Padme the Tease

Okay, I'm a woman, and I know how women think. And the way Padme behaved in AOTC is inexcusable. First of all, she knew that Anakin had a crush on her at least. She knew she couldn't have an affair with him without screwing with both their lives, and yet she dressed more seductively than she had before or since, and then scorns him when he says anything at all about his feelings, or shows his interest. It's like the chick wearing the skimpy, low cut dress, and then getting offended when a guy doesn't look her in the eyes. She didn't exactly cringe when she displayed her entire back for Anakin to stroke. Thing is, I don't think Padme knew that she would develop feelings for Anakin too. I think she was toying with him, having a little fun...

The character is portrayed as angelic and innocent but mature, but is she really?

 

She was playing head games with Anakin. Padme knew what she was doing. Even Typho said he would be more worried about Padme trying something foolish moreso than Anakin.

 

Well yeah lets remember that she herself is quite young and its been my experience that young girls act this way, they only like you when you don't care if they like you. (i know its complicated)

I really do think its inherent in women to act this way and I wouldn't blame Padme, she's nothing like the skimpy stuck up chicks I've dated. I think it was natural the way she acted, she herself was in love with Anakin so lets not get to ahead of ourselves. She exercised alot of constraint but nature and the will of the force is alot stronger than her will.

You are right about her coming off as a little b#@&% but thats just the way things work in the beginning stages of love,IMO.

 

This man speaks the truth.

These past two weeks... boy, your words couldn't be more relevant if you tried! Young girls. Particularly 19 year olds with smooth skin, long reddy-brown hair that initially like to tease and then won't look you in the eye - but flirt with another guy RIGHT in front of your face - named Sally. Anyway, that's enough of that...

It can be said that Padme was embracing her sexuality as a human being for the first time in her life. After a life of servitude, another young person bound by duty was opening her heart and mind to new possibilities. Or... something like that. If one is being charitable. OK, OK, if one is being objective. But right now, I'm in very little mood to be objective where young women are concerned! That's all you're getting out of me.

 

Wasn't the character 24?

 

Yep..

 

For what it's worth (which may be a lot or nothing at all depending on your point of view), I think the AOTC Visual Dictionary says something about Padme not wanting to fall in love but unconsciously choosing attire that reflected her true feelings, or something along those lines. I don't have the book with me right now so I can't get an exact quote.

 

A good deal of AOTC themeology circulates around the concept of overwhelming emotion and the inability to control it: love that alters who we are and sweeps us away; anger that drives us to hurt others to temper our own pain; fear that overcomes rational thinking.

Mentally, Padme knows she can't have Anakin. She knows it's going to end badly if she gives into him. All of his she knows well aware of psychologically. However, most of us aware, as I'm sure Lucas is aware when he wrote SW, that we often don't make decisions based on our logical thinking. People think emotionally and so they act emotionally. Padme doesn't want to lead Anakin on, but her physical drive is tied into her emotional one, and thus...Padme the tease.


Wasn't the character 24?

True, true, but she's a 24 that's never allowed herself to become emotionally involved in romantic relationships, nor has she really spent alot of time developing her internal self. I think AOTC Padme is meant to be seen as somewhat psychologically stagnant - she hasn't allowed herself to focus on the needs of the self as much as she should have.

Twenty-four really isn't that old, either - my boyfriend is 24, and he's still maturing in some way. I'm sure we all wish we were worldy and completely mature at 24, but most of us know that isn't true.

 

[quote/]Twenty-four really isn't that old, either - my boyfriend is 24, and he's still maturing in some way. I'm sure we all wish we were worldy and completely mature at 24, but most of us know that isn't true.[/quote]

Male 24 yo is a BIG difference generally to a Female 24 yo as females mature seuxally and mentally earlier than males.

Also interestingly females usually prefer older men(say 5-15 years older,not 50 years older) as these men are not "boys" and immature like their male peers more often than not tend to be.

 

You are right, heres the exact quote...In her family home, Padme is at last free to wear non-official clothing. Deeply affected by the presence of Anakin Skywalker, she tells herself that she cannot and will not fall in love with him, but unconsciously she wears a gown expressive of her true feelings.

Hope that helps, even if some people dont care about it.

 

Being 24 myself, and having been around my share of 24 year old women (and older), even the most sheltered have developed and matured considerably by that age. "Innocence" isn't really an issue anymore, nor is the lack of experience. No one is SO hardworking, their time SO accounted for, that they can't develop at least some kind of relatiohship. As it is, Padme isn't naive, nor is she inexperienced when it comes to relations to the opposite sex. The name "Palo" came up.

 

How do we compare a 24 year old female politician these days on their love lives I wonder

 

i aleays thought padme drssing sexy was as contrived as having them hide on a romantic lakeside, its just for them to get romantically involved

 

Padme is such a sweet heart, just because she plays a little hard-to-get, people start bashing on her. I love you Padme! I hope you can hear me!


Yeah she plays little games with Anakin, show me one girl that won't play games at the start of a relationship and I'll give you five bucks because I'm poor.


That doesn't mean that us guys don't play games either, though usually its just one game and its a hell of a lot simpler.

 

Hmm, I think until now I have tended to not look at the PT from Padme's point of view.

Think about her life -- thrust into power as a child and never allowed to actually be one. She never got to be a teenager and basically was a cold fish burying herself in her work. Then she realizes she is a human being and perhaps needs love, frivolity, and a life. I think this is at first subconscious. Thus the seductive appearance and romantic settings she put herself in. She is subconsciously trying to break herself out of her political shell that has dominated her life. In many ways she is just as oppressed as the Jedi younglings (and Anakin) are, taken at youth and forced into living a life of rigidity.

Maybe underneath the appearance, the real Padme is not the Padme we thought she was (in other words, the physical metaphor Lucas used in Episode I -- Padme is not the stoic, aloof Queen but the humble, vulnerable hand maiden underneath the disguise). I have to conclude that the shrewd, tough politician was the disguise of her life. In the end, sadly, she was vulnerable, weak, and had no spine. I have to say the manner in which she gave up on life and left her two children alone in the world was cowardly and selfish. As time progresses from TPM to ROTS she seems to be trying to throw off the weight of the burdens that have been placed on her. Much like the Republic, she starts out dedicated to fighting the good fight but over time becomes weary of the fighting and tired of trying to hold up the tent, eventually giving in. Wow, Padme's path is exactly that of the Republic.

On top of that, in AOTC she was the ultimate Hillary Clinton, an enabler. She knew what would happen if she hooked up with Anakin and did it anyway. She saw the bad signs and more or less looked the other way, hey that's OK, it's all politics, right? So is it any wonder that by the end of ROTS, after years of looking the other way, Anakin can't handle it when she finally draws a line? And is it any wonder that she turns around and gives up when the going gets tough, or that she thinks only of herself and not her children?

 

I've never thought about this...maybe it's just because some male picked out her wardrobe.

*cough*Lucas*cough*

 

The name "Palo" came up.

Among other things....

 

I really enjoyed your post. And yes, she is only a frail human being who can rule a world and act as a representative in the galactic Senate, but can't handle her $# at home. And as a human being, she is prone to heartbreak, depression, suicidal tendencies, and weakness. Anakin was her Achilles heel. How disappointed we, as an audience are, to find that someone so strong, so capable, can fall so easily. And yet, I seriously doubt we hold ourselves to those same standards.

Padme was, unfortunately, emotionally immature, and incapable of handling anything outside her normal sphere of influence... that of politics and leadership. And now that she had lost that influence (remember that democracy has just died... already really depressed about that), she loses the only other thing that she ever felt passionate about. I seriously doubt that Padme even want children, except with Anakin by her side.

Another thread possibility... How would the twins have turned out had the Republic and Anakin not fallen into darkness?

 

How would the twins have turned out had the Republic and Anakin not fallen into darkness?

With me, it's that Anakin was, as BoV said, herone weakness. And she was also his (after his mother passed away). And that's just not really a healthy relationship. They cling together, out of necessity, for fear of falling... yet how can they expect to survive like that?

There was once an article I read about how children in families where the parents were so completely in love with each other felt neglected. And I could see that happening here.

Another situation would be the marriage not even lasting that long. Their relationship was able to survive because Anakin was away, fighting and Padmé was busy herself. They have never truly lived together. To suddenly be thrust into what might seem like an ideal situation, but really isn't can be quite hard to deal with. And neither Anakin or Padmé seem like the type to be able to deal with it, since, as pointed out, Padmé is quite emotionally immature and Anakin isn't that mature either.

So either the twins are neglected, in my opinion, because their parents are too wrapped up in one another, or the twins are put in the middle when Anakin and Padmé realize that their relationship simply isn't going to work anymore.