You so often hear that Revenge of the Sith is superior to the other prequels because of its more serious and dark subject matter. I've always found that to be rather shallow. Darker doesn't mean quality, it's just a description for tone. I suppose, in a sense, my point is moot as I do think Sith is the best of the three Prequels regardless. However, I do think some of those edgy scenes are actually quite questionable..but especially one people seem to rather like.
Probably the most infamous moment in perhaps all of SW is, well, Anakin killing the younglings. It seems a lot of people enjoyed this rather morbid moment, the general opinion being "Yeah! He's super DARK now!" It's as if this moment truly solidified his turn.
Personally, I hate this scene. I despise it for a number of reasons, but first and foremost; Isn't the point of the overarching franchise to be Anakin's redemption? To create an empathetic and identifiable villain? Well the last person I'm going to identify with and sympathize for is a child murderer. I understand he has become corrupted, but if the intent is to still have him retain a level of humanity...isn't this all a bit counterintuitive? So what...am I just supposed to forget he murdered them by Return of the Jedi? Seems rather selfish to me, apparently only his kid matters. He's quite literally gone from "What have I done?" with Mace Windu to suddenly pledging his allegiance to Palpatine to...slaughtering toddlers....in the span of what? Hour, maybe two? It's just all moving way too fast to feel natural, not to mention I just don't think Anakin would have ended the lives of the younglings himself anyway. I feel like it was done more in a sort of overtly dimwitted and shock-value "SEE! He's bad now!" way than it having ever actually made any progressive sense. It's almost a fast-forward on character development; rather that putting in the time to make it flow, just have him kill children! They'll get it! He's evil now, see? Dead kids!
I much prefer my idea: Instead of never directly showing Anakin kill adult and competent Jedi, that's all you show! Besides, it's far more visually interesting anyway. We know he did it and I'd rather witness him wiping out actual competition. Then you show him walk into a room and quickly realize the younglings have taken refuge inside. Explicitly show him conflicted with this, this...is too much. It's too far, walks out, and show clones walk into the room...camera never entering the room...and you just see the flashing of their blaster fire. Anakin not capable of the act, directly, but still sullenly allowing it to happen vicariously.
I find that not only a much more believable character growth, but also retains that Anakin is...deep down...a figure to be mildly sympathized with. He still has light in him, no matter how much of a shadow is cast over it.
Am I the only one who hates that scene? Do you love it? Hate my idea? Love it? What do you think?
Probably the most infamous moment in perhaps all of SW is, well, Anakin killing the younglings. It seems a lot of people enjoyed this rather morbid moment, the general opinion being "Yeah! He's super DARK now!" It's as if this moment truly solidified his turn.
Personally, I hate this scene. I despise it for a number of reasons, but first and foremost; Isn't the point of the overarching franchise to be Anakin's redemption? To create an empathetic and identifiable villain? Well the last person I'm going to identify with and sympathize for is a child murderer. I understand he has become corrupted, but if the intent is to still have him retain a level of humanity...isn't this all a bit counterintuitive? So what...am I just supposed to forget he murdered them by Return of the Jedi? Seems rather selfish to me, apparently only his kid matters. He's quite literally gone from "What have I done?" with Mace Windu to suddenly pledging his allegiance to Palpatine to...slaughtering toddlers....in the span of what? Hour, maybe two? It's just all moving way too fast to feel natural, not to mention I just don't think Anakin would have ended the lives of the younglings himself anyway. I feel like it was done more in a sort of overtly dimwitted and shock-value "SEE! He's bad now!" way than it having ever actually made any progressive sense. It's almost a fast-forward on character development; rather that putting in the time to make it flow, just have him kill children! They'll get it! He's evil now, see? Dead kids!
I much prefer my idea: Instead of never directly showing Anakin kill adult and competent Jedi, that's all you show! Besides, it's far more visually interesting anyway. We know he did it and I'd rather witness him wiping out actual competition. Then you show him walk into a room and quickly realize the younglings have taken refuge inside. Explicitly show him conflicted with this, this...is too much. It's too far, walks out, and show clones walk into the room...camera never entering the room...and you just see the flashing of their blaster fire. Anakin not capable of the act, directly, but still sullenly allowing it to happen vicariously.
I find that not only a much more believable character growth, but also retains that Anakin is...deep down...a figure to be mildly sympathized with. He still has light in him, no matter how much of a shadow is cast over it.
Am I the only one who hates that scene? Do you love it? Hate my idea? Love it? What do you think?
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