I had reason to reflect recently on Anakin, and my feelings about his character as a kindred spirit. They have changed, as my feelings about a lot of characters in the films have changed, as I have grown older. Taken on more responsibility. Gotten prepared to meet my child.

A lot of my own "growing up" mirrored Anakin's emotional journey. A precocious childhood where people expected certain things of me; An unexpected and tragic loss of mother; An overwhelming frustration with following the rules and the attendant feeling of betrayal that someone can do right and still be wronged; The dark energy inside that calls for the righting of those wrongs; The desire to be an avenging angel of sorts, when people are adrift in their selfish dimwittery.

I have a plethora of Anakin-related toys and comics, and Vader-related merchandise. This is because I really related to his emotional self. After Episode III, I knew I was in that character's head better than most. People like to claim they understand Vader; I carried it like a badge, because I understood the sadness as well as the anger. I still do.

But in dealing with a lot of people lately, from random acquaintances to friends and from workmates to family, I have really reached the end of a tether. And at the end of this tether is something surprising: a general disbelief at how everyone thinks their lives are so damned difficult.

There will be plenty of you out there that will respond to this (whether in your heart or on the response pages) by saying that everyone's pain is unique and that I can't understand what they are going through. How wrong of me to condemn their self-pity!

What a load of expletive.

People like to think that there is always an obstacle to their happiness - and without realizing it, set up those obstacles themselves. People are so ego-centric that they think their pain is special. They like to dwell on how someone/something/life hurt them and how unfair it is.

Anakin is one of those people. He foresees tragedy happening to him, so he moves heaven and earth to prevent the tragedy. Notice it's not so much to save Padme's life, that he acts. It's to spare himself pain.

Life is pain. Life is a matter of willpower. It's a matter of standing up every time you fall. Life is fighting back.

However, the real tragedy of Anakin is that there are people that tell him this and who give him good advice. Let go, they tell him. Stop thinking that your pain is so special. Yoda warns him of the danger of wanting to control everything.

But it does not fit his mold of the world, so he ignores it. He sulks a little more and thinks how unfair it is that people don't see things his way. He plays the victim; oh, how difficult it is, because he has to hear things that are uncomfortable to hear.

Sadly enough, I see this trend only getting worse in the world. As we rely more and more on the Internet for communication and political talk shows for our opinions, and turn to political parties to do all their critical thought for them, things will get only worse. And you know what? Don't point that finger only at one news outlet or the other. Or one political party. They're all guilty. Do you play their game, or do you think for yourself?

Because life is a fight, but the only way to win the fight is to compromise. Otherwise the battle is never-ending, and you wind up just like Anakin - the pawn of a master manipulator on their quest for never-ending power. And then, they're either with you or against you, and part of you hopes they are against you so that you can keep fighting and feel justified in your feelings of betrayal.

The solution?

Look at the weakness in yourself and repair it. Don't lay it on others.

And accept the pain. Because you can't avoid it.