Villain Therapy: ANAKIN SKYWALKER

the emperor's always looking to trade out kill him kill him now the emperor is kind of a sleazy boyfriend and he's always i would diagnose anakin with something called borderline personality disorder now i want to be very clear people with borderline personality disorder don't end up to be they don't homicidal lunatics oh they don't massacre children and blow up entire planets no what is this tell me on the sith lord where the prequels hurt you hello and welcome to cinema therapy i'm jonathan decker licensed therapist and i love star wars happy star wars day and i am alan searight professional filmmaker and i also love star wars even though i'm kind of in an abusive relationship with it i love it but it keeps hurting me you're breaking my heart you get it we're gonna work through some of that today we really are today we are doing villain therapy ooh i know these are fun we discuss a famous villain from a film and see if there are things that we could do to treat that person to either prevent them from becoming a villain in the first place play my video or if they're already a villain treat them and make them a productive member of society again wonderful and part of what we're doing here at cinema therapy is we're trying to increase awareness about mental illness mental health issues emotional health issues and so we want to be very clear there is not a correlation between mental illness and villainy and this is one of the reasons why we have another series of hero psychology to show that heroes struggle with these things too absolutely oh god who is my patient today who are we dealing with well we're dealing with a young man who was brought up believing that he was basically immaculately conceived uh raised by his mother but they were enslaved so not a lot of good things going on there did have a good relationship with his mom does he hate sand he finds it coarse and rough and it gets everywhere you already guessed who it is uh i am your father i'm a person and my name is anakin i'll just give the rest of his history super fast uh gets taken away from his mom to go to don't get up uh jedi school but not before starring in the fast and the furious tatooine drift [Music] he wanted he wanted to say it so bad so bad and he did [Music] after appearing in a fast and furious movie uh he goes off starts learning how to be a jedi has a father figure who was killed then has a brother figure becomes sort of a father figure who's not that great you will be a jedi i promise um you don't even even like talking about this i don't like talking about it okay so let's let's address this head on let's be real for a second because this is therapy you don't like the star wars prequels i hate them i hate them they're coarse they're rough they get everywhere uh they're they're they're bad films kids like jar jar why what about the ewoks hey they were rubbish you don't complain about them yeah but jar jar binks makes the ewoks look like [ __ ] shaft that being said the character of anakin very interesting yeah okay so he has a lot of loss a lot of pain and then he breaks bad the separatists have been taking care of my master breaks bad kills a bunch of kids uh goes full full evil goes full walter why he's even bald you know yeah turns into a human s'more sure all sorts of stuff yeah that's gross yeah okay it's really gross what are his symptoms his symptoms of you know all the loss and everything else is uh mostly just being real mopey and whiny why couldn't i save her yeah he's he just gets really yeah pretty much just whiny kind of arrogant and clingy and demanding it's all obi-wan's full he's jealous he's holding me back he's also to be fair terrified of losing relationships so terrified that he will do literally anything make a deal with the devil basically learn to know the dark side of the force and you will be able to save your wife from certain death pretty much to protect those relationships um mood swings mm-hmm pretty pretty severe swings liar you brought him here to kill me no and just just general just just moodiness yeah just kind of and then as he goes bad he actually has delusions you thunder against me like that obi-wan's gonna take padme from him which honestly padme you had a better option padme so much better go with obi-wan now i like star i like the prequels better than alan does mostly because i give a lot of it a pass because i love star wars so much and i just like to be in that galaxy i also appreciate uh what george lucas was trying to do with anakin because on the surface we all wanted a very likable dashing hero like the integrity of luke and the roguishness of han wrapped into one character and we wanted that going to the prequel so that we would be heartbroken and devastated when he fell yeah and that would be better and i'm i'm not arguing the point but from a mental health perspective his the the course he takes and how he gets there makes a whole lot of sense it does and i think there is some genius in what george lucas was trying to do george lucas is incredible at world building and at overall like story structure yeah i think the prequels as george lucas came up with them if he had hired someone else to write them and someone else to direct them could have been brilliant films i just think that him taking on all of it was maybe not great i've had a few things to work through you know with sarah no with george lucas [Music] didn't he shop for other directors i heard that he did i mean he went and talked to steven spielberg and ron howard i think ron howard yeah and and they both were like no it's yours george and maybe that was because they read the scripts oh man you know what okay that's it what is this tell me on the sith lord where the prequels hurt you i want you to point where the prequels hurt me they hurt me here and a little bit in the tummy all right now doesn't that feel better no it still hurt me all right i would diagnose anakin with something called borderline personality disorder now i want to be very clear people with borderline personality disorder don't end up to be they don't homicidal lunatics oh they don't massacre children and blow up entire planets no so i'm gonna go ahead go ahead and diagnose anakin with borderline personality disorder great which is a inability to manage emotions effectively okay so like anakin a lot of people with borderline personality disorder or bpd from here on a lot of people with bpd are actually high functioning in many areas of their life but their interpersonal relationships are garbage okay right and you see that with anakin he excels at all sorts of force-related activities but he can't he can't hold down any sort of relationships yeah he's constantly in trouble with padme it's always either pushing her away or yeah yeah well and unlike bipolar where the mood swings tend to occur over longer periods of time with borderline it can happen really fast within minutes or even hours and you see this a lot with anakin where he's just turning on a dime you know and bpd is often associated with adolescent trauma or childhood trauma loss or neglect anakin he's a child slave his life was regularly in danger and he had the secure attachment with his mom mom mom i'm home he loses that he connects with padme and qui-gonna's attachment figures qui-gon dies padme leaves and anakin is stuck with obi-wan you will be a jedi i promise whose style of mentoring is largely harsh criticism you're focusing on the negative anakin be mindful of your thoughts you look tired you're sweating we will not exceed our mandate my young padawan learner besides your centers aren't that attuned to my young apprentice what took you so long you know i don't like it when you do that i don't mind flying but what you're doing is suicide that was some shortcut anakin he went completely the other way then we decided to come and rescue you good job that's freaking traumatic and i will agree with you that the films didn't really explore the trauma of that right had they you'd have a better case for why anakin is the way he is as it is we kind of have to it's kind of like happy kid yeah he's like then cut to 10 years later well he's a little master he's he's sad that is that he's being separated from his mom but we never really feel like he's gutted i care for you [Music] it's too mother it's just like oh well that's a bummer there's a writing problem there but there's also a big performance problem which most performance problems are direction problems and i think in this case it was just yeah it was a combination of a director not being able to connect with a kid yes directing kids is hard yeah and uh a kid who maybe wasn't the best actor i can't do it mom i just can't do it probably with steven spielberg direct him would have gotten a brilliant performance yeah but that is not the world that we live in not what happened doctor strange see what you can do about that [Music] today's episode is brought to you by surf shark surf shark is a vpn which of course is a virtual private network it protects your security online and that's great but let's get real we're going to use this to watch shows in other countries so many shows in other countries you can unlock the 15 largest netflix country libraries from around the world have you ever been to another country and logged into netflix and it's like christmas morning like all these movies that aren't on there so much great stuff that we don't get in the us and you can unlock all of it like friends yeah friends they have rick and morty doctor who oh which come on whovians and it's not just netflix no it's not there's bbc iplayer which is sort of my guilty pleasure i love basically anything the bbc does hulu a bunch of other streaming services all kinds of stuff that you can access so you can unlock this content by installing the vpn on your computer on your phone on your smart tv whatever your device is and speaking of devices you can use it on unlimited number of devices at the same time there are apps for all platforms 24 7 customer support and a 30 day money back guarantee and to do all that go to surfshark.deals therapy use our code cinema therapy and get 83 percent off and three additional months for 83 83 i've never heard of an 83 percent off deal it's very specific and very large search vpn thank you for sponsoring this episode thank you for keeping us safer and thank you for helping us watch more shows and movies watch all the movies please so there are nine criteria to qualify for borderline personality disorder anakin hits seven of them oh boy seven out of nine so first of all is uh fear of abandonment the thought of not being with you i can't breathe he's obsessed with saving his mom and not losing padme yeah and then later he practically begs luke to join him once he's vader join me and together we can rule the galaxy his father and son cause he he knows the emperor the emperor's always looking to trade out kill him kill him now the emperor is kind of a sleazy boyfriend [Laughter] and he's always oh and he's always looking to trade up for it he's looking to trade for a younger model he always is always is and so anakin slash vader he's trying to do away with the emperor and connect with luke and he's practically begging luke to join him so anakin really really wants connection even as vader even when he's killing people left and right like he still wants the same thing which is belonging we've seen borderline personalities or unstable or changing relationships so he's got this power struggle with obi-wan who he sees as a father and a mentor and then he hates his stinking guts within seconds right right and it just happens in one scene and that's the thing with with borderline personality disorder is mentors and people that they look up to you're either savior or devil right nobody understands me but you do right until you don't until you don't and then i hate you right right which he does with obi-wan and he later does with padme you're the only one who understands me you're the only one that i can really love and then the moment he thinks that she's with obi-wan he like force chokes her you brought him here to kill me [Music] i strongly suspect that you are loving this video because you've been watching it for several minutes and you haven't clicked away don't click away right now instead click subscribe like hit the bell that way you'll get notifications it helps us in the algorithm and we'll all be happier do it [Laughter] also when he tries to get padme and later luke to team up with against the emperor rule together as husband and wife her father and son either you and i can rule the galaxy we can rule the galaxy as father and son his relationships are unstable he latches on to whoever seems like a healthy attachment come with me anakin anywhere he's just leap frogging from person to person from his mom to qui-gon now those two weren't his fault obi-wan that's not working that well so i'm going to try try with padme right and then palpatine is grooming him the whole time and i do think there's actually a really good episode about palpatine oh yeah i'm groovy sometimes yes anakin come closer i have good news palpatine takes advantage of the fact that anakin's looking for he's looking for someone to accept him someone to praise him someone to see how great he is and everyone in his life is so critical and so it's just a perfect way for him to like plant these seeds i have said it many times you are the most gifted jedi i have ever met thank you your excellency i see you becoming the greatest of all jedi anakin and then later i think he sees luke as the best candidate right join me and we can rule the galaxy as father and son because he knows at this point i have a son who's still alive palpatine implied that i don't i believe this whole time that i'm alone and i now know that this person that i've attached to for 20 years has been lying to me and so he sees luke as this healthier attachment and this is what happens a lot with borderline personality disorder is you're on a pedestal or a hate liar [Music] no another criteria is unstable self-image or sense of self so sometimes he comes across as really arrogant and other times as really insecure especially in attack of the clones anytime he's around padme it's deeply insecure you're exactly the way i remember you and my dreams i need you to love me trust me i hated them so i killed them all but i need you to accept me anyway i know i'm better than this which she does which is a whole other episode it makes no sense whatsoever um so he goes from this extreme arrogance to i wasn't strong enough to save you mom i can do anything to i'm a loser right and this is this is indicative of borderline personality sword next is he's got this impulsive or self-damaging behavior we'll take him together you're going slowly on the left taking now no annika no no so in real life it looks like excessive spending on unsafe sex drug abuse you want to buy some death sticks dangerous risky behaviors in anakin like here he is during when they're driving through coruscant and he he's jumping out of cars without a parachute if you'll excuse me i hate it when he does that he's doing all sorts of stuff like he kisses padme even though he knows he's not supposed to once he's vader doesn't know that she wants him to yeah he's like well winging a prayer buddy and he's so reckless like when obi-wan says i've got the high ground and anakin's like i'm gonna rage jump you you underestimate my power oh no now i'm just now i'm just trying to piss you off doing a good job i can feel your anger what he doesn't show is suicidal behavior or self-harm that's true we don't see any of that um he's got mood swings like so so many examples of mood swings we could partially explain him i mean my theory was dark side rushes in and revenge of the sith and then rushes out and is replaced by a light in return of the jedi but it could also just be accounted for that he's gonna just beat mood swings filled evil today might take it down later so anakin's got real problems with anger and yeah control and violent outbursts take a look [Music] wow when you put it all together you really get the scope of it [Music] that's a lot hey if you're enjoying this video which of course you are there is an extended commercial-free director's cut on our membership site our low-cost membership site along with relationship courses that i have crafted especially for you to help you with your connections and family and romantic and friend relationships all sorts of cool stuff so check out the link below to learn more and then the last criteria that he meets is he's got stress-related paranoia right he believes the jedi are taking over he believes that padme's turned against him he believes that she's in cahoots with obi-wan which is insane it's just a is it though you've seen obi-wan right oh you mean i mean script-wise sure no if it was if it was you and mcgregor i'd be in cahoots with come on [Music] so uh can i blow your mind for a second please do okay i'm going to admit that i relate to anakin skywalker ew you i you that's that's an ooh for anakin not you for bpd people that's uh it's it's i hate sand that's how i really um i have have had you know relationships crumble and then i have pushed people away from relationships with me like as testing right yeah which is the thing that anakin does yeah and test boundaries will you truly stay because i can't feel safe about you in my life until i know you'll stay and so i kind of have to push you hard to see if you will yeah yeah that's exactly it and you know to the point where i i it was even beyond that it was just predicting okay you're gonna leave at some point so i'm just gonna push you away now uh you know if you can't take me at my worst you didn't deserve me at my best like every sassy southern woman wow so just put that in your eight-to-face and chug on it do you think it would look good with a pad one braid though oh no you would look phenomenal okay you would rock that terrible haircut what's been healing for you then or are you still in that place uh no what's been healing for me really is is having a very very strong um secure relationship with my wife yeah where i mean and to the point where i have because of my issues i have done some of the things where i've tested boundaries with her and i've you know caused a heartache for her and it's often not conscious it's not like i'm gonna test boundaries and see if they're gonna stay oh no it's it's definitely not yeah it's definitely not conscious but that has happened and it's my wife is a rock star she is she absolutely just in the most loving way possible just would not put up with my bull [Laughter] and knowing that like you know i choose you is like the ultimate for her yeah having that kind of relationship in my life it's hard to even have those feelings anymore yeah i mean i still do i you know i have imposter syndrome and i have worries that people are going to catch on to my crap but she believes in your goodness and that helps you to believe in it and it doesn't have to be a romantic relationship it doesn't have to be a spouse or partner i know there is good in you the emperor hasn't driven it from you fully but we can get that and if we don't have that in our lives i mean this is why so let's talk about treatment for a second treatment for anakin would be dbt group therapy dialectical behavioral therapy um i would do individual therapy but i also do group therapy dbt focuses on mindfulness it focuses on being aware of your emotions and not letting them control you because anakin has a real problem with that yeah he is not i mean it's something that yoda and the jedi are always talking about being in the present moment don't center on your anxieties everyone keep your concentration here and now where it belongs but master yoda said i should be mindful of the future but not at the expense of the moment an empire strikes back yoda talks with luke basically yoda's teaching luke dbt skills never his mind on where he was what he was doing and it's something one of the good things from the jedi that he could get is being in the present moment not being controlled by your anxieties not being controlled by your fears and and being able to take proactive steps in your life when it comes to okay i'm feeling this what should i do with it but anakin doesn't really possess that you need regular exercise which anakin especially as vader he gets quite a bit of exercise a lot of exercise [Music] and you need good rest you need meditation and then a thing that really really helps is catharsis is releasing your pent up hurt and anger in a healthy appropriate way like this no no not like that okay let's go over this again yeah catharsis is you don't hurt people so you need to release emotions in a way that isn't slaughtering a bunch of rebels okay it's like like this no no no okay i mean more like this see that's better he let his emotions out and he didn't even hurt me okay that's awesome but ultimately what helps anakin is what helped you yeah which is somebody just loving him unconditionally and tell me if your wife does this with you because luke shows up and he does something for anakin that anakin hasn't had since his mother which is somebody who loves him completely unconditionally but also draws boundaries i will not fight your father yeah no that's that's absolutely the same 100 unconditional love draws boundaries has you know expectations yeah all of that and believes that he can be better search your feelings father you can't do this i feel the conflict within you let go of your hate at the beginning of revenge of the sith for the first half an hour it's like oh my gosh he's in a good place this is where the fun begins we kind of like this guy yeah yeah this time we will do it together i was about to say that and then that goes south really fast what ends up happening with luke is luke shows up and anakin his whole life has just wanted to belong his whole life he's wanted people to respect him to admire him palpatine was right when he says you've been looking for a life of significance right obi-wan is too critical the jedi order teach him not to connect they teach him to love and have compassion but connection is forbidden don't have attachments and they're still banging this drum with luke and empire strikes back when ghost when ghost obi-wan and yoda are like you know they're like don't go after han and leia because you know those connections are going to lead to your destruction don't try and save them let them die basically and don't try and redeem your father you have to just kill him and stop him and luke basically doesn't listen and he says maybe he basically i mean the last jedi does a good job with this luke doesn't believe in the old jedi order and their ways yeah he's moved beyond it to something that's truer yeah which is that connection is healthy and when anakin finally has somebody who loves him unconditionally somebody who expects the best of him somebody who does draw clear boundaries and especially when anakin rages luke stays calm right right and that is essential with borderline personality disorder patients and friends and family is when they rage you stay calm because they're trying to test you whether they realize it or not they're trying to test you to see if you'll stay and when you are calm and you say that's not okay and you draw a clear boundary but you're calm and you love them unconditionally they can start to believe in it your thoughts betray you father i feel the good in you the conflict in anakin's case luke was willing to die for him if you will not be turned you will be destroyed at which point anakin really finally believes this is a connection that's not going to leave i'm not going to lose unless i don't do something unless if i don't do something i'm going to lose this connection right this connection yeah luke doesn't redeem anakin but he does open anakin up to redeem himself right which is ultimately what happens [Music] [Applause] we talked about this in our kylo ren episode uh i love that you opened this episode by saying you love star wars even though it hurts you you know i think i i think a lot of star wars fans we have things that we love and things that just drive us crazy and they drive us crazy because we love it because we want it to be great i want it to always be excellent and when it falls short it hurts you weren't there at the beginning you don't know how good it was how important this is it for you this jumped up firework display of a toy advert it does but the power of star wars through it all is that love redeems that connection heals that when we believe the best in people they can rise up to it yeah like luke says i am a jedi like my father before me he just blots out all of the darth vader-ness and just goes to anakin skywalker who was a jedi and he's willing to die for that belief yeah that's what does it and that's what brings anakin back when you're dealing with someone who has borderline personality disorder draw boundaries love them unconditionally be calm when they rage if you are struggling with borderline personality disorder you have my sympathies it's hell and you didn't ask for it and you're not choosing it but it's there how you work through it one you need support dbt therapy individual and group therapy finding people who will love you unconditionally i know is the greatest struggle but when people tell you they love you choose to believe them when people sh well please sometimes they could be manipulators so when people show you that they love you through consistent doing right by you you don't need to test them you just need to believe them and that is healing thank you jonathan yes i feel ever so slightly healed both of my anger about star wars the prequel films and uh the the borderline personality traits that i have had in my relationships thank you for saying that thanks thank you for being vulnerable so until next time i have the high ground you underestimate my power and watch movies i don't like sand coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere [Music] not like here hear everything soft and smooth

Channel: Cinema Therapy

Views: 163,696

Rating: 4.9693036 out of 5

Keywords: cinematherapy, cinema therapy, mental health, counseling, therapy, mental health therapy, Jonathan Decker, Alan Seawright

Id: a9liFjwDHbY

Length: 28min 46sec (1726 seconds)

Published: Tue May 04 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/wiltingrose1220]

I love this channel I've watched every single one and i love that he opens the video saying that almost everyone with bpd is a villian.

[u/wednesday-nights]

I have a bad feeling about this