Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker. Father and son. Both raised on Tatooine. Trained in the ways of the Jedi by Obi-Wan Kenobi. Each destined to bring balance to the Force. While one later embraced the Dark Side, the other remained true to the Light. One became a Dark Lord of the Sith, while one evolved into a Master Jedi. So much alike, yet so different as well.
Considering all the similarities that exist between Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, how – and equally important, why – did their paths take such different trajectories? In 2012, the Montreal Science Center attempted to answer those twin questions with Star Wars Identities, a traveling exhibit that made its way across Canada, Europe, and Australia before concluding at Tokyo’s Warehouse Terrada in 2019.
Star Wars Identities amassed over two million visitors worldwide during its seven year run, demonstrating the ongoing drawing power of Star Wars not just on screen but within museums as well. Star Wars Identities was more than just a collection of original costumes and props from the films, however, as the exhibit primarily focused on the role “identity” played in the lives of Anakin and Luke Skywalker, as well as other characters from the Star Wars Universe.
“The notion of identity has fascinated us for a long time,” the exhibit explained. “Throughout the ages, poets, painters, anthropologists, and psychologists have all wrestled with what it means to be someone, to be yourself, to be unique. Star Wars is very much about identity. Luke Skywalker’s journey is about finding out who he really is and then becoming that person. Anakin Skywalker struggles with the person he thinks he should be, or could be, until he finally gives in to the person he feels he has to be and becomes Darth Vader. To understand why, we have to take a long look at their individual identities.”
Star Wars Identities focused on three key areas of development – Origins, Influences, and Choices – and how each of them shaped the lives of Anakin and Luke Skywalker. Origins pertain to “those things we’re born into,” such as parents, surroundings and culture, while Influences includes friendships, mentors, and momentous events. Lastly, Choices are the decisions that one makes as they evolve from childhood into adults and beyond.
In the case of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, both were raised on Tatooine, an isolated planet with a harsh desert terrain, unsavory inhabitants, Hutt criminal overlords, and new dangers around every corner. For both Skywalkers, it was an even less ideal environment as each yearned for the type of adventure and excitement that could only be found elsewhere in the galaxy. Although born into slavery, Anakin had pod racing as a diversion and a mother that he idolized. Luke, meanwhile, was “free” but felt confined and curtailed nonetheless, being raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle determined to keep him from following in his father’s footsteps.
Anakin and Luke Skywalker not only shared similar Origins but their Influences likewise overlapped, with Obi-Wan Kenobi training each in the ways of the Force and Yoda adding to their teachings as well. Each showed impatience – Anakin with the restraints placed on him by Obi-Wan and Luke upon first meeting Yoda – but while Luke later tried to embrace the teachings of his mentors, Anakin only grew more frustrated and felt contempt instead of reverence.
Anakin had another tutor in Sheev Palpatine, who manipulated the young Jedi into eventually succumbing to the Dark Side. Luke’s support group, meanwhile, helped nurture his rebellious side with a more positive outlet – a literal rebellion against the Empire. Thus while Anakin lacked the necessary relationships to keep him grounded, Luke learned the value of friendships at the hands of Princess Leia, Han Solo, and the Wookie Chewbacca. Things could very well have turned out differently for each if the roles had been reversed.
Since their individual Influences shaped them differently, the Choices that Anakin and Luke Skywalker made were likewise different, resulting in divergent paths. Those paths then intersected at the end of Return of the Jedi, with Luke believing that there was still good in his father and attempting to save him, while Anakin chose to protect his son rather than continue to blindly follow Emperor Palpatine.
Those twin decisions brought the Star Wars narrative full circle, allowing Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker to not only have shared Origins and Influences but the same life-defining Choices as well. Their identities thus truly became that of father and son, both raised on Tatooine, strong with the Force, trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi and – ultimately – the same rejection of the Dark Side.
In addition to its emphasis on Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, the Star Wars Identity exhibit likewise examined other inhabitants of the Star Wars Universe, including heroines Princess Leia and Padmé Amidala, non-humans Chewbacca and Jabba the Hutt, and even droids C-3PO and R2D2. Each is unique and different, with identities shaped by different sets of Origins, Influences, and Choices.
“Abstract though it may be, identity can be rendered comprehensible,” the Star Wars Identity exhibit explained. “Objects and images, for instance, can help to tell a person’s story. In developing this exhibition, the project team surveyed the entire jaw-dropping Star Wars collection at the Lucasfilm archives and then selected the objects best suited to shed light on each of the exhibition’s themes.”
The films of George Lucas brought to life the characters of Anakin and Luke Skywalker, along with a host of others. The Star Wars Identity exhibit, meanwhile, not only examined those lives through the lens of identity but offered a greater understanding of the epic adventure itself by including early design sketches that not only explored the evolution of those characters but the overall narrative as well.
Just as one cannot truly understand the identities of Anakin and Luke Skywalker without examining the various factors that influenced their development, the same holds true for Star Wars itself. Thus while Star Wars Identities may have been about Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker in particular, it was in actuality an exploration of the entire Star Wars Universe in general – offering a deeper understanding of a galaxy far, far away in the process.
Anthony Letizia