Scow2 said:
I disagree, kind of. Kylo Ren and Anakin are somewhat opposite, though both have anger and impulse management issues. Anakin was someone who was always trying his hardest to be the person the universe expected him to be, the One True Hero and Savior of The Force, and he tried his best to act the part, but couldn't take the strain all that well because he was ALSO ambitious, impulsive, and somewhat high-strung (But knew he shouldn't be), and eventually snapped. Hayden Christenson was playing a character who was also playing a character - the role actually required somewhat 'wooden' acting because of that.
I sort of like your explanation and kind of agree with what you are saying, at least in that I think your interpretation of Anakin is totally valid. My problem stems from what I perceive is bad writing for the character. My main gripe, as noted by Rod Hilton [http://www.nomachetejuggling.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/] when discussing his "Machete viewing order", is that Episode 1 is so very different in how it portrays Anakin when compared to 2 and 3. We are expected to believe that this cheery, positive, bright and considerate kid, who has obviously been instilled with very clear and good morals from his angelic mother suddenly is a poster boy for all delinquent teenage boys ever in the next movie. How that happened is never explained and Lucas does a terrible job of giving Anakin a proper fall from grace arc, instead we constantly see him acting like a greatly exaggerated caricature of James Dean, Rebel Kid. He keeps bitching at everything, he keeps perving on Padm? (and is only saved by writer fiat in that she can't be creeped out by him) and generally just acts in such an immature manner that you have to wonder how any of the Jedis saw it fit to let him be anywhere but in Jedi Kindergarten/Therapy.
This is further exacerbated by his inconsistent characterization in Episode 3. Is he an anger-filled, impulsive person without direction or is he fairly stable, loving husband and considerate best friend? I get that Lucas wants us to see the goodness in him, thus setting up Vader's redemption in Episode VI, but both Lucas writing and Christansen's acting are not good enough for that and instead we get an almost schizophrenic characterization where Anakin seems to switch between "Good Anakin" and "Bad Anakin" from scene to scene with no apparent connection between the two.
Anyway, this turned out rantier then I liked. My stance is that Kylo's arc is much cleaner and much better presented. There are exactly two scenes in which we see his inner conflict (one of them being his defining moment late in the movie) and they manage to convey perfectly what kind of person Kylo is and what his motivations are. This is due to both better writing on the part of Abrams/Kasdan et al. and thanks to Driver being an excellent actor.
