Darth Vader Diagnosed With Mental Illness
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Not exactly, a character with problems may be intentional, the writer may be trying to make you see that the character is flawed. But I don't think my logic really applies to George Lucas. I don't think he planned to have French psychologists diagnose him to have a mental illness.silver wolf009 said:
OT: This is pretty funny though. I just hope the French psychologists wern't taking this too seriously. Diagnosing a fictional character is a bit odd.
Because they want to spread awareness and this is one of the most recognizable characters in recent history, and anyone who has seen the prequels and thought about knows that Vader was a pathetic tool of the emperor. Heck, even without the prequels it becomes apparent that he's a pathetic tool of the emperor.
I can see wanting to aspire to Darth Vader levels of badassery as a kid, but looking back, he's just a pitiful thug. He was also destined to run out of subordinates with any worthwhile experience because he kills anyone who makes a mistake, which is a policy that WILL eventually bite anyone in the ass given that nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. Eventually a total rookie would be an admiral due to there only being rookies left, at which point the rate of force chokes would naturally go up. I'd say he'd become the #1 killer of Empire military officials, but Luke set the bar pretty damn high on that one when he blew up the death star. #2 is still pretty bad when you're supposed to be on the Empire's side.
I can see wanting to aspire to Darth Vader levels of badassery as a kid, but looking back, he's just a pitiful thug. He was also destined to run out of subordinates with any worthwhile experience because he kills anyone who makes a mistake, which is a policy that WILL eventually bite anyone in the ass given that nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. Eventually a total rookie would be an admiral due to there only being rookies left, at which point the rate of force chokes would naturally go up. I'd say he'd become the #1 killer of Empire military officials, but Luke set the bar pretty damn high on that one when he blew up the death star. #2 is still pretty bad when you're supposed to be on the Empire's side.
Wait, one of the quintessential big-screen villains is not normal? Oh perish the thought. 
That said, I know a bit about Borderline Personality Disorder having been (incorrectly) diagnosed with it at one point, despite having some of those traits (I've grappled with emotional problems my entire life). Anyone who says this is really pushing trying to make a point.
One thing to understand about a Borderline personality is that your dealing with a true sociopath. While there are traits common to borderline personality that can identify it, there are also traits that can be present which will instantly disprove it.
In the case of Anakin/Vader, consider that one of the key points of the character is his love for Amidala, it's that relationship, the forced secrecy, and similar things that were insturmental to his fall to the dark side. Even after the fact he loves his own son, offering to betray the emperor for him, and ultimatly redeeming himself when he casts down The Emperor at the end of Return Of The Jedi.
A Borderline personality is by definition totally self interested, his concern for others, which motivates a *LOT* of what he does (no matter how badly written) even the betrayal of the Jedi, means that he could not be a true sociopath, or borderline personality, unless one was to say he was faking most of his relationships through the storylne (which Borderline personalities do), this is however unlikely since he didn't have anything to gain in most cases by doing so. In fact, his personal interests would have been better served at the end of "Return Of The Jedi" had he like Luke fall.
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One other point to understand is that there are other forces at work here which are not understood to exist by science. We're dealing with prophecies, and cosmic manupulation. The Star Wars universe works in cycles where good and evil both take turns "ruling" creation, with a period of balance in between. "Star Wars" is about the transition from a time period of good, to a period of balance, which will end in an age of darkness (a bit of a downer). When it comes to Anakin "The Force" has basically decreed that he is going to be the one to "bring balance", a point which is misunderstood, since with the good guys in control the only place for them to go is down. In "Star Wars" the universe is literally conspiring to make certain things happen, and Anakin is being manipulated. A lot of the coincidences inherant in the storyline are not supposed to be coincidences in a literal sense but the mechinitions of The Force.
This is integral to "Knights Of The Old Republic II" (which George Lucas was involved in the writing of apparently) where while the narrative falls apart towards the end, the primary motivation of the "bad guy" is to destroy "The Force" itself, put an end to universal cycles, and give people true free will and control over their destinies. How the coup de grace was intended to be delivered was never revealed, but that was what it was all about, and it kind of spelled out how a lot of things worked, and why we had prophecies, and you had great fluctuation in the power of Jedi and Sith comparitively... it depended on what side The Force decided was supposed to be ascendant at any given time.
As this affects this, one has to understand that Anakin's personality flaws come from a reality where he is being manipulated, and to some extent realizes he cannot do, or have, what he wants... at all. He is more or less fighting against a universe that wants to turn him evil, but then things happen (like seeing his mother killed) specifically to drive him into rages so he will fall to The Dark Side.
As far as we know in reality, and as science allows for, there are no exterior, cosmic forces, literally manipulating people and their enviroment towards given ends. Granted nobody (except arguably Kreia, and at the end "the Last Jedi", as well as us players/readers/watchers) knows about this, it's still an overall factor. Outside manipulation of events is involved.
This means that any kind of diagnosis based on real world science, involving a fantasy character who is a "chosen one" manipulated by fate, cannot be done with any accuracy.
Going past the acting and portrayal of the character, Anakin is basically supposed to be a nice guy, gone emo, due to the fact that everything involving him in some way goes to utter cr@p, because the universe wants him to bring down the current domination of good guys.
In some respects, Anakin is similar to Michael Moorcock's "Elric" (though not directly), as both basically dealt with the same theme of higher powers demanding the protaganist drag their world into an age of evil/chaos, and them deciding to try and resist this fate. In the end Anakin more or less does what he is supposed to (he brings balance, it wasn't time for evil to actually take over, hence the death of Papaltine), in Elric he pretty much hits a giant "reset" button and leaves everything like it was before, enraging his manipulators when he blows the final form, and getting run through by his own blade in punishment.
That said, I know a bit about Borderline Personality Disorder having been (incorrectly) diagnosed with it at one point, despite having some of those traits (I've grappled with emotional problems my entire life). Anyone who says this is really pushing trying to make a point.
One thing to understand about a Borderline personality is that your dealing with a true sociopath. While there are traits common to borderline personality that can identify it, there are also traits that can be present which will instantly disprove it.
In the case of Anakin/Vader, consider that one of the key points of the character is his love for Amidala, it's that relationship, the forced secrecy, and similar things that were insturmental to his fall to the dark side. Even after the fact he loves his own son, offering to betray the emperor for him, and ultimatly redeeming himself when he casts down The Emperor at the end of Return Of The Jedi.
A Borderline personality is by definition totally self interested, his concern for others, which motivates a *LOT* of what he does (no matter how badly written) even the betrayal of the Jedi, means that he could not be a true sociopath, or borderline personality, unless one was to say he was faking most of his relationships through the storylne (which Borderline personalities do), this is however unlikely since he didn't have anything to gain in most cases by doing so. In fact, his personal interests would have been better served at the end of "Return Of The Jedi" had he like Luke fall.
-
One other point to understand is that there are other forces at work here which are not understood to exist by science. We're dealing with prophecies, and cosmic manupulation. The Star Wars universe works in cycles where good and evil both take turns "ruling" creation, with a period of balance in between. "Star Wars" is about the transition from a time period of good, to a period of balance, which will end in an age of darkness (a bit of a downer). When it comes to Anakin "The Force" has basically decreed that he is going to be the one to "bring balance", a point which is misunderstood, since with the good guys in control the only place for them to go is down. In "Star Wars" the universe is literally conspiring to make certain things happen, and Anakin is being manipulated. A lot of the coincidences inherant in the storyline are not supposed to be coincidences in a literal sense but the mechinitions of The Force.
This is integral to "Knights Of The Old Republic II" (which George Lucas was involved in the writing of apparently) where while the narrative falls apart towards the end, the primary motivation of the "bad guy" is to destroy "The Force" itself, put an end to universal cycles, and give people true free will and control over their destinies. How the coup de grace was intended to be delivered was never revealed, but that was what it was all about, and it kind of spelled out how a lot of things worked, and why we had prophecies, and you had great fluctuation in the power of Jedi and Sith comparitively... it depended on what side The Force decided was supposed to be ascendant at any given time.
As this affects this, one has to understand that Anakin's personality flaws come from a reality where he is being manipulated, and to some extent realizes he cannot do, or have, what he wants... at all. He is more or less fighting against a universe that wants to turn him evil, but then things happen (like seeing his mother killed) specifically to drive him into rages so he will fall to The Dark Side.
As far as we know in reality, and as science allows for, there are no exterior, cosmic forces, literally manipulating people and their enviroment towards given ends. Granted nobody (except arguably Kreia, and at the end "the Last Jedi", as well as us players/readers/watchers) knows about this, it's still an overall factor. Outside manipulation of events is involved.
This means that any kind of diagnosis based on real world science, involving a fantasy character who is a "chosen one" manipulated by fate, cannot be done with any accuracy.
Going past the acting and portrayal of the character, Anakin is basically supposed to be a nice guy, gone emo, due to the fact that everything involving him in some way goes to utter cr@p, because the universe wants him to bring down the current domination of good guys.
In some respects, Anakin is similar to Michael Moorcock's "Elric" (though not directly), as both basically dealt with the same theme of higher powers demanding the protaganist drag their world into an age of evil/chaos, and them deciding to try and resist this fate. In the end Anakin more or less does what he is supposed to (he brings balance, it wasn't time for evil to actually take over, hence the death of Papaltine), in Elric he pretty much hits a giant "reset" button and leaves everything like it was before, enraging his manipulators when he blows the final form, and getting run through by his own blade in punishment.
I think we need a little more than that:Baron Von Evil Satan said:
Just... why?
All better XD
OT: They really don't have anything better to do with their time if they are doing this. -_-
Thank you. I'm glad the first post was exactly what I was thinking...dragon_of_red said:
Of course he has abandonment & other issues... that's why he's evil... a Sith. *duh*
I love how a bunch of GAMERS are saying that this guy could have spent his time doing something more useful. Guess what guys, psychologists can also have fun and do something a little weird and funny once in a while. I guess all those people that analyze movies and games and wasting their time because "it's just a game/movie durrrrrrr".
Well, it does make sense to me. He has been ditched by amost everyone he thought he cared about.
But we have to keep in mind, if there's people doing psychological analysis of Star Wars characters, we are surely going to see a psychological analysis of Mr. Spock, Ellen Ripley and Captain Mal Reynolds from "Firefly".
But we have to keep in mind, if there's people doing psychological analysis of Star Wars characters, we are surely going to see a psychological analysis of Mr. Spock, Ellen Ripley and Captain Mal Reynolds from "Firefly".
Oh this was just about what I was going to say, well at least I can still pretend they don'tRandom Argument Man said:
I hate to tell you this but hes not real like santa and the easter bunny but the toothfairy is real.
That's fantastic... Though I wouldn't compare using the dark side to a drug simply because the way you go over to the dark side is not being a saint. If you just want to live a normal life using your super powers to move furniture or fly around rescuing people under the guise of "McFluffigins," you're on the dark side. Anakin was way the fuck out there, murdering children and everything, but the Dark Side as an evil force just seems like a flawed premise to me.
EDIT: BTW, why's everyone complaining about them not having anything else to do? This doesn't seem like it'd take too long, it seemed more like something they'd notice while watching the movies. It's no different than me noticing that Vader seems to need an inhaler. A therapist analyzes people, it's what they do, and something like this is probably no more difficult for them that typing up the "They had nothing better to do?" comments from the rest of you. Besides, the Marvel website has been doing this to their characters for months, and it seems kind of cool.
EDIT: BTW, why's everyone complaining about them not having anything else to do? This doesn't seem like it'd take too long, it seemed more like something they'd notice while watching the movies. It's no different than me noticing that Vader seems to need an inhaler. A therapist analyzes people, it's what they do, and something like this is probably no more difficult for them that typing up the "They had nothing better to do?" comments from the rest of you. Besides, the Marvel website has been doing this to their characters for months, and it seems kind of cool.
Bear in mind that in the Star Wars universe, we are told that Anakin had no father. That's right: he was an immaculate conception. Do your history, kids. So how can you have daddy issues with no daddy?
Setting that little bit of lore aside, let's examine this from a real perspective. He was a damn character in a movie based on historical stereotypes. The History Channel did a whole introspective into the Star Wars universe... but basically, he's just a character in a movie. Using a movie character as a realistic example of a mental disorder makes me wonder what problems these researchers have that they couldn't find a REAL person to examine in such depth, say like a serial killer that ACTUALLY existed. The movies are science FICTION, not science non-fiction. Quit treating movie characters as if they are real people, unless the movie was based on someone's actual life story. What a complete waste of money in research, but an entertaining read nonetheless.
Setting that little bit of lore aside, let's examine this from a real perspective. He was a damn character in a movie based on historical stereotypes. The History Channel did a whole introspective into the Star Wars universe... but basically, he's just a character in a movie. Using a movie character as a realistic example of a mental disorder makes me wonder what problems these researchers have that they couldn't find a REAL person to examine in such depth, say like a serial killer that ACTUALLY existed. The movies are science FICTION, not science non-fiction. Quit treating movie characters as if they are real people, unless the movie was based on someone's actual life story. What a complete waste of money in research, but an entertaining read nonetheless.