I've never seen the point of the age difference. That being said I don't think that Anakin was too young for Padme. Too me that was never the issue as to why their relationship didn't work. Anakin's maturity issues had nothing to do with his age and more to do with his personality and inability to let go.
I think we shouldn't take it literally that Anakin thinks of padme everyday in those 10 years. Probably he misses her alot, but jedi's are doing stuff like learning or going on missions. He wouldn't really have time to think about her at every moment
Its one of the (many) flaws of TPM. Anakin should have been 12-13 for TPM. His relationship with Padme would have made more sense, and of course in many ancient cultures puberty is often when boys have to go through initiations to begin the journey into adulthood - Joseph Campbell would have advised Lucas to make Anakin start his journey as a 13 year old, I have no doubt. Its not as big a flaw as Qui-Gon taking most of Obi-Wans screentime with Anakin, but its still one of the bigger flaws of the movie for me.
I think what gets people is the characters. Jake Lloyd made the jump to Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman stayed her self. Chronically in the movie it makes obvious sense and makeup artists did a fine job making Portman (and McGregor, and McDarmid...) look younger but in reality her aging was only about the 3 years in between the films. But to be clear, I have no problem with it. And as someone mentioned above the Jabor snippet (excuse spelling please) being on her when she is buried was pretty damn moving
Originally, Lucas did want to make Anakin a 12 year old boy. He knew that changing his age to 9 years would create more problems with casting or plot points like Anakin podracing or "accidental" flying. He did for one reason: he thought a 9 year old boy would miss his mother much. Which is probably true, you can could still have an attachment angle (for example, if Anakin was afraid of what would happen to his Mom without his support). Personally, I think that even 12 years is too young. I think 16-18 would be best: the parallel with Luke is more clear and it would have allowed for the same actor to play Anakin in the entire trilogy to reinforce consistency. The dreams in AOTC would have had the same impact irregardless of Anakin's age at the time of his separation with his mother. His mother is suffering, he needs to save her, it's easy to understand. And I agree about Qui-Gon. I so wish they switched places on Tatooine (along with leaving Jar Jar on board). It would make sense for the Master to guard the Queen and for a padawan to try finding parts as his independent assignment.
I can see her going through his mind once a day. It's not as if he's thinking about her when he's in the middle of a firefight or something but, y'know, quieter moments.
Even if she goes through his mind once a day for 10 years--and I think that's at least somewhat likely--that's not "obsession". A lot of people go through my mind at least once a day, I'm not obsessed with any of them.
I do not see how it was an issue with Padme showing maternal feelings for someone feeling sad. I did not see anything wrong with her trying to comfort him. All she did was talk to him. Anakin was looking for a maternal figure when he left Tatooine. I just think he became attached to her because of that. At the start of Attack of the Clones Padme calls him "Little Annie." Later she says he is that "little boy on Tattooine." Anakin wooed her in Attack of the Clones. By the time they get to that film I see no issues with their age. It is what ten years later at that point?
I still don't see why a nine year old kid would remember someone like Padme though. He's not old enough to be hormonal and focus on women. He'd be at the age where he's more concerned with adventure and lightsaber fights. I was 9 when AOTC came out and I was much more interested in the lightsaber battles than the romance (granted it was awful but I couldn't tell the difference at the time). If Lucas really wanted Anakin to be the right age he should have made him around 13 where he would be more likely to crush on a girl for so long.
Why wouldn’t he remember Padmé? Here is a pretty girl who treats him like a person and not an object, who talks to him, takes interest in him, who doesn’t think less of him despite of him being a slave, who praise him for his accomplishments, shows indignation for the situation he and his mother is in, is compassionate and understanding and offers him comfort him when he’s alone, cold, and misses his mother. Apart from Shmi, I very much doubt Anakin had ever met anyone who treated him with the same kindness Padmé did, and I don't find it strange that she earned a special place in Anakin's heart - and not a romantic one at first.
Yes, pretty girls that have lived a sheltered life in the Temple and raised in the light of the Jedi Code. Even if they tried, they could never really understand what it’s like for a child to be separated from his mother – rather they would view the fact that he misses his mother as wrong because it implies attachment which is forbidden. Then add the fact that to most Jedi – especially the young ones – Anakin would likely be viewed and consequently treated as a curiosity: he was accepted into the order despite being too old, he has become the padawan of a newly minted knight despite the fact he can’t do the basic things even the youngest initiates are capable of. Padmé was not hindered by an “attachment is forbidden”-rule, she knew how important a mother is to a child and could therefore emphasize with and show a greater understanding of Anakin’s situation, and would never consider it strange or wrong that a nine-year-old boy would miss his mother and fear for her future. Also, as I said, Padmé is likely the first stranger to ever show an interest in Anakin as a person and show him kindness; I would find it strange – even unnatural – if Anakin did not keep Padmé in his thoughts after they parted.
I thought that love was about to fall in love with somebody and share the rest of your life with that person that you love. And that it's not about how older or younger you're compared to that person. But it's possible that I have wrong...
I don't know about the "rest of your life," I think that's based on sheer luck, but I certainly agree with the rest of your post.
I think initially he was drawn to her because he was a curious kid and had never seen someone so visually striking, calling her an angel. the later attraction I think is brought on by a lack of maternal care over his teens so when he did hit puberty she was well remembered, and seeing her after so long a drought only reinforced these feelings. he was too young to think of her romantically in TPM, but not too young to look up to her or even be infatuated.