PT Anakin and Padme's Co-Dependant Relationship

Attack of the Clones:
Anakin: From the moment I met you, all those years ago, not a day has gone by when I haven't thought of you. And now that I'm with you again... I'm in agony. The closer I get to you, the worse it gets. The thought of not being with you- I can't breath. I'm haunted by the kiss that you should never have given me. My heart is beating... hoping that kiss will not become a scar. You are in my very soul, tormenting me... what can I do?- I will do anything you ask.

Anakin: Life seems so much simpler when you're fixing things. I'm good at fixing things. Always was. But I couldn't...why did she have to die? Why couldn't I save her? I KNOW I could have.
Padme: Sometimes there are things no one can fix. You're not all powerful.
Anakin: Well I SHOULD be! Someday I will be the most powerful Jedi ever. I promise you! I will even learn to stop people from dying!
Padme: Anakin...
Anakin: It's all Obi-Wan's fault! He's jealous! He's holding me back!
Padme: What's wrong Ani?
Anakin: I...I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead. Every single one of them. And not just the men, but the women and the children too. They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals! I hate them!
Padme: To be angry is to be human.
Anakin: I'm a Jedi. I know I'm better than this.

Revenge of the Sith
Anakin Skywalker: You are so... beautiful.
Padme: It's only because I'm so in love.
Anakin Skywalker: No, it's because I'm so in love with you.
Padme: So love has blinded you?
Anakin Skywalker: [laughs] Well, that's not exactly what I meant.
Padme: But it's probably true.

If either of them had recognized that their relationship wasn't healthy, would Padme have survived? Would Anakin still have turned evil?

 

I think even if Padme hadn't come back into his life, or decided end the relationship early. Anakin still would have eventually turned. Because of someone else, such as Obi-Wan. Something else, such as his lust for power.

Plus with Padme never returning into Anakin life's, Luke and Leia never would have been born. So who could have saved Anakin?

 

This is like asking "If Anakin wasn't Anakin, would he still be Anakin?"

 

it wasn't padme's fault. if someone brings baggage or emotional problems into a relationship it's probably doomed. people all over the world have relationships like that.

 

Admittedly she first told Anakin that she was staying with him when she thought they were both going to die.

Still - she had a chance to change her mind after the Battle of Geonosis. We see her hug Anakin when she arrives in Dooku's chamber. Yoda probably saw it too. In the EU (Wild Space), Obi-Wan, on Yoda's instructions, actually tells her to break it off with him, while Anakin's being treated for his injured arm. It doesn't work.

 

Everyone brings their baggage and emotional problems into a relationship. There is no escape from such problems.

It's interesting that so many fans STILL want to believe there is something unique about Anakin's personality that made him turn to evil. Very people few people are willing to consider that just about anyone can embrace evil, given the right emotional buttons pushed and the right circumstances. Many people are willing to pay lip service to this idea. But I get the impression that deep down, they refuse to really consider this possibility.

 

true but some people have a lot more problems (or more severe) than others.

 

Anakin was willing to listen at times. His problem was he only he only listened to what he wanted to hear most of the time. Like s celebrity whom everyone is nice to because they are rich and powerful. A good romantic partner tells you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear. I think with an emotionally stronger partner Anakin may not have turned.

 

That's a pretty general statement. Anakin wasn't completely evil. It wasn't Padme's fault, but it is clear Anakin's female attachments played a part in his downfall. I think he may have turned anyway but he may not have.

 

Even if someone has more (severe) problems than others, it doesn't erase the possibility that just about anyone can still give in to their worst instincts, given the right situation. Observing the major characters of both trilogies made me realize this.

 

What's with the black and white statements? Thats not at all what I said.

 

My point is that yes, Anakin is ultimately responsible for his actions.

But also, Padme and Anakin were in a relationship together, and when you are in a relationship, you are also responsible for each other. Just as Anakin was responsible for Padme's death, Padme was responsible for not being emotionally strong enough to confront Anakin when it mattered. Relationship's aren't simple and you can't say Padme couldn't have influenced Anakin.

 

Anakin turned to the Dark Side in large part because of his attachment to Padme, which was romantic in nature. His own actions show the wisdom of the Jedi forbidding attachments. However, there is nothing in that statement that says or even implies "it is all the woman's fault."

 

Padme was not emotionally strong enough to confront Anakin in what situation? When she finally admitted to him on Geonosis that she was in love with him? When she talked him out of revealing their marriage to the Jedi?

 

I always thought Padme kinda wussed out in E3 when she tries to get Anakin to go to the Chancellor to stop the fighting and let diplomacy resume. Anakin snaps at her, perhaps revealing his true loyalties. She lets him off the hook too easily.

The above is not meant to imply "it is all the woman's fault" but I think a little tough love might have produced a better result.

 

Saying she loved him just enabled him more. Not revealing their relationship also was an example of "forbidden fruit" which furthered to alienate Anakin from the Jedi, not lead him towards the Light Side. When Anakin complained about Obi-Wan at the beginning of EpII on Coruscant, Padme gave him an alternate point of view, but obviously by Tattooine, Padme was too emotionally involved to act as a counter to Anakin's own impulses.

 

You and I obviously have a different view on relationships. If my wife started abusing drugs I would of course try to stop her, and I would of course consider it my responsibility as someone who cares about her. I may or not be successfull, but I have a moral responsibility to do my best to stop the destructive behavior of someone I care about,not enable it. Padme enabled Anakins path to self destruction, and I think different actions might have made a difference in Anakin's outcome.

 

I never said Padme could have fixed Anakin. I'm saying she could have chosen not to enable him. People do not make decisions in a cocoon. Obi-Wan obviously influenced Luke's perceptions in Episode IV, Leia had a different view of relationships after meeting Han. People change based on their relationships.