Replies

Good points. But Anakin is making you wince every two minutes with his childish, petulant outbursts, whereas Padme saved her planet in the first movie, and shows all sorts of maturity and sober judgment and sharpness in both movies. He seems about a young twelve, and she about a mature thirty.

Plus, he's just creepy sometimes. She says "don't look at me that way," and he adds a leer to the lingering look. (Jedi/stalker?) Then there are other revelations he makes — and I don't want to give spoilers — that I think would give a powerful woman pause.

She is to me an admirable, likable character. I want to say, "Wait! No! Don't, are you nuts??" But again, that's one mark of an engrossing story. I'm looking forward to the next part with interest, anticipation, and a LOT of DREAD.

Dan

I agree... Amidala could do better than the psycho twerp! Maybe if he hadn't turned evil he might eventually have matured, but man was he annoying, and self-centered.

Also... I hate to admit this, but I like it when movies have a little bit of a moral point. FotR had so many it's hard to even start talking about it. The Star Wars movies are heading into moral chaos. We're supposed to root for Anakin, who we know is going to become a mass murdered and dark lord. That's a little screwy to me. I like good guys to be good, and to ultimately triumph. (Ok, I live in a comic book universe, but the sky is much nicer here, really)

But Anakin is making you wince every two minutes with his childish, petulant outbursts, whereas Padme saved her planet in the first movie, and shows all sorts of maturity and sober judgment and sharpness in both movies. He seems about a young twelve, and she about a mature thirty.

Agreed, but he reminds me of Mozart in "Amadeus." The prodigy. Vacilitates between "I'm all powerful" one moment, and the immature "Uh oh, I'm gonna get in trouble" the next (thinking about the scene after he goes medieval on the baddies in the factory and then goes, "oh no, Obi Wan is going to kill me" when his lightsaber is destroyed.)

Besides, he's her latest challenge. She strikes me as the "take home the stray puppy" type. She knows he needs her, and she needs to be needed.

Agreed, but again there's the "I'll help him" angle. Plus, I like that the romance story is in one way as much about lust/obsession as about true love. Over the kiddies heads, but gratifying for the grown-up.

She is to me an admirable, likable character.

Agreed, but I think he is too. "There but for the grace of God..." His struggle between Dark and Light is so palpable. I know how it's going to turn out, but I find myself rooting for him anyway. After the "spoiler scene" you're referring to, they're on the ship and you see him trying to redeem himself, regain control in a way, by obeying Windu's order. Then she, through the best of intentions, leads him in to rebellion again. It's so sad. We frequently see how good can come from evil, it's interesting to see a situation where evil comes from good. As right as it was for them to go rescue Obi Wan, the LAST thing he needed at that point in his struggle was to disobey orders again - especially via her Clintonesque reasoning of, "well, you won't REALLY be disobeying since I'm going to go anyway..." The contrast is clear to Obi Wan's early comment about following the spirit as much as the letter of a command.

Hadn't thought about this before, but this is an interesting theme. The "ends justify the means" vs. "code of honor." The good guys wouldn't win if they followed the code strictly, since they'd never have begun their investigation in the first place. Yet this "victory" is all wrong because globally it is leading to the war that Palpatine wants and individually it is leading Anakin to the Dark Side.