Analyzing Padme's age gap and Anakin's turn to the dark side.

True. There's actually a bit of fridge brilliance here: Anakin's first step to the dark side is killing what basically amounts to Space Indians. Much like American imperialism.

 

I have to admit to rarely being here, but someone pointed me in the direction of this post and I was amazed.

The age difference is only four years. I am four and a half years older than my husband and it means nothing.

It is quite clear that Anakin has held a candle for her between TPM and AOTC as the scene between Obi-Wan and Anakin in the elevator quite clearly shows. He is smitted with her, she at first dismisses him as "always that little boy." She doesn't have an interest in him at that point. It is also clear that they have not met up in the intervening ten years.

Later, it is he that pursues her and she does gradually (or as gradual as the movie will allow) fall for him.

I see nothing sinister in Padme. In AOTC he's 20, she's 24 - both perfectly legal by Earth standards for a relationship.

As for mother issues... em.... Well, Anakin will have loss and attachment (and bereavement) issues that is clear. He clings to every relationship that comes along; Obi-Wan, Palpatine, Padme and Luke. He's dangerously obsessive and reacts badly if he thinks he's been betrayed by the one he loves.

I see no demon in Padme, just a woman trying to understand her complex husband and lover and suffering the consequences of another's actions.

 

I've always dated younger men; I married one born the same year that I was, but his birthday is still after mine. And I'm no perv.

My mother-in-law married a man 15 years younger. She's not a perv, and he doesn't have Mommy issues.

So what about Hugh Hefner and the 24-year-old?

 

Y'know, most people will agree that Hugh Hefner's a perv.

I just find it hilarious that people are considering a 20-year-old and a 24-year-old to be on the same level as child molestation. That might be interesting. I lost my virginity a lot younger than Anakin (presumably), but you don't see me choking girls or slaughtering children.

 

The reason Anakin did those things is another topic altogether (and my take on it can't be summed up in a paragraph or two) but I think we can agree that it had absolutely nothing to do with Padme being older than he was. He would have turned to the Dark Side in order to try to save Padme's life even if she were younger. A few things might have stopped him: one, him being able to save his mother, two, him not being dismissed by Yoda when he went to him for help after the premonition, or three, him not being so gullible and realizing that Palpatine was playing him like a fiddle. Or, as a friend of mine said on another site, Anakin might have been saved from darkness if someone had framed the problem in terms other than Palpatine's.

But Anakin would not have been saved from darkness by marrying a younger woman as opposed to an older one. And there is nothing sinister about him marrying an older woman.

Yeah, Hefner is a perv; I mainly brought him up just to show how misogynistic this whole issue is. Again, no one calls Han a perv for marrying Leia.

 

Let's not forget about Selena Gomez and Justin Beiber.

 

I'm pretty flexible when it comes to age gaps and other matters in romantic and sexual pursuits. It's about personal happiness and fulfillment, and those things greatly vary between individuals. I really can't stand prejudice and bigotry, and I'm amazed by how much of it there is in life at times, over things as fundamental as this. It's quite stunning to me that people could object to the age gap we see between Padme and Anakin. These variances from some imagined norm (itself illusory) are what give life diversity and beauty. If such people are that opposed to the PT, I'm glad I have little in common with them.

 

I raised an eyebrow until I learned the age gap between the characters wasn't anywhere near the age gap between Natalie Portman and Jake Lloyd.

 

Yeah, my fiancee (getting married in March) is 24; I'm 29 (30 in April). The age difference is totally irrelevant, beyond that I grew up watching The X-Files and she didn't.

 

I see no demon in Padme, just a woman trying to understand her complex husband and lover and suffering the consequences of another's actions.


I see demons in Padme. She can be arrogant and a little self-righteous. And despite her ability to act mature at times, she allowed her emotions to make mistakes. She's not perfect. Why do a good number of fans continue to believe that she was?

 

I'm pretty flexible when it comes to age gaps and other matters in romantic and sexual pursuits.

Must refrain from making joke.

Anyway, the age gap isn't nearly as bad as it looks in TPM. Of course, in TPM, we don't even get any clue that Padmé likes Anakin.

A/P: Shotatiger approved.

 

Anyway, the age gap isn't nearly as bad as it looks in TPM. Of course, in TPM, we don't even get any clue that Padmé likes Anakin.


The age gap wasn't bad . . . period. Neither in TPM or any of the other two PT movies.

 

You're right. People make too much of a big deal out of the age gap, when it really isn't a problem at all.

 

As for mother issues... em.... Well, Anakin will have loss and attachment (and bereavement) issues that is clear. He clings to every relationship that comes along; Obi-Wan, Palpatine, Padme and Luke. He's dangerously obsessive and reacts badly if he thinks he's been betrayed by the one he loves.


They were all like that. Anakin had his attachments. Padme clung to Anakin and her role as a Senator for the Republic. Obi-Wan's dangerous attachments were Qui-Gon and especially the Jedi Order. The Jedi Order were attachments for both Yoda and Mace . . . attachments that proved to be just as unhealthy as Anakin's.

 

Since it's late March now... congrats.

 

While Anakin's desire/neccessity to find a romantic partner (where other Jedi wouldn't) might be based on filling a void born out of leaving his mother, I wouldn't say Padme's age has anything to do with the fact he sees her as the ideal candidate. Anakin has loved Padme since he was a kid. He fell in love with her the moment he first saw her. When she comes back into his life, it is natural he would want to rekindle and progress his relationship with her (regardless of her age). He already has very strong feelings for her, and in her gender alone, she represents and exudes more tender, traditionally female characteristics - something Anakin became acclimatised to having in his life, which has been missing in the days since he left Tatooine.

Were it about her simply becoming a substitute Mother, I think we'd see their relationship take a very different form than it does. As it is, there is no clear one of them who is the more dominant or the more submissive. Anakin doesn't let Padme take charge of him. I just think he needs (or feels drawn to having) a woman (and those qualities a woman more traditionally tends to represent) in his life.

 

But none of them allowed their attachments to drive them to commit mass murder and chaos upon the galaxy like Anakin has. They were all old enough to learn how to detach themselves from people but Anakin never had a chance to learn since he left his mother too young. That's why he couldn't let her go, why he went psycho-killer on the Tuskens after she died, and why he foolishly believed that joining the Dark Side would help him save Padme.

 

I think she's flawed but I don't think those are her flaws. I don't think she's arrogant at all. I think she can put on an arrogant front when she needs to but its a means to an end and not a character trait. I don't think we can blame her for having emotions, they make her human and I think the Jedi's inhibition of emotion was a major factor in their downfall. It is after all Luke playing on Anakin's emotions that brings about the conclusion of the saga for the better.

I don't think Padme was written to be ideologically flawed, all her flaws come from her self reliance and her sense of responsibility. All of which are a double edged sword. Her ideology is the one ultimately bourne out through the trilogy. 'If you offer the seperatists violence, they can only offer us violence in return' Luke cannot save his father and help bring about the end of the Empire, Emperor and Sith by fighting his father. He has to put his weapon down and show Vader he's not interest in a game of 'Kill or be Killed'. While Padme was an idealist to a fault, Luke has to inherit that. He has to believe in the goodness of his father even if he can't see it.

 

But none of them allowed their attachments to drive them to commit mass murder and chaos upon the galaxy like Anakin has.


Padme's attachments led her to inadvertently help Palpatine become the leader of the Republic and participate in a deception (with Anakin) against the Jedi Order. Her emotional reactions to Count Dooku and her experiences on Geonosis led her to betray her initial beliefs and support a war against the Separatists. By the time she came to regret her actions, it was too late.

Obi-Wan became aggressive and angry during his fight against Darth Maul after Qui-Gon was struck down. This act of aggression on his part nearly led to his death. His devotion to Qui-Gon led him to accept the role of Anakin's Jedi master, when an older and more experienced knight would have sufficed. His attachment to the Jedi Order led to his arrogance regarding their morality and his inability to see through the lies and truths of Count Dooku. This same attachment led him to attempt to manipulate Anakin into spying against Palpatine. He even lied by claiming that this idea came from someone else. His attachment to the Jedi Order led him into manipulating Padme into revealing Anakin's presence and especially into leaving Anakin to slowly burn to death in a lava bank on Mustafar. An ugly act of attempted murder, in my opinion. Almost as ugly as Anakin's actions. And this same devotion to the Jedi led him to attempt to manipulate Luke into committing fracticide, while as a Force ghost.

Both Yoda and Mace allowed their feelings for the Jedi Order to allow the Order into participating in the Clone War. Both considered and accepted Ki Adi Mundi's suggestion that the Jedi take over the Senate, if Palpatine doesn't step down. And both tried to murder Palpatine in misguided attempts to rid the Republic of the latter.


As for the chaos that took over the galaxy . . . it was always there. Chaos is something that is natural. And it is not always something to be feared. Padme and the Jedi helped to bring about the establishment of the Empire just as much as Palpatine and Anakin did.



I don't think Padme was written to be ideologically flawed, all her flaws come from her self reliance and her sense of responsibility. All of which are a double edged sword. Her ideology is the one ultimately bourne out through the trilogy.


Perhaps she wasn't meant to be "ideologically" flawed, but I believe that Lucas meant for her to be flawed in her own way, like the other characters. There is nothing wrong with that, for a flawed Padme strikes me as a lot more interesting than her being some epitome of perfection or ideal.

 

I don't think we'll find her flaws in attachment either from George's point of view. Padme isn't a name that comes from nowhere. It means lotus which is the buddhist symbol of detatchment. Padme is above it all like a lotus emerging from the mud. Padme goes to Coruscant, detaching herself from her people to improve their plight. She did what she had to to save lives based on the advice of man she saw no reason to distrust. When she finds out he has been nominated for Chancellorship you can see her realisation that she's been played leading her to detach again and go back to her planet for Plan B. We see in 2 and 3 that Padme is wary of Palpatine but looks for the good in him. eg He's looking after her welfare by sending her off planet rather than getting rid of her to pass the military creation act.

Padme didn't want war but we saw in episode one she believes you have to fight for freedom as a last resort to protect other people, or 'aggressive negotiations'. She is not like Duchess Satine who will not fight even when her hand is forced. Padme never supported the war, like all anti-war politicians she hates war but supports the troops who fight it. If Padme could end the war with her death she would put her head on the chopping block.

Her attachment to Anakin isn't absolute either, 'You are going down a path I can't follow'. Then she goes and dies by losing the will to