Villain Therapy: ANAKIN SKYWALKER

Darth Vader is one of the most iconic villains in movie history. But what led Anakin Skywalker to turn to the Dark Side and become a villain? And could it have been prevented?

Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright take a look at the Star Wars prequels and what caused Anakin's turn to the dark, and ultimate return to the light in the original trilogy. Jonathan talks about the traits of Borderline Personality Disorder and how Anakin's character displays several of them. And Alan has a hard time finding anything good to say about the prequels because... well... they're course and rough and get everywhere.

NOTE: As we discuss in the video, there is NOT a correlation between mental illness and villainy. Anakin Skywalker happens to display some of the traits of Borderline Personality Disorder, but it is his choices, combined with his life experiences and the mythology of Star Wars (i.e. the Dark Side of the Force) that led him to become a villain (Darth Vader).

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Cinema Therapy is:
Written by: Megan Seawright, Jonathan Decker and Alan Seawright
Produced by: Jonathan Decker, Megan Seawright & Alan Seawright
Edited by: Alan Seawright
Director of Photography: Bradley Olsen
English Transcription by: Anna Preis

[wolfco]

Any video that opens with "The emperor is kind of a sleazy boyfriend" is my kind of video.

[justanotherredheadattheend]

I can’t think of a villain who both so obviously needed therapy, AND would have been genuinely responsive to it. Anakin WANTED help. The Jedi then, in their sage wisdom, told him to can it and just stop being afraid 👍🏻

[Tempest]

Someone once pointed out that Leia is Anakin's daughter: Passion, fire, a certain degree of ruthlessness and Luke is Padme's son: love, compassion and faith in Anakin.

[Lalabaer]

Anakin: "Master Yoda, I think my wife is going to die and I'm terrified, please help"
Yoda, with disdain on his face: "If she dies, she dies"

[reuben]

This whole movie just reminds me of the saying "The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth". the jedi council were always so critical of Anakin and ended up causing their own demise.

[theghostyboy]

Fun fact, Vader's suit actually catches and snags his burned skin all the time, there were designs for him to have an improved suit but he chose to keep the old suit because his pain fueled his connection to the dark side, so he could technically qualify for self harm which would make 8/9 signs

[heatherrockwell]

Everyone who ever met Anakin Skywalker went "God what a mess, someone should do something" and no one ever did

EDIT: I'm sad that this is the top comment on this video, and it's a joke I stole from somewhere else.

[hoene]

I feel bad for both Obi-Wan and Anakin. Obi-Wan was suddenly forced to train Anakin with little knowledge of how to do so, then Anakin, a traumatized kid who lost his mother then his father figure. They both bond but then they are forced to fight due to both of their mistakes. The scene where Obi-Wan fights Vader in Kenobi broke my heart.

[Kohay]

LOL “no, no catharsis is NOT killing people, let’s go over this again” literally sounds like how Anakin’s therapy session would go 🤣

[Max-im]

"What we don't see in him is suicidal behavior or self-harm."

Hoo-boy, wait until you hear about how his Darth Vader suit works, the downsides to it, and how he actively refuses to even attempt to move to a more comfortable one for someone in his condition. I'd say actively choosing to live a life of absolute agony every second of the day would qualify as "self harm".

[avatarmushi]

It’s not a movie, but “Villain Therapy: Azula” is something I need to see in my subscriptions

[KoBxElucidator]

To your point on self-harm, he willingly wore a suit that inflicted as much pain as possible and made his fortress overlooking the very spot of his greatest failure so he'd embrace pain.

[Monarchyman]

There’s a comic where Vader is asked after he had just destroyed things, “who could you hate to give you such ferocity?” His answer, “myself”.

[allisonjae]

That scene where Anakin is talking about hating sand. The hatred is not for sand. It's what it represents. As a child he had no control over the things that happened to him. He was a slave, vulnerable and not in control. The sand reminds him of that time in his life.

[garrettviewegh]

Anakin’s fall feels like something from a Shakespearean tragedy. He loved too much, and became heartless after that love spiraled into obsession. The devil that was pulling all the strings knew just what to say to push him over the edge. Even after he became Vader, and everyone gave up on the monster he’d become, Luke saw the broken man inside, his father, that just wanted to be free of his master and his own demons. It wasn’t just self hatred, the guilt and grief of everything he did, all the betrayal, hanged over him. He was a slave all his life, and only his son, the force, and forgiving himself, set Anakin free.

[warlordofbritannia]

The way the Jedi treated Anakin was like telling a depressed person to just feel happier...
Except its worse because they knew Anakin was immensely important to the fate of the entire galaxy. But instead of making sure he grew up to be well-adjusted and not evil, they refused to make any exceptions for their Chosen One and just ignored all of his many, obvious issues. Meanwhile, a legitimate sociopath with multiple wives (Ki Adi Mundi) was allowed on the Council and the second highest ranking Jedi (Mace Windu) was openly hostile to Anakin.

[thejengineer]

My husband watched this video last week and now when I’m emotionally disregulated, he stays calm and says “I love you unconditionally” and repeats he sees the “good in me” until I’m calm. With BPD I’ve never experienced such comfort and relief SO QUICKLY in a moment of extreme anger. We have couples therapy and loads of tools, but your videos influence has had such a huge impact on our interactions. THANK YOU!!

[roadtriiip]

as a person with BPD hearing him say "people with borderline personality disorder don't tend to be homocidal lunatics" was legitimately so refreshing to hear, especially from a professional; the way we're treated and portrayed is almost always as horrible, unhelpable, and toxic people when it reality it tends to be quite the opposite, so hearing it here made me very happy

[ScrimmyBingus]

People shit on Hayden Christensen's performance but I think it's actually really good. In attack of the clones Anakin is an immature teenager, and in revenge of the sith Anakin is a mentally struggling adult, and he portrays that so well.

[susanjames]

I as someone with B.P.D, really enjoyed this episode. Was actually good to see a visual representation of someone with this with too and hear personal and professional advice and comments. So many things much about B.P.D out there is so very negative and this was done in a truthful but tactful way. Thanks guys.