I was having this debate with friends the other night. Now on the one hand, Vader killed the most evil man in the universe and helped bring the Empire down. On the other he pretty much wiped out the Jedi order, massacred dozens of helpless children and was responsible for the deaths of millions, if not billions. Now the question is: did he redeem himself? Are all people capable of redemption no matter what they've done?
Y'all ever see 'Chasing Amy'? Kevin Smith has some interesting theories on 'Star Wars', this one here always cracks me up " HOOPER Who said that?!? HOLDEN (standing) I did! Lando Calrissian is a positive black role model in the realm of Science Fiction/Fantasy. HOOPER Fuck Lando Calrissian! Uncle Tom ******! Always some white boy gotta invoke the holy trilogy'! Bust this - those movies are about how the white man keeps the brother man down - even in a galaxy far, far away. Check this shit. You got cracker farm-boy Luke Skywalker, Nazi poster boy - blond hair, blue eyes. And then you've got Darth Vader: the blackest brother in the galaxy. Nubian God. BANKY What's a Nubian? HOOPER Shut the fuck up! Now Vader, he's a spiritual brother, with the force and all that shit. Then this cracker Skywalker gets his hands on a light- saber, and the boy decides he's gonna run the fucking universe - gets a whole Klan of whites together, and they're gonna bust up Vader's hood the Death Star. Now what the fuck do you call that! BANKY Intergalactic Civil War! HOOPER Gentrification. They're gonna drive our the black element, to make the galaxy quote, unquote safe' for white folks. HOLDEN But Vader turns, out to be Luke's father. And in Jedi, they become friends. HOOPER Don't make me bust a cap in your ass, yo! Jedi's the most insulting installment, because Vader's beautiful, black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty white man! They're trying to tell us that deep inside, we all want to be white! BANKY Well isn't that true!? "
Vader lived most of his life in fear, and was constantly trying to hold on to things and manipulate them because of this fear. And he had the power to do it. His downturn came at the hands of the emperor, who encouraged this fear and at the same time the power. It was only when he saw it from the third person perspective (Return Of The Jedi) and happening to his own son, that he realised his way was inded wrong. I don't know if that's redemption, because that's a subjective thing. But it is what it is. Of course, he died right after that, so I'm sure that what it was *supposed* to be...
Haha, it is a bit of a Rock style rant isn't it. But no, Hooper was played by a fella called Dwight Ewell.
It was definitely meant by Lucas to be redemption. And at the time when I'd only seen the original trilogy I would have also seen it as redemption. However, having seen Revenge of the Sith, I don't think his final sacrifice could atone for all his sins....
