Part Two:
The above was sketched out shortly after Episode One hit the theaters, then revised and edited when I went back and re-watched the trilogy on tape. Episode Two is out now. I've seen it, and it seems to support my theory to some extent. It also brings us back to the question of Obi-Wan's involvement in Anakin's Game.
The Jedi, it seems, have gone Vulcan on us. They decided at some point that feelings are what leads them into the Dark Side and are training children from the age of three or four years to form no emotional attachments. Why they think this is a good thing is never explained --- it's obviously a recent development --- but by staking out the intellect alone as the territory of the Light Side they have given the Dark Side the home team advantage. Being human means thinking and feeling. Discipline, not suppression. Yoda comments in Episode One that Anakin is already too old to start training and mentions in Episode Two that the Jedi are losing touch with the Force, but nobody seems to make the connection.
Anakin, of course, isn't buying into this. No teenager would without ten or twelve years of straight preparation. His elders, especially Obi-Wan, are no help. No matter what they say, they obviously don't believe a word of it. No one could be as dedicated and well adjusted as they are (not to mention as strong in the Force) without strong emotions. Thinking back to Episode One, I get the feeling that Qui-gon Jinn didn't buy this "no emotional attachments" bull, either.
I can't help but wonder if Palpatine somehow had a hand in it. Still, it feels more like a committee decision. However it came about, though, this is the mistake that Anakin as the Chosen One is there to correct. Killing Palpatine without correcting it would do nothing but put a bandage on the wound.
Episode Four confirms this. Obi-Wan left Luke to his own devices well into his teens. He says that Anakin left his light saber to be passed on when Luke was ready. He is continually telling Luke to trust his feelings as well as his intellect.
Getting back to Anakin in Episode Two, Obi-Wan's deliberate or accidental collusion also becomes more obvious. At one point he sends Anakin and Amidala off alone together with instructions to stay out of trouble. Given their track records to this point, whom is he kidding? Anakin already thinks he could take Yoda in a fair fight and Amidala has ruled a planet! Does Obi-Wan really think they're going to be tiptoeing around in the face of danger?
The movie ends, of course, with Anakin junking the whole business of suppressing his feelings and marrying Amidala. We've been led to think that this act of defiance will now allow Palpatine to turn him to the Dark Side.
If you believe that after seeing the movie, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona that I can let you have real cheap.
On to Episode Three!
The above was sketched out shortly after Episode One hit the theaters, then revised and edited when I went back and re-watched the trilogy on tape. Episode Two is out now. I've seen it, and it seems to support my theory to some extent. It also brings us back to the question of Obi-Wan's involvement in Anakin's Game.
The Jedi, it seems, have gone Vulcan on us. They decided at some point that feelings are what leads them into the Dark Side and are training children from the age of three or four years to form no emotional attachments. Why they think this is a good thing is never explained --- it's obviously a recent development --- but by staking out the intellect alone as the territory of the Light Side they have given the Dark Side the home team advantage. Being human means thinking and feeling. Discipline, not suppression. Yoda comments in Episode One that Anakin is already too old to start training and mentions in Episode Two that the Jedi are losing touch with the Force, but nobody seems to make the connection.
Anakin, of course, isn't buying into this. No teenager would without ten or twelve years of straight preparation. His elders, especially Obi-Wan, are no help. No matter what they say, they obviously don't believe a word of it. No one could be as dedicated and well adjusted as they are (not to mention as strong in the Force) without strong emotions. Thinking back to Episode One, I get the feeling that Qui-gon Jinn didn't buy this "no emotional attachments" bull, either.
I can't help but wonder if Palpatine somehow had a hand in it. Still, it feels more like a committee decision. However it came about, though, this is the mistake that Anakin as the Chosen One is there to correct. Killing Palpatine without correcting it would do nothing but put a bandage on the wound.
Episode Four confirms this. Obi-Wan left Luke to his own devices well into his teens. He says that Anakin left his light saber to be passed on when Luke was ready. He is continually telling Luke to trust his feelings as well as his intellect.
Getting back to Anakin in Episode Two, Obi-Wan's deliberate or accidental collusion also becomes more obvious. At one point he sends Anakin and Amidala off alone together with instructions to stay out of trouble. Given their track records to this point, whom is he kidding? Anakin already thinks he could take Yoda in a fair fight and Amidala has ruled a planet! Does Obi-Wan really think they're going to be tiptoeing around in the face of danger?
The movie ends, of course, with Anakin junking the whole business of suppressing his feelings and marrying Amidala. We've been led to think that this act of defiance will now allow Palpatine to turn him to the Dark Side.
If you believe that after seeing the movie, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona that I can let you have real cheap.
On to Episode Three!