Anakin and Amidala

[Tabitha]

So, get this, she's 26ish, he's 16ish... but we all know they are meant to be together. This is one little part of their relationship that kind of bugs me - I just can't imagine getting together with someone I knew as a much younger child.

There has been some mention in another thread of how odd it was that Amidala didn't seem too affected by Anakin's admission that he had murdered all those people that had kidnapped his mother.
Maybe it was suppposed to be in there, but didn't make the final cut.
I don't know about you, but if someone admitted this to me I would have serious doubts about marrying them!

When they first meet in this movie it is hard to see that any love will blossom between them, Padme is really treating him like a child. I can understand that she is perhaps still thinking of him as the child he was when they
last met, but if you hadn't seen someone for that long, it would be like meeting all over again, wouldn't it? So treating him as the kid she remembers seems a bit unlikely.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Diamond9697]

She remembered him as a child and so she treated him like he was still the boy that she remembered at first and it's not really that hard to see because I don't know about you but when I run into somene I haven't seen in years you automatically treat them the same way as you did before. Yousee that kind of thing at HS reunions and stuff all the time. However, when you consider that they were spending all that time together on Naboo and flying between worlds and they would start to get to know each other as they are now rather than how they remembered each other I can see it happening.

As for Anakins' destruction of the Tuskin Raiders, well it's not inconcievable if you take into account the fact that she was already in love with him by this time, they had killed his mother, and also that they were considered less than human by everyone.

 

[Dave]

I agree with all of that. I also think that the Jawa are treated as sub-human creatures by other races, but it was meant to shock us, so I would have thought it might shock Padme a little too.

Is there really meant to be such a large difference in their ages? I hadn't realised it was meant to be so big.

 

[Tabitha]

I can't remember exactly where I got that info, but it has really stuck itself in my head.... If you remember the age gap between the two in the first movie, the extrapolation makes sense.

The jawas are referred to as less than human, but I took that with a pinch of salt - as there have been many human groups throughout history that contemporaries would likely have desribed in the same way.
The audience is obviously meant to be shocked, but how can you balance the shock we are supposed to have, with the complete lack of shock that Amidala shows.
I suppose if she really did regard the jawas as totally inferior and deserving of death then it would hold together, but take into account Anakin's feelings of guilt after the fact - why be guilty if they deserved it?

 

[Diamond9697]

She did look somewhat shocked I thought when he told her what he had done, but then again was anyone else really all that shocked by it? I wasn't particularly because he had shown signs throughout the movie to that point of being unable to control his emotions and we all knew how close he was to his mother.

 

[HeyLynny]

I agree. Padme was trying to help Anakin and comfort him. Then he told her what he did and he broke down and all she could do was hold him. Maybe she didn't have time to think about it fully or to let it register fully. And yes, maybe there was a scene that was cut. In the book there is more dialogue, plus they mention a reaction from Padme: "I slaughtered them like animals. I hate them" 'Padme sat back a bit, too stunned to respond. She knew that Anakin needed her to say something ot do something, but she was paralyzed'. I guess the movie doesn't relaly depict this part of the book.

 

[pkgrl]

Actually, according to the book, Anakin has just turned 20 when we meet up with him at the beginning of AOTC and Padme's 24... she was 14 when she was elected queen back in Phantom Menace and Anakin was 9. All that's in the books. So the age difference is actually fairly small... now that they're both older. Sure a 14-year-old wouldn't look twice at a 9-year-old (not a NORMAL 14-year-old ) but 20 and 24 1/2 is a much different math figure.

As for how she treats Anakin when she first sees him, I agree with Diamond on that assessment. That's the way people are... at least, humans, anyway. Until someone proves that they've changed, we assume they haven't. That's why her "You've grown up" line was so important. Of course, he immediately acts childishly right after that, reminding us all that he still has a long way to go.

As for the Tuskin slaughter, I think Padme's more concerned about Anakin than some distant, unrecognizable "animal" -- she didn't know any Tuskin Raiders, but she's very close to Anakin. Of course, she feels somewhat stunned by his confession, but I think she's more concerned about what Anakin's actions have done to him emotionally. You're right in saying that she was comforting him. That was obvious. But in the context of the film, I think Padme was trying to hide her shock so that she could comfort him. She's got to be good at hiding things from him... how else do you explain Leia?

 

[Tabitha]

I was hoping that someone would swoop in with all the answers

I don't know where I got the idea about their ages from, but it makes a lot more sense for them to be 24 and 20 (what was I thinking ).
You make some good points, I think I need to see the film again, or maybe read the book for a broader understanding of what was going on - it seems (unsurprisingly) that a lot of the questions we are confused over are answered fairly succinctly in it.

With the way they treat each other - I think if I was reintroduced to someone I hadn't seen for 10 years, and when I had spent time with them it had been only brief, it would be like meeting a new person all over again. I don't know if the memories would be clear or recent enough to make me see them in the context of the last encounter.
But then, this is fiction, we know they are going to fall in love, and the events surrounding their previous encounter were defining moments for both, so the memories would likely have stayed more vibrant.
I guess I can cede the point