April 14, 2008

"I HATE YOU HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN!!!" or do I?

So, this brought about some response of course- both from Twitter and also from my brother, my roommate, and some of my friends on Instant Messenger. So far, I haven't gotten a comment in email to finish the cap off. It got some "hell yeah" type responses and some "I'm sick of hearing about this" too.. so there's a wide variety of opinions here.

However, as I find to be the case with Twitter its really hard to explain myself with only 140 characters. Thus I will put it here. Warning: this will get some people upset but I want to make my statement.

I don't really hate Hayden Christensen or George Lucas. Not really. In fact, I thought Hayden was pretty good in Episode 3. (Begin hate mail now.) Truthfully, my heaviest issue with Episode 3 was that I didn't think the script sold Anakin's turn well enough - as in there really wasn't that one scene that convinced me that Anakin did see the Jedi as evil like he later claimed. I didn't even get 'confused' from him. I just got, 'well I don't know what to do but I guess I'll do this' and that's just not enough for such a major turn. Given that opinion of the script, I actually thought Hayden did a good job of selling Anakin's emotions.

As for the editing choices: OMG, get off George Lucas case. (Yes, I can feel the anger in your hatemail. There is great power in the darkside.) So what if Han shot first? In all honesty does Greedo shooting first change who Han is or what his character is? He doesn't seem any less tough, gruff, hard, or selfish to me through the rest of the movie. I still enjoy watching Luke and Leia break him by the end of the trilogy as much as I did before. In my opinion it doesn't change the core of who Han is and it doesn't change the story or the world of Star Wars.

Which is the EXACT opposite of the one major editing change that I do hate, and what spurred this WHOLE DAMN THING. Hayden Christensen as Anakin at the end of Return of the Jedi. Why do I hate this so much? Here are my thoughts. First, if Anakin is young then why aren't Yoda and Obi-Wan? If Anakin returned to his healthy self, why couldn't he just be old like he was before with Shaw? If the claim is that he returns to before he became the monstrous Vader then, in a way, you're saying that Anakin really did die at Obi-Wan's hands and thus, Vader should've been devoid of the emotional ties that allowed him to redeem himself and "return" to being a Jedi. Plus, if Obi-Wan killed Anakin at a point he was so entrenched in the Darkside then how could he ever return to the Force? He never would have had the chance to redeem himself. It doesn't make sense!

The key to Return of the Jedi was that Anakin came back, he returned! Its a story of salvation, and Anakin had to go through the years and turmoil of living and dying as Vader to be redeemed. Appearing as Sebastian Shaw - aged but healed and restored in the Force - just made sense. Returning as young Hayden doesn't make any sense to me. When I really break it down it now causes me confusion of either who and what Anakin and Vader really are or how the Force actually works. I don't see a way that Anakin dies an old man redeemed as a Jedi at last and then gets to suddenly be a confused twenty-year old untouched by time. I just don't understand, and I think it changes either the Force or the character and redemption of Anakin. THAT is why I have such an issue.

I don't hate Hayden Christensen or George Lucas. Its fun to say it that way, so I do, but really I don't. The only thing I hate is that one single edit, and I choose to explain it as hating Hayden cause it sounds funny.

In the end, I still love Star Wars. It was a key part of why I'm who I am now. Without Star Wars who knows if I'd have travelled into the realm of nerds, and fantasy, and gaming, and most importantly- writing? I just wish George Lucas had left that one thing alone. And THAT is where I stand on Lucas, Hayden, and editing.

If you have a strong opinion let me know in the forums or send me a mail: joshua[at]wthcomics.com.

Next week: "BURN IN HELL GUMMI BEARS!!"

Stumble WTH!