting would have sharpened it up. But nothing would have solved the casting problem. Recast the role with an actor who is right for the role as it should have been written and then you might have something.

 

[Set Harth]

He doesn't have a vision of anything.

He has the same "vision" which has been attributed to Vader, as he expresses in AOTC and ROTS. And he's already plotting to kill Palpatine and rule the galaxy himself, just like in TESB. Not your average puppet.

I would have loved it if he'd figured out Palps early on and had never really been manipulated into anything, but rather saw Palps as useful to his own agenda.

Then you would have loved ROTS, in which he discovers Palpatine is a Sith early on and yet goes along with him because he sees him as useful to his own agenda.

there's never going to be any filling in of the blanks between ROTS and ANH.

There's always The Force Unleashed and various books.

But even with a rewrite or two to get the character right, you still have the problem that Hayden Christensen's whiny performance would have frakked it all up.

That's it in a nutshell - this is all really about Hayden, as opposed to what the films established regarding Anakin.