-Teddy Bears and Sith Lords-

The Star Wars films are by far some of my favorite movies and am in no way condemning them. That being said, I will be exploring and critiquing some of the characters in the saga and how they relate to differently-abled stereotypes in film.

In "America On Film" on page 366, it mentions that Classical Hollywood often used "little" people as actors. In the Star Wars films this is no exception. Though there are plenty of dominant images and characters played by "little" people in the saga, the one that sticks out to me most is that of the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi.

For those who don't know, Ewoks are cuddly, little teddy bear like creatures living peacefully on the moon of Endor. These costumed characters are portrayed by a large number of "little" people, and seem to be in the movie only to help the main "able" characters. They have no depth of personality and only two of the characters are given names. It is also keen to notice that throughout all of the Star Wars Saga not one "little" person is given a role in which they play a "normal" non costumed role. Plenty of other characters and species are portrayed by "little" people in the movies including R2-D2 and the Jawas but as stated before, these characters are in the films only to help the main "able" characters or to carry out a devious plan, in the case of the Jawas.

The Star Wars films revolve around one central character. Anakin Skywalker Aka, Darth Vader. Although he starts as the protagonist and hero of the first 2 films, by the end of Revenge of the Sith he has become a dark and villainous Sith Lord. I would say his role as Darth Vader fits very well into the Obsessive Avenger stereotype as mentioned in "America On Film" on page 365.

Anakin's journey to the Dark Side seems to begin in Attack of the Clones, towards the climax of the film, wherein he loses his hand in a lightsaber duel. Though his hand is easily replaced with robotic one, Anakin's revenge seems to stem from this very injury. In the first 15 minutes of the next movie, Revenge of the Sith, he enacts his revenge and beheads the man who took his hand from him. So begins Anakin's journey to becoming the Obsessive Avenger.


At the climax of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin loses nearly all of his limbs in a near fatal duel. He is even burned and his face changes drastically, it becomes disfigured and filled with scars. After being fitted up with robotic body parts and a menacing helmet to cover his scarred face, Anakin completely fulfills his role as the Obsessive Avenger. It seems throughout the classic trilogy, Darth Vader's hatred and want to take over the universe stems from his disfigurement. Vader, even within his own group, uses his violence on the "able" bodied and brutally chokes several officers for no logistical reason.

It's also interesting to note that as soon as Anakin becomes "disabled", he becomes the villain and the story focuses once again on an "able" bodied hero.

Sources:

• America on Film Representing Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality At the Movies by Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin
• Pictures taken from- thetoyzone.com
• Ewok Picture- http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/ewok.jpg
• Anakin Picture- http://www.galacticbinder.com/images/DarkestMoments/anakin-burning.jpg