listen. padme amidala is a freak, okay.

ever since aotc i've had to listen to bullshit arguments about how awful the prequel romance is, how anakin's a red flag, blah blah blah. that's a smooth brain take. first of all, of course he's a red flag. that's the point. you think padme doesn't know anakin is ten pounds of mommy issues in a five pound bag? you think she looked at soggy weeping anakin begging her to love him and didn't immediately think "yes i definitely will peg him" ?? you think just because she's a queen turned senator that she isn't just as horny and feral as he is?

anakin wasn't even pushy about it. he was just "oh btw i've been obsessed with you for a decade and live in a perpetual state of emotional agony but thats okay whatever you want is fine with me haha" and padme goes "yea okay i'm into that." two minutes after he's assigned to be her bodyguard she gives an obligatory little "i have a bad feeling about this" and then just fucking marries him. this is a woman who wore white to a blood bath. come on.

I like the prequels more now that I've decided to stop trying to shoehorn any character's behaviors into normal boxes. and instead just asked myself ‘what kind of person would make these choices' and see the characters as that. Padme seriously wore a black corset to tell him she was very into him but they would not be fucking. instead of saying oh my god who DOES that. I just instead ask myself ‘who does that' and realize that explains a lot more.

here is this wealthy educated and perhaps a little vain woman who sees her childhood hick charitycase friend grew up as a hot goth jock. and oh no he's still space racist and awkward and yet she goes harder for him after finding that out. she's absolutely a freak. her being a freak is actually the most polite way to interpret her character. because it intersects so interestingly with this virgin child queen who crowned the emperor shit that's her actual legacy.

to be honest I still have no clue what Lucas intended to say with these characters but they're a lot more fun once you turn off preconceptions. the OT trilogy are adorable and iconic but the PT trio are great because theres something fucking wrong with all of them. just comically tragically the dumbest combination of disordered behavior from a group of protagonists. the OT trio are unlikely but largely successful heroes! The PT trilogy are hyper-competent child geniuses who grew up to be heavily decorated and famous heroes who break the entire setting forever and I love that for them!