|
|
Post by smittysgelato on Nov 10, 2022 21:37:54 GMT
Shapeshifting is a pretty common trick among sorcerers. There is just something super threatening about the bad guy being able to sneak up on you in any form. He could come to you as your most cherished loved one, for example, and stab you in the heart.
|
|
|
|
Post by Seeker of the Whills on Nov 10, 2022 21:55:47 GMT
Shapeshifting is a pretty common trick among sorcerers. There is just something super threatening about the bad guy being able to sneak up on you in any form. He could come to you as your most cherished loved one, for example, and stab you in the heart. Totally. There's the two motifs of that, either the attractive or the "weak" form. Perfect examples being from Star Wars, Zam is the one that appears as a beautiful woman, and Palpatine as a weak old man (best seen in RotS when they are in the elevator when he can barely climb up in the doorway, then later when he reveals his power he's jumping around when fighting Mace). Louhi is sort of in the middle. She is an old woman, but she has beautiful daughters that the heroes covet, which is the temptation part. |
|
|
|
Post by smittysgelato on Nov 10, 2022 22:19:23 GMT
The perfect storm of attractive and weak would be the shapeshifter posing as a damsel in distress. Careful who you rescue! And of course, there are good shapeshifters too, as Padme herself does quite a bit of shapeshifting to outwit the baddies.
|
|
|
|
Post by Seeker of the Whills on Nov 10, 2022 22:38:18 GMT
The perfect storm of attractive and weak would be the shapeshifter posing as a damsel in distress. Careful who you rescue! And of course, there are good shapeshifters too, as Padme herself does quite a bit of shapeshifting to outwit the baddies. There's a lot of identity shifting happening in Star Wars for sure. That actually reminds me, broadening my horizons to include The Clone Wars, the Father from the Mortis arc may be more fittingly likened to Väinämöinen, because he is like a demigod. The Mortis arc clearly took inspiration from LotR, as seen in the tower that the Son inhabits, and LotR famously took heavy inspiration from Kalevala. The Father in particular is almost certainly inspired by Gandalf, who in turn was inspired by Väinämöinen. And the Father, Son and Daughter are all shapeshifters. The Son uses a weak form to fool Ahsoka, and the Daughter appears mostly as an ethereal beauty. |
|
|
|
Post by smittysgelato on Nov 11, 2022 5:54:40 GMT
I just realized that Obi-Wan is the probe droid of Attack of the Clones. xD
|
|
|
|
Post by Subtext Mining on Nov 12, 2022 12:26:35 GMT
Palpatine has often been said to have been modeled after the witch in Snow White, but I think the villainess of Kalevala, Louhi, might have influenced Lucas in this regard. She's a shapeshifter, which Palpatine is too in a way, and here you can see her grey, wrinkly face.  And the character of Väinämöinen, seen here with the sword, I would liken to Qui-Gon as a wise old man, warrior and sort of shamanistic character. Väinämöinen has powers that the other characters don't have, such as a magical singing voice. He's sort of the lead character just like Qui-Gon is in TPM, even though there are other major heroes like Lemminkäinen, who I've before likened to Anakin. I love that about mythology, how the archetypes remain universal throughout time and across cultures. And how we can see it as "psychological archeology" as Lucas puts it. |
|
|
|
Post by Seeker of the Whills on Nov 12, 2022 20:20:37 GMT
Palpatine has often been said to have been modeled after the witch in Snow White, but I think the villainess of Kalevala, Louhi, might have influenced Lucas in this regard. She's a shapeshifter, which Palpatine is too in a way, and here you can see her grey, wrinkly face. And the character of Väinämöinen, seen here with the sword, I would liken to Qui-Gon as a wise old man, warrior and sort of shamanistic character. Väinämöinen has powers that the other characters don't have, such as a magical singing voice. He's sort of the lead character just like Qui-Gon is in TPM, even though there are other major heroes like Lemminkäinen, who I've before likened to Anakin. I love that about mythology, how the archetypes remain universal throughout time and across cultures. And how we can see it as "psychological archeology" as Lucas puts it. Star Wars is truly a master class in mythology, anthropology and history. It encompasses almost every mythological motif across all cultures. Star Wars brought me back to things I had read and learned in school, like Kalevala, and through it I was also introduced to new things like Kurosawa's films and started to learn about Japanese culture among others. I really like what Lucas said about mythology in the prequel archives book: Kalevala is very much a drama of different people's lives intertwining and wars between different peoples. It also features a creation myth, and themes of birth, death and rebirth, very much like Star Wars. There's a circular motif to Kalevala as there is to Star Wars. Anakin's birth isn't seen, though we are teased it during the opera scene, but I imagine it to be a similarly monumental event as Kal-El's birth in Man of Steel, with the animal life of Tatooine, like a bantha or a dewback roaring as Anakin wails for the first time. A very mythological event. All this ties to Kalevala, as it starts with Väinämöinen's birth, and it ends with him departing this world, promising to return when he is next needed. Obi-Wan is of course the original character in Star Wars that represented the wise old man archetype, and he does a similar pose with his sword as Väinämöinen in that painting.  |
|
|
|
Post by smittysgelato on Nov 12, 2022 20:43:05 GMT
I really do need to get my ass in gear and get me a copy of Kalevala.
|
|
|
|
Post by Seeker of the Whills on Nov 21, 2022 20:51:55 GMT
Greed can be a powerful ally  
|
|
|
|
Post by smittysgelato on Nov 21, 2022 21:09:05 GMT
Jesus. Right in plain sight!
|
|
|
|
Post by Gen on Jan 22, 2023 12:01:26 GMT
Anakin! How many times have I told you, stay away from power couplings!  Sir! I’ve isolated the reverse power flux coupling!  I also just like how the words “isolated, reverse, power, coupling” are used in the actual scene of 3PO cockblocking Han. That’s good irony. |
|
|
|
Post by Subtext Mining on Apr 17, 2023 11:19:57 GMT
As a boy, Anakin was a very talented pilot, which allured his greedy slave owner Watto into forcing him to race pods. It was very fast, very dangerous, but he was good at it, which in spite of the risks, gave him a sense of fulfillment, joy and also a rare feeling of control amidst his unpredictable life as a slave -- where at any moment, at the whim of his master he could be separated from his mother, his bedrock and only source of love. Ani's selfless desire to help his new friends in need persuaded his mother to let him use his talents to help them. At 19, while sensing his mother was in danger, his irresistible, keen drive to help and protect his loved ones, made him feel forced without choice to use his talents to go help her, despite the risks of disobeying his mandate and leaving Padmé vulnerable. He felt his mother was dying and wanted to exert some control over the situation. Thinking and reacting selfishly, he took revenge on the entire camp of nomads who kidnapped her. At 23, while gripped by the fear that Padmé was in grave danger, he felt choicelessly compelled to find a way to prevent her death. In dire need of control in protecting his source of love, and fueled by selfish impulses, he strayed into the risky path of the Sith thinking he could use his talents to find this arcane power, quickly falling into the greedy Sith power cycle trap, and consequently losing everything. At 46, when his son was on the verge of death, his urge to protect him was awoken, and despite the personal risks, used his talents to save him. This time embracing self-sacrifice, and no longer a slave to control, fear or greed. In his final moments he experienced joy and fulfillment once again.  |
|
|
|
Post by stampidhd280pro on Apr 17, 2023 11:30:04 GMT
As a boy, Anakin was a very talented pilot, which allured his greedy slave owner Watto into forcing him to race pods. It was very fast, very dangerous, but he was good at it, which in spite of the risks, gave him a sense of fulfillment, joy and also a rare feeling of control amidst his unpredictable life as a slave -- where at any moment, at the whim of his master he could be separated from his mother, his bedrock and only source of love. Ani's selfless desire to help his new friends in need persuaded his mother to let him use his talents to help them. At 19, while sensing his mother was in danger, his irresistible, keen drive to help and protect his loved ones, made him feel forced without choice to use his talents to go help her, despite the risks of disobeying his mandate and leaving Padmé vulnerable. He felt his mother was dying and wanted to exert some control over the situation. Thinking and reacting selfishly, he took revenge on the entire camp of nomads who kidnapped her. At 23, while gripped by the fear that Padmé was in grave danger, he felt choicelessly compelled to find a way to prevent her death. In dire need of control in protecting his source of love, and fueled by selfish impulses, he strayed into the risky path of the Sith thinking he could use his talents to find this arcane power, quickly falling into the greedy Sith power cycle trap, and consequently losing everything. At 46, when his son was on the verge of death, his urge to protect him was awoken, and despite the personal risks, used his talents to save him. This time embracing self-sacrifice, and no longer a slave to control, fear or greed. In his final moments he experienced joy and fulfillment once again. The Lucasian Doxology |
|
|
|
Post by Subtext Mining on May 7, 2023 11:57:53 GMT
Anakin: Sometimes I wonder what's happening to the Jedi Order. I think this war is destroying the principles of the Republic.
Padmé: Have you ever considered that we may be on the wrong side?
Anakin: What do you mean?
Padmé: What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists? And the Republic has become the very evil we've been fighting to destroy?
Anakin: I don't belive that. And you're sounding like a Seperatist.
Interesting how even though Anakin is expressing misgivings about the Jedi, Padmé's lines about the Republic reflect what Anakin begins to eventually believe about the Jedi. And that a failure to listen on both Anakin's and the Jedi's part led to Anakin's difficulties.
And yet, Palpatine was the cancer exacerbating all these rifts and systemic weakspots and luring everyone into his trap. Even here, as Padmé manages to calm Anakin down, which gives him the resolve to follow through on his assignment to spy on the Chancellor, they're playing into his trap.
|
|
|
|
Post by xezene on May 31, 2023 9:19:28 GMT
Hello hello!  Apologies for my long, quite long, absence, but I am here! I will be popping in from time to time. I have to admit, I kind of forgot about this little place! But you guys are great. Much appreciated to Cryo for linking my old essay. ^.^ |
|
|
|
Post by Subtext Mining on Jun 18, 2023 10:57:29 GMT
After the Senate learns of the imminent threat of the Separatist armies, the Republic's sense of security is threatened. The Senators then give in to their greed and self-preservation, i.e. protecting their public relations image by not supporting cloning, and give executive powers to the Chancellor to approve the Clone army.
After Anakin's mother dies his sense of security and attachment are threatened. He then gives in to his greed and self-preservation, i.e. protecting himself from pain and loss, and gives executive powers to his urge to discover the unnatural power of cheating death.
|
|
|
|
Post by Seeker of the Whills on Sept 5, 2023 18:17:05 GMT
If the lightsaber is thought of as a phallic symbol, it's interesting that Anakin uses it on the first two women he comes into contact with. Symbolic of his frustration?   |
|
|
|
Post by smittysgelato on Sept 5, 2023 18:51:38 GMT
Well, in the case of Padme he gets to break through her barriers (I don't think she liked me watching her). Furthermore, he saves her life from poisonous phallic-looking worms. So his lightsaber has a life-giving or life-protecting quality there. The Chosen One is a source of fecundity, after all. The inner-heart eye is a fountain of light after all, and fountains are fecundity symbols. Consciousness=life, so he wakes Padme up with his phallus. She can't deny she's into it any longer ("My goodness you've grown!" winning out over "you'll always be that little boy...") He's grown alright...Grown more virile that is! Cryo will love this shit.
And of course, he loses his light saber against Zam because he is being impatient, interfering with his ability to think, or "perform" effectively. So yeah, frustration! Ahahaha.
|
|
|
|
Post by Seeker of the Whills on Sept 5, 2023 19:03:30 GMT
He says that being around Padme is "intoxicating." Is he at all intoxicated by other women, like Zam, maybe the girls at the club? Or is he just fixated on Padme? I think the latter is probably true. There's a lot of subtext in the Padme assassination/speeder chase/club scene trinity about Anakin and women. His dreams about his mother. Padme. The women at the club leering at him, and his just brushing them off with a hand wave. The two faced assassin woman. It's interesting to think about.
|
|
|
|
Post by smittysgelato on Sept 5, 2023 19:05:33 GMT
He says that being around Padme is "intoxicating." Is he at all intoxicated by other women, like Zam, maybe the girls at the club? Or is he just fixated on Padme? I think the latter is probably true. There's a lot of subtext in the Padme assassination/speeder chase/club scene trinity about Anakin and women. His dreams about his mother. Padme. The women at the club leering at him, and his just brushing them off with a hand wave. The two faced assassin woman. It's interesting to think about. The speeder chase sequence is indeed a masterpiece of subtext. |
|
Apologies for my long, quite long, absence, but I am here! I will be popping in from time to time. I have to admit, I kind of forgot about this little place! But you guys are great. Much appreciated to Cryo for linking my old essay. ^.^