Hello everyone!

While reading the latest issue of Insider (the interview with Prowse to be more specific), I got to thinking why people love Vader, or really just "the baddies". Don't get me wrong - I'm one of those people too! I got thinking about this topic, and I remembered a quote (originally by Shakespeare) in the book Contact by Carl Sagan. By the way, if you ever get the chance, read this book! It's a great look into humanity, and it has some very interesting scientific and mathematical ideas and backdrops in it. (And no, it's not as nerdy as it sounds)

The quote reads:

"The devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape."
- William Shakespeare
Hamlet, II, ii, 628

I instantly made the connection with Chancellor/Emperor Palps/ Darth Sidious. (Too many names to keep track of!!) Palps obviously kept up a façade of goodness, so to speak. He was not really Palpatine - he had been Sidious ever since he became Plagueis's apprentice. He assumed a 'pleasing shape' to aid in his taking over the galaxy. (That sounds incredibly clichéd when I put it like that...)

I think we are so fascinated with the Dark Side because it is so simple to be drawn in by these 'pleasing shapes'. We are meant to either feel sorry for the villains (i.e. Ani in ROTS) or want them to redeem themselves in some way (like Ani eventually did). We want to see these evil people become better or different people. It is purely human nature to want to see people succeed and become better than they are. This is one of the many themes that makes The Saga so interesting in the first place, I think.

I think it's impossible to resist the inner struggle between good and evil within villains. Every baddie (well, at least almost every baddie) in any movie, TV show, or anything else, has some good in them, and this good is shown to draw us into their character. A few quick examples:

1. Quite obviously, Vader's inner good is shown through his love of Luke. Although it is very evident that Vader is very evil, we know that he has a good side to him, even if some only realise it right before he dies.

2. In the TV show Alias (which I absolutely love, and watch every day on the Space Channel), one of the 'evil' characters is named Sloane. He was the leader of an organization that could be spun as a terrorist cell within the U.S. However, many things he does are done to protect his wife, daughter, and his daughter's half-sister (they share the same mother).

I'm sure you get the picture, and I'm sure you can think of many more examples on your own. So, as you can see (I hope) I think we are attracted to the Dark Side (or villains in general) because we want to see them redeem themselves somehow. The protagonists (that's the good guys) are slightly less interesting (not to say that they're not, or that I don't like them), because they usually cannot become any better than they already are. (Yes, okay, there are some exceptions, but you see what I'm saying...)

I hope I explained myself clearly, as I've had some troubles getting this all into words. Hope I gave you something to think about!

May the Force be with You.