New Views on Padme

[Kafer]

I'm slowly finishing the AotC novelization. And after several viewings of the movie, I believe my feelings on Padme has changed. I thought she was an innocent in all this. That hers is one of the great tragedies of the SW universe. That Poor Padme, falls in love with the wrong guy, and not knowing any better bears his children. Then realizes how evil he is and makes the difficult decision to leave him, seperate her twins and live in exile.

But, now, I see her as an.....well, an enabler. She knows that Jedi aren't supposed to fall in love. She knows that Anakin has a very wide dark streak in him. She knows that their relationship is wrong. She knows, at the very least, she shouldn't marry him. And yet she does.

I've just read in the book the scene in the Garage after Anakin brings back Shmi's body. In the movie I always thought Anakin didn't show much remorse and wondered why Padme didn't seem more reviled by Ani's confession of slaughtering an entire village. But in the book, Anakin does seem very remorsful and Padme seems to say, "That's all right, you're allowed."

Combining that with the scene on the refugee ship where she's probing him about Jedi relationships. She puts up a good front, but she just plays into Anakins' already weaked sense of what's right.

Now many of you know that I believe everything that Anakin does is of his own free will and he should be held responsible and not blame anyone but himself, but perhaps here, he had a nudge.

I'll be interested in seeing how Padme is portrayed in EPIII, but right now, she's got a lot of making up to do.

[Justin]

Interesting. I too thought it was odd that she accepted Anakin's massacre of the Sand People so easily.

In an issue of "Toyfare" magazine (greatest magazine on the planet), an episode of "Twisted Toyfare Theatre" (a feature where action figures are posed in situations telling really hilarious stories) has Padme saying:

"Who's that guy slaughtering all those women and children? God, that's hot!!!"

[Mann]

Well, they did kill Shmi, her friend and all...

Nat..uh...Padme can't help falling for Hay..uh...Anakin! He has this presence around her that is so manipultive that she loves him! She is willed be the force to love him. She knows she shouldn't, but he knows it to and is willing to disregard it. She realizes that she loved him, and he truly loved her back. The deleted family scenes will show you why she wanted him.

[catwmnjedi]

This may be another weird thing about her...

Did anyone else find her loyalty to try to help Obi-Wan a bit out of place for a normal politician? She insisted on helping him, even though Anakin wasn't going to. Is she that close to him after all those years? I realize he more or less saved her from Darth Maul, but sometimes I wonder if there isn't something more there on her part. Obi-Wan regards her as a politician not to be trusted, even though he's polite to her face.

And don't forget that in TPM she didn't appear to trust Palpatine either... even in AOTC she looks like she's annoyed when he feigns concern over her assassination attempt. Like she doesn't believe him. It's like she knows he's up to something, but she isn't telling the Jedi. Is her marriage to Anakin a way to protect herself from Palpy, keep her options open, if he makes a bolder play for power in the future... as she suspects? Just another wild thought I had. And I am very curious how she ends up with Bail Organa... after Anakin leaves her or before?

If Obi-Wan thinks she's not to be trusted.... then I don't trust her either! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif :angry:

[anakin n padme 4eva]

i dun tink she will tell the jedi if she felt someting about palpy becasue apparently...no one else did. also she got no proof that he's up to someting...she was probably hoping that she got da wrong feelin newayz

as for da part where she accepts anakin killing the raiders...i dun tink it's cause she accept or approves of his actions. i mean what else do you expect her to do? criticize the guy when he's already feeling so bad? style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/scratchchin.gif

[Luvinna.]

Did anyone else find her loyalty to try to help Obi-Wan a bit out of place for a normal politician? *She insisted on helping him, even though Anakin wasn't going to. *Is she that close to him after all those years? *I realize he more or less saved her from Darth Maul, but sometimes I wonder if there isn't something more there on her part. *Obi-Wan regards her as a politician not to be trusted, even though he's polite to her face.


I had always read Padme wanting to go help Obi-Wan as her giving Anakin an excuse to go. *

Anakin was feeling like a failure because he didn't arrive in time to save his mother. *He connects that back to the fact that he disobeyed his orders to stay on Naboo. *So, as much as he wants to go help Obi-Wan, he's going to obey his orders because of what happend when he didn't. *

Padme, some how, knows all this, so she gives him an excuse to disobey his orders. *"He gave you strict orders to protect me. *And I'm going to help Obi-Wan. *If you're going to protect me, you'll just have to come along."

i dun tink she will tell the jedi if she felt someting about palpy becasue apparently...no one else did. *

The next time you go watch AOTC, watch Yoda's face whenever Palpatine starts talking. *I think he knows something's up, he just doesn't know what. *It's almost like he's thinking, "Something's not right here."

[Jedi Princess]

Yeah but Anakin loved her from the day he saw her and I think that he pulled her to him rather then the way you stated it. It's not like a one man, or in this case women thing. They both knew it was wrong.

[Pepper]

Well, if the question of how/why Padme fell in love with Anakin ever gets answered, then it'll answer one of the questions I've had for quite a long time, and that is:

Why do women fall in love with bad men? *I don't mean men who wear tatoos, leather jackets, and earrings, but horrible evil men. *Especially when it's obvious that he's bad before you've become too involved with him. *(A guy wipes out an entire village yet she still decides to marry him. *Hmm. *If Ani can get a hot chick to love him, well, maybe there's hope for me after all. *Not that I've ever wiped out an entire village, but--never mind.)
style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif :look: *style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/inlove.gif

[Tovor]

Pepper, go outside and find an ant hill, then crush it and swoosh it around under your shoe. There...you have just wiped out an entire village. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif

[Senator Amory]

<span style='color:darkred'> LoL,

I love that ant-hill thing-a-ma-jigg! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

Anywho,

The deleted family seens with Padmé's sister Sola, and her neices Rayoo and Pooja and her mom and dad, it should give you alot of insight on Padmé and her forbidden love for Anakin.

And, like I said before, Padmé was sure she would not get involved with Anakin because she was a politician, and he a Jedi. Politicians were destined not to get married because they would have to juggle family life and political life. And from the experiances that she had seen, it never worked out for the politicians who did have family life. But she wanted a loving family of her own no matter what. And even Sola could see it in Padmé's eyes that taht is what she wanted, because of the way Padmé looked at her neices.

But, she finialy realized that all she ever wanted in the world was to loved, and be loved and have a loving family. And she had realized this when she and Anakin were to be executed in the Arena on Geonosis. And that is why she finally confessed to Anakin about her feelings. She at least wanted him to go, knowing that he was loved, if they were to die. But they lived, and shge could not hide her love any longer, so they married. And for some reason, as pointed out by another member of this site, I believe Obi-Wan probably knew of their marriage. Because in the movie, he seemed to be fixin' to say something at the end, before he stopped himself after mace asked him where his apprentice was.</span>

[Senator Amory]

<span style='color:darkblue'> And Cat, I love your thoughts on Palpatine. I have always wondered if Padmé was a bit of a Force sensative herself, and somehow used it to see that something about Palpatine was not right.

And, about Bail-Organa. Well, Padmé and Bail are very similar thinkinh politicians. They both tried to keep a war from happening, and both didn't like the fact that Palpatine had gained the Emergency Powers that he had.(I suspect Padmé felt that way, since she was a lover of democracy.) And thewy also both tried to keep the Republic from building an army. But it happened. And I feel that in Episode III, they are partners in peace to restore democracy back to the Republic, and that they try and have Palpatine give back his powers as promised. But he does not keep his promise. And then he begines his instates his Empire, and proclaims himself as Emperor. But, they stay with the now Imperial Senate, and she hides her new-born children, Leia with Organa, and Luke with the Lars, only to keep Palpatine from killing them. Becuase she, as Obi-Wan and Palpatine knew, if Anakin and she were to have any offspring, that they would be a threat to the Emperor.

Okay, I'm rambling now. I'll shut-up. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif</span>

[catwmnjedi]

<span style='color:#daa500'>OK, so do you think Bail feels sorry for her after all that happens and she becomes her "shoulder to cry on" or whatever and that's how they get together? *Will everyone actually think that Anakin died and not realize Vader is the same guy, so Padme assumes she's a widow and remarries? *Or what?

I know, I know, all this speculation does us no good right now... but 3 years is a darn eternity! *style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unhappy.gif

Funny... I felt that way at the end of ESB too, but that was more of a cliffhanger. *I even yelled at the screen for not telling me what happened to Han Solo! *style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blush.gif My parents thought I was nuts...</span>

[RedMirax]

For some reason, I've always had the impression that Bail and Luke and Leia's mom (who we now know as Padme) were just friends. I think she left Leia with him, because she knew she could trust him.

I think something happens to Padme, that's why the children were separated and left with other people. In RotJ, Leia says she only remembers feelings about her mom. And Luke remembers nothing....

[Seanakin]

That part of the "threat to the Emperor" thing had me thinking...and it made me theorize that the original prophesy pinpointed Padme as the one whose offspring would threaten whatever else Sidious had forseen.

Because otherwise I still can't figure out why Sid had the TF occupy Naboo and capture the Queen. Even Qui-Gon couldn't muster any logic behind the move.

As for Kafer's orginal point, any response I could offer would just be chock-full of my current opinion of women in general, and being a Mod, I really don't want to thereby be warned. So we'll just leave it in the realm of inference. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/y.gif

[Mann]

I think that Senator Amory is dead on with his reasons! Amidala wanted to be loved and so did Anakin. the time they spent together drew them closer and they realized the both wanted the same thing.

I think that Bail is too old for Amidala to marry. He's like twice her age! I think that becasue they are on the same commitee and have similar views, they are good firends. She trusts him to take care of her child. She wont marry him becasue she will always love Anakin.

[Kafer]

I understand that woman can do stupid things like. think they can change someone. "I know he's slaughtered an entire village, but I can change him." As a woman, I've done many a stupid thing in my life. As, I'm sure, most of you men. (You just won't admit it.)

I guess the part that jumped out at me, the part I'm having the biggest qualm with is, Padme is an intelligent woman. She knows the way of the world. She knows that Anakin is tettering on an edge (or she should know or she's freakin' blind) and she just sort of pushes him over. I'm not saying she pushes him to the dark side, just over the edge that he was tettering on for most of AotC. He so desperately (he says) wants to be a Jedi. However he disobeys orders and the such. I feel that Padme just sort of pushes him along into those decisions.

No wait, not push, but frees him to make the wrong decisions. Anakin obviously needs a strong moral center, with Obi-Wan not around he sort of clings to Padme to be that strength. She just steps aside and lets him do what he pleases.

Don't get me wrong. I believe Anakin is the only person responsible for Anakin.

This makes no sense. I know what I want to say, and can't get the words to come out right.

[Tovor]

I know what I want to say, and can't get the words to come out right.


Well duh...if you say it right we still can't hear you! You have to type it out so we can read it, not hear you say it! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif

[maddog62]

I am a NJ state Corrections Officer. You should see the smart and beautiful women that show up to visit these scum Inmates . Not jellous but confused.

[Mann]

And this relates to Padme how?

[maddog62]

Padme regarless of her political views is IN LOVE WITH A SCOUDRAL. She just happens to like the BAD BOY.

[Luminara Skye]

Originally posted by Senator Amory@Aug. 06 2002 - 13:0
And Cat, I love your thoughts on Palpatine. I have always wondered if Padmé was a bit of a Force sensative herself, and somehow used it to see that something about Palpatine was not right.

* * And, about Bail-Organa. Well, Padmé and Bail are very similar thinkinh politicians. They both tried to keep a war from happening, and both didn't like the fact that Palpatine had gained the Emergency Powers that he had.(I suspect Padmé felt that way, since she was a lover of democracy.) And thewy also both tried to keep the Republic from building an army. But it happened. And I feel that in Episode III, they are partners in peace to restore democracy back to the Republic, and that they try and have Palpatine give back his powers as promised. But he does not keep his promise. And then he begines his instates his Empire, and proclaims himself as Emperor. But, they stay with the now Imperial Senate, and she hides her new-born children, Leia with Organa, and Luke with the Lars, only to keep Palpatine from killing them. Becuase she, as Obi-Wan and Palpatine knew, if Anakin and she were to have any offspring, that they would be a threat to the Emperor.

* * Okay, I'm rambling now. I'll shut-up. <!--emo&:p
I agree totally! *I don't think Padme and Bail were ever married. *From I've always read Bail was never married and it was a known fact that Leia had been adopted. *I like to think he did it for his friend, Padme. *

Then you have Anakin & Padme falling in love. *He was quite persistant. *I know that when you are in love with someone none of their faults mean anything. *You can forgive them anything. *And later you may ask yourself, "was I crazy!?" *Probably at the time she rationalized his massacre of the Sand People as being OK. * ??? * But it's a two-way street, they are both equally responsible for their actions. *It will interesting to see how they hide their marriage and whether or not Anakin is still a Jedi in Ep III. * style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/scratchchin.gif

[Senator Amory]

<span style='color:blue'> What I still haven't figured out is how they are going to go about it in Episode II with Padmé being pregnate and have her children, and Anakin not know about. But he did fight as a pilot in the ClonWars, as said in Episode IV by Obi-Wan, so he might have been gone the whole time she was pregnate.

Just like a man. Knock a woman up and then leave. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif

PS: I live with all women, so I know who you species think. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hehe.gif</span>

[Meche]

Kafer: join the club. *I thought Amidala was supposed to be intelligent, but AotC does not portray her as such. *Having fun on dates and physical attraction, along with a desire to marry and have children, is not enough reason to actually marry someone, no matter how big any of these things are with her. *I remember she talked with her family, they noticed the attraction and Amidala wants a family, but so what. That hardly makes Anakin okay to marry. I certainly don't see why she acts the way she does around Anakin, just nudging him along.

I believe too that Anakin was responsible for himself, but Amidala was responsible for the way she acts too.

As for Bail Organa, I got the impression that he was married, and he and his wife were childless and adopted Leia.

As for what Amidala said to Anakin about Obi-Wan... uh, Obi-Wan did tell Ani to protect her, but he also gave strict orders to stay on Naboo! *Didn't he?

Lastly, I think Yoda thinks along the same lines as Obi-Wan does, "she's a politician, and they're not to be trusted." *Maybe he's right. *There appeared to be some manipulation involved.

[Kafer]

Okay, Meche comes closest to what I was trying to type (Is that better Tovor? :) )

I always thought Padme had a little Force in her. And I thought Bail was never married. He helps out his friend Padme, understanding, as he will, the full implications of her position.

Hmmmm. wait how about :scratchchin: How about this. Padme and Bail are good friends. She confides in him that she married Anakin, secretly. Bail, who has become friends with Obi during the Clone Wars, tells him of Padme's secret.

Anakin, fed by the enabler Padme, thinks he's better than Obi and disobeys him continually. Obi now knowing the truth confronts the young Padawan, Obi telling Ani that he is no longer a Jedi, he has been kicked out. Ani, takes the final step to the dark side and the big light saber duel between Master and Apprentice (version 1) takes place.

[Seanakin]

Which, if it could last nearly half an hour, would RULE.

[Obi-Stu]

Kafer, I like this idea, it makes scense.

I might be wrong, but in ROTJ doesn't Luke ask Leia to tell him about her "Real" mother?
???

[Rinc]

Yes Luke asks Leia:

"Leia... do you remember your mother? Your real mother? "

I've never thought about it before but maybe Leia knows shes been adopted. She might know that Bail and his wife adopted her after her mother died.

[Mann]

I Think that when she was old enoguh, Bail told Leia he had adopted her. Luke knows that he was adopted too.

[Kafer]

Wow....{Kafer thinks about a half hour lightsaber duel) style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/saber.gif

Thanks Obi-Stu

[Meche]

I watched AotC again on Saturday, and there's something I don't get.

Padme breaks the kiss and says, "I shouldn't have done that."
Anakin later says something like, "I'm haunted by the kiss you should never have given me."

Why does Amidala have to take all the responsibility? I mean what the hell? Is she accepting some double standard where the girl should watch herself but the boy being "unable to help it" is acceptable? I would think that they should both be equally responsible for themselves. As for what "you should never have given me", I was pretty sure that he leaned over and gave it to her. She simply accepted it. Maybe they forgot exactly how it went.
Darn, there was something else but I forgot... later.

[Angel Starmaster]

Well, as a author myself, I specialize in disassembling characters to ensure they work within a story. My own personal thoughts on the whole deal is that Padme see's Anikin as a protector.
* *Yeah, she's got the whole "okay, he slaughtered a village, but I can can change him...and besides, who's gonna miss one little village of sand people anyway?" deal going on, but when you discover that your significant other got into a car wreck, you think about them, not who they may have hurt. Such is the situation here.

As for Anikin, well, this is a kid that's so confused about who he is as a person he's constantly putting on airs and trying to prove that he's something he's not. You gotta wonder what would've happened had he trained under Yoda personally, or Mace Windu.

I'll bet you dollars to donuts that Padme is the one who lands Anikin in the lava or whatever causes him to need the nifty "Sith Suit".

I think I'm spelling his name wrong.

[Kafer]

Hmm... interesting. Well, we all know that women mature faster than men. So, out of the two, Padme should have been the more responsible. Anakin was all for throwing everything away just to be with her. She wasn't quite there. So, if they wouldn't have been put in harms way with a good chance of dying, she probably wouldn't have admitted her love for atleast a couple of months, if not years.

[Justin]

I don't think she really would have been in love with him at all, the way their "romance" went. *I thought Anakin's professions of love got kind of creepy.

[Meche]

Well, if Anakin is putting all the responsibility on her then he admitted he is too immature to be responsible for himself, and then I don't see how he can suggest that what he's feeling is real love and not just a crush.

[Kafer]

Right, but try to tell Anakin that. He thinks he's ahead of everyone. He doesn't see his immaturity. However, Padme should. But, apparently her immaturity is showing also.

[JediBendu]

mmm
at what point in the intervening 10 years did a crush become an obsession.

'Just being near her is intoxicating' - anakin, atoc

Why does Amidala have to take all the responsibility? I mean what the hell? Is she accepting some double standard where the girl should watch herself but the boy being "unable to help it" is acceptable?

This is a boy who's been sequestered away into a pretty hard core order. Granted sex isn't prohibited, but how many opportunities do you think Anakin had from 10?!? onwards through his teens. zip.

It's not Padme's fault but she shouldn't have continued it the way she wanted. :devil:

[Meche]

Doesn't matter. Any adult should be able to act responsibly, no matter how much or how little sex he has had, if any.
Of course, Anakin isn't exactly adult.

[maddog62]

Tell that to the MILLIONS and MILLIONS of sex offenders in todays society.

[Mann]

right on Maddog. Some adults don't know how to act responsibly.

[Angel Starmaster]

Yes, but you really can't compare Anakin to a sex offender. As of AotC he doesn't really even qualify very high on the juvanile delinquent list. Okay, he slaughtered a village of Sand people. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't they considered to be little more than a annoyance; a desert hazard? Do they have a representative in the galactic senate? Or are they any more sentient than an advanced bipedal colony of ants?

My point is, so far Anakin hasn't really done anything that would really be considered a crime by anybody's standard in that universe.(With perhaps the exception of the SW version of PETA or something.)

Of course by a Jedi's standard you could compare what he's done to stomping on an anthill. "Yeah, he took lives but they were just Sand People."

So comparing him to a sex offender really isn't all that fair. Padme could probably have cared less what he did to them. To her is was as though he'd walked in and announced that he'd just pulled the wings off a swarm of bees. :tears:

[Meche]

Okay... who decides what people are useless or more than an annoyance and whether it's okay to slaughter a village of them? To Anakin and the Lars family they may have been animals. But guess what, they're not animals, they are people, and yes they are more sentient than ants. They have tools, weapons, a language, pretty much anything. Trying to dehumanize (dealienize? desentientize?) them by calling them insects, saying they deserved it, or saying they don't have a rep in the senate doesn't change this fact. They are still people, and slaughtering them is simply wrong. Is it okay to slaughter a group if they aren't represented in the senate? I really don't understand that part. Sounds elitist.

Or look at it another way. You are a child and have a father and uncles who committed crimes, even though probably they are nice to you. Would it be okay for someone to come in and kill them, the rest of your family, and you too? You're an annoyance to the rest of society after all. He killed the women and children as well.

As for sex offender, he is comparable as far as being physically an adult but otherwise not acting responsible for himself.

Don't misunderstand me. Sand people are PEOPLE, not animals.

[Mann]

I agree with Meche, the sand people did harm the settlers, but they were still members of the living force and they had were living things that anakin slaughtered. This makes the impact of Lucas' story more incredible because it says that people kill animals needlessly.

[maddog62]

Comparing Tuscans to Animals; Just so you know Jefery Daumer started by killing small Animals. I do consider JD to be a sex offender also. (Anikin Serial Killer)