PT Can someone explain something to me about Padme?

In the novel Obi-wan has to run because he feels Palpatine is coming, However, in the movie he looks close enough to Anakin he could Force Push him into the lava with little effort, or it would take only two or three seconds to run towards him and finish him, so it still doesn't make sense.

 

Obi-wan doesn't do it because as Stover wrote, Obi-wan swore an oath to never kill a helpless person. Just as Anakin did earlier. So he cannot kill him outright, but he cannot help him. That's why he leaves him to burn and Lucas says that Obi-wan believes that he will die on the embankment.

 

The prequels did rush many of the key relationships - thats the main flaw with them, IMO.

I get your initial question though - the entire SW univers seems to be severely lacking in relationships. Not very many people have boyfirends/girlfriedsn, go on dates, etc, etc.

 

no it's not lacking that's just not what the stories are about. there's dating/marriage in middle earth but the lord of the rings isn't about that. these stories aren't about boring everyday things.

 

Not every action movie needs to include a love story. If a movie shows, say the two or three more violent and death-filled weeks in the life of a character, that character doesn't have to necessarily find the love of his or her life during those fifteen or twenty days.

It's true that there is a very high proportion of single people in the movies, but the OT had six main characters, two of which were droids, and two of which were siblings, a fifth one being a furry dog-like alien, not much room for romance there. Chewbacca had a wife at Kashyyyk, and Leian and Han ended together.

Most of the characters in the PT were either members of the celibate Jedi or self-centered, evil Sith. And out of the six relevant human characters in TFA (Rey, Poe, Finn, Han and Leia) two (Leia and Han) are married, and for all we know Poe is married too.

Among the secondary characters, uncle Ben and aunt Beru were married, as was Bail Organa. Tarkin was married too.

 

I just think that when you DO choose to include a romantic relationship it should feel earned, in the PT it felt more like a checkbox that needed to be marked off because Anakin has kids - as if the script demanded they fall in love and not two living characters falling for each other - if that makes sense

 

I disagree that the romance in the PT felt like checking a box, as if it was an afterthought or shoehorned in. The romance is integral to the plot - if you take it out, Anakin's entire story falls apart.

 

I didn't even know Tarkin was married. Huh, I learned something.

 

No that's not what I meant by being forced in. What I mean is that it felt like the story in the OT dictated their romance - like it had to happen for the OT to work with Anakin having kids and all that. So im agreeing that it's integral to the plot, but the actual romance itself feels forced into the movie, and not like I was watching a story unfold about two lovers but their romance felt like it existed because George Lucas said so in his screenplay, and it's supposed to feel like these characters really fall in love with each other.... That's the whole idea of a movie

 

Anakin and Padme's romance was just poorly done. As a matter of fact, Padme, was, as a character, very poorly treated. I always assumed that she was a near-human who aged at half the rate than a normal human, and that she had inherited the throne from a parent; that would explain why she was head of state despite being so young, and that she was young enough to fall for Anakin ten years later without being creepy.

However, GL decided that she should be an elected leader. It would have been easy to make her abdicate as queen and be democratically chosen as Senator in between the 1st and 2nd movies, but GL made her instead a democratically elected queen, and in order to avoid her being a cougar who falls for a teen, he made her be chosen queen at fourteen years old, piling nonsense upon nonsense.

But it doesn't matter if she was just 5-6 years older than Anakin; she was a very mature woman, sensible, intelligent and with a lot of experience despite her young age... and she suddenly falls for a whiny, self-entitled brat who admits to have killed a bunch of Tusken children. It makes her look as if she had some kind of fetish for damaged manchidren.

 

I have not seen this, what book. You are saying in the new canon, right?

 

I think I get what you're saying as either of the following:

a) You're saying the romance feels forced because it feels unnatural to the storyline, having been attached solely because Anakin needs to have children. If this is your case, then I still disagree, because I think Anakin's romance was worked into the storyline as the bedrock of the PT's themes: his whole attachment issues are tied with the storyline, and the romance plays a major part on his downfall to the Dark Side. In this sense, the movies were built upon the romance, instead of the romance being built around the movies.

b) You're saying the romance feels forced because you don't think there is chemistry between Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman, and that makes their interactions unbelievable to you. If this is the case, then I don't protest, because those are your impressions of the movie (even if other people may feel differently).

 

Well that explains why he just left Anakin there. I had , along with a fair amount of people, wondered why when it would have been more humane,to finish him off.

 

It was to illustrate that Obi-wan was indeed both the right man and the wrong man for the job. He was wrong because he does not kill him outright, which Yoda and Mace would have done. Basically ignoring that tenant of being a Jedi. But it was right because Anakin doesn't die and this allows him to go on to fulfill his destiny years later. When Luke confronts Vader and beats him, he actively spares his life because the whole time, Luke doesn't want to kill his own father. Obi-wan was sent to kill his best friend who was now his worst enemy. Obi-wan was motivated by duty, but Luke was motivated by compassion.

 

Lots of religions require celibacy for the most devout practitioners. The Jedi Order is no different.

The Jedi Order is a monastic order of warrior monks, similar to the Sōhei Order or the Teutonic Order.

Padmé could not openly date Anakin for the same reason that a United States senator could not date a monk.

I was eight years old when I first saw Attack of the Clones, and I understood the celibacy requirement then. It is pretty straightforward.

 

I don't see how their romance was dictated at all.

All that was dictated that they have 2 children that are Luke and Leia.

That is all. Virtually everything else is strictly a creation of the PT.

It feels totally natural to the progression of Anakin's story and the way the characters as created would react in their world.

This actually seems to be the "problem" for some because as with so many things it's not what they thought it would be.

It was far more interesting than that.

 

From the beginning We knew years ago, at least ten years ago that Padme was 5 years older than Anakin. We did not know how it came about to the Prequels. Anakin fell in love with Padme when he was 9 yrs old. Padme kept the Japor Snippet Anakin gave her forever even though she did not see Anakin, which shows a deep love for him, though not a romantic love. When she met him again when he was 19 she immediately noticed he had grown into a very handsome looking man, enter the notion of being sexually attracted to him. she fought the sexual attraction because of reasons we all know too well, her being a senator, Anakin being a Jedi, and plus remembering him as that child all led her to fight off her growing attraction for Anakin. Eventually that love she had for him from when he was 9 yrs old forced her to realize she not only loved him but she had come to be in love with him as he was a grown man. I have seen couples in this situation tons of times and many stories are based specifically on this type of romance. It was a natural progression of the love they shared with each other.

You may not think the story was written well, but the story itself is beautiful and poignant.

 

Just seems like a crappy rule in the situation of a person suffering terribly. Like many of the Jedi rules they have good intentions but bad results in practice

 

You've just nailed something vital about the entire prequel trilogy storyline.

 

The rule exists because it is an act of compassion to not kill helpless people. It is the Jedi way. But Anakin is a Sith and it is Obi-wan's duty to kill him. But he also swore an oath that he would never break. That's why he lets him burn. It also sets up what happens in ROTJ, when Luke chooses to spare his father and does so out of compassion. He doesn't kill him, but he doesn't let him suffer either.

 

Yea totally - I wish Anakins turn would have been cemented at the end of episode II so that the Jedi's failings could have been something that was explored in depth as it would have been a very interesting subject. I feel like Lucas had major issues on which parts of Anakins life he decided to showcase :/. But that's just me I'm sure a lot of people are happy they got to se Anakin as a little kid and where Episode III ended

 

Obi-Wan blatantly allows Anakin to suffer. His life in the suit is nothing but suffering.

Moreover, Obi-Wan choosing to walk away, leaving Anakin horribly mutilated, still on fire, and full of pain and hate, is contrasted with the Emperor arriving, and administering direct aid to Anakin (he puts him to sleep).

Here is where the story flips: A Jedi shuns Anakin and lets him suffer horrendous torment, while a Sith comes down from the sky and saves him.

Revenge Of The Jedi?

That was, of course, the original title for Return Of The Jedi.

The Jedi's fire has, indeed, gone out of the universe, until Luke rekindles it, at the close of the OT.

 

That makes the title The Force Awakens make even more sense since after ROTJ the galaxy pretty much went into hibernation as far as The Force goes. Obi Wan is gone along with Yoda and Vader and the Emperor... With only Luke remaining so it's not until Ben and Rey come along that ignites the dark side and light side and their ever going struggle to coexist/extinguish

 

I interpreted Obi-Wan's action as follows: it has less to do with swearing an oath than following as a consequence of the following facts.

1. Obi-Wan is supposed to stop Anakin from becoming an instrument of evil.
2. Anakin shows no indication of repenting and being willing to turn away from the dark side even after his legs have been cut off. If Obi-Wan actively tries to help him, Anakin may attempt to do something evil again. Hence Obi-Wan cannot actively help him.
3. After having his legs cut off, Anakin seems to be helpless and prevented from doing further evil without assistance.
4. Although Anakin is suffering, he shows no indication of wanting to be put out of his suffering. If anything, we see from the fact that Anakin manages to survive until Palpatine comes to rescue him that his will to survive is still very strong, and it is reasonable to assume that Obi-Wan can feel this feeling of Anakin's through the Force.
5. Obi-Wan judges that Anakin will die on the lava bank shortly after due to his burns.

I think Obi-Wan sees the situation in the following way: he cannot kill a helpless person who is suffering and whom others may think would be better off dead than alive, but who does not want to be put out of his pain in this manner. Burning to death after struggling to survive may seem more horrifying to the audience than being put to death with a swift stroke of the lightsabre, but if it seems that this is what Anakin would prefer, who is Obi-Wan to argue with that when this is all about the last thing he can do for Anakin now that he believes he has prevented Anakin from becoming an instrument of evil? If Anakin had asked Obi-Wan to put him out of his suffering, that would be a different topic of discussion, but I really don't see Anakin wanting that at all then on Mustafar.

 

That actually would have been pretty haunting if Anakin begged Obi to kill him and showing his anguish contemplating that decision and ultimately walking away