Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker is one of my favorite performances in the Star Wars Saga.
There was a time not so long ago where this was far from the case.
I never loathed him as the hatedom does, but for a long time I at least had no real defense when someone brought him up. I agreed that he wasn’t very good.
It was one of the early revelations of my current Star Wars Activism. I was watching the special features on my Attack of the Clones DVD; specifically the web documentaries that the official site had put up to tease the fans little by little leading up to the release of Clones. I had never seen them before, since I hadn’t had a large internet presence until around that time and the Star Wars site never worked right for me.
In any case, the webisode on Hayden Christensen comes up, and it’s everyone and their mother railing about how wonderful he is. George loves him. Ewan loves him. Natalie loves him. The casting director, various crewmembers, everybody is praising his talent and his skills.
This is the point where I said to myself “Is this the same person we’re talking about here?” At first I thought they were just trying to build him up for the fans, but I doubted that. Everyone seemed so sincere. It was then I thought “Well, lots of things from I-III have been misunderstood and underrated. Could it be there’s an element of Christensen’s performance that has eluded us?”
Faster than you can say “Challenge Accepted,” out went the special features disc and in went the feature film disc. I resolved to watch Hayden very closely, to see if there was something subtle about his performance. At first, everything was as I remembered it. He was whiny, slightly monotone, overall awkward. At about the time Zam Wessel was being dragged out of the Coruscant Cantina, I was saying “Boy, it’s like this guy doesn’t know how to interact with other people.”
All at once, it was like a brick had been thrown at my head. I remembered who we were talking about here.
This is a person who only has one set of human chromosomes, having been conceived by the midichlorians (or by someone who was manipulating them, whatever your theory is). He then spends almost the first decade of his life as a slave before being taken from his mother and thrust into a society that shuns overt displays of emotion. This guy must have psychological and emotional issues up the yin-yang.
Wouldn’t you have trouble interacting with other beings? Of course you would. George Lucas knew that, and Hayden Christensen damn well knew that.
This was Anakin’s character. That was his arc. And Christensen was doing a fine job portraying that. I was instantly hooked.
Now, my first impression was that either consciously or unconsciously, Anakin was being portrayed with high-functioning Autism. I have been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and my day job is working with and helping other people on the spectrum. Many of Anakin’s behavior patterns match what I’ve seen both in myself and in the people I work with. However, the truth of the matter needn’t be that complicated (though it’s an interesting alternate interpretation). The more I listened, the more I studied, the more I came to realize that what many people write off as a “wooden monotone” is actually James Earl Jones’ Vader cadence overlapped with the patented Skywalker Whine that most people forget was actively employed by Luke in IV and V. It was pulled off so subtly that most of us didn’t even notice, which I feel is both to Christensen’s credit and detriment. For people who can’t hear the Vader part, all you need to do is tune out Luke and there it is.
Of course some true fans did notice right away, which endeared him to them. And these same fans also noticed how much care Christensen took in (again, subtly) aping David Prowse’s body language throughout Clones and Sith. Nowhere is that more clear than in any walk-and-talk scene between him and Palpatine. It feels like Return of the Jedi again.
I would still hesitate to call Hayden Christensen a “great” actor, in the same way I would hesitate to call Mark Hamil a “great” actor. However, there’s one thing Hayden Christensen has always been able to portray spectacularly, and that is angst and pain. Anakin Skywalker by his nature is filled with both of these, so the casting was pitch-perfect in that regard. So why do some people refuse to see that?
Because a lot of people didn’t want to see angst and pain of that level in Anakin. I think they thought it made him weak, when they grew up with Vader as the biggest baddie of them all. The trouble is that Vader is not the biggest baddie of them all, hasn’t been since Empire at least. Come to think of it, Grand Moff Tarkin is a bigger bad guy than Vader in New Hope. The tragedy of Darth Vader is that he’s damaged goods, and damaged goods is Hayden Christensen’s specialty.
Plus, let’s be honest, he’s just got those eyes…
"Skywalker Whine that most people forget was actively employed by Luke in IV and V"
ReplyDeleteHe only whines for one scene in the original film. Everyone harps on this and I simply do not see the argument- he acts perfectly fine aside from the line about Tashi station.
"I don't see why we can't see Yoda nowwww!"
ReplyDeleteYoda should probably have given him some cheese with that.
I don't think that scene is really that bad, but even so that's exactly two scenes in three films. I don't think it's fair to call him entirely whiny based solely on that.
DeletePlus, I always get the impression Luke has at least valid reasons for complaining, whereas I never feel that for Anakin.
I hear a lot more, that was just the clearest example. But now we understand each other I think, with not getting what others harp on.
DeleteWell, to a point (I don't think Christiansen is a bad actor at all- he just got insufficient direction from Lucas (which is often the case, since Lucas has never been an actor's director)).
DeleteI also think that the icon of Darth Vader is what has made recognizing his other side of the character much more difficult. Everyone thinks that he's the ultimate bad guy, but in reality the Emperor is the incarnation of the devil in Star Wars: he is pure evil. As George Lucas once said:
ReplyDelete"Everybody thought of Darth Vader as this big, evil guy who had no heart and was just evil. But in the end it's not like that all. I mean, here's a guy who has lost everything." In the end Episodes I--III act as the Tragedy of Darth Vader, and ultimately Episodes IV-VI act as Darth Vader's Redemption.
IV-VI are really about Luke, and only tangentially about Vader. Even the basic structure (the Campbell monomyth) doesn't cohere with the idea of being entirely about Vader.
DeleteWell no, But Vader is important as part of the story.
DeleteI-III has fundamentally changed the context so that it's now almost as much about Vader as it is Luke. It may not have started out that way, but it is that way now. And there's nothing wrong with that.
DeleteBut the films weren't written in that context and can't meaningfully be read that way without disserving the material. I mean, if we were to seriously read the trilogy as being about Vader's redemption, it does a pretty poor job of it, given that he barely features in the first film and any hint of redemption doesn't even occur until the last 5 minutes of Empire.
DeleteAgain, not in the original context, but each new addition changes that context. Besides, the sparse nature of the narrative allows such context changes to work. You're acting like this new narrative is difficult and awkward to shoehorn in when in reality the new information folds in and enhances the old one with a minimum of fuss.
DeleteNo, it doesn't change the context. The original films were written in the context of 1977, 1980, and 1983, and the prequels were written in the context of 1999, 2002, and 2005. Nothing else changes those contexts, no matter what comes later. A major part of experiencing any kind of media is understanding its original context, and not doing that will always damage the material, even if only by a little.
DeleteIn this example, the narrative is specifically written around Luke, and written from his point of view. No amount of additional material or changes can adjust that, and trying to read it in a different light is just not going to service the material.
Yes, yes it is. It does adjust it, and rather than damage it it takes it to a whole new level.
DeleteYou can't adjust the POV of the narrative without dramatically rewriting the film itself. The films are written from a specific point of view, following a specific character arc with a specific structure. Even the Campbell monomyth that the films follow adherently can only service Luke as a character, and don't work when applied to Vader.
DeleteI don't disagree that the films definitely add to the mythology of the originals, nor would I even argue they jar extensively, aside from a few niggles here and then. I'm just saying that you can't change what was already filmed and written to fit a new set of rules without dramatically adjusting the originals- which is just something cinema can't allow, being as immutable as it is.
But changing how you view them is entirely possible.
DeleteSure, we can view them as being in part about Vader's redemption. But arguing that they seriously *are* is another matter entirely (though I would even go so far as to argue that it's a weaker interpretation of the material, and one that focuses on Luke and how the idea of Vader affects him (rather than vice-versa, which is what your view is suggesting) is invariably going to give you a more rewarding view of things).
DeleteI'm rewarded just fine, thanks. To me, the Saga is about the Skywalker family. Anakin primarily, but Luke is almost as important, with Padme and Leia being the next tier down. Then the Droids. Then everyone else in varying degrees.
DeleteFANTASTIC PIECE as always!!! I love this piece about Hayden/Anakin. I have always hated when the hateboys criticize him because well, after he is THE LEAD OF STAR WARS for cryin' out loud!!! He was fine the way he is. I basically think of Anakin as the BRUCE WAYNE of STAR WARS; he is the man hungry for vengeful justice because of the wrongs done to him when he was kid he sought power and strength and wears a dark mask to do it. Great Story!!!!
ReplyDeleteBTW Could you also please do an appreciation/look-back article for the 2003 CLONE WARS series? Not only is 2013 the 30th anniversary of RETURN OF THE JEDI but also the 10th anniversary for the 2003 CLONE WARS, and I would like to see someone remember and appreciate a great series that the general public has seem to have forgotten.
What month did it come out?
DeleteThe Original Clone Wars Series from 2003 came out on November 7 2003.
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