Gisteron wrote: There is a huge difference between the original and prequel trilogy. There most certainly are contradictions if we take both as part of one single story. Therefore these are two different stories and we should treat them as such. For instance:
After execution of Order 66 in 19 BBY and following it the Raid on the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the few remaining Jedi survivors went to exile and were hiding from the newly established Galactic Empire up to the end of the Great Jedi Purge in 1 BBY.
Now, as we see A New Hope and meet Old Ben Kenobi with his robes, he looks decently hiding on Tatooine. Everyone wears robes there for they efficiently protect against sand in the wind which isn't a rarity on the desert planet.
I think hooded robes also represent poverty because its both an effective piece of clothing for people living without shelter in any environment, and also its dirt cheap to make.
Gisteron wrote: Now comes the prequel trilogy and tells us, that these robes are typical Jedi clothing. Therefore:
a) The justification through Tatooine's weather is useless, for Jedi wear their robes everywhere.
b) Old Ben Kenobi, despite being a respectible Jedi Knight is a retard, because he hides from the empire on the planet Lord Vader came from wearing typical Jedi clothing, because that's the best way to hide a Jedi identity in his opinion.
In a religious context poverty could be seen to represent a detachment from material and monetary attachment's, and perhaps it's much easier to help the poor when you have some understanding of their suffering. So it might just happen that hooded robes can blend in with the poor communities making it a perfect place to hide for a Jedi imo, and of course he was on Tatooine to protect Luke from being discovered by the Emperor and Vader.
I think a lot of the background changes between the two trilogies have to put down to things such as the spread of extensive poverty throughout the universe due to the Empire sucking wealth up, by its constant abuse of power to ensure authority. It also explains the simmering hatred of droids in the original trilogy because you can imagine droids took all the industrial and menial type jobs from the poorer segments of the community.
