SP: Finally, in "The Darth Vader Interlude: Dads Who Rock and Those Who Kind of Suck Ass," Darth Vader is listed as your number one "suck-ass" dad. Considering Vader is my favorite Star Wars character of all time and was one of my first crushes (yes, I just admitted that), I have to ask you to go into more detail here. Yes, there was the hand-cutting-off part and the turning Luke over the to the Emperor part, but didn't Darth Vader sort of redeem himself in the end?
BT: I'm sort of stuck on the fact that you had a crush on him. And yes, his suck-assedness has nothing to do with his general awesomeness, or his redemption arc, which is nice. But Vader is most definitely an absentee dad, and not much of a listener, and if you can't at least manage those things, and then you cut your kid's arm off as well, well, that is sort of suck-ass indeed.
SP: In conjunction with the above question, if you had to write a how-to parenting guide for Vader, what would it contain? Any tips or tricks you'd offer him?
BT: Be present, it's sort of the number one rule. And when you're there, be there, listening, not plotting total world domination, or checking your texts, or whatever. Pay attention. Breathe. Which, while Vader sort of has the breathing thing down, it's not exactly in a calming way.
I should add here, that I once wrote a piece for Untoward Magazine about Darth Vader looking back on his life as an old man and questioning whether he could have been a better father. I'm not sure reading it will further answer your question, much less change your life, but if I can't hype it here, where can I?
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