Darth Vader might have been just another masked villain if not for four words. You know the ones: Luke Skywalker is clinging to a windblown gantry as the masked Imperial monster reaches out and reveals that he did not kill Luke’s father. With that revelation in The Empire Strikes Back, the Star Wars galaxy became more than a space adventure about good and evil.
It became a metaphor for the age-old conflict between generations. This twist raised a question in the mind of the hero, something also asked by everyone as they grow up and start their own lives: Am I any different? As I wrote the new book Star Wars Icons: Vader, it became ever clearer that the fatherhood theme was the key factor in the creation and evolution of the most famous screen villain of all time.
Fortunately, we had 500 oversize pages to explore the idea. I found that virtually everyone involved in the making of Vader had a compelling fatherhood story that in various ways guided them and shaped their eventual contribution to the character. This is the hidden source of Vader’s strength.
Everyone has a dad, whether you know that person or not, whether they are a force for good or not. It’s a relationship that shapes everyone, which is why Vader resonates so deeply with decades of moviegoers. He is not merely a villain.
He is part of the hero’s journey, if only because the hero carries him in his heart, like it or not. The inspiration for this book goes back nearly 20 years, to when I sat down with George Lucas to talk about dads. These themes are everywhere in his work.
Not only is the Vader/Anakin Skywalker story the emotional core of both the original Star Wars trilogy and the prequels, but fatherhood issues also turn up repeatedly throughout the Indiana Jones series. At the time of the interview, I was at a point in my own life when my wife and I had decided to start a family, so I was eager to talk with Lucas about these storylines, where they came from, and what he thought about them now. It all traces back to George Lucas.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
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