I think one reason many people found TPM boring and not "Star Wars" at the time, is because they didn't actually get that connection, and were just left wondering "what's with all this political bull crap?"
Obviously us guys all knew, but not a lot of the GA.
That was a stupid secret to keep from the GA Imo. And if Luke if Rey's Father (the obvious conclusion), that would be just as pointless a secret to keep from us.
They were still the antagonists we see on screen however.
Achieve the thing with getting rid of the blockade by the TF over Naboo. Seeing as Courscant was their destination to go speak to the Senate about the whole thing.
Sidious was the "clear" antagonist. And discounting Maul and the Federation on the ground that they were his "tools" would invalidate every baddie in the OT minus Jabba and Boba for the same reason.
Yes Sidious was clearly the main villain in TPM. But he was working behind the scenes so Darth Maul was the face of the Sith reemerging, and the TF were his scapegoat villains.
The problem IMO was not making it clear cut that Sidious and Palpatine were one and the same.
In terms of Protaganists, was a bit different in TPM as the main Jedi was the ANH Obi-Wan type mentor. Whilst the story was more about the discovery of little Ani. Obi-Wan was like Maul in that movie, as in he was mainly around for the action.
In TVTropes terminology, Sidious is the Big Bad, Maul the Dragon, and the Federation the Heavy.
The only thing that would have made this arrangement any clearer would be Lucas walking on-camera and hanging labeled signs around each actor's neck.
Regarding Palpatine/Sidious, one of this era's great strengths is the fact that Palpatine is not depicted by McDiarmid as being anything other than a well-intentioned politician.
TPM had more of a faded array of Pros and Ants, no one really stand out in any way, just a semblance of villainy or righteousness based upon pre-established information from the OT--the name "Darth", black cloaks, etc. are for bad guys and the Jedi and all their friends/employers are good guys. TPM didn't have really have clear good guys and bad guys, you know, good guys doing good and noble things and bad guys doing scummy, awful stuff. Like a morally tortured Stormtrooper seeing how terrible Kylo Ren and the First Order are for butchering a village for no reason. Clear and concise heroes and villains don't exist in TPM, or the prequels in general.
The Jedi were just kind of there, like bored government agents doing their job.
The Federation was just kind of doing something for some unspoken gain, like moronic corporate-types.
Sidious and the Sith were just kind of... actually not even "there" most of the time. Maul showed up and killed one of the government agents, then he died. Nothing really villainy about him. About the only real bad guy thing we see either of them do is Sidious ordering "Kill them immediately" about the Jedi, and invading a planet with one empty city on it. Superman at least brutally executed a man, the Sith don't even manage that.
Anakin was there eventually, helping out the agents who then helped him. So that was nice. Kinda convoluted and more of a lengthy detour than anything, but the kid got to go on an adventure. Then he hung around alot doing nothing until he accidentally blew up the corporate space ship.
Padme was there alot doing mostly nothing. She spoke emotionlessly when the Federation took over her empty city, spoke flatly when the bored government agents easily rescued her, and spoke monotonely when she asked the government for help. She also walked around alot with one of the bored agents on Tattooine and Anakin said she was pretty. So that was nice. Then she came up with an elaborate, nonsensical plan to liberate her empty city, and when she got captured she looked at the Viceroy and didn't say anything before being rescued by the other bored-voiced queen. Whole lotta action for a whole lotta not-much-happening.
And Jar Jar was also just there. He led the agents to his city, helped them navigate the planet's core, gave Padme the idea of using the GUngans to fight back against the droids, led her and the agents to the Gungans secret spot, and led the Gungan army from the front lines. All with a smile on his face and a tone in his voice. Come to think of it, Jar Jar was one of the more emotionally active and overtly useful characters.
Huh.
__________________ Recently Produced and Distributed Young but High-Ranking Political Figure of Royal Ancestry within the Modern American Town Affectionately Referred To as Bel-Air.
Last edited by Lord Lucien on Jan 6th, 2016 at 12:12 AM
Me too. Plus the whole 'taxation-treaty' thing and the boring Senate stuff didn't help either.
And there were antagonists in name... but not in story. QGJ, Anakin, OB1, Padme... these people had no arc. There was no change in who they were at the beginning compared to who they were at the end.
QGJ - the wise, calm and composed Jedi... he was... well, there's not much to say about him
OB1 - didn't do much in the movie except ballet-fight Maul
Padme - doesn't do much either except being advised a lot
Anakin - just a kid, wins a pod race, cool scene but not really relevant to the TF-Naboo conflict
Well, there is the problem right there. If I'd assign any character in the PT that has a purpose, a goal he's trying to achieve and acts upon it, it IS Palpatine. He's the closest thing to a protagonist in the entire PT. But... he isn't. He is the antagonist to something/someone we're never really clear on.
Simply because no one knows what the Sith Lord is doing or who he is. His actions are only accidentally opposed, after all, no one knows who's doing what. He can do whatever he wants because the 'dark side clouds everything'.
Jan 5th, 2016 04:11 PM
