Did the prequels change your way of seeing the Jedi?

Its reduced to that, and those reasons reduced in stature, because of the lackluster performance and dialogue. It's 'reduced' because a great portion of the audience didn't identify with it. Most accepted his close relationship with Palpy because of McDiarmind is awesome as Palpatine and elevates those scenes, but the audience couldn't really feel what Anakin feels because of the depiction, line delivery and wooden dialogue. Just because its there and somebody says it, doesn't mean the audience cares about it. The Clone Wars depiction, and the novelization - which included the scene where Palpatine alerts Anakin to what may happen to 'rebel' elements like Padme's push for peace - help the audience identify better - not to mention being pretty terrifying.

It's like not getting an explicit joke like: "Sorry, Princess, I don't have time for anything else". That was just a line to young kids, but to anybody who's been through puberty, it becomes a more funny line because they identify with it a bit more for....certain reasons lololol

 

It's hard to say the prequels changed my mind about the Jedi because we knew so little about them from the OT. But I think the way they were portrayed in the prequels was great. The arrogance, the lives of luxury they had in their Temple, the influence they held over the Senate, and the rock-solid certainty that they were right really did call to mind the Knights Templar of a thousand years ago. It made their fall inevitable, yet sympathetic because they were trying to be good. They became victims of their own institution, slaves to the bureaucracy, repressing their emotions, never questioning their own motives, and putting the Jedi Order above everything else.

The defining scene, for me, was when young Ani met the Council for the first time. They told him he could not be trained because he was afraid he would not get to see his mother again.

That's pretty sick.

A boy with no love for his mother was fine, but a boy who loves his mother is a red flag?

The cost to be a Jedi was just too high. No one should have to sacrifice their humanity to learn how to levitate rocks. But that's the price of admission. Come to think of it, that's kinda like a cult. Give up your doubts, your lives, everything you love, and dedicate your lives to us, and we'll give you mystical power in exchange.

 

I have to admit that when I saw TPM I was surprised by the desensitized nature of the Jedi. I had an idea of them being far more altruistic and not so black and white. It was very alarming that a boys fear at possibly never seeing his mother again was seen as a negative, although it was clearly stated that he was "too old" to begin training. Perhaps attachment to parents was an essential reason a youngling had to be identified as a candidate so young. As was already said, this was a period of peace for the Jedi. They got complacent, and the first Sith in a millennium was able to basically eradicate the entire Jedi Order. They had become so unaccustomed to true conflict, that they lost what made them so special and essential in the first place. I just wish we had gotten to see the Jedi about 500 years earlier than TPM. I think it would have resembled who they were, and who we thought they were in a more satisfying way. Just my two cents.

 

You know, the Jedi in the OT could be jerks, too.

Yoda: I'm not Yoda.
Yoda: Okay, I'm Yoda.
Yoda: I won't train you.
Yoda: Okay, I'll train you.
Yoda: A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge, never attack.
Yoda: Knowledge about your father or sister? Nah, let's teach you how to attack.
Yoda: Fear leads to the Dark Side. True, I didn't kill Palpatine the first time I tried so I ran and hid on this swamp for the next 25 years, but YOU must not be afraid.
Yoda: Jedi Knights don't seek revenge. Even though the Clone Wars have been over for decades I still want you to assassinate Vader. No revenge, though.
Yoda: Why didn't we tell you the truth about your father? Because then you wouldn't kill him, duh!

And don't get me started about Yoda mocking Luke when he couldn't get his ship out of the swamp. Little green bastard!

And why didn't Obi-Wan even try to save Vader when they met on the Death Star? Even some short speech like Max Von Sidow gave to Kylo Ren would have worked. But no, Obi-Wan drew his lightsaber and didn't even say "By the way, you have a son. I've protected him for years. If you come with me I'll introduce you to him."

The Sith and the Jedi each had their issues. The Sith had no compassion so they became slaves to their own lowest emotions. The Jedi had to suppress all their emotions so they became stunted and unloving. Each was unwilling to question their motives, examine their flaws, or consider how their methods appeared to outsiders. And each was determined to kill the other on sight. Theirs was a religious war that brought misery and destruction to the Galaxy, even though the vast majority of the Galaxy didn't have the Force-sensitivity to join either side.

The way the Jedi are portrayed in the prequels explains why they were so, um, blinded to the fact that the war was over and maybe we should think twice before we have this kid assassinate his own father without even knowing who he is.

 

They were. I finally came to this conclusion when Obi-Wan had insisted that Luke kill Anakin in "Return of the Jedi". Yoda's stubborn resistance to training Luke didn't help. Nor did their lies about Anakin's true identity.

It's interesting that the Jedi forbade attachments to the world outside of the Order. Yet, their way of dealing with attachments only led them to be attached to the Order and as "Revenge of the Sith" proved, in an unhealthy way.

 

This is a great post analyzing the Fall of the Jedi order during the prequels and the impact on Luke, the OT and the ST.

http://eleven-thirtyeight.com/2016/10/luke-skywalker-hero-who-ran-away/

 

Good find your highness.

 

Yes. The jedi didnt recognized a sith lord in their midst. Yoda ended up as a quitter. Obi wan didnt finish off anakin.both went into exile instead of hunting them siths down. Jedi are mostly useless.thats what i learned from PT.

 

And they didnt changed his name Skywalker to make it even easier for the siths to learn about him.Ben : oops.

 

Loon.funny word.harhar.

 

I heartily agree. This is why I have a low opinion of both organizations and their extremist views on the Force.

I could have sworn that the matter regarding Luke's name was up to Owen Lars. He was the one who raised his stepbrother's son.

 

a little bit

 

You mean . . . in your opinion? Right? You are stating an opinion. Right?

 

This is a great post regarding Qui-Gon Jinn:

http://eleven-thirtyeight.com/2016/12/in-praise-of-qui-gon-jinn-the-quiet-rebel/

 

"Why do I sense that we've just picked up another pathetic life form?" --Jedi talking

"Viceroy, I don't want this stunted slime in my sight again." --Sith talking

"The Jedi and the Sith are similar in almost every way." --Palpatine talking about blurred lines. Juicy.

 

I was pretty young when TPM came out (though I'd still seen the OT countless times before) so I actually didn't really catch how detached and neutral the Jedi really were, as opposed to being altruistic, humanitarian, and noble. In fact, having grown up with that mind set, it wasn't until relatively recently that I really caught on to how the prequel Jedi are way too political (and kind of jerks).

There were a lot of really un-Jedi like things that PT Jedi did:
- The desensitized slave talk, as referenced several times in this thread
- Acting as warriors. We see this even a little before the Clone Wars, on Naboo, but certainly their militaristic organization during the Clone Wars is disturbing.
- Mace Windu trying to take the law into his hands with Palpatine

I'm sure there are more, but I've really gone through a disillusionment with the Jedi recently. Knowing what we do of the Sequel trilogy, it almost seems as if the galaxy would be better off without the sith and the Jedi.