I love how you can tell this guy is an actual Star Wars fan, in addition to being a psychiatrist - he clearly knows a lot about the entire opus, not just a small segment of clips that the producers might have shown him.
Are you guys serious? You can't be. This guy has watched Star Wars a maximum of once and was briefed by someone who actually knows what is happening in the SW community and the content
@@shaggycan man just broke down the communal psychology of space scrappers that dress like lollipop guild monks and you think he can't find 5 minutes of decent Han Solo lore to breakdown? Check out his analysis of psychopaths in pop culture where he literally did a breakdown of Anakin's entire character arc.
Agreed! It would be really interesting if he talked about the cast of Rebels: Ezra, Sabine, Kanan, Hera, Zeb and even Kallus. They're all centred on past traumas due to the war and how they help each other. Or about Padme and her belief of justice in a cruel galaxy.
Anakin/Vader is an incredible case to study. You first have fear, then anger on top of a broken personality brought on by loss. Then an almost assembled personality that is like a narcissistic scab over top of Anakin's shattered personality fragments.
He was VERY MUCH narcissistic during the 2nd entry and Clone Wars. Very Arrogant and "Why Not Me-Ish", victim mentality if not acknowledged or scolded by the Council.
The triumvirate at the head of the empire is basically the dark triad: Narcissism - Vader Machiavellianism - Palpatine Psychopathy - Tarkin (Palpatine also qualifies as a psychopath but his Machiavellianism is more prominent in the films)
@@TrapTech This is true. When Ahsoka tells him about her decision to leave the Council, he literally says "What about me?" He takes her disillusionment as an implication or insinuating that he somehow didn't do enough. Anakin cares about the people around him, but he still views everything through the lense of how those people relate to HIM. But he tries. Once he becomes Vader, he just feeds his worst impulses to the point where he can't even take someone talking out of turn.
I love how he explains that Ben felt during his childhood with his parents especially when he felt betrayed by his uncle. It's not totally explored in the film that's why a lot of SW fans just thinks he's a moody teen.
I've always characterized Kylo as an incel. And the psychiatrist's description of how kids internalize "badness" even without direct abuse/trauma, and how probably no one ever listened to Ben giving him any place to feel he belonged....well such a general explanation fits the making of an isolated young person (which for boys in a misogynistic culture) translates to an incel.
it's actually brilliant once you realize in the Obi Wan series, Vader is more quick to anger and aggression because he's still rather young and impatient. In the original trilogy, Vader is more calm and collected (and apparently narcissistic) because he's older and matured. Very smart how they portrayed him the show
god i’m so glad he talked about ben/kylo because so many people don’t know/forget why he turned to the dark side. it wasn’t just because he wanted to be like vader and stuff but han, luke and leia weren’t there to support and be the help (light) he needed to battle palpatine (darkness) in his mind since childhood. people just assume he’s an angry moody teenager who wants to destroy things but no, he was a neglected child who wanted attention and when he found it in snoke, was then taught the wrong way to express his emotions
Isn’t it obvious?!? How he will further the will of the emperor and the dark side of the force. That’s what’s going through his head. Probably revenge related.
I love this guy, he's got the whole thing going for him. He knows his craft, he knows the lore, and he can explain them all in a way that people can understand. If he had a show, I'd totally watch it.
This man is a truly skilled psychologist and a fan. He breaks down these themes and relationships in a transcendent and understandable way. Great video and content.
I can't wait for an Andor episode breakdown with him. Practically all the characters in there can have an in-depth explanation for trauma, aspirations and such.
I’m so glad they cover more than just the films and D+ shows. Having that deep delve into Asoka and focusing a lot on the Clone Wars stuff and even showing that is not only great for the psychological analysis (which is also great) but also great because it’s giving the animated media the respect it deserves. Far too often is animation seen by a more casual audience as “just for kids” or not taken seriously like live action stuff, so showing that these animated shows have just as much nuance and depth to their characters, and can tackle real emotions and the weight they hold is great.
For years I thought the clone wars show was just a dumb cartoon that meant nothing. As an adult, I discovered that George Lucas himself worked on the show and that its all cannon. I gave it a shot and couldnt believe how good it was.
I never thought about Anakin and Obi Wan's relationship that way. Qui Gon treated him like a son and Obi Wan having his paternal instincts kick in for Anakin. Builds on that tragedy.
Dr. Eric Bender is so awesome! He seems like a very understanding person. Someone who can actually practice trade and offer his services to help a patient in need.
As someone with BPD, I could always relate to alot of how Anakin felt in Clone Wars (Animated) and how he reacted. It is funny how he says he was a teen since durning revenge of the sith Anakin is in his late 20s (and diagnosable lol)
The thing about Luke looking like he was about to kill Ben is that Luke acted very briefly out of impulse. He saw a potential repeat of Vader and out of instinct, ignited his lightsaber... And then quickly regretted it. Luke, especially early on, was someone who has always been impulsive and who had a huge weight on his shoulders with trying to restore the Jedi and also dealing with the knowledge that his father was once a famous Jedi turned into a genocidal maniac. While he grew over the years, that still doesn't mean he can't have a moment of relapse and that's exactly what the moment was for him. The film makes it pretty clear that there's two different sides to the same story and Ben isn't a very reliable narrator. I really wish that was made clearer when Dr. Bender was going over Ben's trauma.
Impulsive to _save_ friends and family... Ben is, by definition, family. Ben, in that scene was in his late teen years... this means that nearly 20 years have passed since Return of the Jedi. Thus Luke would have _grown_ as a person. Grown the patience required to train others in the ways of the force. Thus his "I saw him turn into another Vadar, so I tried to kill him" is... absolute BS.
Dr Bender's force is strong with him as he understood these characters to a T, both psychologically and spiritually. He's one guy to hang out during his therapy sessions.
Cool and interesting video. Would be great to have more Star Wars characters analysed. Unfortunately I find the music a bit too loud and disturbing. Wanted to turn it down a couple of times 🤦
This might be one of the best "about star wars/inspired by star wars" presentations I've seen. I would REALLY LIKE to see a similar breakdown of the other characters.
To build further on Ben Solo/Kylo Ren, he grew up with a tremendous amount of expectation placed on his shoulders. He was the son of two legendary Rebel heroes, the nephew to a Jedi Master, destined to be the first of the next generation of great Jedi. Those expectations were such a heavy burden to place on young Ben's shoulders and he grew up feeling like a failure for not living up to these expectations. Combine this with the emotionally starved environment he grew up in, since his parents were spending their time either arguing with each other or focusing their attention elsewhere on their duties to the New Republic (Leia) or, in the case of Han, going back to his old scoundrel ways, and then Luke being less of a supportive uncle and more of a sterile Jedi Master (much like how the old Jedi order treated their younglings). What you get is an emotionally unstable Ben primed for manipulation by Palpatine via Snoke. This is why Kylo Ren described his younger self as "weak and foolish," why he has such contempt for Han as a coward who left and is an imposter hero, and why Kylo was fascinated with the idea of "killing the past" because under the old expectations thrust upon him, he feels he doesn't measure up, but by destroying those expectations, he believes himself to be free to decide what his future holds.
@@leylanagiyeva9061 Not at all. He is much more of bipolar personality swinging between childlike tantrums and being cool and detached enforcer absolutely in control. Mask he wears is very much emotional crutch he needs to ward off anxiety. He is definitely delusional as well. His family also had mental illness in it (grandpa had serious case of borderline personality disorder) so it is not unlikely either. Luke and Leia were more grounded in reality, but even Luke was prone to acting rashly.
I would also like to point out that Palpatine had access to Anakin since he was a child. There are comics where Palps literally takes Anakin to a bar and manipulates him into a distrust of other authority figures
I really love that Dr Bender is narrating this video not just as a therapist but as a Star Wars fan. Pity that Disney didn't care to have therapists as consultants to develop the sequel trilogy characters' personalities.
I want to thank the GQ video editor for making the static transitions between cuts louder than an exploding star, just to keep me on my toes - really appreciate it, thanks 👍
If Luke would have just loved him and guided him Kyle would have been very different. I wish they would do something similar to marvels what if and show us Ben with Luke loving and guiding him and kind of explore just how different things would be. One thing I find intriguing about the concept of Ben not falling to the dark side is that he is essentially a prodigy. I also just love Ben Solo he deserved more and I guess that is what fanfic is for and that’s all we get
I think it should also be pointed out that underneath Vader's narcissism is bottomless self-loathing over what he has become. It is brought up several times in various novels and comics. There is a particular comic I enjoy that has Vader fighting a Force projection of Darth Maul in an area much like the one on Degobah where Luke fought a projection of Vader. Maul tells Vader that he can't win because his hate is not as powerful, not as pure as Maul's. But Vader wins. Maul fades away screaming "how." Vader remarks it is because Maul will never hate anything as much as Vader hates himself.
Is anyone else shocked at how much mh stuff is in Star Wars? Also I had no idea cleptomaniacs felt guilt about steeling. Wow. I hope he does more Star Wars psychological videos
If he hasn't done it yet I want to see him look at Rick Sanchez and maybe some other Rick & Morty characters. Especially the scene at the therapist's office. Some of Beth how she worships Rick and tries to please him at near any cost. And maybe Jerry with the scene where Rick tells Jerry that he's "a predator". There's a lot to unpack in R&M.
I noticed the pancakes in season one beth uses syrup like rick does and . Morty also does summer follows her dad who has only butter but interesting ly when beth rejects Rick and embraces Jerry she changes to butter on pancakes I think
I would love to see him do a breakdown of Mistborn characters, both Era 1 and Era 2 XD I know it might not be popular enough for GQ, but it would be a blast to see him diagnose Kelsier, Vin, Wax, and Steris!
I love Dr Bender's analysis. He's clearly a fan of Star Wars not just someone watching it to do a break down like this. That said I want to know the truth Doctor do you have a blue box and if you do can I take it for a spin?
Id love to see dr eric analyze these same characters in the clone wars animated series theyre very different and much more interesting people in the show (imo)
i think it's interesting when he says darth vader feels like he's more important than he actually is but isn't darth vader really that important in the happenings of the galaxy?