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Analyzing Padme's age gap and Anakin's turn to the dark side.

Discussion in 'Prequel Trilogy' started by NOPADMENO, Aug 26, 2010.

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  1. NOPADMENO

    NOPADMENO Jedi Youngling

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    Aug 26, 2010
    Something that's always struck me as odd is the age difference between Padme and Anakin. In the first film, he's a mere child, and she's already an adult with senate duties.

    Then, after years of not seeing each other, she immediately latches onto him. Basically, he's reached puberty, so now he's fair game. In the context of her previously knowing him as a child, however, it's always struck me as far too swift. Far too predatory.

    And Anakin falls in love with her almost instantaneously. Much to the chagrin of many fans, a lot of the second film is spent on their very fast relationship "developing". Now, many write it off as bad writing on Lucas's part, but taking things into consideration, it's actually a hidden brilliance. Taking the following into consideration, these "fluff" scenes become very dark, very ironic.

    Anakin, I think, is emotionally stunted. I think that since Padme is older, he's relating her to his mother. He hasn't had any real connection to females aside from his mother. I think he's assuaging his mommy issues through Padme. In a way, she's taking advantage of him through this.

    Now, you may laugh that implication off. It may be a silly notion that Padme has been more or less molesting Anakin, but it makes sense of one thing :

    Anakin force chokes her, even though he is portrayed to be in love with her. Now, why would he do that?

    Well, it's pretty simple. He's lashing out because she deserves it. She's taken his already disturbed mommy issues and twisted them around her finger, warped them beyond belief, and so he's taken up a typical sorrowful teenager approach.

    Self destruction manifesting itself as destruction of others.

    What was once some random, illogical explanation for Vader's immense evil, becomes a tragic tale of emotional (and possibly physical) rape, and it makes complete sense.
     
  2. Gary_Buchenara

    Gary_Buchenara Jedi Youngling star 3

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    Apr 29, 2009
    I think that eventhough she has senatorial duties, Padme is only supposed to be around 14 in TPM, so the age gap isn't as great as the age gap of the actors possibly. Personally I've always found the ages of those characters in TPM and the gap between their ages to be a bit odd. I think had they both been young adults at the start of the saga it may have played out better and not had the slightly creepy connotations that it does. Also, Padme may have had enough clues by AOTC not to make Jar Jar her rep in the Senate!
     
  3. FalorWindrider

    FalorWindrider Jedi Knight star 4

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    Jun 7, 2010
    24 and 20 really isn't a huge age gap, and any irregularity in it is a such of long-held preconceptions that the husband must be the older partner. I'm not big on Freud, but I don't think a couple with a four year age gap is necessarily Oedipal. Now, if Padme were in her late 30s in AOTC, I'd say you're onto something, but even then, it might not be the case. Plenty of men end up with considerably older women, and the rationale isn't "I wanna do someone like my Mom."
     
  4. Gary_Buchenara

    Gary_Buchenara Jedi Youngling star 3

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    Apr 29, 2009
    The age gap itself isn't significant. I guess you throw in the fact that Anakin has absent mother issues and Padme has been hot-housed and probably didn't have much in the way of a childhood and you're creating a somewhat distracting element in the relationship. The fact that Anakin's so creepy at the best of times doesn't help much either, but maybe that's just me.
     
  5. StampidHD280pro

    StampidHD280pro Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Jul 28, 2005
    I was with you until you got to the part about the Force-choke. He choked her out of suspicion that she had turned on him.
     
  6. anakin_girl

    anakin_girl Jedi Knight star 6

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    Oct 8, 2000
    To the OP, let me ask you this: Would the age gap seem so creepy to you if we were talking about a man being 4-5 years older than his wife? A 14-year-old boy who meets a 9-year-old girl and hangs out with her for a few days, then when they meet again 10 years later--when the man is 24 and the woman is 19 or 20--they fall in love? Is that creepy or predatory? Would you accuse that man of molesting the woman? Would you accuse that woman of substituting the man for her father?

    Why is it so creepy that the woman is older?

    Han is 11 years older than Leia in the OT, and Leia is supposed to be around 18 when they meet, same age as Anakin in AOTC. Is Han being predatory? Did he molest Leia? Is Leia substituting him for the adoptive father who blew up on Alderaan, or the biological father who turned to the Dark Side?
     
  7. Lady_Skywalker87

    Lady_Skywalker87 Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 4, 2008
    :rolleyes: If it's NOT Anakin the stalker it IS Padmè the molestor!!! Sorry if I appear rude but I think you have just given those who dislike her a silly new argument to bring up every time they try to make a point from now on.
     
  8. NOPADMENO

    NOPADMENO Jedi Youngling

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    Aug 26, 2010

    But Padme met Anakin when he was only 9 years old. That's a pubescent girl finding a non-pubescent boy attractive. You can't say that for Han/Leia.
     
  9. anakin_girl

    anakin_girl Jedi Knight star 6

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    Oct 8, 2000
    I didn't think she found him attractive in TPM. She was a 14-year-old girl being friendly to a 9-year-old boy. There was no physical attraction there; it's not like she tried to kiss him or something. She told him that she cared about him when he gave her the japor snippet, but "My caring for you will remain" does not translate to the GFFA version of "I think you are HAWT." Even his giving her the snippet was friendly and sweet, not an attempt at romance.

    I wish Lucas had filled in the gaps between TPM and AOTC better, had them exchange letters or something, but as far as any physical attraction in TPM, much less Padme molesting Anakin (based on what? She's older than he is?), it did not exist.

    I still maintain that we would not be having this conversation about an older man and a younger woman, even if they met as a 14-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl.
     
  10. StampidHD280pro

    StampidHD280pro Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Jul 28, 2005
    Yeah. And besides, when Padme says "You'll always be that little boy on Tattooine" she doesn't put her hands all over him and drool.
     
  11. Gary_Buchenara

    Gary_Buchenara Jedi Youngling star 3

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    Apr 29, 2009
    Nothing inappropriate seems to happen. In TPM there's nothing more than a girl looking out for a younger boy. It's all about impression really. We know that that they get together later and so seeing them there at 14 and 9 or whatever just feels slightly squirmy. I think it would be the same at that point if the genders were reversed. Eventhough you know here's nothing dodgy, it just feels slightly ... uncomfortable.
     
  12. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 2, 2007
    Han first saw Leia when she was around 8 years old. Just sayin'.
     
  13. NOPADMENO

    NOPADMENO Jedi Youngling

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    Aug 26, 2010
    EU doesn't and should not count.

    I'm not taking storyline into consideration that you can only know from reading some obscure comic/video game that is pretty much 1 out of 33443434.
     
  14. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 2, 2007
    Fortunately, EU does count. You are not allowed to discount something purely because it is from the EU. And the source I got that information from is not "obscure."
     
  15. Darth_Tim

    Darth_Tim Jedi Master star 4

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    Feb 26, 2002
    What does the age they were when they met have to do with anything? All parties were consenting adults when they became involved romantically, so what is wrong with that?
     
  16. MissPadme

    MissPadme Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Jul 9, 1998
    Padmé is the original cougar. Rawr!!

    --MissPadme
     
  17. xx_Anakin_xx

    xx_Anakin_xx Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 9, 2008
    I think it is whatever works for the viewer. Some people find the story more compelling if Anakin and Padme have deep psychological issues and unspoken drama and trauma. Some like that it can be Anakin or Padme who is responsible - or perhaps both. That's okay - every viewer can enjoy their own vision of what they view.

    For me, none of that stuff matters at all. They met, fell in love, married, he fell to the dark side, she died, he became Vader. And that was enough information for it to be compelling for me as a kind of side storyline to the whole dark/light thing. I don't need or want to know the fine details of why or how, so things like the age gap matter not at all. In light of that, in line with the topic, I don't think there is any connection at all between the age gap and Anakin falling to the dark side. I would have to write in stuff to make the connect and what is the point of that?

    Besides, I would never make it so mundane as a psychological issue. I would have Anakin suffering from lightsaber over exposure and Padme losing mental capacity from Midos leaking out of Anakin around the house. So you see, I'm better off accepting the straightforward unembellished form of the story, lol.

     
  18. FalorWindrider

    FalorWindrider Jedi Knight star 4

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    Jun 7, 2010
    Eh, I wouldn't even say they fell in love. Lust more accurately describes how they felt for one another. They knew each other for all of three days after being separated for ten years. Anakin became a petulant little Padawan who admits to supporting a fascist dictatorship, while Padme became a strawman pacifist with strong republican values. If either of them had not been physically attractive, then they simply would not have been together.
     
  19. Orvakki

    Orvakki Jedi Youngling star 1

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    Aug 9, 2010
    I presumed that they had seen each other for brief amounts of time between TPM and AOTC but I always presumed that Anakin had taken a fancy to her at a young age and soon become obsessed.
     
  20. Arawn_Fenn

    Arawn_Fenn Chosen One star 7

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    Jul 2, 2004
    ANAKIN: I haven't seen her in ten years, Master.
     
  21. Gary_Buchenara

    Gary_Buchenara Jedi Youngling star 3

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    Apr 29, 2009
    Anakin tends to come off as more obsessive and controlling than loving.


    For God's sake, woman, all I want is a bit of support when I want to take over the universe with my new evil powers!
     
  22. FalorWindrider

    FalorWindrider Jedi Knight star 4

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    Jun 7, 2010
    Maybe he shouldn't have told his stalwartly republican squeeze that he was an ardent supporter of totalitarian government back when he was courting her. That probably should have hinted to Padme that they were, you know, opposites. Sorry, darling, the man's not joking, he really does <3 fascism. Instead, she marries the good-lookin' guy after knowing him well for like three days.

    A better question to ask was whether George Lucas was injecting his own pain and pent up rage from his own divorce, when his wife left him for another man, into this "love story." Clearly, Padme is among the worst judges of character in the entire saga. Her actions let Palpatine rise to power and enabled Anakin to continue on his path to darkness. In other words, it's all a woman's fault. Now there's a discredited trope, if I've ever seen one.
     
  23. anakin_girl

    anakin_girl Jedi Knight star 6

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    Oct 8, 2000
    Now this is where "reading scenes differently" comes in. :p

    I always thought Anakin was just messing with Padme's mind in that scene, like he did later when he fell off the shaak and pretended to be hurt. Yes, he was frustrated by what he saw as inefficient government--and quite frankly he was right, but the rest of that story is that inefficient government, no matter how frustrating it might be, beats the Palpatine alternative.

    Unfortunately we didn't see much of the love story on film and I understand that there were gaps; not like Han and Leia's love story which had three films to build. As I said, I wish GL had had Anakin and Padme exchanging letters in that ten years or something. But I've dated obsessive stalkers in the past, and Anakin never fit the description. When Padme asked Anakin to back off, he did. That's the opposite of stalkerish. I also don't think they agreed to marry due to looks. If their only attraction was physical, why get married? Why not just knock boots whenever Anakin came home from the war?
     
  24. DarthBoba

    DarthBoba Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 29, 2000
    So, I'm six years older than my fiancee. Me=stalker? :rolleyes:
     
  25. FalorWindrider

    FalorWindrider Jedi Knight star 4

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    Jun 7, 2010
    Totally, dude. If the age difference is greater than or equal to six months, you're a total creep. ;)
     
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