Why doesn't Anakin show remorse after Force-choking Padmé?

Look at him after he let's her go. He's got a look on his face of "What did I just do?" and then it's gone in the next instant as he refocuses his outburst on Obi-wan.

I wouldn't exactly call him abusive, because it's not a repeated act. Yes, what he did was wrong. But it was a one-shot deal. He never did it before and never did it to her again.

 

Well at least not to on his wife

 

I thought the Nooooooo line was out of his regret and greiveing.

 

Hi


I saw the movie last week at the movies and I can surely say, after seeing it about 18 times, that anakin meant to kill padme.

I'm sure. If it wasnt for Obi-Wans interception, he would have killed her. I believe that Obi-wan was protection padme by the use of the force and the babies as well.


SWA.

 

Excuses, excuses. When he saw her collapse and lying unconcious onthe ground, Anakin was too busy boasting about his "new empire" too see if she was ok; Obi-Wan did. IMO, Anakin's embrace of the dark side reduced everything, and everyone in his life to things. Things to own, to use, to control. If Padme could not be controled, he has no use for her.


AND in regard to the "he only did it once" argument. How many times would he have to abuse her before it counted?

 

anakin checked if she was oaky. he says so. i could feel her, she lived (or something like that) when he wakes up.
and he thinks she betrayed him. he doesn't regard her as a thing. he thinks that everyone has turned against him, he's overly paranoid.

well, for once, choking someone to death only needs to happen once.
i think we are meant to believe that he is beside himself. he would not hurt his wife otherwise.
but of course it is easier to add wife-beater and/or abusive husband into the equation of anakin skywalker=was evil, is evil, will always be evil.

 

Has anyone ever asked why he choked padme and not obi-wan?

I think that says something about Anakin.


SWA.

 

but what?
that he feels the betrayal on her side is greater because not only does she reject his, um, gift, she also brought a person with her who will guaranteedly kill him.

 

-At the time of the incident, Anakin turns away from his wife and does not go to her; Obi-Wan goes to her and checks to see if she has a pulse. 3PO and R2 take her back to the ship. Anakin does not mention "feeling" she was alive until much later. He also tells Obi-Wan "you will not TAKE her from me" - she's a prize to be taken away.

-On the second point. Going to the Dark Side doesn't remove Anakins ability to think. He is not "beside himself"; he appears to be punishing his wife for her perceived betrayal. Anakin chooses to use a force choke on Padme, it doesn't just happen without his choosing. How many times would he have to be "beside himself" for it to count as abuse? Does he get a pass on the first incident? Using the Dark Side as an excuse is like the real world abusers who use alcohol or drugs as an excuse for their behavior.

-Anakin is not a simplistic character to be reduced to "EVIL" stereotyping; like Richard III or Iago, he's a fascinating study in human failings. So disucssing his hurtful actions towards his wife and unborn child does not reduce him to a cartoon villian.

 

he could have chocked Obi-Wan instead of Padme. Think about that.


SWA.

 

Who's to say he could choke Obi Wan? I've never seen one force user choke another.

He chokes Padme because she was closer to him (emotionally) and he feels the most betrayed by her. It was her he was losing also so thats where is anger and jealousy was aimed.

He does show some remorse in a way. He tells Obi Wan that he made him choke her and then turns away from Padme when she's on the floor, shwoing he regrets it and doesnt want to face up to what he did. I think deep down he knows he was doing wrong but continued to lie to himself to justify what he did.

He certainly shows remorse when he finds out he killed her.

Need I remind you all of:

"Noooooooooo!"

 

he screamed no. Ok, so he was upset. but did he do anything about it? no. Seems he continued to live and worry more about his empire than padme. He soon forgot about her. At the moment that he knew she was dead he should have commited suicide.

SWA.

 

he screamed no. Ok, so he was upset. but did he do anything about it? no. Seems he continued to live and worry more about his empire than padme. He soon forgot about her. At the moment that he knew she was dead he should have commited suicide.

Because there was nothing he could do at that point. He couldnt bring her back. But he was very angry with himself for killing her. That crushed him.

By this time he was a sith - power obsessed - he isnt going to kill himself.

The difference with Vader and the other Sith is that there is always good in him. Deep down he feels remorse but he covers it up and lets the dark side corrupt him further.

But if you watch the scene when he chokes her, he looks down at padme realising he made a mistake but then tries to pin it on kenobi because he cant handle what he has done. He then has to physically turn away from the unconcious Padme. That isnt the action of a man who feels nothing.

 

he could have chocked Obi-Wan instead of Padme. Think about that.

i did. which is why i wondered if choking her had to do somehow with her crime against him being greater.
so, he doesn't choke obi, he chokes her.
what do *you* learn from it?

Anakin does not mention "feeling" she was alive until much later.

yeah, right. but it doesn't mean he didn't. either he convinced himself that she wasn't dead or he felt her. we cannot tell for sure, can we?

He also tells Obi-Wan "you will not TAKE her from me" - she's a prize to be taken away.

i agree with that. she has become a possession.

Going to the Dark Side doesn't remove Anakins ability to think. He is not "beside himself"; he appears to be punishing his wife for her perceived betrayal. Anakin chooses to use a force choke on Padme, it doesn't just happen without his choosing.

you know, in my book, overly loving someone to the point that you lose your mind over possibly losing them counts as being beside yourself. and also choking his wife counts as something out of character.
sorry, but what is the point of this? if turning to the dark side didn't change him at all, what was the point of turning to the dark side?
if slaughtering an entire temple doesn't make you lose your mind, what does?
and while i don't think he didn't force choke her involuntarily, i would certainly say that he doesn't quite know what he is doing. he is consumed by his emotions, he has never had much control over them, and now they take him over. it's not an excuse, i should think.

How many times would he have to be "beside himself" for it to count as abuse? Does he get a pass on the first incident? Using the Dark Side as an excuse is like the real world abusers who use alcohol or drugs as an excuse for their behavior.

i don't think it's an excuse i'm using. i think it's completely out of character. and that's why it's not something he would *normally* have done.

disucssing his hurtful actions towards his wife and unborn child does not reduce him to a cartoon villian.

i don't think he *meant* this to happen. i agree he's complex. i just happen to think that this abuse is not supposed to indicate he always had a violent streak towards his loved ones. i think he would badly need help of some kind, not the lecturing or denying type, *real* help for a change.

 

*happily agrees with master shaitan*

 

Crack?

Um, because Obi-Wan could force-choke him back? Vader only chokes those who can't choke him back (ie non-force-users). Watch the OT for your proof.

 

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[b]But if you watch the scene when he chokes her, he looks down at padme realising he made a mistake but then tries to pin it on kenobi because he cant handle what he has done.
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Made a mistake?! Yet he does nothing to rectify the mistake Shaitan? just walks right over her and goes at it with Kenobi. Didnt check and see if Padme was okay or anything. Id hope with a mistake like that it could be corrected.Also what does that say about a man whod rather pin it on someone else than to deal with the fact that he has a problem controlling his emotions.


[hr][b]He then has to physically turn away from the unconcious Padme. That isnt the action of a man who feels nothing.
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Well if he turns away from her Shaitan and jumps on Kenobi and then starts blabbering about his new empire obviously he could care less about Padme. If he was truly concerned about her he wouldve used better judgment before jumping to conclusions without hearing the truth. He couldve easily pushed Padme aside.

 

But he hides how he is feeling. If he admitted it to himself he wouldnt be able to live with it. Besides he is obsessed with power at this moment and will justify anything he does to ensure he can keep that power.

Its like when you do something wrong but are stubborn and just dont take the blame yourself, you put the blame onto someone else and will argue into oblivion!

Thats what I see Anakin/Vader doing. He snaps. Attackes Padme. Lets go and see's what he has done. But then places the blame onto Kenobi, turns away, focuses on his power and goes about trying to kill Kenobi.

But we know there is always good in Vader and as GL told HC - Vader is always thinking, "what am I doing?!". This is one of those moments. But he brushes it off and sets about destroying his former master.

But for me, the moment after he lets go of Padme he was think -"what am i doing but then tries to shift the blame to Kenobi. then he has to turn away from what he did as its hurting him. he then says some rubbish about bringing peace and justice to kid himself that he is doing the right thing and then dives into the fight with Kenobi, attempting to put Padme out of his mind.

We see the regret of his actions later on when Sidious tells him he "killed her":

"Noooooooooo!".

 

M_S I know you've seen ROTS. Think hard. I know you know there is an instance of one force user choking another. In fact, Obi-Wan is the only Jedi I've seen take a force-choke from another force user...think back to the beginning of the film...

 

^^^^ Dooooku

 

Bingo Evil_Imp

 

Ah yeah Dooku

Whoops!

"I have no excuse".

 

Bingo.

Anakins thoughts were basically "Oh $#!&, what have I done? I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't so pissed at Obi-Wan! It's HIS fault!"

 

"It's Anakin Skyalker beginning to deal with some of his more intense emotions of anger, hatred, sense of loss, possessiveness, jealousy, and the other things he's coping with."

--George Lucas, The Star Wars Trilogy VHS Boxset 2000.

"But he has become attached to his mother and he will become attached to Padme and these things are, for a Jedi, who needs to have a clear mind and not be influenced by threats to their attachments, a dangerous situation. And it feeds into fear of losing things, which feeds into greed, wanting to keep things, wanting to keep his possessions and things that he should be letting go of. His fear of losing her turns to anger at losing her, which ultimately turns to revenge in wiping out the village."

--George Lucas, AOTC DVD Commentary.

"The key part of this scene ultimately is Anakin saying "I'm not going to let this happen again." We're cementing his determination to become the most powerful Jedi. The only way you can really do that is to go to the Dark Side because the Dark Side is more powerful. If you want the ultimate power you really have to go to the stronger side which is the Dark Side, but ultimately it would be your undoing. But it's that need for power and the need for power in order to satisfy your greed to keep things and to not let go of things and to allow the natural course of life to go on, which is that things come and go, and to be able to accept the changes that happen around you and not want to keep moments forever frozen in time."

--George Lucas, AOTC DVD Commentary.

"The thing that breaks Padme's heart in the end is the fact that Anakin says to her, 'Come and join me. I have all the power now. I can rule the universe and you can do it with me.' So the idea of saving her life has become a minor issue. And that's when she says, 'Wait a minute. This is not what I want and you're not the guy I fell in love with!'"

--George Lucas, The Making Of Revenge Of The Sith; page 52

"It's about a good boy who was loving and had exceptional powers, but how that eventually corrupted him and how he confused possessive love with compassionate love. That happens in Episode II: Regardless of how his mother died, Jedis are not supposed to take vengeance. And that's why they say he was too old to be a Jedi, because he made his emotional connections. His undoing is that he loveth too much."

--George Lucas, Rolling Stone Magazine Interview; June 2005.

As to how many times is it before it becomes abuse, when it's more than once. In this case, it was only once.

 

I really have to strongly disagree with that one. Nobody gets a "first time free" card on abuse of their pregnant wife. Nobody, not even the Chosen One himself. Abuse is abuse, however many times it is committed. It's a genie that can't be put back in the bottle, esp. to the spouse it's directed towards.

-And re Darth Frayed's reply - IMO, turning to the Dark Side and using it's power doesn't result in a blinding bezerker rage or unthinking heat of passion; butit does result in a person making radically different choices. It affecting your judgement, but you still have the realization that you are making terrible choices. They just seem easier to make. Like looking at your wife and deciding to use your new powers to hurt her.

To Anakin, it seems the point of using the DS was to tap into it's power, to gain it's advantage, without considering the price he would have to pay -the NOOOOOO moment at the end can be seen as regret for Padme, or as Anakin/Vader living through a SW version of the Twilight Zone/O Henry moment. "Yes, you have unlimited power, but you paid with three of your limbs and your wife's life and get to spend your life in a mobile iron lung. Sorry we didn't mention that beforehand..."