About Padmé's Death
In response to this post by Tricia and Lex at FANgirl Blog:
What's wrong with Padmé Amidala losing the will to live at the end of Revenge of the Sith?
What happened to her on that day would have sent many a normal person into an extreme clinical depression, the kind where you - yes - lose the will to live. And it's consistent with her characterization in all three prequel films and The Clone Wars. We never see her living for herself, only for others. She dedicates her whole life to serving her people and the Republic. We see her risking her life, without hesitation and without fear, for what she believes in. She lives for what she loves - ideals (liberty, democracy/the Republic) and people (mainly Anakin). It makes sense that when everything she lived for is no more, she dies.
She dies because, from her point of view, she has nothing to live for anymore. The twins aren't enough, nor is the man who is no longer Anakin ("I don't know you anymore!"; "Come back!") but who she still believes has good in him. Do you see what this means? In the end, no matter how much she loves them, people aren't enough for her. She needs ideals to live for. (Which begs the question: what could create such a dysfunctional personality?)
I understand that female fans don't like this because, Padmé being the main female character in the prequels, they are impelled to identify with her, and a "weak" woman who can get depressed, who has limits to what she can handle, isn't someone you normally want to identify with in fiction. One of the things that make fiction enjoyable is fantasy - being able to "insert" yourself into the story and imagine yourself having extraordinary adventures. It's similar when male fans get pissed off about male characters who are too flawed/"weak"/"wimpy"/just not perfectly "strong", whatever we mean by that. It feels almost personal, like being insulted. You don't want to imagine yourself failing or giving up, so you convince yourself you would never do that, and it bothers you when a character you somewhat relate to does.
Let's face it: the Star Wars prequels don't give female fans many options. Padmé is the only main female character in all three films. There is only Padmé to relate to, so you do relate to her, no matter how different from you she is, and then you feel offended when she acts in a manner you never would, and/or a manner you don't want to imagine yourself acting in.
The real problem with how Padmé dies is lack of medical/biological realism. Her losing the will to live is plausible. But losing the will to live - the extreme depression that sometimes happens after a traumatic loss or prolonged trauma - doesn't kill immediately. The person stops eating, moving, etc. and wants to die but doesn't even have the energy to attempt suicide. It should have taken her much longer to die - the time it takes for the body to waste away. It looks like George Lucas tried to make a compromise between having Padme commit suicide and her dying through losing the will to live, when choosing one or the other would have worked better.
What's wrong with Padmé Amidala losing the will to live at the end of Revenge of the Sith?
What happened to her on that day would have sent many a normal person into an extreme clinical depression, the kind where you - yes - lose the will to live. And it's consistent with her characterization in all three prequel films and The Clone Wars. We never see her living for herself, only for others. She dedicates her whole life to serving her people and the Republic. We see her risking her life, without hesitation and without fear, for what she believes in. She lives for what she loves - ideals (liberty, democracy/the Republic) and people (mainly Anakin). It makes sense that when everything she lived for is no more, she dies.
She dies because, from her point of view, she has nothing to live for anymore. The twins aren't enough, nor is the man who is no longer Anakin ("I don't know you anymore!"; "Come back!") but who she still believes has good in him. Do you see what this means? In the end, no matter how much she loves them, people aren't enough for her. She needs ideals to live for. (Which begs the question: what could create such a dysfunctional personality?)
I understand that female fans don't like this because, Padmé being the main female character in the prequels, they are impelled to identify with her, and a "weak" woman who can get depressed, who has limits to what she can handle, isn't someone you normally want to identify with in fiction. One of the things that make fiction enjoyable is fantasy - being able to "insert" yourself into the story and imagine yourself having extraordinary adventures. It's similar when male fans get pissed off about male characters who are too flawed/"weak"/"wimpy"/just not perfectly "strong", whatever we mean by that. It feels almost personal, like being insulted. You don't want to imagine yourself failing or giving up, so you convince yourself you would never do that, and it bothers you when a character you somewhat relate to does.
Let's face it: the Star Wars prequels don't give female fans many options. Padmé is the only main female character in all three films. There is only Padmé to relate to, so you do relate to her, no matter how different from you she is, and then you feel offended when she acts in a manner you never would, and/or a manner you don't want to imagine yourself acting in.
The real problem with how Padmé dies is lack of medical/biological realism. Her losing the will to live is plausible. But losing the will to live - the extreme depression that sometimes happens after a traumatic loss or prolonged trauma - doesn't kill immediately. The person stops eating, moving, etc. and wants to die but doesn't even have the energy to attempt suicide. It should have taken her much longer to die - the time it takes for the body to waste away. It looks like George Lucas tried to make a compromise between having Padme commit suicide and her dying through losing the will to live, when choosing one or the other would have worked better.