Here’s the thing of it: when the prequels came out, an older, largely male audience wanted to see Darth Vader as evil, masculine, the embodiment of power, etc. They didn’t want to see Anakin Skywalker as a vulnerable, emotional kid who was corrupted by outside influences and struggling with his feelings. The story George wanted to tell (and the story that Hayden pulled off so spectacularly) was just something that viewership was never going to like. They didn’t want the villain of their childhoods, the emblem of masculinity, to be a real human with feelings. They were never going to like a movie about Anakin as a multidimensional person—one who cried, missed his mother, simped after a strong-willed woman, and struggled with his internal life. No matter the actor, they were never going to be willing to contend with that story. They wanted Darth Vader to be scary and manly. That’s it.
But the younger audience watching the prequels—the one that had grown up with Vader to an extent, but not to the same degree—learned from these movies that good people can be corrupted by those who want power and don’t value the lives of inferiors. We learned that men in power struggle with their emotions. We learned that boys can cry too, and that they can become overcome with emotion while the women around them can be practical, logical, and successful. We watched these movies and got to know Anakin as Anakin—an endearing anti-hero who took risks and loved the people around him. We got to see what happens when someone is overcome by their fears and anxieties. We learned how fear-tactics and rhetoric can bring about fascism. The values in these movies are strong, yes, but at their heart they are just a really good story. Regardless of awkward dialogue, direction, and CGI, George Lucas told us a really good story about family, love, loss, and our collective existence. Kids like good stories. Hayden, Ewan, Natalie, and all of the other actors did a really good job telling us that story. The prequels add so much depth to the original trilogy. They are what makes the Skywalker story a space opera. It’s shakespearean. It’s just a really, really spectacular story, one that most of the older generation didn’t want to be told.
