hmhmmm
hmmmmmmm
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
So…
…who are these people even??
tbh while I have my problems with the character Kylo Ren is basically Prequel Anakin done right. He’s a mopey Jedi fascist with daddy issues (Anakin has more mommy issues, but whatever), conflicted about the increasingly terrible things he’s done throughout his fall to the dark side (although not enough so to turn him to a more righteous path), but (importantly) he’s also unambiguously portrayed as a villain (certainly a more sympathetic one than the other First Order leaders, but that’s mostly because he’s the only one out of them who ever shows anything resembling remorse over any of his evil acts.)
We’re asked to feel sorry for Anakin when he goes on child killing sprees (twice) in a way we’re not asked to for Kylo’s murder of his father or his massacre of the other Jedi (even though that at the very least killing Han really messed Kylo up). Which ironically makes Kylo the more sympathetic character to me (although again that’s not difficult; Prequel Anakin is one of the least sympathetic characters that I can think of in anything ever) because the tragic elements aren’t nearly as forced.
Obviously Darth Vader (in the original movies) is a straight up black-hearted villain (up until Return of the Jedi) but he’s 1. stone cold, Mentos-level cool beans and 2. not someone we’re invited to sympathize with (at least until Return of the Jedi.)
Prequel Anakin was horribly written.
With that said.
don’t compare his “mommy issues” to Kylo’s pathetic “daddy issues”.
Anakin’s “mommy issues” is him feeling guilty that she was left to suffer in slavery and later kidnapped.
Kylo’s “daddy issues” is him wanting to murder his father in cold blood to willing become stronger in the dark side.
How is Kylo “anakin done right?”
Kylo is a privileged brat born into a loving and rich family. Who grew up to idolize the evil side of his grandfather, shot up a school for no reason, and killed his father to become stronger in the dark side.
Anakin was a child slave, was forced to leave his mother behind in slavery. Had her die in his arms. Killed his mothers capturs. Joined the clone wars, actually saved many people, lost his padawan in the process. Was tormented of nightmares of losing his pregnant wife. And joined the darkside because he was tired of losing people.
Both characters ultimately pathetic.
But the latter had more understandable reasons for losing his mind and joining the darkside.
What was Kylo’s? No reason at all other than he wannted to look cool in a dark mask like grandpa.
I’ll preface this with that I barely remember writing this post and haven’t really been on tumblr for most of the last year or so, so my response might be a bit hazy.
I agree that Anakin has better reason for his mother issues to the point that it wasn’t a good comparison. Both are creepy, emotionally stunted ex-Jedi fascists, but with Anakin we’re also told “hey actually this guy is really good”, but this doesn’t really come off in the movies (because of Lucas’ poor writing and character directing. The prequels are a lesson in “show, don’t tell”.) Kylo isn’t presented as having much of a good side (told or shown) at all. I think you got his character exactly right as a spoiled school shooter.
I feel like regardless of what Lucas has claimed, the prequels are the story of how the Jedi were assholes who had it coming. They care more about trade disputes than slavery and ban love. Anakin turning on the Jedi feels like less of a fall from grace on Anakin’s part and more of an ironic punishment for the Jedi to me (since both of those problems are key to Anakin’s fall.)
I guess I feel like Kylo was Anakin done right mostly because he’s a better written character. But yeah, he’s much less sympathetic. I kind of dig him precisely because of that. He’s a loser who idolizes his grandfather without understanding him at all. He wants to be Vader but can’t. Anakin is given a bit of a whiny teenager vibe in the prequels (most of his frustrations with Obi-wan are basically “you don’t understand me dad”), but that’s by far the weakest point of his motivation and the movies would have been much better if they didn’t waste time on that part. It’s pretty much the entirety of Kylo’s motivation, and I think that was what I was comparing between them.
