Star Wars: Blogs | Diary of a Temple Archive Girl | To Care or Not To Care... or Maybe to Feign Care. Such Is The Dilemma

Diary of a Temple Archive Girl

by: anisanissa

date posted: Aug 21, 2005 12:22 PM | updated: Aug 25, 2005 5:14 AM

To Care or Not To Care... or Maybe to Feign Care. Such Is The Dilemma

So, I have to say something has been bothering me about Padme. I know, it seems like I'm bashing her mercilessly of late, but I'm really not. I love her and think she's great. I just don't see her in monolithic perfection. That, was Anakin's job.

I think she was way multifaceted and just like all human beings, had some flaws and qualities, that maybe she could have improved upon. So here goes...

I don't know if it's bothered anyone else or even been noticed (though, I doubt that) but I'm having issues with Padme's problem with Ani having offed the younglings at the Temple during that whole scourging thing. Now, don't go all Sith on me, let me explain. (Hmm, maybe she should have said that when Ani saw Obi get off her ship

) I'm not even on the list of defenders of Anakin on that one, but it wasn't like he hadn't done this sort of thing before. We all know what went down on Tattoine in AOTC and so did Padme. No one in the Tusken camp was spared when Anakin rendered judgment. I don't remember her being all freaked about that. It didn't keep her from binding herself more permanently to him. I mean, what was up with that? He clearly had some conflict resolution and aggression issues before they were married. Which makes it all the more off to me that she was horrified about what he did later. If anyone understands it, please help me. I've mulled and pondered and all I can come up with was that my favorite Senator & style icon was a xenophobe at worst and a classist at best. This pains me because I want to believe that all children would have been equally important in her eyes, rendering what Ani did, undeniable murder, on both counts. I don't want to think she valued the younglings more because of their status and the Tusken children less because they were of a perceived savage & barbarous clan. On the other hand, if she did value them equally, how could she find it beyond forgiveness the second time? Or for that matter, forgivable the first?

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lia_nailo
Random Ruminations of a SW Fangirl

date Posted: Aug 21, 2005 12:49 PM

Okay, this is how I see this. Keep in mind, I'm not excusing what she did, by any means. I think that she should have tried to steer him away from what he did the first time it happened.
I think she let the first one go because she accepted his reason for doing it. They took his mother and killed her, so his overwhelming anger was "acceptable". (I don't agree with that ... honestly, I probably would have smacked him for being an idiot. But I have a bit of a temper myself.

)

lia_nailo
Random Ruminations of a SW Fangirl

date Posted: Aug 21, 2005 12:50 PM

The second one, however, was him completely IGNORING what she suggested (running away, leaving everything behind, and just being together). It was him doing what he told himself he needed to do ... but not listening to her. And honestly, she probably had a bit of a clearer head about the whole situation than he did. I know if my husband said "I had a dream you're going to die", he would be a basketcase, and I'd be the one trying to calm things down.

anisanissa
Diary of a Temple Archive Girl

date Posted: Aug 21, 2005 1:55 PM

See, and that point about him ignoring her suggestion, just brings me back to my previous blog post (Know Thy Wife). Her judgment on his actions was based on whether or not he obeyed her? Or maybe the worthiness of his actions was based subjectives, that retained her as the only arbiter of morality? I certainly hope she handled her duties in the Senate better than that. There is no doubt that Ani was way wrong, but I'm still not giving her the all clear on culpability. The Tusken children didn't kidnap or kill Shmi. If she figured his action was "acceptable" on any level, regardless of his grief, she was delusional at best and willfully ignorant at worst. Either way, it doesn't look good.

lia_nailo
Random Ruminations of a SW Fangirl

date Posted: Aug 21, 2005 2:05 PM

Oh no, I don't give her an all clear by any means. In all fairness, her idea (leave together) was a little better than his (slaughter people), but she really needed to pick a stance. She waffled about him a lot, when the main thing he needed was some kind of stability.
I think all her years in politics made her used to being listened to ... and when he didn't ... she didn't know how to handle it. I think what she did was, she made the decision to love him no matter what after the Tusken Raider incident (because if she was going to leave, it *should* have been then) ... but the fact that he'd just gone through and slaughtered all the Jedi at the temple was too much for her. Her bridge was weak at precisely the wrong time.

	MeLaydee
date Posted: Aug 21, 2005 2:07 PM Padme was older than Ani and had the experience of a leader but when it comes to love even smart people do stupid things. I think Padme was blinded by love and made many mistakes. She was unable to be objective when it came to Ani.

	anisanissa Diary of a Temple Archive Girl
date Posted: Aug 21, 2005 6:12 PM I respect your position, but I have to hold Padme to a higher standard. Blinded by love isn't going to cut it for me. I'll grant mistakes, but the things that show up as errors in her judgment are colossally epic in their wrongness. It offers a fascinating aspect to her personality & their relationship as well.

	lia_nailo Random Ruminations of a SW Fangirl
date Posted: Aug 21, 2005 6:27 PM But really ... with the way this couple's entire relationship arc was ... little errors in judgment just weren't plausible. It seemed like every decision they made just snowballed into something gigantic. It's probably a good thing Padme had droids to take out the trash and such, because a fight over that might have made the cosmos explode with those two.

	anisanissa Diary of a Temple Archive Girl
date Posted: Aug 21, 2005 7:15 PM Indeed it seems this was the case. Two people drawn to one another and it results in galactic suffering for how many years? And RLMAO on the Padme had droids to take out the trash and such, because a fight over that might have made the cosmos explode with those two. Took me back to the whole dishes conversation parody from earlier. It's just a scream!

	lia_nailo Random Ruminations of a SW Fangirl
date Posted: Aug 21, 2005 8:26 PM The scary part of that is, I haven't even gotten started yet. One of these days I'm going to get into a rant mood, and there's gonna be a blog entry along the lines of "If Anakin had to pilot a speeder through Jacksonville", and it's not gonna be pretty.

MeLaydee

date Posted: Aug 22, 2005 4:21 PM

I completely agree. You two are a riot! But back to business. I think that Anakin had no social skills bec of the strick Jedi, monk, priest, marine like training. Very true that Padme should had controlled herself better. I thought she was a complete tease when she had that black sexy dress in Epi2. In Nobu she always had these sexy dresses on, she should had bulky, old, dirty sweats on. Tease! But maybe it was inevitable, destiny.. two star crossed lovers...destined to end in suffering, no matter what!

	anisanissa Diary of a Temple Archive Girl
date Posted: Aug 22, 2005 6:20 PM Awww, MeLaydee, flattery will get you everywhere! Thanks for the compliment. And you make a good point about Anakin's lack of social skills issues. Slave to padawan... you'd think someone would have made a comment on the JC that possibly he hadn't had the opportunity to socialize correctly and fully and helped him out a little. Poor kid. ;(

princessbluelightsaber
If Luke knew the truth from the beginning?

date Posted: Aug 22, 2005 10:45 PM

Hi all, I don't think Padme valued the Jedi younglings more. She was willing to forgive and forget all that Anakin had done (killing Jedi and younglings and turning to the Darks side). She told him, "All I want is your love". She even wanted to go away and run and hide with him, regardless of what he had done. That would have continued to bind her to him, being that they would be in hiding together. This was similar to how she continued to stay with him after he confessed in AOTC about killing all the Tuskin Raiders, even the women and the children. It wasn't until Anakin confessed how he wanted to rule the Galaxy that she couldn't continue to follow him. However, she still wanted to be with him..."come back, I love you".

	anisanissa Diary of a Temple Archive Girl
date Posted: Aug 23, 2005 3:58 AM Princessbluelightsaber, very good points. And while it gives me a plausible alternative to what I'd thought her problem was (xenophobia or classism), it gives me cold comfort, because this would mean that she just didn't damned care. Oy vay!

	Sunnyskywalker Sunnyskywalker's Star Wars Stuff
date Posted: Aug 23, 2005 8:01 PM Yeah, not great options here, are there? Either Padme cares about the Jedi younglings more than the Tusken kids, or she doesn't care about kids getting murdered at all. Disturbing. Someone should have signed her and Anakin up for some serious therapy.

	lia_nailo Random Ruminations of a SW Fangirl
date Posted: Aug 23, 2005 8:39 PM Sunnyskywalker, you've just given me another idea. There'll be a post in my blog tomorrow about this. "Therapy with Mr. and Mrs. Vader" ... man, the possibilities are endless.

	anisanissa Diary of a Temple Archive Girl
date Posted: Aug 24, 2005 4:57 AM Sunnyskywalker, you see it too? And yeah, they could have both benefited from a little group, a little one on one and a little couple's counseling. Actually, a lock-down situation might have been just the thing for Ani. Lia, I can't wait for the post. I feel a fit of laughter coming on...

Qui-Tom Servo loves Padme
You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned

date Posted: Aug 28, 2005 5:28 PM

Here's my take on the matter. Padme was in denial over Anakin's going dark on her, so she went to Mustafar to find out the truth. It's one thing to slaughter Tuskens after they killed your mother and another thing to slaughter younglings. Neither one is right mind you, but there is a difference. Once Padme realizes what Anakin has done and that she can't turn him back, she begins to back away from him. She still loves him, but she will not go along with this.

MeLaydee

date Posted: Aug 30, 2005 12:47 PM

Right on! There is a difference. The jedi youglings knew Anakin, he was their mentor and he just killed them with no hesitation. It was his choice even though Lord Sidious was manipulating him from day one. That is the beauty of Star Wars Prequel, we begin to care for Anakin since he was a little boy and booooom! He turns to the dark side. Think about all the jedis he hunted down after he became Darth Vader and he blew up Alderan. Lucas wants to show us how a good person becomes so evil. When I see the original films I now feel differently towards Darth Vader, it makes him more tragic. When I was a kid Vader terrified me and after the prequels I pitty him. So sad, even though he is a meany.

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