Palpakin in the Archive
So the Fan Humor in the Archives event was today, which included two fabulous presentations and then mine, too. I'm posting the flyer for the presentation and the handout that I used, about which: it includes a summary for people who didn't know the story, a reading list for the academically minded, and a seriously restricted rec list for Palpakin authors, about which I should say that: a) the list is in no way comprehensive, but I tried to make it more or less representative of the lj vibe; b) you can never make everybody happy, so I didn't even try; and c) the problem with putting authors on a printed list is that that necessarily makes them look like "the definitive" when in fact, as far as I can tell, there is no such thing. Also, I welcome feedback, but please remember: hate leads to the dark side! :) Here is the flyer: 
"I'VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS." DARTH VADER GOES DOWN: STAR WARS FANS EXPLORE HUMOROUS READINGS OF ANAKIN SKYWALKER'S SEDUCTION
In Return of the Jedi, we are told that “Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.” (Of course, this is from Obi-Wan Kenobi, who also said that Vader had “betrayed and murdered” Anakin Skywalker, whereas it turns out that they are --whoops -- the same person, so his accuracy is open to question.) Lucas stuck to this metaphor for understanding Anakin’s fall to the dark side even after he decided to introduce the dying Padmé plot, for reasons best known to himself (much like the persistence of Jar Jar). So from the first time we meet Anakin (in movie chronology, not release chronology), our understanding of his fate is overlaid with a kind of sexually coded metaphor (seduction as a word having the associations that it does).
There’s not much seduction happening in Episodes I and II (in the first one, Anakin is way too young, and in the second, he’s busy chasing Senator Amidala around the galaxy in an attempt to produce something like sexual chemistry without actually doing anything sexual, which might offend censors/moviegoers/people who were expecting a shoot-’em-out instead of a love story). We see Palpatine (later the Emperor, in case you’ve forgotten) making ominously supportive noises to a lonely, frustrated Anakin, and that’s about the extent of it.
In Episode III, however, a PTSD Anakin is terrified that his secret wife (the elusive Padmé) is going to die in childbirth, due to a nightmare that he thinks is a vision and which fans have argued was induced by Palpatine (also known as Darth Sidious) in the first place. Distraught, Anakin turns to his friend Palpy. (Padmé thinks he should talk to Obi-Wan instead, apparently having forgotten that it was largely because of Obi-Wan that they had to get married in secret to begin with.) Palpatine then pulls out all the stops to lure Anakin in, promising friendship, “a life of conscience” (which, sadly, he couldn’t have with the Jedi), the ability to save Padmé, and anything else he can think of to throw at the young man.
This process finally begins to look something like a seduction, on several levels. Star Wars fans being an observant crowd, they didn’t miss the implications, and they’ve written a lot of fanfic about it, some dark (focusing on the use and abuse of Anakin Skywalker) and some not-so-dark (focusing on the wily machinations of double-dealing Palpatine, and gently mocking Anakin’s general obliviousness). Both types of stories arise from basically the same movie scenes. This is what we call the phenomenon of Palpakin.
FURTHER READING:
University of Alderaan:
Paul De Man, Semiology and Rhetoric can help you to understand how a single utterance or performance generates multiple meanings. In contrast to the example he uses, it should be noted that in Star Wars these meanings are not mutually exclusive.
Roland Barthes, Death of the Author proposes that the author does not control the meanings generated by his text. In other words, we don’t care what Lucas thinks.
Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality is a good place to turn when you’re struggling to get your mind around the ambiguous sexuality of characters in the the Galaxy Far, Far Away.
The Rebel Alliance:
LiveJournal seems to be the center of Palpakin activity, although there are a fair number of stories circulating on fanfiction.net as well. I’m sticking to livejournal links here because the most well-known of the ffn stories are actually produced by livejournal “personalities.” I am including myself even though I am not prolific, representative, or indeed qualified. You can find other, cooler places from my page. Plus, it's my presentation, so I feel like maybe I should confess to my extracurricular activities.
So there is Yours Truly, with a limited selection of Palpakin and an assortment of other dubious tinkerings with the Star Wars universe: http://wyncatastrophe.livejournal.com
Luminations rules the world of Palpakin. Find her on LiveJournal (http://luminations.livejournal.com/).
Ansketil-rose is another Palpakin great: http://ansketil-rose.livejournal.com/
But the true home of Palpakin on the web has got to to be this lj community: http://community.livejournal.com/unlimitedepower.
I make mention as well that one can simply search fanfiction.net for either character, or both, and see what turns up. Sometimes you find gems that way. And you can always contact me for more information, or to talk about Palpakin, at [my livejournal address].
"I'VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS." DARTH VADER GOES DOWN: STAR WARS FANS EXPLORE HUMOROUS READINGS OF ANAKIN SKYWALKER'S SEDUCTION
In Return of the Jedi, we are told that “Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.” (Of course, this is from Obi-Wan Kenobi, who also said that Vader had “betrayed and murdered” Anakin Skywalker, whereas it turns out that they are --whoops -- the same person, so his accuracy is open to question.) Lucas stuck to this metaphor for understanding Anakin’s fall to the dark side even after he decided to introduce the dying Padmé plot, for reasons best known to himself (much like the persistence of Jar Jar). So from the first time we meet Anakin (in movie chronology, not release chronology), our understanding of his fate is overlaid with a kind of sexually coded metaphor (seduction as a word having the associations that it does).
There’s not much seduction happening in Episodes I and II (in the first one, Anakin is way too young, and in the second, he’s busy chasing Senator Amidala around the galaxy in an attempt to produce something like sexual chemistry without actually doing anything sexual, which might offend censors/moviegoers/people who were expecting a shoot-’em-out instead of a love story). We see Palpatine (later the Emperor, in case you’ve forgotten) making ominously supportive noises to a lonely, frustrated Anakin, and that’s about the extent of it.
In Episode III, however, a PTSD Anakin is terrified that his secret wife (the elusive Padmé) is going to die in childbirth, due to a nightmare that he thinks is a vision and which fans have argued was induced by Palpatine (also known as Darth Sidious) in the first place. Distraught, Anakin turns to his friend Palpy. (Padmé thinks he should talk to Obi-Wan instead, apparently having forgotten that it was largely because of Obi-Wan that they had to get married in secret to begin with.) Palpatine then pulls out all the stops to lure Anakin in, promising friendship, “a life of conscience” (which, sadly, he couldn’t have with the Jedi), the ability to save Padmé, and anything else he can think of to throw at the young man.
This process finally begins to look something like a seduction, on several levels. Star Wars fans being an observant crowd, they didn’t miss the implications, and they’ve written a lot of fanfic about it, some dark (focusing on the use and abuse of Anakin Skywalker) and some not-so-dark (focusing on the wily machinations of double-dealing Palpatine, and gently mocking Anakin’s general obliviousness). Both types of stories arise from basically the same movie scenes. This is what we call the phenomenon of Palpakin.
FURTHER READING:
University of Alderaan:
Paul De Man, Semiology and Rhetoric can help you to understand how a single utterance or performance generates multiple meanings. In contrast to the example he uses, it should be noted that in Star Wars these meanings are not mutually exclusive.
Roland Barthes, Death of the Author proposes that the author does not control the meanings generated by his text. In other words, we don’t care what Lucas thinks.
Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality is a good place to turn when you’re struggling to get your mind around the ambiguous sexuality of characters in the the Galaxy Far, Far Away.
The Rebel Alliance:
LiveJournal seems to be the center of Palpakin activity, although there are a fair number of stories circulating on fanfiction.net as well. I’m sticking to livejournal links here because the most well-known of the ffn stories are actually produced by livejournal “personalities.” I am including myself even though I am not prolific, representative, or indeed qualified. You can find other, cooler places from my page. Plus, it's my presentation, so I feel like maybe I should confess to my extracurricular activities.
So there is Yours Truly, with a limited selection of Palpakin and an assortment of other dubious tinkerings with the Star Wars universe: http://wyncatastrophe.livejournal.com
Luminations rules the world of Palpakin. Find her on LiveJournal (http://luminations.livejournal.com/).
Ansketil-rose is another Palpakin great: http://ansketil-rose.livejournal.com/
But the true home of Palpakin on the web has got to to be this lj community: http://community.livejournal.com/unlimitedepower.
I make mention as well that one can simply search fanfiction.net for either character, or both, and see what turns up. Sometimes you find gems that way. And you can always contact me for more information, or to talk about Palpakin, at [my livejournal address].