Aside from being an avid fan of movies across several genres, I find myself fascinated by the concept of good versus evil in film. There exists a rich variety of stories and characters in movies through which the concept of good and evil is expressed, and in particular through memorable and iconic characters who have profound a story arc which only seems to come to fruition in the final installment of the movie series. There are so many to choose from, but in the interest of brevity I will only choose two to analyze. One is from Star Wars, and the other is from Harry Potter. I suppose this would be the moment to invoke the oft-spoken spoiler alert with regards to sharing movie characters and plots. So there you have your warning. SPOILER ALERT. Here we go…
In the Star Wars story, I am fascinated by the story arc of Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker). Briefly and anecdotally I shall mention that I consider episodes I – VI to be genuine Star Wars, and not episodes VII – IX. Perhaps that is an article for another day. When we first encounter Anakin Skywalker as a child in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, I see a person with a genuinely kind heart and a desire to be of assistance to others. He wanted to help people, and with little regard to gaining something in return. Furthermore, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jin firmly believed that there was good in Anakin and that all indications were that he is the Chosen One who would bring balance to the Force and be a hero for the Jedi Order, and for that matter to be a hero for the entire galaxy. Though, the term “bringing balance to the Force” was rather vague. Could ‘balance’ mean defeating evil entirely? Could it mean bringing the will of the force to its ultimate desired end? I am still not sure.
What I am certain of, is that in my mind Anakin Skywalker is in fact the Chosen One who was intended all along to be the hero of the Jedi Order. Okay, so he eventually becomes a Dark Lord of the Sith (Darth Vader) and a servant, or I dare say pawn, of Emperor Palpatine who is the head of the infamous Empire in the Star Wars saga. Darth Vader does the biding of Emperor Palpatine in helping him to thwart the efforts of the Jedi Council to bring Palpatine to justice, and then other horrific things including and especially killing the padawan younglings during Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith.
Then we fast-forward to Episode IV: A New Hope, which is when we meet Anakin Skywalker’s son, Luke. Luke begins to learn the ways of the Force from Obi-Wan Kenobi, the same Jedi Master who began training Anakin. Not long after Luke learns that Darth Vader “was once Anakin Skywalker, [his] father,” it became his intention to infer there was still good in Darth Vader and that the Emperor did not have total control over him.
The climactic moment finally arrives towards the end of Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi, when Emperor Palpatine is trying to kill Luke with the torture of Force Lightning, that Darth realizes that what he is witnessing is wrong, and that he must save his son and to do so he must destroy the Emperor, which he succeeds in doing. In that moment, Anakin Skywalker achieved his moment of redemption. Not to say that he righted all the wrongs that he had done earlier while giving in to the Dark Side of the Force, but rather that he made good on the prophecy that he is the chosen one whom, after a very long a dark story arc, finally had his moment of triumph over Emperor Palpatine, which in theory, should have happen some 15-20 years prior. Nevertheless, the ending of Episode VI suggests that Anakin was indeed redeemed by his act of killing Palpatine, which ended up being the very same thing which cost him his own life as we see that the Force Lightning from Palpatine had been the source of Anakin’s death. The ending scene of that movie includes Anakin standing alongside Yoda and Obi-wan in their “Force ghost” form, suggesting that he is now among those who are at peace with the Force.
Now, an abrupt shift to a different character, and one in the famous “Wizarding World” in the Harry Potter series. By the way, full disclosure, I haven’t read the Harry Potter books so I am only basing this off of the movies. In the first Harry Potter movie we are introduced to many teachers and staff at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry whom will become mainstays for the better part of the movie series: Headmaster of Hogwarts Professor Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Rubius Hagrid, Professor Flitwick, and Mr. Filch to name a few. We also meet the professor at Hogwarts who is the subject of my other character analysis, and who is my second-favorite character in all film, Severus Snape. Even though there was something very off-putting about Snape, and that he had no sense of warmth about him, I was fascinated by his persona and had this inkling in my mind that there was more to him than meets the eye. Furthermore, he seemed to be trusted by Dumbledore just as much as McGonagall had earned Dumbledore’s trust.
As the movies progressed, we see glimpses of Snape frequently focused on Harry, though we the audience is left to wonder why. Why does Snape seem to hate Harry? Is Snape suspicious of Harry simply because of his last name? Is Snape jealous of “the boy who lived?” Those are among the questions that I pondered, and yet I was drawn in to explore Snape’s motives because he helped Harry at times, including Snape’s use of a counter-curse during the Quidditch match which actually helped Harry, and countered Professor Quirrell’s use of a curse against Harry’s broom. Another example is in the fifth movie when Snape assists Harry with the Occlumency lessons to help Harry fight against Lord Voldemort’s attempt to win over Harry’s mind. Those are two examples of Snape assisting Harry and thus prompting me to consider who Snape is and what his values and motives are.
Finally, in the 8th movie, which is part 2 of the 7th book, we come to realize a few things: what Dumbledore had been asking of Snape for many years; Snape’s connection to Harry’s now-deceased parents; Snape association with Lord Voldemort; what Dumbledore requested that Snape do, namely to be the one to kill him; and that Snape must play his part in deceiving Voldemort for Harry’s benefit.
So a character who had a rather questionable and off-putting demeanor, and one who appeared to be an enemy against Harry Potter, was in reality Dumbledore’s best-kept-secret and most valued ally. Ultimately that man, who Harry emotionally referred to as the bravest man he’d every know, Severus Snape, had one of the best story arcs in all film in this writer’s opinion.
Anakin Skywalker and Severus Snape represent for me the excitement and wonder at watching film. Things are often not what they seem to be in movies, and I greatly enjoy considering the values and motives of each character. Why do they say what they say and do what they do? What is the goal? What is their “why?” My invitation to you is to be both entertained by movies, and also to make the effort to wrestle with the existential value in coming to realize the values and motives of characters in film, through which a rich and wonderful viewing experience can be realized.
