For those of you that don't know; I am a Chicago White Sox fan. When Da Sox won the World Series way back in 2005 (coincided with the release of Revenge of the Sith) the marketing campaign for the season was "grinder rules." In commercials and billboards there were humorous anecdotes about their work ethic. Since the team failed to defend their championship this season the promotion is "Back to the Grind." So far their efforts are not working, but that is not the subject of this blog. I took a hiatus from my more critical slant during Celebration IV since everyone was happily reminiscing. However, now it's back to the grind for me.

The consistent theme for the Cadences is my failure to suspend my disbelief in the motivations of characters in the prequels. I expected there to be a sympathetic course of events that led to Anakin's fall from grace that dovetailed perfectly with the original trilogy. George Lucas had 16 years to compose a framework for the creation of Darth Vader. All we got was he was afraid of loss and murdered innocent children out of this irrational fear. Well I am calling BS! You cannot set up a potential messiah and then conveniently have him turn evil for the purposes of continuity.

One of the strengths of Luke's story is the mythical and archetypal parallels that run rampant throughout the original trilogy. These patterns are absent in Anakin's tale. There was a tremendous opportunity to create a truly dramatic tale of the fallen hero and it was lost because ultimately the audience didn't care and just wanted to see Darth Vader.

Instead I envision an alternate telling of the prequels where young Skywalker painstakingly rolls a figurative boulder up a hill like Sisyphus. Although this punishment is fit for Darth Vader it could also explain his creation. Anakin has the weight of potential burdening him. There are pressures acting on him that are too much for one man to bear; a lost childhood, forbidden love, war, and a fractured relationship with a mystical energy field. Yes, the Force. Comprehending the eternal is difficult which is why Anakin's life is a Sisyphean challenge. He carries the disappointments of his life up a slope and with each increasing weight of broken relationships the boulder becomes unmanageable. The Dark side beckons when Anakin defies the elemental God and lets the boulder roll back down the mountainside to destroy all he strove to protect. The call of the dark side is giving into the temptation to fail to perform one's duty. The allure of power without responsibility. Well life is not easy. The challenge is to not let others determine your reality. A lesson that Anakin Skywalker realizes far too late.