Hot Apollo

Toronto's Shiniest Rock-and-Roll Band

Dark Side Style

 

Obviously, the new "Star Wars" stuff was going to enter my life. That galaxy was one of my early loves, and the movie is something I shall doubtless see. That was never in question, but despite my assiduous affection for the franchise and my more recent experiences with the fresh comics and other stories that have been created in advance of the imminent movie, I hadn't really thought about the actual film. But something I just heard did catch my attention.

For some reason, I like Adam Driver. I've surely touched on this before. I was aware that he was connected with the franchise in some way. I probably assumed that he was playing a sort of scoundrel in the tradition of Han Solo, for that's rather close to the types of roles he's generally assigned. But now I know that he's playing an aspirant Sith. Though it might not seem like the most natural fit, it feels good anyway. And it provides a kind of antagonist that hasn't really been prominent in the films before.

The Sith aesthetic often conveyed a sense of arcane mysticism and sorcerous debauchery, but much of that was explored more in other media. Most of the order's representatives in the movies didn't always appear to be enjoying their status. Palpatine certainly did at the end of "Revenge", but those scenes of mad laughter and lightning unleashed came after ages of hiding his delightful malevolence behind a facade of staid political ideals.

But this new guy clearly wants to be there. Apparently, he's trying to be the next Darth Vader. Even Anakin didn't want to be Darth Vader!

Now the films have a prime villain who embraces the dark side by choice instead of chance, and he's blatantly proud of it. Vader wore a helmet despite discomfort because he needed it to live. Driver's Kylo Ren, a reasonably attractive and healthy young man, apparently just donned his mask because it felt like the dark side thing to do. Sith swag! That's what the world needs. 

 

Bonus Question!

Best mad emperor? Nero. Somewhat like Palpatine with less subtlety and more perversion. Presumably, he was Sith too. 

Copyright © 2011, Jaymes Buckman and David Aaron Cohen. All rights reserved. In a good way.