Lmao, it’s so like an Ob*kin shipper to think it makes more sense for Padmé in TPM to “only have eyes for OWK.” cause, and I quote: “younger girls always go for older men.” Yeah, Karen, like 3-4 years older not 11 years 🤡 in reality, no 14yo girl is gonna find an average looking white guy from her local area (or in Padmé’s case her workplace.) who has a horrible haircut and is a decade older than her attractive. Your opinion that Padmé should’ve only had eyes for a character who just so happens to be your favourite isn’t ironic even in the slightest, no ma’am 🤷🏾♀️ also you’re talking about Padmé as if she wasn’t a kid herself in TPM when she met Anakin 😬 she wasn’t “looking after him.” like she was his mother, she was being kind and compassionate towards the kid and her newfound friend who helped her get back to her homeworld and aided her in bringing down a huge threat to her planet.
You wanna give the credit for saving Naboo to OWK, you should know that canonically the people of Naboo admire and highly respect ANAKIN who was only 9 at the time for helping them liberate themselves from the trade federation. Attempting to undermine Anakin’s achievements in the battle of Naboo cause he was 9 and trying to take that glory and make it OWK’s cause (you’re a dick rider.) he was the “older one” is such childish mentality. And even more childish to use that as an argument to insist that Padmé should’ve been attracted to OWK due to that especially since you’re judging Padmé for becoming attached to the kid who helped her save her planet out of the kindness of his own heart unlike OWK who’s just following orders and a mission.
Makes me cringe even having to read something as stupid as that because by this logic you should be more than capable of understanding why Padmé became so attached to Anakin in TPM as opposed to the rigid repressive space monk, and don’t even get me started on how you can’t see why Padmé would fall in love with Anakin in AOTC, you’ve already failed at reading comprehension in the first movie.
Will never not be funny when blatant Anidala/Anakin haters try to erase the fact that Padmé canonically died over losing Anakin. They’ll really say some dumb shit like “she died cause Anakin choked her for refusing to join him!” in attempt to try and devalue the importance Anakin has in Padmé’s life. Like sorry bitch, your baseless theories were canonically debunked, it’s been said multiple times that Padmé didn’t die from Anakin’s Force choke, nor did the med droids find anything physically wrong with Padmé 🤷🏾♀️ it’s even stated as much here in this Star Wars insider issue:
Period, point, blank, Padmé canonically died over a heartbreak from losing Anakin to the dark side. That’s Lucas’ words and intentions. Go argue with the wall.
When an OWK dick rider says Anakin “did nothing to win Padmé over in AOTC”, pfft.
Idk, how about maybe being the only one to respect her wishes and think about her feelings throughout that whole first act? How about being the only one to not disregard her inputs on a mission to protect her? How about obliging to her lead and trusting her abilities because he knows she knows what she’s doing? How about jumping off a speeder to catch her attempted assassin so he can interrogate them for her? How about helping her relax a little and take some of the weight of the galaxy off her shoulders by accompanying her back to her home planet where they truly connected and bonded? How about making it easy for her to open up and share her experiences and passion with him without having to put up the over exhausting professionalism she has to with everyone else? How about being one of the only genuine and honest people she’s ever met in her life who cares about obtaining true happiness and peace and shares her vision of a better galaxy??? How about wearing his heart on his sleeve and being self aware and truthful enough to simply express his feelings with 0 repression and ask for it????? How about respecting her boundaries and space when she asked him not to pursue her further????? OR HOW THE FUCK about being the only person SINCE THE BEGINNING to truly see and recognize Padmé for who SHE is as a human instead of what she represents???!!!
Yeah I know we didn’t watch the same movie, Karen.
What’s with these bot ass blogs and anons posting or asking about some bunch of BS on Anakin being an “abusive husband” with arguments from the ☘️ episodes in TCW of all things??? 💀
Was Padmé Amidala Naberrie fridged?: an evaluation
Many Star Wars fans describe Padmé's death at the end of ROTS to be "fridging" her, but how true is this statement? Let's break it down:
Premise #1: What is "fridging"?
Before we begin, a note on my main frame of reference: TV Tropes, a popular wiki primarily documenting storytelling devices and conventions and how they are used in media. While not as formal or requiring as many citations as Wikipedia, site policy goes that the main contents of a trope article can only undergo large-scale changes or revisions with community consensus in the forums and moderator approval.
On TV Tropes, "fridging" is known as Stuffed Into the Fridge, which is thusly defined in the Laconic version:
A female character — usually a loved one — is killed, maimed, or traumatized solely to motivate the actions of a male character.
Or on the main page:
When a female character is hurt, killed, maimed, assaulted, or otherwise traumatized in order to motivate a male character or move their plot forward.
Older definitions of the term also specified that the harm to the female character (usually a love interest) to be specifically targeted by the villain for the express purpose of causing "man pain".
Other than defining the trope, the article also goes into its etymology (i.e. why it's called "fridging") and the main criticism against it:
"Fridging" is often given a very negative connotation as it is all too often a hallmark of supremely lazy writing — quickly hurting or killing an established female character as "cheap anger" for the male protagonist, and devaluing the life of a female supporting character in the process, instead of giving the villain something actually interesting to do that can involve all three characters and more emotions than simple anger and angst.
In essence, the argument goes that "fridging" is a misogynistic trope that disproportionately targets female characters and devalues them to their relationship with the male protagonist instead of seeing them as individuals in their own right.
As of 2022, the article has been listed as a fandom slang term and a Definition-Only Page by forum consensus, with the page itself disambiguated between related tropes about "a loved one's death as motivation" to account for off-site usage. As a definition-only page, no examples are allowed on the trope article or any work articles.
Premise #2: The narrative significance of Padmé's death
In ROTS, Padmé's death by heartbreak in childbirth is the culmination of a self-fulfilling prophecy as Anakin tries to prevent it. Or is it really just that?
In the Prequels narrative as a whole, Padmé Amidala symbolically embodies the ideals of the Republic: justice, democracy, natch. When the Republic falls, she falls with it: hence, symbolism. As a politician, she loses faith in the Senate for their refusal to help her homeworld when it is invaded in TPM, but she chooses to keep fighting for its ideals until she grows disillusioned by that too (re: ROTS) before symbolically dying.
But Padmé Naberrie is also her own person who wanted to retire from politics (re: AOTC staircase conversation), but remains trapped by duty in the Senate throughout the Clone Wars and never got the happy ending and peaceful retirement that she deserved. The Prequels are a tragedy, so her arc as a main character must also end in tragedy: that's just how the genre works.
Finally, with respect to her relationship, the symbolism of Padmé and Anakin dying together at the same time (re: ROTS visuals) illustrates their soulmatism, and her death (and Palpatine lying about the cause) is what seals Anakin's fate in the end.
(Of course, there is much fandom discourse related to the definitive cause of her death, but this is irrelevant in the context of the current question, just that she dies at all at the end of ROTS. Plus, the fact that the film and the trilogy end with her death as a tragic conclusion instead of using it as an early motivator hammer in its narrative significance and symbolism.)
Argument: Is the coffin refrigerated?
On TV Tropes, Padmé's death is listed under The Lost Lenore (i.e. the dead love interest who haunts the narrative) to the point of being the page image, Cynicism Catalyst (i.e. a traumatic event, e.g. a loved one's death, that makes a character a more cynical person), and I Let Gwen Stacy Die (i.e. a character, usually the hero, blames themself for a loved one's death).
While these tropes may fall under the umbrella of "fridging" in common parlance (i.e. are listed under Stuffed Into a Fridge's related tropes section), in the stricter definition of "a female character being hurt solely to motivate the male protagonist", this is certainly not the case for Padmé's death: it has far more narrative significance than just that.
What's also important to note is that Padmé's agency is otherwise vital to the PT: she chooses to explore Tatooine and take her planet back in TPM; she chooses to bait her assassins, go to Tatooine and Geonosis, and whether to enter a romantic relationship in AOTC; she chooses to co-found the Rebel Alliance (deleted scenes) and go to Mustafar in ROTS; and she continues to haunt the narrative in the OT through her children, the Rebel Alliance, and her husband. It's not like she's just a passive girl/woman whose actions have no significant impact on the core saga's plot, and likewise her death cannot be simply reduced to how it relates to "man pain".
(Another closely associated trope to Stuffed Into the Fridge, even moreso than either of the two mentioned above, is Disposable Woman, where "a minor female loved one is killed early on to motivate the hero" to get revenge or otherwise take action and "has little relevance afterwards", much closer to the textbook definition of being "fridged". Shmi is listed as an example, but personally I think her case is more nuanced than that: questionable writing and execution aside, her death is indeed Anakin's proverbial ground zero and cynicism catalyst even before Padmé; but at the same time Shmi received at least some characterization in her limited screen-time and was the one who established Anakin's true self to be good in the first place, thus setting up his potential for redemption even before Padmé's deathbed prophecy, so I would argue that Shmi continues to haunt the narrative in ROTJ and isn't actually "disposable", so to speak. But that's a debate for another time.)
Conclusion
Padmé is a main character in the PT, is her own person with an independent character arc and requisite symbolism in the narrative, and is not solely defined by her role as the love interest — which in itself carries nuance and symbolism in relation to her character arc. Since "fridging" a character implies devaluing them to their relationship with the protagonist instead of seeing them as an individual in their own right, to call Padmé dying at the end of ROTS "fridging" her is what's truly devaluing and dehumanizing.
Sometimes I think people forget that OG Star Wars (PT x OT) is a space opera that is SUPPOSED to be highly (melo)dramatic.
If you want 'realism', there is plenty of hard sci-fi out there. There are plenty of gritty, understated dramas out there. Why are you coming to the greek tragedy + fairytale set in space and then complaining that its storyline and characters are over-the-top and dramatic?
Anidala analysis short I saw on instagram discussing their character (feminine and masculine) archetypes. Cred: @CaitlinMahina on Instagram
OP’s note: I agree with everything she’s saying minus the part of where she mentions how Anakin’s idea of justice and what’s right or wrong isn’t the conventional idea of what others might claim is morally correct or incorrect. I think in the story it’s more than clear that people mistake Anakin’s valiant vision of justice as rageful vengeance that could lead to the dark side, only Padmé was ever able to grasp Anakin’s strong sense of justice because she’s also the same way as him. Anakin may have different methods that seem questionable but ultimately those ideals come from his experiences as a Jedi and his need for immediate solutions to problems. All stemming from a genuine desire for peace and stability, not malice. The other part she makes that is like to argue is how she mentions that Anakin’s ability to live so intensely comes from only his fear of loss and death. I think reducing Anakin’s starlit fiery love for those he cherishes is a bit of a disservice. Yes, everyone knows Anakin suffers from severe fear of loss but that’s not the definitive end case to his feelings. Anakin from the beginning even before his trauma and fear of loss took shape was already a kind, passionate, empathetic, and very loving person. He loves from the genuine depths of his soul, once you give him your love and loyalty, he’ll never abandon you. That’s just part of who he is, and his fear of loss only enhanced that in some ways. Anakin chooses people over rules, love over detachment. His deep love isn’t just a result of his fear, his love can ignite stars cause of how eternal it is. 💫
I think it’s weirdly obsessive when Star Wars Twitter dwellers always refer to Anakin as the man Leia “always hated.” as if she never got a chance to meet her real father Anakin whom she would’ve loved and admired to no end. Leia hated VADER but simultaneously Vader wasn’t who Anakin truly was, same way Luke didn’t accept nor see Vader, he only saw the good his father was inside the mask. They’re Padmé Amidala’s kids, the same woman who died loving this same man and believing in his goodness till her last breath. Let’s not play in our own faces.