Reviewing Anakin Skywalker's Heel Turn & Babyface Performance

[Scarlet-Left]

Question: Can a worker be turned heel on the basis of an action he'd already performed on a separate occasion as a babyface?

 

So, Anakin Skywalker turned on Mace Windu to become a heel shortly before his gimmick changed and he became Darth Vader. How effective was the turn, and how effective was his previous work as a babyface? My answer to both questions is "not very effective at all".

 

Obviously, the actual turn was never going to be particularly shocking, since the adult fans all knew that Anakin was Darth Vader and the kids that didn't know had the fact bashed over their heads with all the marketing and merchandising material for 'Revenge of the Sith'.

 

 

However, it could've still had an effect. The best way, in my mind, to accomplish this would be to make Anakin a much more sympathetic babyface so the turn comes off as tragic or, in some other way, emotionally impacting.

 

Instead, the booker (George Lucas) jumped the gun and went into overkill on foreshadowing the turn, leaving Anakin as, either, a de facto heel or a whiny and melodramatic babyface (think Hogan's performance at the '92 Rumble).

 

In turn, his valet (Amidala) comes across as lacking any personality depth (we'll get to that) and his big opponent (for the marquee match), Obi-Wan, has no reason to be cutting the kinds of promos he ends up cutting.

 

"You were the chosen one!"

 

He acts surprised but he shouldn't be, since Anakin's been hinting at his turn for the entire time. In fact, it retroactively harms the promos he cut in 'A New Hope', when he refers to Anakin as "a good friend". Nothing about their feud seems to justify that comment, instead of good friends becoming bitter enemies it's a beleaguered mentor finally losing total control of a wayward student.

 

As for Amidala, it's hard to get any feeling for her character at all. She seems shocked and appalled when the, now heel, Anakin is revealed to have killed children. That's a heelish tactic (I'm not disputing that), but her reaction makes very little sense.

 

"I killed them all, and not just the men, but the women and the children too!"

 

The above line is from a promo that Anakin cut in the previous film. Oh, yes, ladies and gentlemen, he'd already done the exact same thing before, but as a babyface. What was Amidala's reaction then? "To be angry is to be human."

 

So, in conclusion, his turn really didn't mean all that much because his behaviour didn't really change. The only change is with the gimmick, since Vader's heel performance in the first three films was less whiny and psychotic and more menacing and brutish.

[thebrainfollower]

George Lucas is a pretty lousy booker. I have NO clue how to relate or who anyone is supposed be in the prequels. Except maybe the Emperor who's just clearly having a blast manipulating all these idiots.

Maybe it's a heel manager promotion.