Anakin Skywalker was meant to be the chosen one. He became Darth Vader instead.
BlazeTV host John Doyle argues that many young white men see something familiar in Skywalker’s path to becoming one of cinema’s best-known villains. Doyle points to Anakin’s beginnings: born into slavery, rescued by an ancient religious order, and told he was more gifted than anyone around him. Yet, he says, Anakin spent much of his life being mistrusted and held back by the very people who were supposed to guide him.
Anakin wanted to bring order to a society he saw as corrupt and dysfunctional. He also wanted a wife and family, and the power to protect the people he loved. Instead, Doyle says, he found himself surrounded by ineffective politicians, hypocritical religious leaders, and a failing republic.
Eventually, Anakin had enough. His choices led him to become the villain who helps a dictator rule the galaxy.
Doyle says young men may relate to Anakin despite his role as the “bad guy.” He describes the character as a gifted young person whose potential is limited by older people who lecture him but don’t answer his questions or deal with the problems he faces.
Doyle also notes the irony in the wider story: an empire led by white men with British accents represents authority, class, tradition, and hierarchy, while diverse rebels fight for democracy and equality. Still, he argues, that isn’t the part of the story that resonates most with young white men.
In Doyle’s reading, Anakin is a young man who becomes disillusioned with the world around him. He believes he has earned opportunities that are denied to him, and he’s told he can’t have what he wants—including a girlfriend—for reasons he sees as vague or foolish. He is also hurt by threats that, Doyle says, society has failed to address meaningfully.
In the end, Anakin turns to the very thing he was taught to see as evil and forbidden.
