Padme may be "kind and beautiful" but she's not very smart!

In Episode 1 she is manipulated by Palpatine.Ok not the smartest move but I can forgive it.

In Episode 2 she needs to leave someone in charge.She decides to leave Jar Jar Binks in charge.Jar Jar Binks!What was she thinking?!?!?!?!Yes!Leave the MORON in charge!

Then in Episode 2 she is being flirted with by that nice Anakin kid,and it is only AFTER he goes on a murderous rampage that she falls for him.YES!

She is AGAINST a military creation act even thought the separists are threatening.Yes!Leave the Republic with no defense after an attack!Some politician,she dosen't have my vote!

She decides to go save Kenobi and winds up getting both herself and Anakin captured.They didnt help Kenobi much,just like he said,good job!

Padme is everything soft and smooth...and stupid!

OK now respond about the Padme character,not Portmans acting.Do you agree or disagree with me that she is the weakest PT character?

 

Disagree.

Because without her, then you wouldn't have Luke or Leia from the OT. So basically to tie everything together and make the transition from PT to OT, she is a very important character.

 

I don't think he's arguing she's unimportant to the story, rather that she's just a complete airhead.

 

Padme is the result of a civilization that has mostly been basically peacefull for hundreds and/or thousands of years. She, and most everyone in the GFFA have become complacent.

 

Also, I think Jar Jar was a rep of Naboo as well. Since she was gone, he was #2 in command. In a democracy, you can not pick who replaces you.

As far as being manipulated by Pals, well join the club. He is pulling the woll over everyones eyes, including the Jedi council.

As far as falling for Anakin after his Tuskin job, well, nice girls seem to like bad boys...

 

In my personal experiance, hot chicks ain't always that bright.

 

She comes from a peaceful plant where according to the novelisation all right minded people try to help others less fortunate than themselves in thanks for how lucky they all are. Thats all well and good but it is not the upbringing of a smart galactic politician.

 

I am not going to say that she is stupid. But she definitely does not know how to handle people on a personal level. Anakin knew what he did w/ the Tusken's was wrong. After he blamed Obi Wan for the action, he still had some feeling of culpability. But what does Padme do, she justifies his actions: "you are only human". Anakin knew his actions were wrong and he respected Padme. If she came out stronger telling him his actions were wrong, he would have listened. He then could have worked to try to control his temper. By justifying his actions, he does not try to control his anger.

 

Padme doesn't know enough about the Tuskens besides what she heard from Cliegg Lars and what she saw in the podrace to make judgements on Anakin. Besides, his mother was killed by them so she understands that Anakin killed the Tuskens out of revenge and that he had a case of temporal insanity when he went after the women and children.

It wasn't the time or the place for her to be critcizing Anakin knowing how much he is in pain and when Padme said that Anakin was only human, she was NOT justifying his actions but rather pointing out that nobody is perfect and can make mistakes.

 

Of course she's not very smart. She ruined her life (and potentially others, if she is indeed the reason Anakin turns to the dark side) when she made the foolish move of joining politics at a very young age.

 

Padme may be "kind and beautiful" but she's not very smart!

I agree. For a woman who is the two-time elected Queen of an entire planet, and then a Senator, Padme doesn't appear savvy at all. For me, she is symbolic of Naboo in this respect. Beautiful, peaceful, lush, green, but not strong. I think Leia came across as a much stronger/smarter woman. Funny how Luke/Leia inherited the best of both parents. Anakin's and Padme's personalities and abilities are quite different and complement each other. It seems the twins were born with the best that each perent had to offer, while teh bad parts were wiped out. Is the Force working here?

 

More than anything Padme wants to find a diplomatic solution to the Separitist movement,shes commited to peace even when civil war is threatening to break out,thats not really stupidity its just wishy washy wishfull thinking,its not realistic.

Now if most of the senators and citizens of the republic behaved like say Jabba the Hutt they would probably overwhelmingly vote for the creation of an army for the republic and after it is established they would also have the clone army as well,if she was a little more ruthless then she would be much better off,you'd think that the Naboo blockade would make her smarter and much more aggressive towards enemies but it hasnt,and that is a sign of weakness.

 

The title of the next Star Wars movie should be:

"Episode 3: So I Married a Mass Murderer"

It's not stupidity so much as youthful indiscretion. Which one of us hasn't done something dumb while under the weight of a romantic crush? Which one of us hasn't helped some cute guy or girl cover up a horrible crime?

 

"In Episode 2 she needs to leave someone in charge.She decides to leave Jar Jar Binks in charge.Jar Jar Binks!What was she thinking?!?!?!?!Yes!Leave the MORON in charge! "

Well Binks ends up putting Palps in charge and it's possible he's being manipulated by him. It's not his fault that the clone army is already made.

 

Padame is ery smart intellectually, but she suffers from the same sort of problem Anakin had. They both lacked normal childhoom.(come on a queen at 14 is a very difficult burden), and they both havce this need for some sort of emotional need that they both feel they are lacking. They both have faith in Palpitine and so forth. To me anyone that questions the love story are off base. In many ways Anakin and Padame are differnt, but in many ways are the same, and most importantly are in need of the same things.

 

In regards to the Jar Jar thing, would this be a bad time to point out that TEN YEARS have past since we last saw him in TPM? I don't know about the rest of you apparently perfect people, but I know that I have matured a hell of a lot in the last ten years. Give him a break.
I mean, we don't go around making fun of your New Kids on the Block tapes or Vanilla Ice posters from back in the day, do we?

 

Padme may be "kind and beautiful" but she's not very smart!

yeah , i wonder if Portman had considered to paint her hair blond , would really fit

 

She is AGAINST a military creation act even thought the separists are threatening.Yes!Leave the Republic with no defense after an attack!

Padme is the Hillary Clinton "liberal" of Star Wars.

 

Hey, nobody's perfekt!

 

In Padme's defense...

- As has already been stated, everybody was duped by Palpatine.

- As Queen, she took the bold step to return to Naboo to defeat the Trade Federation herself. Her actions led not only to her planet's liberation, but also its unification; when she wisely prostrated herself before Boss Nass, he realized that the Naboo were not as arrogant as he thought.

- As Senator, her opposition to the Military Creation Act was based on two things. First, she was generally a pacifist (clearly not an absolute pacifist, as she was willing to bear arms against the Trade Federation's occupying forces), and such a stance is neither immoral nor necessarily unwise. More importantly, she was afraid that the Military Creation Act would drive the Separatists away from negotiating and into building their own army. That fear was unfounded, but only because the Separatists were being manipulated by the Sith.

- Her plan to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi did fail, but she had no way of knowing that Dooku was waiting for the Republic's Grand Army; her belief that the Jedi would be too late to rescue him wasn't an unreasonable one. Besides, if we're going to judge decision by their outcomes (Padme getting captured), we must also include the positive outcomes: the Separatists ended up looking bad. They not only tried to execute a Jedi, they also tried to kill a member of the Republic Senate - and that makes for bad publicity.

- Finally, there's Anakin.

First, it seems like she had already fallen in love with him on Naboo; she just refused to act on her feelings. After the Tusken massacre, she still didn't express her love; she comforted him as a friend, and they went to rescue Obi-Wan as friends. She confessed and gave into her love only after it seemed like they were doomed to be executed.

Second, it's a hard thing to judge someone by the object of their love, but we can still see why she did love Anakin. She tends to have a protective streak, and Anakin Skywalker is, ultimately, an emotionally wounded orphan who lost his home, his father figure (Qui-Gon), and his mother: it's a serious case of the Florence Nightingale syndrome, Padme treating his emotional wounds rather than physical ones. Further, she can feel like herself around him; she can talk with him as equals and play around as if they were kids (and they practically are kids, given their age). And, put simply, Anakin deeply loves her, and that has to have an effect.

And, if we are to judge decisions by their effects (intended, unintended, and unpredicted), then Padme's decision is among the best decisions in the entire Saga. Anakin was heading toward the Dark Side: his conversation with Palpatine and the Tusken massacre demonstrate this fact. But Padme loving and marrying him led to the Skywalker twins, Luke and Leia; and Luke Skywalker ultimately redeemed Anakin. Palpatine's diabolical plot nearly worked, but Anakin and Padme's forbidden love ultimately defeated him.

I would be hard-pressed to see how someone could have made better decisions than Padme Amidala, given what she knew and when she knew it. We're judging her decisions through the lens of hindsight and near omniscience, and that's not fair.

 

I think the Padme character is so poorly conceptualized, written, directed, and acted that it is pointless to analyze the "character" so thoroughly.

She is basically a walking plot device that recites lines in monotone.

It doesn't help that Natalie Portman is bored and doesn't give a rat's a$$ about Star Wars. Although I can't say I blame her.

And that is my honest opinion, so don't bash me.

 

"But Padme loving and marrying him led to the Skywalker twins"

I disagree with that point. Anakin says he will not fail again in saving someone's life. That sounds like a foreshadow to me. Can anyone say the death of Padme? I don't doubt for a moment that Padme's death will play a huge role in Anakin's turn to the dark side. And if Padme refused to get involved with Anakin and he didn't love her, there'd be no need for Luke or Leia. It is a "forbidden love" that most likely makes the Jedi Purge entirely possible and the Prophecy that much more complicated. If he did not turn, he would have brought Balance without needing to go to the dark side.

That's my thoughts

 

She is AGAINST a military creation act even thought the separists are threatening.Yes!Leave the Republic with no defense after an attack!Some politician,she dosen't have my vote!

But the military creation act made it possible for Palpy to take over the galaxy by giving him the muscle to keep him in power (clonetroopers). So it looks like Padme's not so dumb after all.

 

Yeah but Padme didn't know that. It's like she's saying if the United States didn't have a military there would be no terrorism because the terrorists wouldn't feel threatened. It's crazy!

 

"So it looks like Padme's not so dumb after all."

That is true, but that was not the reason she was against the Military Creation Act. Nobody knew Sidious/Palpatine's intentions. Maybe not even his own apprentice