All About Padme

I think Padme is a wannabe Leia. She tries to be spunky and a 'fighter', but crashes and burns. Partly because of Portman, and partly because the character was lamo from step one.

 

I think Padme's character has potential. I don't think she's a wannabe Leia! She could have easily been a rehash of Leia - the tough, spunky, sarcastic female seen in a lot of action movies. Thankfully, she has a distinct character and doesn't really fit the bill of those descriptions. She's dedicated, willing to put others first, and therefore neglects herself. She isn't very emotional, while she is obviously kind, but she has that cold, politician front that comes down with Anakin. I think the point of AotC was that she was finally getting a chance to do something for herself, and get a chance to have a family and to be herself. Unfortunately, this all goes wrong and she ends up losing her family, her life's work, her government, and eventually her life. Pretty tragic, but not if we understand her character and how it really *is* tragic for her.

Like someone else mentioned in a great post, a lot of her character development was cut out of the films. This is a shame, because it would help the saga a lot if we cared about Padme more.

The acting is so-so, I can't decide where I stand on it. I also love her voice. And of course Portman is gorgeous, but I agree, it's a delicate, feminine beauty - making her action scenes somewhat awkward. She doesn't seem to fit the mold of a fighter. Although, this might just be the acting, because Portman was supposedly great in Léon, she carried a gun and had the badass attitude and pulled it off.

 

Padme is not a Leia wanna be she is Leia's mother. So I guess you call your mom or dad your wanna be.

 

"How come Leia didn't mourn greatly for the explosion of Alderaan?It's her own planet!"

Hardly an appropriate analogy. Unlike Padme, Leia had no recourse to save the people of Alderaan.

This is apples and oranges.

 

I have always questioned the character of Padme since AotC. I cannot understand why one of the galaxies greatest and most honorable senators would look the other way when Anakin murdered a whole tribe of Tuskens, granted they are nothing more than tribal killers, but still she said nothing. Where is the justice? The Republic must be proud.

 

This is Anakin she was dealing with. She cared too much for Ani at that point. She felt like he needed her, and she knew he wasn't just some cold-blooded killer. If it were anyone else I doubt she would have turned a blind eye like that.

 

Still, they have a point. Amidala is so 'politically correct' that she really should have broken up with him there and then.

 

I wouldn't even say that. She is more "morally correct", which would be an even greater reason to break up with Anakin.

It just goes to prove..

"Love is blind, but the neighbors ain't,"
"So don't make love by the garden gate."

 

I think Padme is a basis for Leia, Leia takes it on a step, if we had seen the saga from Epi 1 through 6 we could see where Leia got her spunk. I think Leia is better, she interacts with the men more and proves herself more, since she was the only leading female character with a bunch of men she had to prove she was just as good while Padme doesn't need to prove her worth.

 

In episode 3 we better get a padme that is like Linda in Death of a Salesman.

 

Do you think Padme has been successfully portrayed in the movie as well as through merhcandise?

Kind of wonder what is the point of Padme.
She is the mother of Luke and Leia, but she could have been introduced in ep. III for that purpose. I mean, as a potential mom, I gusse she seems compationate (not withstanding not helping Shmi). If we were talking about a character from a book or play -like Scarlette O'Hara or Nora from A doll House, and established character, then that is one thing. But PT, we didn't know what we would get. Either a girl Anakin left behind on Tatooine or a fellow Jedi or whatever.

If you mean "is she likeable", then wouldn't know what to say. Like someone pointed out, she did nothing for Shmi. She didn't seem to like Jar Jar, who is part of a society the land people on Naboo did not communicate with (though honestly, no one in the film seemed to like Jar Jar). But she was willing to take risks, she cared for her people, she was making the best of a situation (even with threats against her life, she wanted peace)

About the merchandise, for ep II the only merchandise I noticed was Padme in her arena get-up. Kind of like the merchandisers want to focus on the "action" Padme. But unless you like dolls, I don't see much merchandising potentials for either Padme or Leia.


Do you think Padme has had less of an impact of female fans than Leia?

When Star Wars came out I was 5. Playing with boys, I would play Leia while they played the male characters. and Leia is tough, but able to fall for a scondral. I was 29 when Ep. I came out. I wasn't thinking of how I would like to play Padme. Leia was 18-20 when we first saw her, and already an adult, while Padme was just a mature adolescent. So I imagine adults would identify more with Leia then with Padme.