In Defense of Anakin Skywalker
A Social-Psychological Approach
The Prequel Problem
First of all, be careful what you wish for. Before the Star Wars prequels were made, people wanted them. They wanted to know about the Clone Wars Obi-Wan mentioned to Luke in Episode IV. They wanted to know who Luke and Leia’s mother was. The wanted to know why Anakin Skywalker turned to the Dark Side.
What do these people, who really wanted those prequels, say about them now? Are they satisfied? No. I will say this till the day I die, but some things are better left to our imaginations. Prequels and sequels are perfect evidence of this.
Of all the critiques of the prequels, one I hear frequently is: Anakin Skywalker. Critics think he was too old or too young in Episode I. They say Hayden Christensen was bad at portraying him (and this post is in defense of Hayden Christensen, as well). They say that Anakin and Padme had no chemistry. They say she was too old for him. They shout “Bad acting!”
In a more meta-physical way, people complain about Anakin’s life. That he should have known better than to turn to the Dark Side. That he should have listened to Yoda, or Mace, or talked to Obi-Wan.
In short, people have problems with prequel Anakin Skywalker. They are dissatisfied. At first blush, their arguments are sensible if not down right convincing. The point of this post, however, is to defend Anakin and Hayden through a basic assumption of Social Psychology.
A Person In An Environment
The premise of Social Psychology is that a person and their environment interact. Sounds obvious. It may surprise you how often a person’s surroundings or circumstances are minimized, or ignored.
One poignant example is the Fundamental Attribution Error. Simply put, people tend to latch personal attributes to explain people’s actions, and do not consider their situations. If a person drives fast and cuts you off, you assume he’s a jerk, but what if he’s rushing to see the birth of his first child? (Search F.A.E. for more info on the Fundamental Attribution Error. See also: Actor-Observer bias).
So let’s take another look at Anakin Skywalker, taking into critical consideration his environment and circumstances:
For Starters
Unlike typical Jedis who, according to Qui-Gon Jinn, are detected quite early in life, Anakin was discovered later in his life. Qui-Gon, not Anakin himself, argued with the Jedi council vehemently for Anakin to be trained, notwithstanding his age.
Aside from being old, Anakin had grown up (experiencing several brackets of development not typical of Jedis his age) as a slave. He was the property of a rude, greedy salesperson. Furthermore, Anakin (who has a rich capacity for love) loved his mother deeply. According to Google, Anakin was nine years old when he was emancipated.
Can you imagine being nine years old and departing from the person you love the most, likely to never see said person again?
Anakin was also raised until age 9 without a father figure. I’m not sure what the effects of this are, but likely some negatives are involved (though his mother did the best she could). Besides, a potential Jedi is supposed to be taken away from their family at a very young age.
Love
Before Anakin had made any covenants to be a Jedi, or knew he would ever be one, he fell in love with Padme. This occurred the very first time he meet her, even originally thinking she was an angel. Anakin was infatuated. Can you blame him for loving her? What was he supposed to think? “Well, I may be a Jedi so I better not love her?” At the time of his initial run in with Padme, there was no evidence, in Anakin’s eyes, that he’d ever, ever be a Jedi.
So before Anakin gets on the spaceship to leave Tatooine, he loved his mother deeply, and was in love with Padme. But Jedi’s aren’t supposed to love! Anakin didn’t even know this, yet. He eventually learned this tenet of the Jedi way, but by then it wasn’t applicable. Younglings are taken away from their families so they don’t develop such connections in the first place.
It’s not easy to experience love and then be told simply to forget it.
Teacher Misbehaviors
Are Padawans solely the result of what and how their Masters trained them? Yes and no? How good of a mentor was Obi-Wan to Anakin?
In Episode II, a spotlight is on Anakin and Obi-Wans’ turbulent relationship. Judging by Episode II, Obi-Wan is often irritated and annoyed with Anakin; he’s tired of telling Anakin the same thing over and over.
Mentor Fatigue
Obi-Wan trained Anakin out of duty to his own Mentor, Qui-Gon. When they first meet, Obi-Wan deems Anakin “Another useless life-form.” It’s possible that Obi-Wan resented Anakin. Obi-Wan may have been jealous that Qui-Gon seemed to value Anakin over himself.
Either way, Obi-Wan had a patronizing, condescending tone and approach towards Anakin. He seemed exasperated by the task of training him. Anakin claimed that Obi-Wan was holding him back.
Unaddressed Triggers
Despite their often hostile relationship, Obi-Wan had a crucial chance to divert Anakin from the path that led him to the Dark Side. Anakin told Obi-Wan his true feelings: that being around Padme again felt intoxicating. Obi-Wan tells Anakin to be mindful and reminds him of his commitment to the Jedi Order.
This would have been an appropriate time for Obi-Wan, who Anakin claimed was as wise as Master Yoda, to actually sit down with Anakin. To talk with Anakin about his feelings and help him sort things out.
Though it can be argued that turning to the Dark Side was Anakin’s destiny, it is incontrovertible that what led him there could have been better addressed and remedied by his Jedi overseers.
In addition, Obi-Wans’ simple reply to Anakin’s recurring nightmares of his mother was that dreams pass in time. I don’t expect Obi-Wan to be a Freudian expert on dreams, but really, this was another opportunity Obi-Wan had to discuss the love that Anakin had within himself.
The Non-Counseling Council
Lest it seem that we are putting all the blame on Obi-Wan Kenobi, let’s look at the Jedi Council. From the get-go, they can be blamed for letting Anakin train in the first place. But more prudently, they made a crucial error in Episode II:
The Jedi Council sent Anakin and Padme to be alone together on her home planet.
In Mormon missionary service, companions are not to be out of sight or sound of one another (except for using the restroom). Though this may seem extreme, it saves them from potential difficulties. I don’t necessarily recommend such an approach to Jedis. Still, leaving Anakin alone with Padme for an extended, private stay is a bad idea. This setup would be risky for any Jedi, let alone the volatile Chosen One.
An Excruciating Reunion
To further complicate Anakin’s life, he sees his mother again. But he does not see her in a happy state. Anakin’s mother, the person he loved first, still loved, and, in his own words, “Missed so much,” has been abused; she is the hostage of the Sand People.
The Chosen One, holding his own mother in his arms, helplessly watches her die. “Why couldn’t I save her?” he wonders.
Full of rage anyone who has loved someone and seen them die at the hands of others can relate to, Anakin destroys the Sand People. And understandably so, his mother was exceedingly good-hearted; she didn’t deserve this. His sweet mother, who wasn’t mean to anyone and encouraged Anakin to love, suffered at the hands of merciless monsters.
The next day Anakin tells Padme what he did, and that something is wrong; that he’s not the Jedi he should be. He is feeling the overwhelming burden of being the Chosen One and simultaneously not living up to the expectations of the Jedi and the Council, as well as his own expectations. On top of his under-performance in his own eyes and the eyes of others, he has just slaughtered a tribe. He has anger and guilt all mixed into one:
Anger at the Sand Peoples’ actions, yet guilt at what he did in response.
One downfall for Anakin was his Jedi masters not realizing Anakin’s need of a particular teaching: that he can’t control everything, and that he is not, and never will be, all powerful.
Tatooine in General
Not including his mother, Tatooine represented to Anakin everything he sought to get away from. Yet, Tatooine, in all its roughness, would forever remain Anakin’s home. He would forever be drawn to it and repulsed by it. These are very conflicting feelings for a Jedi to experience, especially considering Jedis are supposed to be removed from their home and family at a much earlier age than Anakin was.
His Biggest Influence
The person who Anakin opens up the most to is not Obi-Wan or Padme, however. The person Anakin opens himself up to the most is Palpitine. He shares the incident of the Sand People with him, and discusses his mother with him, too.
In Episode III, Obi-Wan mentions the fact that Anakin is spending a lot of time with Palpitine. Palpitine and Anakin were having numerous private conversations.
At the beginning of Episode III, Palpitine pressured Anakin into murdering the hand-less Count Dooku, against the Jedi way, which must have bothered Anakin then and after the fact. Such pressuring towards Anakin from Palpitine, pressure to kill, would occur again soon.
Oh, and by the way, Palpitine is a Sith Lord. As their relationship likely began while Anakin was still in training, it is the fault of Obi-Wan and the Council for not curtailing, or at least looking into, Palpitine and Anakins’ relationship. So, starting sometime in Episode II, Anakin was manipulated and border-line brainwashed by a Sith who, at the end of Episode III, caused Yoda to flee in defeat.
Again, Anakin, who spent so much time with Padme and Palpitine, a.k.a. the woman he loved and a Sith Lord, is not to blame for this. Though Mormon-isc full time companionship may be too much, at least keeping tabs on how and with whom he spends his time seems appropriate. For this, the blame falls on Obi-Wan and the Jedi Council.
Why He Went Through With It
In Episode III, Anakin admirably asks Yoda for help regarding his dreams of Padme. Yoda instructs him to let go of everything he fears to lose. But by then it is too late.
For one, Anakin is married and loves Padme. Furthermore, Yoda can’t pry and make Anakin share his dream. Anakin, by that point, is an adult and a Jedi-Knight. The Jedi Council is not responsible for Anakin’s problems; he is old enough and Jedi-enough to take care of them himself.
The important truth to realize is that Anakin loved Padme more than he loved himself. He cared more about Padme than he did about the Jedi, the Jedi way or the Jedi Council. And that’s understandable. Are there men out there who are willing to let their own wife die for a cause? Men who are more committed to their country, religion, or government than they are to their wife? If they truly love their wife, the answer is no.
If a man truly loves his wife, she is his first priority.
Side note: Can any guy really blame Anakin for falling for Padme? He liked her for who she was, but she was also beautiful. You’re lying to yourself if you assume that you wouldn’t fall for her under such circumstances.
Last Chance
After slaughtering Jedis and Younglings for the explicit purpose of saving his wife (since he believed that only by doing whatever Palpitine says could he save her), Anakin faces the closest thing he had for a non-Sith father figure: Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan drops the ball here again. The two have a brief discussion before the fight ensues. But Obi-Wan, in essence, shrugs, saying, “Only a Sith speaks in absolutes,” (which is an absolutist statement) therefore I guess we have to fight.
As if speaking in absolutes was the one critical requirement to tell if someone is completely a Sith. Indeed, a long list could be compiled of all the absolutist things Obi-Wan has said (This weapon is your life, the Sith are evil, I will train Anakin with or without the Council’s approval, etc.).
An Ending Worse Than Death
After failing again, which seemed to be, from a Jedi perspective, the theme of Anakin’s life, Anakin is left with all three of his remaining human limbs cut off (by his father figure). Obi-Wan again guilts Anakin for not being the Chosen One everyone thought he was supposed to be. And to add insult to injury, Anakin is caught on fire and burned nearly to death.
Oh wait, more insult to injury comes:
After betraying the Jedi Order, battling and losing against his former Mentor, killing Jedis and children who looked up to him, and pledging himself to a Sith Lord, the person for whom he did it all dies; because of him.
The love he did everything for, who he killed his own friends to keep alive, dies because of the things he did trying to save her. Then, Anakin is placed in a robotic suit to live in for the rest of his life. Its stiff, heavy, and he is physically scarred.
Give Him A Break
So, in sum, Anakin had it rough, from the very get-go. He felt love from his mother and fell in love with Padme all before leaving Tatooine. His mentor, Obi-Wan, was critical and dropped the ball several times. The council made mistakes, failed to detect a Sith in their midst, and allowed said Sith to essentially be Anakin’s true guardian and mentor. Anakin witnessed his mother’s death and couldn’t save her, then did everything he could to prevent a similar catastrophe with Padme, only to see his efforts painfully backfire.
Anakin’ choices play a role in what unfolded, but they are in no way the whole story or even the most significant factors. Anyone who criticizes anything prequel Anakin did or didn’t do should better consider his situation.
And the same goes for critics of Hayden Christensen’s portrayal. I doubt Hayden knew what would happen in Episode III, so he had no true context for his Episode II acting. You’ll notice a much more confident Hayden in Episode III (since he fully understands the scope of his role).
Hayden had all the preconceived notions from all Star Wars’ die hard fans, an incomplete understanding of the plot, as well as the weight of portraying the early life of one of America’s favorite villains, all resting upon him.
So folks, give Anakin and Hayden a break.