PT Anakin Padme Romance makes sense now, finally!

(I didn't find a thread on this, sorry if there is one...btw search on this forum isn't too great...lol)

So I am reading the novelization of AOTC and for the first time I understand how/why they fell in love and got together. The novelization adds SO MUCH more depth to it. I think anyone who thought it was forced in the movie (like me) will realize what was intended by reading the novelization.

Padme's thoughts in the beginning and her conversation with her sister (which take place before the movie starts) shed a lot of light on her state of mind and her internal conflict. What she wants and what she feels is the right thing to do.

The added dialogue and scene's between her and Anakin as well as the scene at her home are huge. There is of course some of the bad dialogue, but if you focus hard you can imagine it sounding much better

There are also more scenes, not related to the romance that are very telling. Like how come Obi-wan didn' t try harder to stop Anakin from being with Padme alone. In the novelization he did! But the council (Yoda/Mace) felt this was his trial.

BTW, I haven't read any books besides TPM and ANH novelizations before, so any other ones people recommend for Anakin/Padme relationship development, or any other character development that helps the movies make a lot more sense, let me know.. I know, loaded question.

 

I never read the novel, but I'd like to see more of Padme's family. I hope the Anakin/Padme dialogue is better. I may try and give the book a chance then.

 

I love the AOTC Novel, it really gives a solid perspective on Padmè and where she stands....glad you enjoyed it. I have read nothing but good things about the Karen Miller novels but I have not read them; other then those I don't think there's much on them out there seeing how unpopular they are. As a fan it makes me really sad.

 

I was hoping I wasn't alone

Are these the Karen Miller novels you are talking about? Do they develop the Anakin/Padme relationship further?

• The Clone Wars: Wild Space (2008)
• Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth (2010)
• Clone Wars Gambit: Siege (2010)

 

I listened to the audio versions of the clone wars books.
can't remember which one it was, but the Jedi seemed to know about Anakin's and Padme's feelings for each other.
Obi-wan I believe confronts her about and she gets upset. Don't remember the details, but they I think it was basically telling her to stop

 

Yes, they are not the focus of course but their relationship is featured more than in most books as I understand it. If you happen to read them let me know how you like them.

 

Please elaborate... I'm quite intrigued.

The ROTS novelization does have some good perspective for Anakin/ Padme as well. I remember alot of the CW books involving Anakin having the odd moment of him thinking/longing for Padme and vice versa, but they aren't supposed to have alot of time together inbetween the movies. There's also a CW comic where the two of them get like, a weekend off together and spend it together on Naboo which was kinda adorable..

I'm going to be on the look out now for the AOTC novel, it's the only one I haven't read of the movies.

 

Yes! Read the novel! It's good! Seriously it and ROTS are my faves!

Okay, crazy idea here, I know this may belong in the Lit forum, but I remember how they did a "Join Me: A Reread of The Glove of Darth Vader" over in the Lit forum. What if we did one of those for the AOTC novel?

 

I'm totally down for that. I haven't completed the book yet, so I wouldn't mine going through it again.

 

YES. A pity Lucas didn't approve it. I must say that it thanks to the novels that i have become a Star Wars's fan.
Thank you for reading me.

 

This discussion is about lack of depth in the movie when it came to developing the Padme/Anakin romance and how I discovered that the novelization solves that.

Originally, I was searching for a thread on the AOTC novelization discussion, but didn't find one so I posted here since it was my thoughts as a watcher of the films and one of my concerns with it and how it can make more sense (through the novelization).

So not sure if I posted the thread in the right place

 

See to me it simply added more depth to what was already there.

Exactly how and why and when people fall in love is such a tricky thing to do in any movie and in Star Wars doubly so.

It really all comes down to in the end accepting that something that isn't necessarily explainable or logical to be explained or logical.

"Wait that guy/girl with with that guy/girl? How did that happen?"

We never find out why Han and Leia fall in love. They really already are when TESB starts. The movie is about Han already knowing it and trying to get Leia to admit to it:

LEIA Han, we need you!

HAN We?

LEIA Yes.

HAN Oh, what about you need?

LEIA (mystified)
I need? I don't know what you're
talking about.

HAN (shakes his head,
fed up)
You probably don't.

LEIA And what precisely am I supposed
to know?

HAN Come on! You want me to stay
because of the way you feel about
me.

LEIA Yes. You're a great help to us.
You're a natural leader...

HAN No! That's not it. Come on.
Aahhh - uh huh! Come on.

Leia stares at him, understanding, then laughs.

LEIA You're imagining things.

HAN Am I? Then why are you following
me? Afraid I was going to leave
without giving you a goodbye kiss?

LEIA I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee.

HAN I can arrange that. You could use
a good kiss!

Obviously she does know what he is talking about but underlying it's much like with Padme in that with her place in the Alliance she feels she has no time or place to think of herself.

What the novel (edited by Lucas like all movie novels were) and the deleted scenes show is that Lucas knew exactly what he wanted to be the overall character interaction but as always is the case with Star Wars he leaves what he feels to be less important background to the story to be explored in other media.

Obviously some disagree which is why the deleted scenes from AOTC with Padme's family home are some of the most lamented "lost" scenes in the saga's history.

 

Anakin and Padmé romance always made sense.

 

While it's very silly - I liked the Tag & Bink comic take on AOTC - in which our youngling protagonists give Anakin some of the lines he uses on Padme.

 

My take on some other people's reaction is that they actually understand it without getting that they understand it.

They say "Well it's kind of flawed and they shouldn't have got together at all."

Then I say "Exactly! You did get it. You are totally right."

That is the point. They were right on Naboo and wrong on Geonosis.

This is from the script before being edited down for the movie:

INT. NABOO LAKE RETREAT, LODGE, FIREPLACE ALCOVE - TWILIGHT A fire blazes in the open hearth. PADME is sitting in front of it, gazing at the flames.

She looks up as ANAKIN arrives. She makes room for him. Brief pause.

ANAKIN May I tell you something?

PADME I don't know.

ANAKIN Then how can I tell you?

PADME Maybe you should use your Jedi
intuition.

ANAKIN It doesn't work around you. My
mind is always a muddle... I can
only think of you.

PADME Anakin, don't...

ANAKIN From the moment I met you, all
those years ago, a day hasn't gone
by when I haven't thought of you.
And now that I'm close to you again,
I'm in agony. The closer I get to
you, the worse it gets. The
thought of not being with you
mskes my stomach turn over - my
mouth goes dry. I feel dizzy. I
can't breathe. I'm haunted by the
kiss 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...

Silence. The logs flame in the hearth.

ANAKIN (continuing)
If you are suffering as much as I
am, tell me.

PADME ...I can't. We can't. It's just
not possible.

ANAKIN Anything's possible. Padme,
please listen...

PADME You listen. We live in a real
world. Come back to it. You're
studying to become a Jedi Knight.
I'm a Senator. If you follow your
thoughts through to conclusion,
they will take us to a place we
cannot go... regardless of the way
we feel about each other.

ANAKIN Then you do feel something!
There's an extraordinary
connection between us. You can't
deny that.

PADME Annie, it doesn't make any
difference. Jedi aren't allowed
to marry. You swore an oath,
remember? You'd be expelled from
the Order. I will not let you
give up your responsibilities...
your future, for me.

ANAKIN I was destined to be a Jedi. I
don't think I could be anything
else. But you are asking me to be
rational. That is something I
know I cannot do. I wish I could
wish my feelings away... but I
can't.

PADME I am not going to give into this.
I'm not going to throw my life
away. I have more important things
to do than fall in love.

There is silence as they stare at the fire. ANAKIN is thinking.

ANAKIN It wouldn't have to be that way...
we could keep it a secret.

PADME Then we'd be living a lie - one we
couldn't keep even if we wanted
to. Mt sister saw it. So did my
mother. I couldn't do that.
Could you, Anakin? Could you live
like that?

Silence for a moment.

ANAKIN ...No, you're right. It would
destroy us.

 

that's better with the extra dialogue actually. i read the novel, but that was 13 years ago of course.

 

Some people say so. I find that when people read the actual shooting script or read the novel or see the deleted scenes they say "Hey why wasn't THAT in the movie?"

As I said before though the way Lucas works is that he ruthlessly cuts the movie down to it's most basic and necessary components when doing the edit.

He doesn't do 3 hour movies. TPM is about 2h10m minus end credits IIRC while AOTC and ROTS are about 2h15m minus end credits (or close to that) Anything that he thinks gets in the way of the story moving in terms of his visual storytelling with the graphics and music gets the cut.

 

that's true, although some of what was left in i think could have been edited down as well.

 

What exactly didn't make sense in the movie? It's just two people falling in love.

 

The thing a lot of people don't understand about Anakin and Padme is that theirs is not a particularly healthy romance. They do genuinely love each other, but it's pretty clear that they got together for mostly the wrong reasons: Anakin because he felt alone in the universe and needed a maternal figure to nurture him, and Padme because she felt responsible for "fixing" the broken little boy she once knew on Tatooine. Right from the start, it was a recipe for codependency.

 

On the ROTS commentary Lucas says that while they are in love that basically "She fell in love with the wrong guy."

So for anyone who thinks they shouldn't have got together Lucas is telling you that and it's quite clear in AOTC.

People are far more used to "Love is good and conquers all." in movies as opposed to "No really shouldn't have happened."

 

On the AOTC commentary, Natalie Portman notes that she played the scene in the Lars garage as the point where she truly fell in love with Anakin. She also notes that Padme strongly relates to Anakin's passion for fixing things--which makes it doubly appropriate that the scene takes place in a garage.

I was blown away when I first heard her on the commentary because those are exactly the things that I always got out of the scene. I think Portman deserves more credit for her performance. Looking at the scene through the proper lens, you can see Portman portraying Padme as a person who's totally horrified at Anakin's shocking confession, but at the same time, also fascinated by it.