Owen and Beru in ANH

Am I the only one that didn't hate Owen? People largely seem to have a dislike of him. I know he tried to keep Luke down on the farm, but what else did he do wrong?

I think Owen did a really good job of keeping Luke out of trouble, like how he wanted to join the Academy, mind you this is the newly IMPERIALIZED Academy, and I'm sure someone registering under the name SKYWALKER would have raised a few flags.

I'd say Owen and Beru did a good job with Luke overall. They gave him the family that Anakin lacked, and more effectively taught him some self discipline than Obi-Wan did for Anakin. It seems to me they're a big part of why Luke didn't end up like his father.

That said, Owen clearly thought in small terms, as you say trying 'to keep Luke down on the farm.' That was a doomed effort, considering Luke's personality.

I don't hate him either. But many would say that Owen wouldn't tell Luke the truth about his father and keep him from seeing his true destiny.

Well, he did keep the truth from Luke and he did lie to Luke. But so did Obi-Wan, and people don't hate him. (Personally though, I have a dislike for OW in the OT and in TPM, and though he's a little better in AOTC he's a horrible mentor).

And I guess what I mean is that people seem to think he didn't love Luke. And that Luke didn't think of Owen and Beru as his parents. This seems way off base to me.

See it seems to me that Owen lied to Luke more for Luke's sake, and Obi-Wan lied to him more so he could get Luke to do what he wanted. Now certainly it's not tht clear-cut. Obviously, Owen's lies had the added purpose of keeping Luke on the farm. But I think he wanted to keep Luke safe and away from the darkside. I don't agree with his actions; you can't protect kids forever. But I understand how he could be so afraid for Luke. Also, I must note, as someone else did earlier, that Luke wanted to join the Imperial academy and that could have (feasibly) attracted Vader's attention. And that probably didn't seem like a very good idea.

Now I think my opinion is differnt than some because I sat and watched all three movies back-to-back when I first saw them. So they're a unit to me. (BTW, my father walked by the screen when I was watching and commented that Vader was Luke's father (which I already knew) but he then he said 'and Princess Leia's his sister, right?' and spoiled that little surprise.) I didn't have time to think about what Owen said until after ROTJ went off. So I didn't have three years of thinking Owen was completely unreasonable in not wanting Luke to be a hero.

and he didnt recognise a droid he knew 20 years erlier that had been owend by his step mum. that had been given a new shiney coat of paint and never told him his name. SO Owen must be an incompetant moron

Exactly. He just tried to protect his stepbrother's kid, and I can't really blame him for not trusting Obi-Wan. To Owen, that was the guy who took away Shmi's little kid so that they could never really talk to each other again before it was too late. He's a good man, that Owen Lars.

You're forgetting when he invaded Poland... no, wait...

Too bad his wife went batshit and killed him with a thermal detonator, I feel sorry for the officers on the scene.