Why does Padme love Anakin?

First off, I apologise if this is already a topic. If it is, please point me in the right direction.

It is fairly easy for me to see why Anakin falls in love with Padme, however it is not very clear to me why Padme falls in love with Anakin, and what she loves about him.

In TPM she seems to admire this young, precocious boy and then she seems to acquire a motherly type of love when he begins to miss his mother and is now surrounded by so many complex "grown-up" issues that he, for now, does not understand.

In AOTC there is obviously the element of physical attraction: Padme's comments on how much Ani has grown, and seems to try to stifle this attraction by saying: "You'll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine".

During the rest of AOTC, it is almost as if she falls in love with Anakin because he is so much in love with her. She is quite aware of how a physical and romantic relationship between them would destroy their lives (and she was quite right about that), but could it be that his love for her was so intoxicating, and she finally gives in when it seems that their death is eminent.

In AOTC she seems to put him in his place quite a few times, almost like a mother would. Throughout AOTC and ROTS, she discovers his darker side but chooses to ignore it. (He expresses his political views of the benefits of a wise dictator, and confesses his slaughter of the Tuskan village, and we all now know what happens in ROTS).

So, could it be that she loved the Anakin she knew on Tatooine? (She is buried with the amulet he gave her as a boy, "You'll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine").

She is blind to the evolution of Anakin's character to the dark side, and continues to hold on to the qualities he possesses in TPM.

Anyway, just curious as to what others think about what Padme loved in Anakin.

Edit: this may actually be a PT topic, I'm sure everyone will let me know.
Just sent a PM to a moderator about this, if it is in the wrong forum.

 

Every Action brings a reaction.

Perhaps she fell for him because of his persistance. This is pretty common and in many cases a requirement. Maybe she had a sympathy complex for him because of his separation from his mother; not only as a child but due to her death years later and in her company. It could be based on childhood innocence; Anakin giving her the necklace he hand carved was pivital in her trust in him. Her daily dealings with politics and policy surrounded her with a web of lies and subtle political maneuverings by even the Senators with the best intentions. Her memories of Anakin as a youth would remind her what he is at the core. It could just be the chemical reaction two people have when they're attracted to each other. It might be a combination of all these things. Love is complicated in it's source or reason; even if the act of love (not sex) is capable of being without complication. In the end it's a question that can't be answered.

 

Can anyone explain why anybody loves anybody? That is the whole point, if we all figured it out there would be no divorce rate. This is the one plot point I don't dissect about the prequels, because remember love is blind.

 

I agree. Love doesn't make sense, it is rarely logical. Too often do we see women (and men) fall madly and desperately in love with someone who is entirely unsuitable.

I, personally, think that too many people confuse the first rush of lust with love. Love is what endures when the lust has faded. Padme and Anakin, in my opinion, were prime examples of this. Their union was not a strong one ... married partners who have a healthy union recognise each other's weaknesses, challenge them, and help their partner become a better person. Padme, an otherwise sensable young lady, was just suffused with lust and cutesy lovey emotions that she didn't notice (or ignored) her husband's journey to the Dark Side. Anakin, however, was so caught up in losing Padme (more about self, his loss, rather than her) that he would have made a dead awful husband. Essentially, lovers should bring out the best in each other, and those two together make a damn weak couple.

And, as a couple, manage to assist in creating a huge mess in the Galaxy and destroying themselves in the process

 

I agree. They brought out the worst in each other rather than the best. Somewhere along the line Padmé's admiration for the young boy who managed to do so much in spite of being born a slave (he single-handedly saved her planet after all, by taking out the droid control ship, even if he did so accidentally), then losing his mother etc. Somewhere that hero-worship changed to pure lust, and she was blinded by that. She was both unable and unwilling to see the potential for evil, as well as good, in him. I think that "I love you" after Anakin had killed the Tusken raiders showed a singular lack of judgement.

 

Exactly. Shethen seems to pretend it never happened. She shouldn't have been surprised when she heard about Anakin's dark deeds (especially killing the younglings)

 

It's already been said, but I'll say it again anyway. That's the thing about love: most of the time there is no logical reason. Such is the case of Padme falling for Anakin...

 

This is from a Murphy's Law website:

"The qualities that most attract a woman to a man are usually the same ones she can't stand years later."

Padme can handle the Tuskan slaughter, but can't handle the Youngling slaughter years later.
Padme tolerates his political views in AOTC, but doesn't in ROTS.

 

What I think people fail to realize when they talk about how Padme glossed over the fact that Anakin killed the Sand People is that she might only have known about them as they were described to her, an off-worlder. Anakin calls them animals, and even Cliegg calls them "mindless monsters." Maybe to her they were just dumb animals, not that I'm saying killing animals in anger is okay, but, if we are honest with ourselves, it isn't quite as unlikely to believe that a guy would kill a bunch of "mindless monsters" that tortured his mother.

Although...Anakin did call them men, women, and children, somewhat of an odd thing to call a bunch of animals...
Anyway, maybe that was the rationale Padme used.

 

Calling the Sand People "mindless monsters", "animals", etc... seems to be a way to dehumanize "the enemy".

("Dehumanization is the psychological process of demonizing the enemy, making them seem less than human and hence not worthy of humane treatment.")

However Anakin does humanize them by referring to the women and the children, as Curufinwe points out.

The Star Wars databank references this scene:

"Anakin did find his dying mother, and lashed out in vengeance against the Tusken Raiders that had tortured her. When he returned to Padmé, he confessed his actions, and he collapsed with shame and despair over what he had done. Padmé saw the wounded, sobbing youth, and let her compassion guide her heart as she comforted him."

So she is able to feel compassion for Anakin at this point.

I think that with the younglings, Anakin is again able to dehumanize the young Jedi (from my point of view, the Jedi are evil), but because Padme has no reason to dehumanize the younglings, she is unable to feel compassion for Anakin.

 

Padme does one thing which will change the future of the Galaxy forever. She allows herself to make the wrong choice and reciprocate the love of a Jedi Knight.

If the Code is oh so-sacred, then Padme deserves a cussin' out just like everybody else does for their mistakes. She knows she's not supposed to reciprocate any opposite gender feelings a male Jedi should have towards her. Yet she does.

Believe you me, Padme has a strong will. She can easily say NO any time along the way.

10 years earlier she used her will to guide an all-out attack on the Trade Federation in TPM.

Somehow, though, she can't say NO to Anakin over a 2-week period in AoTC. She goes from spinster Senator to blushing bride before our very eyes.

Now we all know how dearly she paid for all of this 3 years later.

 

But that same love that Padme had for Anakin also saved the galaxy in the end because she created the one person that would knock some sense into Anakin which is Luke Skywalker.

 

Sure, but if they never consumed their relationship, he wouldn't have had visions of her dying at childbirth, and he wouldn't have rushed to Palps office after telling Mace about Palps being the Sith Lord, Mace would have killed Palps.... etc. etc.

Chicken or the Egg?

 

I think if Padme were to meet Anakin in the time of AOTC she would not go zipping into a relationship with Anakin. Knowing Anakin as that little boy and now as a Jedi prompted to let Padme think that it was okay for the two of them to enter such a relationship. Maybe she figured someone like Anakin is someone she would have ended up falling in love with anyway.

 

The answer is plain and simple...he used the Jedi mind trick on her.

 

But Anakin just told Padme that she's not weak-minded so the Jedi mind trick has no effect on her.

 

He's hot, talented and he's bad. Guys like that always do well with women, despite all of their other flaws.

 

Duckie summed it up perfectly, and I will add this, Anakin was also very famous, the Chosen One... Come on, with a title like that and an arrogant personality you would get any chick you want.

 

Not any chick...Some of us don't care for fame, fancy titles and arrogance.

 

I think this question is more integral to the Padme/Anakin relationship than many would believe. While the love scenes from Attack of the Clones are often berated for Anakin?s overly ?poetic? spewing as well as the general lack of chemistry between the two respective actors playing the roles, I?d argue that in actuality these very complaints add credence in terms of making the ultimate direction of the relationship more viable. Whether through intentional sub-textual direction or sheer inadvertent stumbling, I think Lucas succeeded in portraying a relationship that is not as simple as the classic love story it is easily misconstrued for.

The second film of the prequel trilogy paints a picture of a love defined by many hues. Padme and Anakin both approve of each other?s physical appearance upon their first meeting after nearly a decade, and yet the interaction between the two at the beginning of their reintroduction is comprised of various degrees of tension. Padme is quick to undermine Anakin?s authority, as well as publicly note that he is merely a Padawan learner, and not a full-fledged Jedi. This proves that she still views him as youth of sorts as opposed to her own decidedly more lofty station in life (recall that she can?t resist the opportunity to remind Anakin upon their arrival on Naboo that she was the youngest elected Queen in her nation?s history.) And yet, a few short scenes later she accepts (albeit briefly) Anakin?s attempts to steer their friendship into more physical realms. This pattern continues throughout the rest of the film, alternating between light-hearted flirting on both parts, borderline creepy Anakin dialogue in which he yearns for her, and a grudging acknowledgement between the two that their relationship can?t be much of anything beyond simple friendship.

Thus it not only seems abrupt when Padme confirms her love for Anakin, but unexpected. Why? Because unlike another Saga relationship like Han and Leia where it was obvious the two were naturally drawn to each other, for all intents and purposes Padme and Anakin don?t share that same sense of tender togetherness. In reality, to me the relationship better reads as two people seeking circumstantial comfort in each other?s company. Anakin ?loves? Padme because she?s a final connection to the family life that was stolen from him when the Jedi freed and enlisted him to their cause, while Padme in turn ?loves? him because he offers a means of escape from her increasingly complicated role as a controversial senator and beloved national figure forever in the spotlight.

Simply put, their commitment to each other reeks of a relationship built upon an angst-ridden desire to fight the wishes of the respective establishments they were both attached to since childhood. To answer the question, Padme doesn?t love Anakin. What she loves is the idea of a life free of the perils that plague hers.

 

i don't see padmes attraction either unless he was a real sweet humble guy up till he turns

 

I have questioned this to myself for a long time. The scene in AotC after Anakin comes back from the Tusken camp where he tells Padmé that he kill every single one of the Tuskens has me wondering exactly if she was in love with him before she confessed it or not fully comprehending what he was saying to her. Because face it, if a guy that is supposed to be protecting me ends up taking me back to his home planet to save his mother only to kill the ones that captured her and he's telling me this... I would have to be either in love with the guy or just flatout crazy. I would have ran to my starship and flew away. Either back to Naboo or to Coruscant. There is no way in heck that I would stay anywhere near the guy. It would be clear to me that something's a bit wrong and it's not because of Obi-Wan holding him back or anything like that. I know that Anakin just lost his mother and he was angry. But there's something wrong with Padmé if she's just standing there listening to him and doesn't really respond to it at all. Well, there was a look of disbelief, but then she comforts him. So, I'm questioning Padmé's sanity.

 

It is his wicked hair. Wait I can't explain why she fell in love with him when it was spiked. Alright then the only logical explanation is a 24/7 jedi mind trick.

 

She wasnt in love she was in lust, he's hott, young, a jedi, and adores her and she wont give it up til marriage so they walk down the aisle. The reason she stays with him is cause he's good in bed and isnt home 70% of the time to annoy the heck out of her.

Seriously Ive tried to figure out why she loves him, its easy to see from Anakins pov but there is no reason a smart, accomplished, beautiful senator should marry someone like Anakin. Some of the things she says make me doubt her sanity also; like saying she loves Anakin after he kills an entire village then when he kills children 3yrs later acts like he could never do something like that,..... except for that one time that he actually did!!!!! They werent married that long so if it didnt end with death in probably would have ended in divorce.

 

lucas doesn't know how to write women characters, a shame since padme was the key to anakins turn