10 Things That Don't Make Sense About Padme
Everyone has a friend who is a nauseating overachiever. We also have friends with personal lives reminiscent of soap opera plots from the 1980s. Then we all know that one special someone who is both. Friends, I give you Padmé Amidala, a brilliant and accomplished career woman with a trainwreck of a personal life.
1. She's Elected Queen At The Age Of 14
Padmé Naberrie came from humble origins to rise to power at the mere age of 14. She was a gifted 8-year-old student. She had entered the Legislative Youth Program by the time she was 12. This leadership education gave Padmé all the confidence she needed to campaign for herself as queen. The entire surface-dwelling part of the planet was okay with this and elected her into office over the incumbent. Only later did Padmé question her ascendancy, stating, "I wasn't the youngest queen ever elected. But now that I think back on it, I'm not sure I was old enough. I'm not sure I was ready.
2. Relationships With Other Leaders
As the young Queen of Naboo, Padmé Amidala reached out to nearby planets to open trade with them. She pushed hard for a summit with other systems within the galaxy, though only a handful attended. However, Amidala wasn't the only ruler on planet Naboo. She conveniently didn't seem to include the native, sentient species of her planet, the Gungans, in any of her talks. Amidala worked to establish relationships with others to trade with other worlds but hadn't tried to work with leaders on her planet. She only reached out to them when she needed their help in defeating enemies humans have brought upon Naboo because of her insistence on trade agreements for the humans.
3. Inconsistently Helpless
Queen Amidala was this young yet formidable politician at the start of the prequels. She survived multiple assassination attempts. Even though the Jedi were assigned to protect her, Padmé appeared to be someone who did not wait to be rescued until suddenly she was. As the prequel trilogy progressed, Padmé became more and more helpless. She was not the same woman who fought bravely alongside Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi during the Battle of Geonosis. She went from a leader cunning enough to convincingly use a body double to one who let things happen to her and everyone else. It is as though she allowed her love for Anakin to cloud her judgment.
4. She Can't Flirt
People constantly harp on Anakin's lack of game. Can we talk about Padmé's lack of game, too? Considering she is so much worldlier than Anakin, one would assume she would be better at flirting. When Padmé saw Anakin for the first time in years, she clearly found him attractive. She immediately made the reunion awkward by saying the last thing a guy wants to hear from an older girl he likes in front of others. Padmé says, "Little Ani, you've grown up." Anakin certainly had a different idea upon seeing her after ten years. Her statement only reminds everyone and the audience of her initial maternal instincts towards him and their age difference. She can schmooze a room full of galactic leaders, but she can't flirt with a boy who is obsessed with her.
5. She Puts Up With Anakin's Disrespectful Behavior
Watching some of Anakin and Padmé's interactions in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones is even more awkward now than when the movie was first released. When they returned to her home planet, Anakin acted out with attention-seeking behaviors. He constantly interrupted her, questioning her leadership. While she did eventually put him in his place, the fact that she allowed it all is puzzling. We know that Anakin and Padmé are supposed to fall in love. Anakin was constantly making advances on Padmé, even after she repeatedly told him to stop. He ignored her completely. These scenes were clumsy at the time of the movie's release because of the uneven pacing of their relationship's development. They do not play well now, either. Anakin comes across as chauvinistic.
6. Marries Anakin Despite Her Reservations About Him
The following may be an understatement, but Anakin had anger issues. He had a tough life on Tatooine before being discovered by Qui-Gon Jinn. As Queen Amidala, Padmé saw firsthand how he lived as a slave. Understandably, she can be sympathetic. However, she ignored warning signs about what motivates Anakin. She was not distressed at all when Anakin said the galaxy needed a strong dictator to take care of everything. As a high-ranking political figure, she did not defend herself, nor did she probe him further about this offhand remark.
7. Few Suspect Their Relationship
Padmé and Anakin were able to keep their relationship a complete secret from almost everyone. An entire temple of Jedi Knights, including Master Yoda, could not sense their relationship. However, a non-Force sensitive person, Senator Rush Clovis, saw right through Senator Amidala during The Clone Wars animated series. We do know that Obi-Wan suspects something, but there are still questions.
8. She Gets Pregnant
Padmé fell in love with a cute young Jedi. Who can blame her? The relationship had to remain secret. Revealing it would have ruined Anakin's chance to become a Jedi. It would have been somewhat scandalous for her position in the Senate, too. However, neither of them took birth control seriously enough to prevent pregnancy. For someone with a public persona, Padmé did not seem to care about what the public thought of her after getting pregnant.
9. She Stays With Anakin Even After He Confesses To Killing Innocent Children
When Anakin confessed to killing Tusken children, Padme did not run. She does not report his actions to the Jedi. Instead, she stayed with him, insisting that he was still a good person. These actions ultimately cost her life.
10. She Dies Of A Broken Heart
Padmé is another example of the fridging trope. She started as a powerful queen. Her character was diminished into nothing more than a plot device for Anakin by the end of the prequels. Her death was the plot device that turned Anakin into Vader. For someone who was billed as a strong, loving person, killing her off because "She's lost the will to live" is pitiful. There are theories, good ones, about Palpatine draining her life force to re-invigorate Anakin as Darth Vader. However, those have never been officially validated. Having her live for just a little while would have also made Princess Leia's remark about remembering her a bit more plausible.
If she were a friend, I would have sat her down to have a little talk over a couple of Bespin Fizzes and talk things out before she got too attached to that cute young Jedi guarding her. Knowing her, though, she would not listen.