[Crazy Idea] How I would have improved the "love story" aspect of the prequels.

I would have handled the love story a little differently, as follows:

One of Anakin's big conflicts in AOTC would have been his eagerness to be given an assignment. He feels he is being unfairly passed over, especially given that he has a high opinion of himself and may be the Chosen One. Finally, he is given the assignment of protecting Padme, only instead of having him obses for 10 years, he would be focused on doing the best job he can for someone he remembers fondly but not as a sex object. She would be interested to see how Anakin has developed as a Jedi. Out of that, from the first moments, an attraction would slowly but steadily build; both would resist the attraction knowing it's bad for them; both succumb to stolen kisses yet they keep telling themselves it's wrong; finally, staring death in the face they kind of say, "oh, what the hell, we love each other, might as well give in seeing as how we are doomed." When they survive the arena, they decide it's a sign they were meant to be together and they marry secretly. I think if it had been done this way it would have seemed much more natural yet also provided plenty of conflict. It also would have given the actors more of a chance to develop sexual tension/chemistry.

Having said that, obviously that's only me; it's not my story. Plus, I did enjoy the love story as it was, especially in ROTS, where Anakin & Padme really did seem like a couple madly in love with each other.

 

Really, cause it worked well in the OT with Luke/Leia/Han Solo in ANH & ESB. Then he made them brother & sister......

 

Firstly, I don't think there was really a love triangle; in order for a love triangle to exist, one person has to be torn between two others, and I don't see Leia as being especially torn between Luke and Han. Secondly, just because something works in one set of movies doesn't mean it will work in another. Thirdly, it's still a cliché, and I'm still glad that Lucas didn't go that route with A/P.

Interesting suggestions. Myself, I think the love story could've been helped by one simple thing: leaving the family scenes in the movie. I particularly like the dinner scene, and the looks Anakin and Padmé give each other. Also the scene where she's unpacking. It's not romantic per se, but it shows their growing bond.

I agree that in ROTS they do seem more in love with each other, even though their dialogue is still corny. But it makes sense to me -- they've been married two years by then, but they seldom see each other because Anakin's off fighting the Clone Wars. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as the saying goes, so when they do get together, it is all the more exciting for them.

 

Oh, like rolling around in the grass, feeding her fruit and heavy breathing in front of a fireplace AREN'T clichés?

Worst thing about these scenes is that they don't go far enough to make them *effective* clichés. The meadow scene ends before the clench. The dinner scene lacks a meaningful stare or a Freudian slip from either one of them. The fireplace scene is just soooo poorly dialogued -- people dogpile on Christiansen's performance there, but honestly, there isn't an actor living or dead who could have done any better with "you are in my very soul, tormenting me." NOT ONE.

And, of course, there's the awful "I don't like sand" bit and the fact that it ends with the first kiss WAY too early in the game.

 

Zzzzzzzing!

 

The fact that their love is forbidden is exciting enough. It's perfect, IMO.



Forbidden love - it's not permitted
/LM

 

"Forbidden love" itself is cliched.

 

So?



/LM

 

I just find it interesting that so many are denouncing an idea to improve upon the love story by saying it's cliche, while upholding it as it is now, which is horribly cliche already. Defending a cliche by saying an improvement would be cliche.

 

Really, cause it worked well in the OT with Luke/Leia/Han Solo in ANH & ESB. Then he made them brother & sister......

To be fair, the love triangle only existed in ANH and the beginning of ESB, and was not a very strong plot point. When Luke and Leia parted, their paths were set. Also, since Han was potentially going to be written out of the story after ANH, his interest in Leia was really just to add a little tension.

 

Oh, yeah. That is interesting. Why bother bringing up the word "cliché" when pretty much everything these days is cliché? Saying that something is cliché, for example, is the biggest cliché of all



Discussing - it's so cliché
/LM

 

I hear ya. After all, I wasn't the one to introduce...that word...into the discussion, just making an observation.

 

Of course! I wasn't aiming that at you, Loco(hope you didn't think that)
It's an interesting word, though....



Words - they are... you know
/LM

 

Don't worry about it.

 

I think such people - quite rightly, in my mind - are averse to the idea of a love triangle and responding in kind because it would, in some senses, have been an easier way to elicit drama. While a love triangle isn't in and of itself a "cliche", it's a much more obvious way to go for creating tension and conflict - and that Lucas didn't take that path ultimately means he had to invest fully in Anakin and Padme. A positive upshot of this decision is that it gives the Anakin/Padme romance a chance to breathe; it is its own thing, the audience is not distracted by needless embellishment and it exists as a unique example of two people coming together through love in the prequel trilogy. Of course, Lucas rolled out practically every cliche in the book for Anakin and Padme's romance itself, but unlike a needlessly foppish love triangle, it actually enriches the picture and gives it the timeless feel of a 19th century novel. In terms of OT Star Wars, it's antithetical, but in terms of PT Star Wars, it feels ideal for "a more civilised age".

 

Quite the contrary. The "Forbidden Love" angle served as an embellishment and distraction, it at times seemed to overpower their story entirely. Their romance became not about each other, but on why they couldn't have each other, and if we're talking about doing away with cliches that interfere with the telling of the story, the way it was told is as much of an offender as anything that's suggested. The biggest way to build tension in a romance is to somehow make it forbidden. It's more obvious than any triangle, and it's a much bigger distraction, not just for the characters, but for the audience. If their story needed to breathe, then the way George wrote it only suffocated it by adding a needless detail instead of just letting it be.

 

How on earth is building into their romance the idea that it is forbidden "a needless detail"? It's at the CORE of the story and makes whatever feelings they do have tragic and fated.

At the end of the day, anything and everything is a cliche if one chooses to see things that way. As Tyranus_the_Hutt is fond of saying, subject matter is inherently neutral and it is up to the filmmaker(s) to either keep it neutral or impart a particular style or tone to it. Now, as I've already said, Lucas DID use familiar tropes or "cliches" to bring Anakin and Padme's romance to life, but as stagey and contrived as they were, they gave the romance a larger than life feel and enriched the texture of the film. The charge that the love itself, being forbidden, is cliched, is harder to deal with - I dare say that all romances, particularly those in literature, are inherently predictable to some extent because many people have walked the same paths over and over. Forbidden or not forbidden. Triangle or no triangle. There are only so many options, at the most fundamental of levels, one can choose from. Again... That Anakin and Padme's love was "forbidden" is essential to the tone of the story (which has implications well beyond a single film) and a triangle would have been rather extraneous to that end. I hate to draw lines in the sand, but the diametric opposition to this aspect of the prequel trilogy leaves me with only one conclusion: either you're a PT lover or a PT hater. It is obvious which of the two badges we individually fit.

 

Simple, because if their relationship needed to "breathe" and a triangle were to be a contrived means of building tension and conflict, how is "forbidden love" any different? As it is, their love can't breathe because it has to be secretive and hidden, so they're not able to explore their avenues. It distracts the audience because we're dwelling on how they can't be together instead of being able to watch them be together, letting them breathe, and being able to blossom. What you've described and attributed to Lucas' writing isn't what's on screen because they can't be Anakin and Padme, they're the Jedi and the Senator, and as we're watching them, we know they can't be together, but will. We're focusing on the circumstances instead of the relationship. There's war on the horizon, a hit on her head, and the call of duty for the Republic, and ADDED to that the notion of forbidden love? Many are turning down the triangle because it's a needless addition, would be a distraction, and add conflict, but that's what we got anyway. If they end up together in the end and Anakin still turns to the Dark Side, what's the point of making it forbidden? He's still going to be a possessive psychopath, that seed was planted with the death of his mother. All it does is complicate a situation that some people say shouldn't be complicated.

 

Forbidden love is the perfect tool for making the story of ROTS more intriguing. Since their love is forbidden, they have to keep it secret, which means that Anakin can't turn to the Jedi for help when he has his visions of Padmé dying in childbirth. He doesn't even tell Palpatine about it.
If their love wasn't forbidden, Anakin could still turn to the dark side and it would probably work quite well, but it's just so much more exciting the way it is.
I'm not saying I would complain if there was no forbidden love in the story. I would probably love the PT all the same. I just think it gives great tension to the drama, because it leaves Anakin alone with his choices. That's partially the reason for his inner conflict. He can't confide in his allies and that makes him resent them more than he would like to.



Tools - they're helpful
/LM

 

But he does seek their advice. Even if his love were out in the open, would Yoda's advice been any different? He turned because he wasn't satisfied with what he was getting from the Jedi, they didn't provide him with the power to cheat death, just talk on coping with it as a part of life. He wasn't told what he wanted to hear, and it would have stayed that way if there were no forbidden love angle.

 

I know that. However, would the scene with Yoda have been as tense if Anakin had been allowed to be married to Padmé? Would there be as much tension between Anakin and the Jedi on the whole? I don't think so.



Tension is good
/LM

 

I don't see why not. In Anakin's mind, the clock is still ticking for Padme, where the birth of his children means the death of his wife. The tension comes from his impatience with the Jedi and their seemingly callous indifference to death. The secret is pretty much an after thought at this point since the urgency is what influences his decisions.

 

The forbidden love still brings more tension to the drama.



Love - it's tense
/LM

 

I dunno, one could say it was more of a distraction during AOTC, and almost forgotten about in ROTS.

 

A distraction? Well, to each his own, I guess.
I'm perfectly happy with how things turned out.



Happiness - I have it
/LM