Ben Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker: Friends or Frenemies?

In the OT Ben says Anakin was an old friend. Maybe the intent was to be disingenuous in those claims but I think not. In the OT one of the things that drew the fans into our heroes' tale was the bond of friendship.

Did anyone in the PT genuinely like each other? If they were supposed to, it certainly didnt show. Ben and Anakin had a tension between them. They are more cordial to each other than friendly. More like unwilling associates.

Yet they could not be pals in the "cop/buddy flick" sense either.

Its a delicate balance to strike when portraying friendship between Master and Apprentice. There needs to be a clear respect of boundaries and that was missing. Of course part of the reason is that the master was never depicted establishing his dominance. Resistance, followed by a struggle to establish dominance, followed by acceptance then a softening which eventually leads to a friendship born of respect. It's a built-in character arc. You can later create a rift in that relationship caused by betrayal and resentment and we might actually have reason to give a sh!t.

A director earns his keep when he elicits the intended response from the audience. In the PT we are pretty much told to take their friendship on face value. Then we're told to see the tragedy when it falls apart.

I am, indeed, just a keyboard jockey but its my 2 cents in a random thoughts thread.