I think maybe her death from a broken heart would have been easier to accept if there had been more on-screen chemistry between Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen.
Are you speaking from your point of view or from everyone's? Because I don't share it. I saw nothing wrong with Christensen and Portman's screen chemistry. Nor did I see anything wrong with Padme dying from a broken heart.
What I find hard to believe is that hardly anyone can accept the fact that even a strong-willed person is capable of succumbing to despair. It seems to hint this society's lack of tolerance for weakness of any kind. And I find that disturbing.
No not everyone's, I have a couple of friends who feel the same way I do, but I do not speak for all of teh intarweb. I was merely trying to provide another viewpoint for your discussion.
How about this: what most of us liked about Padme is her strength, and it was disappointing / sad to see such a strong spirit brought to such an extreme low. (And I understand that the character had to die, based on what happens in the saga next.) Also, I really don't think that fans' reaction to the way Padme died is evidence of a whole trend in society. Just my .02 though.
I don't think it was the lack of chemistry that was the problem, per se. I think it was a complete and total mishandling of all the love scenes (the dialogue was horrible) combined with a problematic characterization of Anakin in the AoTC. He was shown as a whiny adolescent with an emotional age of about 15. Despite a certain amount of chemistry (which increased dramatically in ROTS), I personally looked at their scenes together and asked myself what in the world she saw in him. It is possible to have issues and still be more mature than a 15-year-old, though GL doesn't seem to get that. And she was portrayed as being much more mature than Anakin; people don't generally fall in love with people who are at a different level of maturity than themselves, as Padme and Anakin were. The problem was largely fixed in RoTS, and they had a lot more chemistry there ... but a lot of fans had their ideas about the pairing cemented in AoTC and were viewing RoTS through that lens
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First off, while people do commit suicide, actually "dying from a broken heart" is not generally found outside of very bad melodramas. Regardless of the strength of character of the person/character involved. I would not find it believable no matter who was doing it
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Perhaps if you try reading the AotC novelization, you would be able to understand more of why Padme & Anakin fell in love. I agree that the movie does not provide much reasoning behind Padme's love for Anakin, simply because there was so many things going on and they all went by fast. The elimination of the scenes with Padme's family was a mistake as well, in my opinion. Nevertheless, although the dialogue still sucks in the book (unaltered from the ORIGINAL script), it makes Padme and Anakin’s love much more credible, sincere, and precious. Thus, it may help you accept the legacy of AotC more easily.^^
Lady Lavinia, I like the point you made of how female characters are subconciously classified as either weak or strong. If they are a blend, they're generally viewed as weak. I've never even realized that before, about Star Wars or any other story, but I can not disagree at all. It is a sad but true fact, I think, of what modern society impassively expect from any kind of heros or leaders.
"I agree that the movie does not provide much reasoning behind Padme's love for Anakin, simply because there was so many things going on and they all went by fast.
There was no reasoning on why Leia fell in love with Han. Why should there be? How can one form a reasoning over someone falling in love? Love is not rational or something that can be examined like a specimen in a petri dish. It's unrational, chaotic, confusing and complex.
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What I find hard to believe is that hardly anyone can accept the fact that even a strong-willed person is capable of succumbing to despair. It seems to hint this society's lack of tolerance for weakness of any kind. And I find that disturbing.
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How about this: what most of us liked about Padme is her strength, and it was disappointing / sad to see such a strong spirit brought to such an extreme low. (And I understand that the character had to die, based on what happens in the saga next.) Also, I really don't think that fans' reaction to the way Padme died is evidence of a whole trend in society. Just my .02 though.
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Lady Lavinia, I like the point you made of how female characters are subconciously classified as either weak or strong. If they are a blend, they're generally viewed as weak. I've never even realized that before, about Star Wars or any other story, but I can not disagree at all. It is a sad but true fact, I think, of what modern society impassively expect from any kind of heros or leaders.
~Hayli*
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There was no reasoning on why Leia fell in love with Han. Why should there be? How can one form a reasoning over someone falling in love? Love is not rational or something that can be examined like a specimen in a petri dish. It's unrational, chaotic, confusing and complex.
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