Saga Anakin/Padme romance vs. Han/Leia romance

I had this idea after internally debating what exactly Anakin was wearing after the scene where he has a nightmare of his mother

It's obvious that these two romances are VERY different in style and origin, but I have my reasons for adoring them both

You may have seen the thread about addressing the "Anakin is a stalker" nonsense. That sort of ties into this, and you'll see when we get there

Anakin and Padme have a love story that plays out like a Shakespearian tragedy - in fact, it pretty much is one. Their romantic interactions thus consist of poetic purple prose that oftentimes have to be searched for deeper meaning. I love Anakin's dialogue in the fireplace scene. It reminds me of myself, in a way. It's like he had been rehearsing that speech for days or even weeks, thinking of ways he could say it with enough passion for Padme to realize what she truly means to him. But when that doesn't work and she asks to drop the topic, he respects that wish

Han and Leia have a love story that's more.... well, I don't mean to stereotype, but "macho manly" styled in a modern sense. Han is clearly the one in control to the point where it almost seems like he seduces Leia in the Falcon in the asteroid. Personally, I don't understand why people call Anakin a stalker for more or less forwardly confessing his love while praising Han for saying "You want me and I'm right," but whatever. However, this is an equally valid relationship in my opinion in an entirely different way. It's more.... modern, I suppose, rather than the Shakespearian tone of the relationship between Anakin and Padme. Han's advances come off as much more relaxed and colloquially; he's smooth enough to just pull them out at a whim

What I find interesting is that both Anakin and Han are trusting their feelings rather than their thoughts when they make any significant romantic progress. Using feelings to drive you as opposed to "thinking" in SW is a common recurring theme

In reality, both the Shakespearian style and more modern style of romances are quite valid depending on the couple's dyanmic, and that's a fact it seems many, particularly those who claim Anakin and Padme have no chemistry, forget. The modern romance between Han and Leia is much more common, of that I am certain, but many couples have been beautifully formed and maintained healthily thriving off of a more esoteric nature

So do tell - which do you think works more effectively in Star Wars? Oh, and, provided you're brave enough, feel free to compare to some real world relationships you may know or be part of . I know I'm definitely more in the Shakespearian category when it comes to (hopefully) building up my relationship with someone

"I love you."
"You love me?"

"I love you."
"I know."

 

Great idea for a thread !Be careful though (this will be a looong thread)
I relate more for Anakin (and yes I find his dialogue convincing) because that is similar how I would behave. (Still no Girlfriend)
Anyway I like both relationships but again I think Anakin/Padmé romance is more close to many real world relationships than Han/Leia .
This is why I think people don't like the romance .They want the overused one instead of the more grim and realistic.
They want to escape the reality.(which to be fair this is what Star Wars in many cases is for.)

 

I agree that those are the intended differences romantic and modern but it's the handling of both that makes both fall equally flat for me. Plus both males are far too aggressive and dominating in manner. Though Leia isn't much a role model either.

Personally, Cushy much prefers the romantic bond based upon love and intangible realities. I don't consider either core relationship in SW films romantic, nor Luke and Mara in EU. To me relationships and emotional depth is severely lacking in SW.

 

Sometimes it's the problem that the plot focuses more on what the male has to do in the relationship.(I think the females are used too sparingly in many movies' relationships so we don't see their struggles from their points of view)

 

I'd disagree. It's that both are handled poorly not one overused and the other under.

 

I don't think romance is done very good in SW.

Padme wasn't very wise for marrying Anakin. Anakin should have changed his behavior first.
Why are they attracted to each other?
I don't like the Han and Leia romance either. I don't like the "bad boy" thing. They argue a lot and that's not healthy.

Now I do think both relationships can grow into to something better.

 

I didn't say that the only factor is the under or overuse though.​

(and I said sometimes)​

​

 

It's a tricky comparison. Han and Leia's relationship is somewhat peripheral to the main story of the OT whereas Anakin and Padme's is a major driver for the PT's story. There are three things that I really like about Han and Leia's relationship over Anakin and Padme's, however.

First, Han and Leia both grow as people through their relationship. They both come to realise (eventually) that they can be better people with each other in their lives than they can without. They both realise that fiercely independent as each of them is, it's ok, and mutually beneficial, to lean on someone else sometimes. It seems to me that both Anakin and Padme regress as human beings in the course of their relationship.

Secondly, by the end of ROTJ, Han seems to genuinely put Leia's wellbeing first, and that is true love. He's willing to walk away when he thinks Leia is in love with Luke. There's no possessiveness there at that point. No desire for control. At the end of ROTS Anakin strangles Padme. He seems to be of the view that if he can't have her, no-one will. That's not a pleasant scenario in any relationship.

Thirdly, Leia and Han are both really cool. I like Padme for the most part, but I have never been able to warm to Anakin past TPM.

 

I like Han and Leia's romance better. I do like Padme/Anakin's romance too, but I find the dialogue awkward at times. However, I love how the background/music set up Anakin and Padme's relationship. Beautiful.

 

Going to be interesting to see where they go with Han and Leia in the ST.

 

Indeed it could be a major determining factor for some as could how Luke and the Jedi are handled.

 

Han/Leia felt more natural. Although I typically don't care for romantic stuff in movies, I enjoyed the banter between Han and Leia.

Anakin/Padme, on the other hand, felt forced. Although I can relate to occasionally being awkward myself, it seems like that level of awkwardness was cringeworthy and would never translate into a real relationship

 

Story-wise: Anakin/Padme
Acting-wise: Han/Leia

Favorite: Obi-Wan/Sabine or Kanan/Hera

 

Han and Leia are precious. They seem to be on a more equal-footing than Anakin and Padme, who always felt a bit "babysitter meets problem child" to be comfortable. The former also show mutual trust and respect, since they both know that the other can receive and dish out anything that's thrown at them (no ego soothing or damsels in distress here). And Han handles jealousy a whole lot better than Anakin; he even offers to step aside as long as Leia is happy.

Plus they're hilarious.

 

Han and Leia aren't my favorite couple, but I will say that I do sometimes enjoy their chemistry and dynamic.

Anakin and Padme: They have always been one of my favorite couples. In some ways I can relate them. I'm not very good when it comes to the opposite sex.

Anakin and Padme are both very alike. Yes, in many ways they're complete opposites, particularly in their backgrounds. Literally opposite worlds. In many other ways, they are exactly alike. Anakin and Padme are both stubborn, lonely, reckless with their safety, and they both try to do the right thing for the other... so they think.

For Anakin, he knew from early on Padme and he would be together. Padme was very different than most people and girls he interacted with. She found it upsetting and strange that he was a slave. She also called Threepio, "perfect." Anakin didn't hear said things very often. Most of his peers didn't really believe or probably like him. Remember everything those kids said when he was working on his podracer, "You've been working on that thing for years!" "It's never going to run!" "See you later Annie, you're going to be bug squashed!"

Now for Padme, she was Queen and Senator of her homeworld. Also she was wealthy and famous. Imagine what it was like for her to date. Most men she met were probably interested in those things. Not her. When Anakin came back into her life, he was clearly not interested in those things. He could have cared less about her wealth or position.

Han and Leia may or may not. We'll see.

Anakin/Padme and the character Anakin both could have become something better. Something great. That is part of the tragedy.

 

Basically we see Anakin and Padme fall in love onscreen. They hadn't met in 10 years.

Leia and Han fall in love offscreen in the 3 years between ANH and TESB but we see Leia admit it onscreen.

Leia and Han's love is probably right (which we currently don't know if it worked out or not).

Anakin and Padme's love was wrong. He was a Jedi and she was a Senator. Like Lucas says "She fell in love with the wrong guy."

 

To me, there is no real contest here,

The Han/Leia is an onscreen romance that I believed. I bought that the two were in love, I saw their feelings for each other onscreen, it worked and felt natural.

The Anakin/Padme thing. In AotC the "romance" felt as phony as a three dollar bill to me.
And no it wasn't really the dialogue, it was the delivery of it. Neither actor, to me, could say the words and sound like they meant them. Good acting can make iffy sounding dialogue sound quite good. But if you combine iffy dialogue and poor acting, then it gets really noticeable.
Shakespearian dialogue done poorly, to me, sounds worse than "regular" dialogue done poorly.
That latter might not even be that noticeable but the former sticks out like a sore thumb if done badly.
It also didn't help that I found the character of Anakin really unlikable in AotC. He came across as rude, arrogant, self-centered and all around annoying to me. He worked better in RotS and I actually believed that he and Obi-Wan cared for each other. The romance worked a bit better but Padme became really passive and more of a plot device than her own character. In AotC her brushing off what Anakin did with the Tuskens never sat right with me. She cares for Anakin yes but even then I think she should have more of a reaction that she did and dismissing mass murder like that felt a bit awkward.

Had the delivery worked then I would probably have much fewer problems but it didn't work and that hurt AotC a lot.
Because a lot of time was spent on this and every time the movie shifted over to the "romance" the film just ground to a halt for me. I was engaged and interested in Obi-Wan's detective story and then cut over to Padme and Anakin and I loose interest completely.

In closing, I didn't need a copy of the Han/Leia romance, what mattered to me was if I believed it. And sadly with Anakin/Padme I did not. So the romance became just a plot point, they have to get together just so that Anakin will have a reason to turn and so that Luke and Leia are born.

Bye for now.
Blackboard Monitor

 

I never got the feeling that Padme was trying to fix Anakin. In fact, I don't recall where in the movies was she trying to "fix" him. She wasn't above using him to get a message to Palpatine about the war. And I also got the feeling that she tried to resist her feelings for him and failed in the end.

Although I found their dialogue a bit flowery at times - especially in the "Attack of the Clones" fireplace scene - I had no problems with the portrayal of Anakin and Padme's romance. As for Leia and Han, I liked the snappy dialogue in their romance in "Empire Strikes Back". But I thought their whole romance came from no where. And both Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford's lame acting made it hard for me to care for them in "Return of the Jedi".

 

I don't recall any "fixing" in the third film, other than Padme begging Anakin not to continue his road to evil. That's it.

 

I'll give you that however, what about Luke and Leia? Did Luke really react like someone who lost the only family he ever knew? Did Leia react like somehow who lost pretty much everything?

 

I think they deal with the Leia issue in the comics, and Luke had his moment on the Falcon and the landspeeder (Okay they weren't demonstrative, I'll grant you that, but who knows how people should react to deaths).

I still hesitate to compare not reacting to great grief because there were more pressing concerns (TIE Fighter attack, destruction of rebellion...) to shacking up with teenage mass murderer despite status as morally upright peace-lover.