The Romulan Republic wrote:Padme can't help the fact she was appointed by her Queen, can she? Does she have the power to single-handidly alter the Naboo Constitution? I suppose she could have nobly refused the appointment to Senator. Or maybe she could have changed the Constitution as Queen, though we don't know much about how Naboo government works, do we?
Serving by appointment in and of itself isn't the matter, it's her pretense that she is in some way a democratic representative of the people, and that she has the self-righteous gall to scold her colleagues on the matter.
I confess I've not been entirely clear. I've only called Padme a scumbag, when, more specifically, I consider her a self-righteous, hypocritical moron.
I'd need some context for the arrest scene.
She's being pursued on speeder bike by the pair of thugs that have been attacking Senators and the police give chase. She gets herself cornered but the police arrive before anything happens with the intent of arresting her for reckless driving.
It's just rather amusing that her first instinct is to invoke her position of power and literally demand the police arrest them, rather than yelling for help or something.
As for the clothing thing, I guess it depends on weather you feel being rich while there are starving people around you makes one inherently a bad person.
You're missing the point, which is that she's not paying her own employees enough to even keep their families fed while she's got the largest wardrobe in the entire galaxy.
Probably their are also expectations on how a government official is supposed to look that she would be expected to follow.
Except she's the only one who doesn't seem to rely on a single outfit.
How does destroying one village qualify as genocide?
Hmm... I thought there was a line in there about wanting to kill all of them. My mistake. I'll go with "massacre" instead.
Trying to prevent war is a bad thing now? By your definition, all pacifists are scumbags?
First, Padme is not a pacifist. She's quite ready to pick up a gun and kill people. "Aggressive negotiations," and all that.
Second, you're missing the point. It's not that trying to avert (or end via mutual agreement) war is bad, it's her hypocritical stand. So when it's her homeworld that's under attack, screw negotiations and raise an army. But when it's someone else, Noooooo, we have to negotiate, the principles of the Republic are at stake!
Actually, that reminds me of her arrival on Geonosis in AOTC. She insists on finding a diplomatic solution, but they've barely gone down a single hallway before Anakin turns his lightsaber on a group of natives without a word of protest. For what it's worth, there's a deleted scene immediately after their capture where all she does is "formally request" Obi-Wan's release, accuse the Seperatists of rebellion, and considers joining them "forsaking all I honor and work for" and a "betrayal." Funny, considering in the deleted Senate scene, she says "Wake up, Senators! If you offer them violence, they can only show violence in return!"
Maybe Padme's views changed over the thirteen or so intervening years?
Maybe, but I don't think so. She voices somewhat the same opinion in parts of TPM, insisting that they have to find a peaceful solution to the Trade Federation invasion, at least until Qui-Gon takes charge of things.
Sometimes people just can't take any more. Everyone has their limit. I'd think that's more something to pity her for than condemn her for.
Pity and condemnation aren't mutually exclusive. Effectively abandoning her newborn children because she's, basically, sad her husband turned out to be a psychopath is, at least in my view, absolutely pathetic. It's a total failure of responsibility, and rather in line with her character.
It not being clear cut is precisely the point. She spends no time considering the ramifications of her actions, consults no one, and does something I seriously doubt is anywhere near her authority to do. She did the same thing last season, unilaterally heading into enemy territory to negotiate with a Seperatist leader. That Anakin is her husband makes things even worse; she's the very last person who should be making a decision that could (as she acknowledges) impact the course of the entire war, even if it's within her rights to release the supreme commander of the enemy army.
We have no idea weather she consulted or considered.
That's just an appeal to ignorance. The episode immediately cuts from Jar Jar and the Gungan leader telling her its the right thing to do to the actual prisoner transfer.
Well, at the very least she did consult with the Gungans.
No, she didn't. They were in the room with her, and spoke up unprompted.
And her Queen was at the prisoner swap as I recall, so she knew what was going on and could have objected.
Yeah, that would have been nice. Like I said earlier, there just wasn't enough time left in the show for that sort of thing. But simply guessing what may have gone on is worthless.
She could have gone straight to Palpatine and asked him- and we know damn well what his answer would have been.
That's pretty much what she should have done.
That it would have resulted in the same outcome is irrelevant. Padme is not privy to the fact Palpatine is the evil Sith Lord controlling both sides of the war.
