anakin's lack of father

[Enforcer Talen]

reasons?

the one in the movie is that the force did it. my own thought it that otto (watto?) gave the chick a few tranquilizers, and got a few credits by selling her to some near humans, a la psicorp of b5.

[SPOOFE]

Doesn't matter, really. Coulda been anything from artificial insemination to Ol' George wanting to stick it to Christians ("Take THAT, Virgin Mary!").

Although if I were Qui-Gon, I would have asked her to submit to a medical examination to see if her hymen were, in fact, intact.

[SirNitram]

It's Star Wars, it's fantasy. Don't search for logical answers concerning the Force, or you'll wonder why Yoda wasn't forced into the ground by lifting the X-wing.

[Crazy_Vasey]

Although if I were Qui-Gon, I would have asked her to submit to a medical examination to see if her hymen were, in fact, intact.

That would prove what? I very much doubt the hymen would still be intact after giving birth anyway.

[Master of Ossus]

Doesn't matter, really. Coulda been anything from artificial insemination to Ol' George wanting to stick it to Christians ("Take THAT, Virgin Mary!").

Although if I were Qui-Gon, I would have asked her to submit to a medical examination to see if her hymen were, in fact, intact.

Your theory is by far the best, symbollically. It also explains why Anakin was crucified in Episode II along with two others, and ironically connects Tatooine with the garden of Gethsemine.

[Durandal]

It's Star Wars, it's fantasy. Don't search for logical answers concerning the Force, or you'll wonder why Yoda wasn't forced into the ground by lifting the X-wing.

I can just imagine.

LUKE: I don't ... I don't believe it!
YODA: A price there is.
LUKE: What?
YODA: Conserved, momentum must be.
[LUKE gets crushed flat]
YODA laughs.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

She was at a bar, and a prankster put midi-chlorians in her beer.

[Enforcer Talen]

well, the force is used to talk to people at long distance, as well as a bit of telekinesis - I dont think of it as impregnator-deluxe. . .

[Master of Ossus]

Anakin is still meant to be a Christ figure. Note the craftsmanship of his life story. Note that he is "resurrected" in Episode VI. Note that he is crucified (with two other people) and was born without a father. Clearly he is meant to be a messiah. The prophecy was correct.

[omegaLancer]

Doesn't matter, really. Coulda been anything from artificial insemination to Ol' George wanting to stick it to Christians ("Take THAT, Virgin Mary!").

Although if I were Qui-Gon, I would have asked her to submit to a medical examination to see if her hymen were, in fact, intact.

I kind of doubt it if she deliver Anakin in th normal way, but if she had a C section than it possible for her Hymen may still have been intact...

[Aaron2]

First of all, Shmi never said she was a virgin, only that she didn' t know who the father was.

Secondly, Lucas made Annakin's father unknown so that in EPIII, Palpatine can reveal himself to be Vader's father. (you just watch!)

Making Shmi not remember the intimate encounter is trivial to one as powerful as Sidious. Heck, maybe this is the general way that Jedi procreate under the "thou shalt not marry" restrictions. That would explain why Qui-Gon isn't shocked by Shmi's story. It also may be why he made Obi-Wan wait in the car.


Aaron

[Durandal]

Where was Anakin "crucified"?

[Master of Ossus]

Anakin was "crucified" in the Arena on Geonosis. Note that he was the central of three people who were crucified along with him. BTW, we MIGHT have already seen his death/resurrection when Dooku Force-lightninged him, or we can interpret that as being all of Episodes III-VI. OR we can interpret that as being when he is transformed into Vader in Episode III, and his resurection being part of that movie. I think that when he turns into Vader, he dies, though, and when he is redeemed he is resurrected. That would make more sense, in the grand scheme of things. I'll have to see how Episode III plays out, though, to see for sure.

[SPOOFE]

First of all, Shmi never said she was a virgin, only that she didn' t know who the father was.

Ah, so Shmi was simply a slut.

Remember, they called it a "virgence" in the Force (whatever the hell that means).

[Durandal]

Anakin was "crucified" in the Arena on Geonosis. Note that he was the central of three people who were crucified along with him. BTW, we MIGHT have already seen his death/resurrection when Dooku Force-lightninged him, or we can interpret that as being all of Episodes III-VI. OR we can interpret that as being when he is transformed into Vader in Episode III, and his resurection being part of that movie. I think that when he turns into Vader, he dies, though, and when he is redeemed he is resurrected. That would make more sense, in the grand scheme of things. I'll have to see how Episode III plays out, though, to see for sure.

Forgive me, but I don't remember the part in the Bible where Jesus saves himself and the apostles appear out of nowhere with lightsabers and kill all the Roman guardsmen. :)

[John]

Or Shmi may have simply wanted to 'forget' the man who raped her and deny him any role in her son's birth. As has been seen, SW charcaters DO lie. AAAnd even when they tell the Truth, it depends on their POV.

[Master of Ossus]

Or.... She might have been telling the truth. Qui Gon should have been able to sense it if she was lying. From a symbollic POV, it makes sense that he was conceived by the midi-chlorians.

BTW, John, change your goddamn name! We've had enough problems with people who use that name.

[John]

Or, Guin Gon might have influenced her, unconsciously. He knew of a prophecy, that involved a 'virgin birth'. So why couldn't he have transmitted that to Shmi?

[Master of Ossus]

Usually the transmission of thoughts or emotions requires either a conscious effort on the part of a Jedi, or a considerably emotional bond with a person and sometimes both. It is unlikely that either of these were the case (ref. Children of the Jedi, Vision of the Future, Lightsabers), but it is possible.

BTW, Anakin is clearly the one who the prophecy refers to.

[SPOOFE]

Qui Gon should have been able to sense it if she was lying.

But what if she truly believed that she didn't know who the father was? In that case, we'd just have to assume that Shmi's got mental problems.

[John]

[quoteBTW, John, change your goddamn name! We've had enough problems with people who use that name.[/quote]
I can't change my name now. Mike would think I was trying to hide, and would accuse me of being a coward unwilling to face him in open debate.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

Then ask him for pewrmission to change your name!

How would Palpatine and Shmi screwing fit into the plot?

[Master of Ossus]

[quoteBTW, John, change your goddamn name! We've had enough problems with people who use that name.

I can't change my name now. Mike would think I was trying to hide, and would accuse me of being a coward unwilling to face him in open debate.[/quote]

Just mail him and tell him that you want to change your name to rid yourself of the association of John Clark. I'm pretty sure he would let you change your name for that. He should.

[SirNitram]

Anakin was "crucified" in the Arena on Geonosis. Note that he was the central of three people who were crucified along with him. BTW, we MIGHT have already seen his death/resurrection when Dooku Force-lightninged him, or we can interpret that as being all of Episodes III-VI. OR we can interpret that as being when he is transformed into Vader in Episode III, and his resurection being part of that movie. I think that when he turns into Vader, he dies, though, and when he is redeemed he is resurrected. That would make more sense, in the grand scheme of things. I'll have to see how Episode III plays out, though, to see for sure.

Forgive me, but I don't remember the part in the Bible where Jesus saves himself and the apostles appear out of nowhere with lightsabers and kill all the Roman guardsmen.

Having that one scene would make Christianity far, far more interesting.

[Robert Treder]

Having that one scene would make Christianity far, far more interesting.

Hell yeah.

And I think that they'll leave Anakin's paternity test where they left it. Revealing the father to be someone familiar would be interesting, but it would be too much of a stretch to draw a connection between the Emperor and Shmi.
Besides, the Jesus symbolism is there. While we know that Christianity is crap as literal truth and as a how-to for living, as mythology, there's a lot of interesting stuff there. I normally won't touch anything from a religion with a 27.3 foot pole, but I feel this is one of the cases wherein we would be depriving ourselves of symbolic meaning if we neglect to consider the mythological parallels in question.

Note: This is literary analysis, not technical analysis. It is somewhat off-topic for this crowd, but it came up, so whatever.
So, we have a birth myth (like many other great literary heroes, e.g. Jesus, Moses, the entire Roman Empire [Romulus & Remus], etc.), in this case, a Christ-like virgin birth.
The babe lays in the decrepit manger (Tatooine), where royal wise men (the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi) find him. They bring gifts (freedom, knowledge).
Then there's a fuzzy period, as with Jesus, wherein important things happen, like maturation, but they're not depicted, presumably because they're not essential to the later story, and anything essential that they do contain can be inferred from the later story.
Now Anakin needs to physically and spiritually lead a revolt against standing rule. Then, to complete the Jesus myth, he must be betrayed and executed for this revolt. This process has begun, but not been completed. There was some crucifixion imagery in AOTC, but I don't think it's an analogue of the final crucifixion. It's more of a prelude, or a variation on a theme. As was pointed out, he escaped, which makes it sort of anticlimactic as far as being analogous to the crucifixion.
In EIII, he will lead the revolt against standing rule (Jedi pogrom), and he will be betrayed and executed for this (Obi-Wan defeats him in single combat and "kills" him). The "dead" Anakin (Vader) will have to journey through the afterlife until resurrection (ROTJ).
In these later stages, the Christ parallels become more abstract. Of course, Star Wars isn't simply a transliteration of the Bible (thank goodness), and there are many other themes going on at the same time (most notably the Emperor and his machinations), as well as other stories being parallelled. Therefore, some of the Christ parallels become skewed. In SW, Anakin even has a son who is also something of a Christ-figure (Luke fights and sacrifices to redeem his father [Jesus fought and sacrificed to redeem humanity]).
As for a second coming, an interesting idea is that Luke's re-establishment of the Jedi Order (the literal return of the Jedi) is Anakin's symbolic second coming.

Another interesting parallel I just realized is that Jar Jar has gone and done a Judas-like act...Binks, an ally of Anakin, helps to bring about Anakin's execution (crucifixion/Vader transformation) by convincing the Senate to give the Chancellor emergency powers.

[/meandering literary analysis]