Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha.
Speaker 2: I'm welcome to stuff I've never told your production by
Speaker 2: Heart Radio, and welcome to a very special classic today
Speaker 2: if you're listening to which when it comes out is
Speaker 2: May the Fourth Star Wars Day.
Speaker 3: May the Fourth be with you.
Speaker 2: Also there's Revenge of the Fifth and or six, depending
Speaker 2: on who you ask. But to that end, I wanted
Speaker 2: to bring back a classic episode we did on the
Speaker 2: Star Wars prequels, which, funnily enough, I think I would
Speaker 2: have a lot more to say about.
Speaker 3: Them if we did them now.
Speaker 2: Of course you would, of course I think I was like,
Speaker 2: my viewpoints have changed on something. Yeah, the twenty fifth
Speaker 2: anniversary of The Phantom Menace is this month. Since this year,
Speaker 2: it's happening now because it's playing in theaters. And if
Speaker 2: you listen to my recent Happy Hour wherein I talk
Speaker 2: about some of my new Star Wars thoughts, I've talked
Speaker 2: about this theory about Padme, who was very key in
Speaker 2: the prequels, and it was a theory about why Darth
Speaker 2: Vader never since Luke and Lea. I wanted to bring
Speaker 2: one key point I forgot to bring up in that
Speaker 2: about this I've talked about this before in my episode
Speaker 2: my Happy Hour called My fan Fiction is Better Than Yours.
Speaker 2: Star Wars has this whole fascinating thing that is very
Speaker 2: prevalent in it, which is called wat Sonyan versus Doulian.
Speaker 2: This is essentially kind of are we explaining it because
Speaker 2: of outside forces or something inside story wise, or like
Speaker 2: they couldn't get Mark Hamill, like you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So that being said, I've had some interesting disagreements with
Speaker 2: friends about this before. But obviously one of the reasons
Speaker 2: Vader didn't since Leya is because they didn't know Leyah
Speaker 2: was his kid until they wrote Return of the Jedi, right,
Speaker 2: So that's a very like lot Sony and versus Douleian.
Speaker 2: And then we're trying to explain it, or even the
Speaker 2: creators are trying to explain it much later with this
Speaker 2: very cool theory, which they might have done on purpose
Speaker 2: or might not have done a lot of times, the
Speaker 2: fans are doing this work and no one knows what
Speaker 2: we're talking about. So I don't know if that's the
Speaker 2: case here, but I just felt like I should bring
Speaker 2: that up, is that the Layah wasn't his daughter. That's
Speaker 2: not what they were thinking until Return of the Jedi,
Speaker 2: So just a note on that. Okay, yes, but anyway,
Speaker 2: I hope that you enjoy the holiday, if you celebrate.
Speaker 4: And please enjoy this classic episode. Hey, this is any
Speaker 4: and Samantha, and.
Speaker 2: Welcome to stuff on. I told your production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: So today I wanted to ask you, Samantha. I'd I'd
Speaker 2: be very interested to know the answer to this question.
Speaker 2: Has there ever been something that you really loved as
Speaker 2: a kid and then people made you feel really embarrassed
Speaker 2: or ashamed of loving it, and then as you got older,
Speaker 2: maybe you didn't come back to it, but you gave
Speaker 2: it like a deeper, a deeper thought.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm trying to think of things that
Speaker 1: I loved as a kid, but I don't know if
Speaker 1: I ever felt shame of it necessarily. I mean, we
Speaker 1: could go real deep into the fact that trying to
Speaker 1: be very away from my culture. So I was very
Speaker 1: ashamed to try to do anything that was Asian because
Speaker 1: I want to acclimate so badly. I know I loved
Speaker 1: Babysitters Club, but I feel like most of my friends did,
Speaker 1: so we were cool on that. I love old movies,
Speaker 1: but it was something that I could do on my own,
Speaker 1: so no one really needed to tell me otherwise. I
Speaker 1: always felt like I was trying to fit in and
Speaker 1: so was it that I loved it, but I was
Speaker 1: trying to make myself love it, right, So I was
Speaker 1: one of those kids, So I don't I don't think
Speaker 1: I do. I will say I did really love Twilight
Speaker 1: in my thirties, I guess maybe twenties, late twenties, which
Speaker 1: there was a bit of a shame factor. But even
Speaker 1: the people who made fun of me when I would
Speaker 1: have them watch it or get them interested to, so
Speaker 1: they no longer felt shame. So I know I felt
Speaker 1: shame very good. So I no longer felt shame because
Speaker 1: I got them into it too, so I they couldn't
Speaker 1: say anything right, right, No, I don't really know.
Speaker 2: That's a good example, because I do feel like a
Speaker 2: lot of people shamed, especially young girls and women, for
Speaker 2: liking Twilight. Right. Yeah, It's strange because I was both
Speaker 2: my relationship with my brothers. I had two brothers when older,
Speaker 2: and one younger was at times very antagonistic. But it's
Speaker 2: complicated because they both made me feel ashamed of the
Speaker 2: things I liked, Like I was made fun of for liking.
Speaker 3: Star Wars even though they liked Star Wars.
Speaker 2: And I was made fun of for liking Harry Potter
Speaker 2: even though they liked Harry Potter. But I will say
Speaker 2: on that one not at the same level as I did.
Speaker 2: But they did make fun of me for liking Star Wars.
Speaker 2: But at the same time I did. I wanted their
Speaker 2: I don't know if respect is the right word, but
Speaker 2: almost acceptance, I guess. So when I would go yeah,
Speaker 2: when I would go to school, I was kind of
Speaker 2: immune to like if people made fun of me for
Speaker 2: liking Star Wars, that didn't hurt, but my brothers did,
Speaker 2: if that makes sense, because I loved it and I
Speaker 2: was like, I know it's I know, I love.
Speaker 3: It and whatever.
Speaker 2: But then in this context of like my brothers making
Speaker 2: fun of me, that was kind of Oh.
Speaker 3: But this is.
Speaker 2: Especially pertinent to the conversation having today, which is about
Speaker 2: the Star Wars prequel see yep, yep. And I'll get
Speaker 2: more into that in a second. But I did want
Speaker 2: to give a quick shout out to Jamie. Hello, Jamie,
Speaker 2: Hello for sending is amazing care Kitka.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, we really do appreciate.
Speaker 1: Some of the poetics.
Speaker 2: Those with Sabbie things were the bomb, yes, yeah, and
Speaker 2: also to Don who made these amazing what I'd never heard.
Speaker 3: Of it called yarn bombs. Yeah yeah yeah, which are
Speaker 3: these just like really big?
Speaker 2: I voted and there's a peach one that for voting
Speaker 2: in Georgia obviously, and they're just so impressive. And I
Speaker 2: really am impressed with the things that you listeners can do.
Speaker 1: Such talent since Clochet did not work out so well,
Speaker 1: so such talent, yes, I guess netting more so than Crochet,
Speaker 1: but yes.
Speaker 3: Either case. So I also want to put in here
Speaker 3: before we get into this.
Speaker 2: We do a lot of you listeners have sent in
Speaker 2: suggestions for feminist movie Friday, and thank you so much
Speaker 2: for sending those, and also the book suggestions, because it
Speaker 2: does help us.
Speaker 3: Decide because there's a lot of.
Speaker 2: Books and movies out there and we want to do
Speaker 2: things that you like, and those are on the list.
Speaker 3: I swear we're gonna get so I am sorry.
Speaker 2: I guess that today we are starting off a three
Speaker 2: part Feminist Maybe Friday series on the Star Wars trilogies,
Speaker 2: starting with the prequels and building up to May the
Speaker 2: Fourth Be with You slash Star Wars Day and Revenge
Speaker 2: of the Fifth.
Speaker 3: Can't forget Revenge of the Fifth.
Speaker 2: I don't know that the timing will work out because
Speaker 2: I think we might have miscalculated. I think we did
Speaker 2: because originally we were going to end on the original
Speaker 2: trilogy because it's my favorite. But now if we want
Speaker 2: that one to be may the fourth be with you
Speaker 2: that that will be the next one.
Speaker 3: We'll just have to decide.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, okay, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, work it out.
Speaker 3: Well. I have faith in us. I think we can
Speaker 3: work this out.
Speaker 2: So these are going to be a bit different in
Speaker 2: that we're focusing more on the woman at the center
Speaker 2: of each trilogy and some overarching themes as opposed to
Speaker 2: one movie.
Speaker 3: And this was Samantha's idea. I swear. I don't know
Speaker 3: one will believe me.
Speaker 1: It's true. It's true. We have been talking, and since
Speaker 1: I have been taken over, the last few movies have
Speaker 1: been my suggestions. I did make you watch The Mummy
Speaker 1: Returns because it brought me joy.
Speaker 3: I thought that was a break.
Speaker 1: I made you watch a musical, even though those can
Speaker 1: make you uncomfortable, you know. Yeah, all of these things
Speaker 1: were like my choices, and I was like you know what,
Speaker 1: we need to go back into the fandom that we
Speaker 1: know you love. And right now I cannot escape. You
Speaker 1: cannot escape. No one if you are a part of
Speaker 1: our world, really can't escape. So it kind of let's
Speaker 1: just dig in. Let's just get all the way in,
Speaker 1: and I.
Speaker 2: Will say, as there is some some light at the
Speaker 2: end of this pandemic tunnel. And I have been reflecting
Speaker 2: on on this year in my apartment. I Star Wars
Speaker 2: has really got me through in a lot of ways,
Speaker 2: like and You're not the only one. It has been
Speaker 2: my comfort, like the thing that I watched, the like reading.
Speaker 2: I've watched all the shows which I had before, and
Speaker 2: I don't know that I ever would have. And I
Speaker 2: feel like much more qualified to talk about this now.
Speaker 3: I feel like, Okay, I got this. I've been reading
Speaker 3: the comics like it's really been.
Speaker 2: When I look back at Quarantine, I think one of
Speaker 2: the like memories I'm going to have is just Star
Speaker 2: Wars being a constant, like stressed reliever.
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna like it's gonna be one of
Speaker 1: those things when you watch it after the quarantine is
Speaker 1: lifted and we're all kind of figuring out the New normal. Right,
Speaker 1: every time you're watching it, you're going to have that
Speaker 1: sentimental feeling of that comfort from this time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so. I was wondering what that's going
Speaker 2: to be like to watch these outside of this. But
Speaker 2: because in case I haven't mentioned it before, I have
Speaker 2: watched you original trilogy at least every Sunday since last
Speaker 2: March thirteenth, So that's a lot. But I do other
Speaker 2: stuff while they're on, but they're like my thing that
Speaker 2: I put on comforting.
Speaker 1: You say that you kne their stuff, but there's definitely
Speaker 1: those moments where you cannot be touched or talked to
Speaker 1: because you're just like the audible gaps that happened to you.
Speaker 1: Even though I know this is your one million, two
Speaker 1: hundred thousand, sixty eight whatever time, Yeah, that you've watched it,
Speaker 1: you still get so caught up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's like six scenes that I cannot be disturbed
Speaker 2: and they still have an emotional impact, which I find
Speaker 2: really really interesting. But yeah, I did want to say
Speaker 2: it was really funny to me when you were like, oh,
Speaker 2: these will be really easy for you to want to
Speaker 2: research it, and I was mentally like, oh, I got
Speaker 2: to read these books and I gotta do this.
Speaker 3: I gotta do this trying not to.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you make the mistake of telling me what you're
Speaker 1: thinking about writing. I'm like, no, you can't do that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, So I had to stop myself on this one,
Speaker 2: so that's a bit shorter.
Speaker 1: I was very impressed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Well, I wanted to read those three books,
Speaker 2: the trilogy about Padme, who we're going to be talking
Speaker 2: about today, but alas the time ran out.
Speaker 3: So others ours.
Speaker 2: Women are definitely going to be featuring in our segment
Speaker 2: subsegment fictional women around the world, So never fear or
Speaker 2: have fear.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I think it will help for people who, you know,
Speaker 2: if you want to know more about Ahsoka Tano but
Speaker 2: don't necessarily want to watch all the shows and everything.
Speaker 3: I think they'll be good primers.
Speaker 1: I've always come to you for those.
Speaker 3: Thank you, and I know.
Speaker 2: You did like a very massive two partner on Princess
Speaker 2: Leah already.
Speaker 3: But we're going to mix it up, so.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and jump in. Yes, today we're talking
Speaker 1: about the much maligned Star Wars prequel trilogy, and I
Speaker 1: understand it. I'm like, what is happening? Why is this happening.
Speaker 1: I think I said that a lot. The Penttomenace, Attack
Speaker 1: of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith and their
Speaker 1: main female character, pat mat Naberi Queen Amidala played by
Speaker 1: Natalie Portman. She was like sixteen seventeen. We were looking
Speaker 1: this up the other day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this was like her first start, like big role
Speaker 2: because she done other stuff, but.
Speaker 1: Well, like she was pretty big beforehand with The Hitman
Speaker 1: or The Profession, The Professional, which is one of my
Speaker 1: favorite movies. So Bona's discussion of related comics, televan shows,
Speaker 1: and video games. Not surprisingly, Yes, I also want.
Speaker 2: To say that it's become a running joke with Samantha
Speaker 2: that she agrees with one of the worst lines in
Speaker 2: all the movies.
Speaker 3: I don't like sex, not wrong, Sandy is not great.
Speaker 1: But it gets everywhere. He is so right, and I
Speaker 1: will hold to that, all right.
Speaker 2: So here's the part of these three movies in a nutshell.
Speaker 2: So we follow Anakin Skywalker's journey from young child to
Speaker 2: trouble Jedi groomed by super creeper Senator Palpatine Slash the Emperor,
Speaker 2: to Darth Vader. And I had this poster in my
Speaker 2: wall when I was a kid and it was the
Speaker 2: young actor who plays Anakin Skywalker and he's like nine.
Speaker 2: This shadow was Darth Vader, and I thought it was
Speaker 2: the coolest thing. So yes, Darth Vader being Luke and
Speaker 2: Lea's father. In the original trilogy, we see the destruction
Speaker 2: of the brotherhood between Anakin and his master and friend
Speaker 2: Obi Wan Kenobi, the intense love he has for Queen
Speaker 2: and later Senator Padme Amidala that in part leaves him
Speaker 2: to fall to darkness and to evil. We see Padme's
Speaker 2: death and Luke and Lea's separation so that they can
Speaker 2: be hidden from the Emperor and Vader.
Speaker 3: There are tax.
Speaker 2: Disputes and lava battles and so many lost limbs thoughts
Speaker 2: on sand. Yes, very awkward dialogue which George Lucas has
Speaker 2: now said was on purpose, which I found very funny.
Speaker 2: The very problematic racist tropes, and also a lot of
Speaker 2: quite sad deaths and death of children.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and very weird water scenes for those who, for
Speaker 1: whatever reason, weren't plugged into the world of Star Wars
Speaker 1: when this came out, much like myself, there was so
Speaker 1: much hype. I do remember, people will get really, really
Speaker 1: really excited, especially with they were announcing the actors who
Speaker 1: would be portraying whomever, and these movies were coming out
Speaker 1: sixteen years after the last movie of the original trilogy
Speaker 1: really hard to do, which was the Retard of the
Speaker 1: Jedi or Episode six, which is very confusing and I
Speaker 1: have to ask constantly what what, wait, huh when does
Speaker 1: this take place? Lots of timelines, lots of timelines. The
Speaker 1: original trilogy had just been re released in nineteen ninety seven, which,
Speaker 1: by the way, is happening again, right? No? I thought, no, no,
Speaker 1: not that they were re releasing it soon. Ye I'm wrong.
Speaker 2: Well, there was an odd thing that I never got
Speaker 2: to the bottom of last Christmas where they were trailers
Speaker 2: on YouTube videos that were acting as if the most
Speaker 2: recent movie, Rise of Skywalker, was coming out in theaters again.
Speaker 2: It was very confused because it came out a year before.
Speaker 2: I don't know about the original trilogy. I know Empire
Speaker 2: strikes Back as one of the top grossing movies of
Speaker 2: twenty twenty because they were showing it old movies and
Speaker 2: drive ins and stuff like that.
Speaker 3: I do.
Speaker 2: I saw this when I was a kid at Delanaga
Speaker 2: had a really small movie theater called the Holly, and
Speaker 2: I went to go see the re releases at the
Speaker 2: Holly and it definitely violated coaches. People were just standing
Speaker 2: in there. It was packed and it was the coolest thing.
Speaker 2: But those are the versions. This also commusis Samantha so
Speaker 2: much and I'm like, well, that's a Disney plus version,
Speaker 2: and that's this. These are the ones that most people
Speaker 2: probably own. The nineteen ninety seven releases. That's when George
Speaker 2: Lucas put in kind of this bad cgi in these
Speaker 2: older movies.
Speaker 3: That was foretelling of what was to happen in the
Speaker 3: pantom Mint.
Speaker 1: Yes, and I did watch all of those guys. I
Speaker 1: watched all of them, so fans were pumped to see
Speaker 1: how hero anakas Skyle Walker became a Darth Vader. And
Speaker 1: then they weren't good. Apparently I didn't enjoy them myself,
Speaker 1: but I just assumed it was because I don't love
Speaker 1: Star Wars like everyone else does, and maybe I'm just
Speaker 1: a little more skeptical. I don't know. There were parts
Speaker 1: of them that were good, and there really was no
Speaker 1: way they could have lived up to the hype. But
Speaker 1: apparently they just were very good.
Speaker 3: I mean, that was the consensus Yeah, people were let down.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: The hype was very very chance and I will say
Speaker 2: I was eleven, I think when the first installment, The
Speaker 2: Phantom Menace came out in nineteen ninety nine, and I
Speaker 2: loved it.
Speaker 3: I loved it. I saw it several times in theaters.
Speaker 2: I had the toys, including one of my favorite toys
Speaker 2: of all time to this day, which was this droid
Speaker 2: and you had a lightsaber with this tracking mechanism and
Speaker 2: it would shoot out these disk at you and you
Speaker 2: had to hit them with your lightsaber.
Speaker 3: The coolest, it was the coolest.
Speaker 2: I also spent twenty dollars trying to get an Anakin
Speaker 2: Skywalker toy from a claw machine and I'm sure I
Speaker 2: could have just bought the toy like six dollars.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I had the cards.
Speaker 2: I had all of the cards, the books, the shirts,
Speaker 2: the posters.
Speaker 3: Oh, my friends and I was thinking about this other day.
Speaker 2: We were in high school when Revenge of the Sith
Speaker 2: came out, which was the last one, and we all
Speaker 2: had shirts made and went our matching Revenge of the
Speaker 2: Sifth shirts.
Speaker 3: To go see it. And I am still friends with
Speaker 3: every one of those people to this day. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Oh, and then I won this really really cool backpack
Speaker 2: that I gave away. I'm so mad I gave it away,
Speaker 2: but it did become very, very uncool almost immediately. But
Speaker 2: I was shielded by my child innocence to like the prequels,
Speaker 2: so I gave all of this stuff away and now
Speaker 2: I'm sad about it.
Speaker 3: The soundtrack was the first CD I ever bought. And
Speaker 3: you know, despite being.
Speaker 2: Much maligned, people complaining and their reviews not being great,
Speaker 2: these movies did make a lot of money and they
Speaker 2: were kids movies, and I think that they succeeded in
Speaker 2: that way, not that they were necessarily good, but I
Speaker 2: firsually think there's a whole generation of kids out there
Speaker 2: that grew up with the prequels and didn't have that
Speaker 2: level of expectation or nostalgia for the original trilogy, and
Speaker 2: they might even prefer the prequels. And we've talked about
Speaker 2: how toxic fandom can be and Star Wars largely dude
Speaker 2: fans of Star Wars can be really, really intense and
Speaker 2: some of the worst in my opinion, when it comes
Speaker 2: to this. So the backlash was quite furious and vitriol,
Speaker 2: and I think we sometimes forget that as beloved as
Speaker 2: they are. The original trilogy are kids movies too, so
Speaker 2: it's like kids who grew up with the original trilogy
Speaker 2: and loved it became adults went in to see these prequels,
Speaker 2: and I theorized forgot there for kids, right, like, ideally
Speaker 2: adults would like them too.
Speaker 3: But and yeah, they weren't good in a lot of.
Speaker 2: Ways, but people were pissed pissed, and yeah, I got
Speaker 2: made fun of a lot for liking them. Recently, the
Speaker 2: prequels have been getting some love or at least not
Speaker 2: outright hate as time has.
Speaker 1: Passed, right, So, yeah, a lot of things are coming
Speaker 1: back up with the fact that Obi Wan Kenobi's about
Speaker 1: to get his own little show, right, and then we're
Speaker 1: gonna see Anakin Skywalker again coming through, So apparently they're
Speaker 1: getting some kind of love. Yeah, who knows. So pad Me,
Speaker 1: let's talk about pad Main and a Berry, who is
Speaker 1: not only in the movies but apparently in the comics,
Speaker 1: which you've been telling me a lot about. Also the
Speaker 1: animated series The Clone Wars you also told me about that,
Speaker 1: and books like the recent Queen's Hope by E. K. Johnston.
Speaker 1: Her name Padme means lotus flower, while Amidala might mean
Speaker 1: beautiful flower and the bari means mother of twins, little
Speaker 1: en the rose there.
Speaker 2: And I didn't include this for you specifically, Samantha, because
Speaker 2: you recently. You didn't make fun of me, but you
Speaker 2: kind of teased me about this fan fiction. I was
Speaker 2: reading about Luke owning a flower shop, and you're like,
Speaker 2: it doesn't make sense, and.
Speaker 1: I was like, well, what it doesn't add to make sense.
Speaker 2: It's fan fiction, but flowers were a key part of
Speaker 2: his well.
Speaker 1: I was just saying, wouldn't he be an actual teacher
Speaker 1: of sorts? How he did?
Speaker 3: He was both.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So it just didn't seem possible to me.
Speaker 3: I think you're just trying to pick on mean while yet.
Speaker 1: So.
Speaker 2: Padme is a human woman from the planet Naboo, where
Speaker 2: she ruled as the Democrat elected queen when she was fourteen.
Speaker 2: She served as a member of the Galactic Senate during
Speaker 2: the last year of the Republic. One of her most
Speaker 2: defining traits is her political idealism and dedication to democracy.
Speaker 2: Padmey knew early on that she was interested in helping
Speaker 2: people through politics. At the age of seven, she participated
Speaker 2: in a failed relief effort that only strengthened her determination
Speaker 2: to help people through public service when we are first
Speaker 2: introduced her in Phantom Menace, so she does appear earlier
Speaker 2: than this, confusingly in the extended universe. Star Wars is
Speaker 2: very very messy in that way. But the first time
Speaker 2: most people were equainted with her in Phantom Menace. She
Speaker 2: is fourteen, and she spends much of the film undercover
Speaker 2: in quotes as a handmaiden to the Queen Amidala. And
Speaker 2: Amidala is Padmey's name is Queen Queens of Naboo have
Speaker 2: a detail of trained lookalikes that serve as protectors, among
Speaker 2: other things, and that's the movie I want to see.
Speaker 2: But so she's one of these lookalikes, is pretending to
Speaker 2: be Queen Amidala while the actual Queen Amidala padme is
Speaker 2: pretending to be a handmaiden.
Speaker 3: Makes perfect sense, got it?
Speaker 2: And she accompanies the Jedi Qui gon Jen and Obi
Speaker 2: Wan Kenobi and meets her future secret husband, Anakin Skywalker,
Speaker 2: who is a nine year old enslaved child on the
Speaker 2: planet of Tatooine. At the time, Padme is confident with
Speaker 2: the blaster and in her leadership, and she was a
Speaker 2: much beloved political figure on her planet and an inspiration
Speaker 2: for many. After serving two terms as Queen, the people
Speaker 2: tried to amend the constitution so she could serve again,
Speaker 2: but she declined. However, thanks to her manipulative colleague, she Palpatine,
Speaker 2: the Emperor, the future Emperor, and her desperation to save
Speaker 2: for people, she initiated the vote of no confidence that
Speaker 2: made the way for Palpatine to rise to the role
Speaker 2: of Supreme Chancellor. As a senator, was a pivotal figure
Speaker 2: in the separatist crisis, proving herself to be a skilled
Speaker 2: negotiator and speaker, quick on her feet, and competent in
Speaker 2: combat situations. She aligned herself with senators Orghana and mon Mathma,
Speaker 2: who influenced her politics and would later go on to
Speaker 2: be leaders of the Rebel Alliance, and Belle would go
Speaker 2: on to raise her daughter Leah.
Speaker 3: So again, like, imagine as.
Speaker 2: You were seeing these, if you knew the original childre well,
Speaker 2: you were seeing like, oh, it's that person, it's that person.
Speaker 3: So I can totally understand. People are listening like, well,
Speaker 3: what are you talking about?
Speaker 2: But Mam Mathma and beil r Ghana are kind of
Speaker 2: these big figureheads of the rebellion, and even if it's
Speaker 2: not happening at that time, you know kind of what
Speaker 2: they're going to become. Padme had her her fair share
Speaker 2: of enemies, and an assassination attempt forces her to go
Speaker 2: into hiding with none other than Jedi Anakin Skywalker, who
Speaker 2: at this point he's nineteen and she's twenty four, so
Speaker 2: we're a little older. They fall in love, but the
Speaker 2: Jedi code forbids possession and detachment.
Speaker 3: Oh, don't get me started on the Jedi code.
Speaker 2: After a coliseum battle and which Padme resourcefully picks a lot,
Speaker 2: but then has one of the silliest tearing of costumes
Speaker 2: that results in like this perfect crop top that I've
Speaker 2: ever seen. She and Anakin secretly marry, a marriage that
Speaker 2: later has galactic repercussions. Because of her involvement in politics
Speaker 2: from a young age, she doesn't get to live outside
Speaker 2: of that structure that much, and she longs for freedom,
Speaker 2: something of our own. You do see that in the
Speaker 2: comics and the books, and that's one of the reasons
Speaker 2: for the secret marriage, is she wanted something of her own.
Speaker 3: Also, she was quite young and.
Speaker 1: In love, yeah, very young. Due to their responsibilities during
Speaker 1: the Clone Wars. Then I've been just told that it
Speaker 1: is not the movie or the anime series, but a
Speaker 1: time period.
Speaker 2: It's what happens, it is all of us.
Speaker 1: So I'm trying to get myself bearings. Anakin and Padme
Speaker 1: did not get much time together, as we saw, and
Speaker 1: we see the flaws and their relationships, lots of secrets
Speaker 1: and the strain again of keeping a secret. I feel
Speaker 1: like that's just a cautionary tale for all the movies.
Speaker 1: Padme's first priorities are her ideals and democracy. The changes
Speaker 1: when she finds out she is pregnant, something that will
Speaker 1: make hiding her relationship with Anakin even more difficult. Surprise, surprise, well,
Speaker 1: she does wear the really big goaln she does. However,
Speaker 1: both are thrilled at the news babies. Soon after the revelation,
Speaker 1: Anakin begins having visions of Padme and their child's death,
Speaker 1: something he is desperate to prevent. He learns that Palpatine
Speaker 1: is a sixth Lord, and he promises that by using
Speaker 1: the Dark Side he'll be able to save his wife
Speaker 1: and their baby.
Speaker 3: Lies.
Speaker 1: He succumbs to the dark Side and ignores Padma's pleas
Speaker 1: for him to come back, strengthening her into unconsciousness. At
Speaker 1: a secret medical center, weird medical center, she gives birth
Speaker 1: to Luke and Leah, surprise twins. She dies of heartbreak,
Speaker 1: which I still find hard to believe, or perhaps more
Speaker 1: likely Palpatine killed her, proclaiming with her dying breath that
Speaker 1: she knows they're still good. In Anakin, who by now
Speaker 1: has assumed his identity as Darth Vader, we get to
Speaker 1: see that whole big scene, believing his wife and child
Speaker 1: to be dead at his hands, which is still I'm
Speaker 1: still trying to figure that one out. The Republic she
Speaker 1: fought so hard for is destroyed and replaced by the Empire,
Speaker 1: with her husband functioning as its enforcer. In the wake
Speaker 1: of her death, Patme becomes a symbol of democracy and
Speaker 1: later the rebellion itself. Her children went on to play
Speaker 1: a major role in dismantling the Empire as we know
Speaker 1: and restoring democracy and in the end the redemption of
Speaker 1: Anakin Skywalker.
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, this is some of those things sometimes when
Speaker 2: I and I know I've talked to you about this
Speaker 2: before with like the Last of Us, Samantha.
Speaker 3: Sometimes when you just write.
Speaker 2: Out a plot and you take away all the clunky
Speaker 2: dialogue and just get to the bare bones.
Speaker 3: What the story is not the case the Lastibah has
Speaker 3: been in this. It's so sad. That's a sad tale.
Speaker 3: And we're gonna we're gonna get.
Speaker 2: Into some of these these sad elements and feminist elements,
Speaker 2: but first we're gonna polish for a quick break for
Speaker 2: word from our sponsor, and we're bad. Thank you sponsor,
Speaker 2: since it is a big part of this. I didn't
Speaker 2: want to ask, do you think you could do a
Speaker 2: secret marriage?
Speaker 1: Samantha funny story. I have a friend who got married,
Speaker 1: never told her parents. It's not necessarily a secret to
Speaker 1: anybody else who is close to them, but her parents
Speaker 1: still think she's not married, and she's been able to
Speaker 1: pull it off. And I'm still baffled by this. Wow, Personally,
Speaker 1: I don't know if because I just don't care about
Speaker 1: marriage for me personally, so I don't know if I
Speaker 1: would care enough to try secret marriage. That just seems
Speaker 1: like extract right. And I say this in today's society
Speaker 1: where it's okay to be together and just to be
Speaker 1: in a partnership, and I enjoy that, so kind of like, well,
Speaker 1: why would I go to the trouble of having a
Speaker 1: marriage if I'm keeping it a secret, if I don't
Speaker 1: care to be married, So why so I don't know,
Speaker 1: would you? Uh?
Speaker 3: I mean I similarly, I don't really want to get it.
Speaker 2: But if I was in a situation where I did,
Speaker 2: I can see how the strains of it, and especially
Speaker 2: not being able to communicate those like strains with other
Speaker 2: people are in front of other people, wouldn't make it
Speaker 2: very difficult and resentment could build or just like not
Speaker 2: because you're not communicating honestly with other people. So I
Speaker 2: can see how that would really mess up your communication
Speaker 2: in that relationship, and you wouldn't ever quite be sure.
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously, if you had a healthy relationship, you
Speaker 2: would be secure and like, Okay, this is fine. But
Speaker 2: I think the very fact of key being in a
Speaker 2: secret feels like it's not fine in some.
Speaker 1: Way, right, I think my friend who isn't and this
Speaker 1: is a completely different tone. It's not necessarily she's trying
Speaker 1: to keep it a secret. It's just she's just not
Speaker 1: telling everyone. Sure it doesn't care too in the story.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, And this is obviously like a intergalactic space
Speaker 2: war situation where they're both in they have responsibilities to
Speaker 2: a larger and to tree that puts a lot of
Speaker 2: pressure on them.
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess this could be a tale of like, yes,
Speaker 1: they're in love, but also their young teenagers are being
Speaker 1: told they can't be in love, so yeah, a double
Speaker 1: like ooh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's true. And there's a lot of trauma
Speaker 2: behind a lot of their decisions before. We've talked about
Speaker 2: in a minute, But I didn't want to put in
Speaker 2: here because there's this recent TikTok story, Like a TikTok
Speaker 2: user used math to suggest that Padme is the strongest
Speaker 2: character in Star Wars based on the scene and attack
Speaker 2: of the Clones when Padme jumps from the top of
Speaker 2: this really tall hole onto a reek which is kind
Speaker 2: of like a big rhino thing.
Speaker 3: And doesn't even flinch.
Speaker 2: The user Shayey, calculated how much force that would put
Speaker 2: on the body and then argued from there that it
Speaker 2: makes her the strongest character.
Speaker 3: And you and I discussed that in our viewing because.
Speaker 1: I was like, al because we watched this for this
Speaker 1: upcoming and I was like, aw, how does that not
Speaker 1: hurt a b Also, she is one of the only
Speaker 1: ones who can actually hit people with her guns. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, what is wrong with everybody else? Why
Speaker 1: are these laser guns so bad?
Speaker 2: You've heard my theories. But that's a different time. And
Speaker 2: she's badass in a lot of ways. She's intelligent, compassionate, curious, determined,
Speaker 2: she's capable, she's brave, she's a good leader. She champions
Speaker 2: things like the anti slavery campaign. But yes, in a
Speaker 2: lot of ways, the movies especially did her wrong. And
Speaker 2: one of the big ways, in my opinion, is blaming
Speaker 2: when because there's this narrative of her being the cause
Speaker 2: of Anakin's fall to the dark side, and some of
Speaker 2: that comes from outside interpretations. So a lot of write
Speaker 2: ups blame Padme, sometimes not explicitly, but the language is
Speaker 2: pretty pretty implicit for the fall of the Republican rise
Speaker 2: of the Empire because of her secret marriage to Anakin
Speaker 2: that pushed him to fall. But I think it takes
Speaker 2: two to tango friends, and she's not responsible for his
Speaker 2: actions in the end. They were both young and in
Speaker 2: love and they made mistakes, but it is not solely
Speaker 2: on her that he became dark.
Speaker 1: Right, she was young, and I keep talking about that
Speaker 1: as well. When she was elected and I'm still trying
Speaker 1: to wrap my mind around that. I mean, she admits
Speaker 1: she believed she might not have been ready. We do
Speaker 1: you see that? And through her evolution we see her mature,
Speaker 1: holding on to her idealism but learning when to compromise,
Speaker 1: although she did compromise and things that maybe she shouldn't have. Yeah, still,
Speaker 1: she was young when she died, and plenty of older
Speaker 1: male folks in the film deserves some of the blame
Speaker 1: for what happened. Again, her death just seems silly to
Speaker 1: me in this movie. I know it had to happen
Speaker 1: for the development of the plot, but like, really, this
Speaker 1: is how you're gonna kill her all, okay? And they
Speaker 1: were all fooled and manipulated by the Emperor. However, many
Speaker 1: paint her as a simple love interest that ruined everything women.
Speaker 1: So it's another example of something we see and discuss
Speaker 1: a lot in our entertainment, a woman's death jump starting
Speaker 1: a male character story, in this case Darth Vaders.
Speaker 2: Yeah, even Anakin believe she has betrayed him for Obi
Speaker 2: Wan Kenobi, which leaves him to attack her. She begs
Speaker 2: him to come back to raise their child together, which
Speaker 2: is exactly why he joined the dark Side in the
Speaker 2: first place to protect them, but he refuses, arguing instead
Speaker 2: they could overthrow the emperor and rule the galaxy together,
Speaker 2: ignoring the fact that that's what she dedicated her whole
Speaker 2: life to finding out against dictatorship. He's so overcome with
Speaker 2: the fear of losing her, of being powerless, that he
Speaker 2: loses her and serves a new master as slaved to
Speaker 2: the dark Side. That's something else that eroded the trust
Speaker 2: between Padme and Anakin, his closeness to Palpatine, especially given
Speaker 2: how dedicated she was the Republican preventing that slow creep
Speaker 2: of emergency powers and militarism. There are even scenes where
Speaker 2: she comes in and he chooses to stand by Palpatine
Speaker 2: and not her when they're like arguing. So some people
Speaker 2: have said that this kind of complex, convoluted thing is
Speaker 2: why these movies aren't as satisfying, because they aren't the
Speaker 2: simple good versus bad star wars miss stories we're used to.
Speaker 1: Like.
Speaker 2: Don't get me wrong, the original CHILDI has a lot
Speaker 2: of complex layers to it, but in the end, it's
Speaker 2: kind of like, these are the bad guys, these are
Speaker 2: the good guys, Like you know the lines and these
Speaker 2: are blurrier.
Speaker 3: The characters don't know who exactly they're fighting. We do
Speaker 3: as the audience.
Speaker 2: Except really frustrating, but they don't the good guys, and
Speaker 2: these make cat astraphic mistakes that lead to tragedy and darkness,
Speaker 2: which watching these in the air of Trump hit differently.
Speaker 1: I gotta say, yeah, I definitely you've definitely heard like
Speaker 1: the Stormtrooper margin a lot.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So apparently Annie you told me this and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and relay it. There was a whole
Speaker 1: scrapped plot line that pad May actually was more forced
Speaker 1: sensitive than Anakin during her pregnancy with Luke and Leah. Interesting,
Speaker 1: our other strapped endings had Padme leaving Anakin to start
Speaker 1: the rebellion. Apparently there's the deletedt scene where she joins
Speaker 1: up with Belle Organa and man Mathma to create the
Speaker 1: Alliance to restore the public. But how'd that go with
Speaker 1: the fight that Leyah is supposed to be adopted by.
Speaker 2: I think she was still going to die, but she
Speaker 2: had this scene of like, I'm gonna set this up
Speaker 2: so she started it, and.
Speaker 1: Then okay, or even trying to kill him when she
Speaker 1: realizes what he's become which I feel like the big
Speaker 1: clue was when he killed that entire population of people
Speaker 1: of creatures, including the children and the women, and he
Speaker 1: admits it and was okay with it, like he cried,
Speaker 1: but he's like it felt good, Yeah, like an avengance
Speaker 1: of his mother. I was like that seems like that
Speaker 1: has a huge sidney.
Speaker 3: There's many red flags with him.
Speaker 2: And while Padme does get to do her fair share
Speaker 2: of ASKI king, she certainly does more ask kicking than
Speaker 2: I'm used to seeing from Queens and Sinner, just especially
Speaker 2: as a kid when.
Speaker 3: I was watching these.
Speaker 2: She does end up meeting quite a bit of rescuing too,
Speaker 2: and or you see her in a fair amount of distress.
Speaker 2: So in that crop top incident in the second movie,
Speaker 2: which I want to include the description from star wars
Speaker 2: WICKI fantom of that quote. This tore the waistband and
Speaker 2: up her clothing, and Amidala screamed and sobbed in pain
Speaker 2: as tears trickled down her cheek. I don't remember the
Speaker 2: sop pain crying, but anyway, Anakin is the one that
Speaker 2: ultimately comes to her rescue. She falls out of their
Speaker 2: transport and falls unconscious. Soon after that, there are plenty
Speaker 2: of instances of her being captured or poisoned or what
Speaker 2: haves you in the show, though to be fair, she
Speaker 2: does find a way out herself fairly regularly.
Speaker 3: There's also a.
Speaker 2: Really weird, kind of creepy plot line with an X
Speaker 2: of hers and a really jealous Anakin that feels like,
Speaker 2: because most of that show does feel, oh, this is
Speaker 2: very much for children.
Speaker 3: In that episode, I was.
Speaker 2: Like, whoa, this is pretty dark and weird. And she
Speaker 2: spends a good portion of the third movie crying and
Speaker 2: in emotional distress that ultimately kills her. We're going to
Speaker 2: get into some some people have a different interpretation of
Speaker 2: that in a minute, but and you know, it was
Speaker 2: very devastating. A lot of very bad things were happening,
Speaker 2: but still she did spend most of the movie kind
Speaker 2: of just crying. So, speaking of heartbreak and her death,
Speaker 2: this is probably one of the most calling things about
Speaker 2: her storyline, that she dies of heartbreak after giving Bird
Speaker 2: to her children. With everything we know about her, it
Speaker 2: seems like she would fight like hell to protect them.
Speaker 2: And there is a part of me that gets the
Speaker 2: romantic in heavy quotes aspect of it that she was
Speaker 2: so in love with Anakin, and that knowing what he
Speaker 2: did and what he'd become and how he destroyed in
Speaker 2: part what she'd work so hard to better and to
Speaker 2: preserve that it killed her.
Speaker 3: But it just feels like such a cop out.
Speaker 2: And every time I watch these movies, if you take
Speaker 2: away the silliness, yeah, and the awkward dialogue and clunky
Speaker 2: extraneous storylines, I'm really taken aback by how sad they are.
Speaker 2: But she was strong, like I feel like she would
Speaker 2: have she would have fought. But all that being said,
Speaker 2: some have pointed out that it's never confirmed in canon.
Speaker 2: It's never officially been confirmed that she died of heartbreak,
Speaker 2: and in fact, it's heavily implied the Emperor killed her
Speaker 2: from a fog with his dog magic powers, because how
Speaker 2: did he know she was dead when he told Darth Vader.
Speaker 2: That's like one of the big things. The medbot treating
Speaker 2: her says she has lost the will to live, which
Speaker 2: could be heartbreak or I guess dark force powers that
Speaker 2: a robot doesn't know about.
Speaker 1: Fair And again, we are focusing on Padme today, but
Speaker 1: because we do talk a lot about trauma and grooming
Speaker 1: on the show, that plays a huge part in the
Speaker 1: Fall of Anakin Skywalker after growing up enslaved, he had
Speaker 1: to leave his mother behind enslavement, and when he finally returns,
Speaker 1: she dies in his arms and he's terrified of going
Speaker 1: through that pain again. With Padme, you've got the Emperor
Speaker 1: grooming him and offering him a solution and whisperinging his
Speaker 1: ears constantly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Samantha knows, I'll just be like, he's so great
Speaker 2: for randomly she does. And here I wanted to include
Speaker 2: an email we got a while back from a listener
Speaker 2: named cale Hi. Cale Cale wrote about what we're talking
Speaker 2: about right here.
Speaker 3: Quote.
Speaker 2: This email is mainly for Annie because it's about Star Wars,
Speaker 2: but Samantha is for you to read as well. I
Speaker 2: was listening to movie Crush and I heard you talk
Speaker 2: about how you've been watching the Clone Wars animated series
Speaker 2: and your mixed feelings about Anakin since the show humanized
Speaker 2: him so much. And I am so happy to hear that.
Speaker 2: I did not watch Star Wars as a kid, and
Speaker 2: my first real exposure to the series was when my
Speaker 2: partner showed me the Clone Wars series. I mostly watched animation.
Speaker 2: It got me into Star Wars and after watching the series.
Speaker 2: I went back and watched all of the movies and
Speaker 2: rebels as well. Watching the Clone Wars really humanized Anakin
Speaker 2: in a way that hit me hard. Watching him be
Speaker 2: groomed by Palpatine, being forced a hide his relationship with Padme,
Speaker 2: and having no one to really go to about his
Speaker 2: emotions and nightmares truly made him an island. A person
Speaker 2: in such pure isolation is so easily manipulated, and so
Speaker 2: watching him fall prey to Palpatine and the prequels was
Speaker 2: so difficult for me to see. I have a lot
Speaker 2: of deep rooted emotions about the show, Anakin and Anakin's relationships.
Speaker 3: With various characters.
Speaker 2: I would not say that I forgive him of his evils,
Speaker 2: but that watching the Clone Wars and how it makes
Speaker 2: Anakin relatable gave me insight to him as a person
Speaker 2: and truly made me feel so much for him. I
Speaker 2: have written a pseudo essay ramble about how I feel
Speaker 2: about the Jedi Order, It's shortcomings when it comes to humanity, sentience, emotions, relationships,
Speaker 2: and how the rigidity of the Orders ultimately what led
Speaker 2: Anakin to choosing the dark side and becoming Vader.
Speaker 3: If you're interested, I would love to share it with you.
Speaker 2: I know that not a lot of people read into
Speaker 2: and analyze individual characters and movies and books as much
Speaker 2: as you do, and I feel a real kindredness to
Speaker 2: you and how you really see each character when talking
Speaker 2: about them on Sminty. Yes, I love this so much.
Speaker 2: I would love to read your essay. That is right
Speaker 2: up my alley and something I would do. I have
Speaker 2: thought so in depth about these characters, and yes, definitely
Speaker 2: Anakin and darth Vader and the psychology of Darth Vader
Speaker 2: is something that I will bring up at any time,
Speaker 2: But that is another aspect to this, as well as
Speaker 2: the show really exploring that isolation and the grooming and
Speaker 2: the kind of tragedy that it led to. On top
Speaker 2: of that, Padme's death haunted him for the rest of
Speaker 2: his life, haunted Anakin Darth Vace for the rest of
Speaker 2: his life, saying her name in front of him very
Speaker 2: likely he could get you killed. He never ever emotionally
Speaker 2: recovered from it, and that turned into indiscriminate violence and rage.
Speaker 2: At one point, he encounters a ghostly massage of Padme,
Speaker 2: and when he begs her to come back to him,
Speaker 2: she kills herself instead, and that is messed up. At
Speaker 2: another point, he attempted to resurrect her with an ancient
Speaker 2: artifact and failed. Here's the quote from Johnston, author of
Speaker 2: those Padme trilogy books we mentioned earlier.
Speaker 3: I had to include this. Anakin Skywalker is a.
Speaker 2: Bit of a downer for me in terms of writing,
Speaker 2: because everything he touches ends badly. Quigan dies, his mom dies,
Speaker 2: Padme dies, the galaxy falls apart. It does not go
Speaker 2: well for people involved in Anakin Skywalker's story when he's.
Speaker 3: The main character. True. A note about the handmaidens.
Speaker 2: Those Amidala lookalikes are the lookalikes for the queens of Naboo.
Speaker 2: They are badass and they're kind of creepy. They take
Speaker 2: on code names, they undergo training to mimic they are queens,
Speaker 2: so people can't detect when one of them stands in
Speaker 2: for her, which is helped by all of Naboo's traditional
Speaker 2: makeup and clothing for queens. There's one storyline in the
Speaker 2: book The Queen's Peril, where Padme's primary stand in and
Speaker 2: closest handmaiden, Sabe, takes her place when pain from her
Speaker 2: period sidelines Padme. After Padme's death, Sabe is one of
Speaker 2: the leaders of a group dedicated to getting justice for
Speaker 2: Padme and finding her killer. Also, both Kiera Knightley and
Speaker 2: Rose Byrne played handmaidens in the movies.
Speaker 1: Yes, I looked this up and Kiera Knightley was in
Speaker 1: that movie before she was invented. Like Beckham. Oh, that
Speaker 1: one of the part bigger movies. Uh uh huh. And
Speaker 1: along those lines of friendship among women in the show,
Speaker 1: we do see the friendship between Ahsoka tano Anakin's Padawan
Speaker 1: and Padme, and we see them defend and protect each other,
Speaker 1: which is nice.
Speaker 3: It is nice. It is so.
Speaker 2: We did want to talk a bit about the legacy
Speaker 2: and symbolism of Padme, but first we're gonna pasture one
Speaker 2: more quick break for work from her sponsor.
Speaker 3: And we're back. Thank you sponsor.
Speaker 2: So Padme's death and legacy are felt throughout the series,
Speaker 2: almost representative of the death of the Republic. She died
Speaker 2: alongside the republic she fought so hard for, and the
Speaker 2: birth of the Empire. Her children would later be so
Speaker 2: instrumental in the Empire's destruction, and they were born on
Speaker 2: or a few days after Empire Day, which is the
Speaker 2: day the Empire was born. Padme does have one of
Speaker 2: my favorite lines in the prequel trilogy. This is how
Speaker 2: Liberty dies to thunderous applause, and she does become a
Speaker 2: symbol of the rebellion and revenge of the Sith. One
Speaker 2: of her hairstyles later is adopted as the rebel symbol.
Speaker 1: So we also see Padme's legacy live on in Leya
Speaker 1: in the costuming and hair. After the Empire's fall, Layah
Speaker 1: researches until she discovers who her mother was and is
Speaker 1: able to get her gowns shipped to her from Naboo Nice. However,
Speaker 1: all they're later stolen by an officer of the First
Speaker 1: Order aka the New Empire. Leah's bid to be the
Speaker 1: first Senator of the new Republic, following in Padme's footsteps,
Speaker 1: is derilled by her father's identity as Darth Vader is revealed.
Speaker 1: Leiah too is strong willed and determined and dedicated to
Speaker 1: public service, inspiring people to her cause.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I will say it's almost a running joke.
Speaker 2: You can go card every time I mentioned fan fiction.
Speaker 2: In a lot of ways, fan fiction did kind of
Speaker 2: redeem a lot of the elements of these stories. For Me,
Speaker 2: because people would write amazing, amazing works based on Padme
Speaker 2: or Padme's influence in Luke and Leya's life. And you know,
Speaker 2: when you're watching the original trilogy, I think Luke didn't
Speaker 2: even know the name of his mother and he's never
Speaker 2: really asking about her because he was told not to ask.
Speaker 2: But it was always like the father who was interesting him,
Speaker 2: and she was sort of this blank space throughout where
Speaker 2: it was like not even a question or even addressed.
Speaker 3: And it does feel.
Speaker 2: Now that you know the whole story, that she's hanging there,
Speaker 2: kind of this sad ghost over the whole thing of
Speaker 2: like forgotten, and it was her. It's her that they're
Speaker 2: emulating and they don't even know it, like Luke and Layah,
Speaker 2: and it was her love of this republic that felt
Speaker 2: that they're trying to restore. I don't know looks wise,
Speaker 2: all the main female characters in these trilogies are petite, white,
Speaker 2: dark haired, dark eyed women, and they are meant to
Speaker 2: resemble each other. But yeah, it's interesting too that you
Speaker 2: see this progression through these characters of trying to be
Speaker 2: more feminist and sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing spectacularly. But
Speaker 2: if you look at the change of titles from Princess
Speaker 2: Leah to Queen Senator Amidala in these prequels too, in
Speaker 2: the sequel trilogy.
Speaker 3: To General organa like.
Speaker 2: I think that was one of those things where they
Speaker 2: were trying to.
Speaker 3: Move the the move up and you know something I've
Speaker 3: succeeded and sometimes didn't.
Speaker 1: H Yeah. We see her legacy in Luke too, who
Speaker 1: is compassionate, stubborn, idealistic, kind and sees the good in
Speaker 1: others to a fault Annie Cinemon role. Luke proves Amidella's
Speaker 1: last words to be corrected. There were still good in Vader.
Speaker 1: Leah later goes through something similar with her son Ben. Oh,
Speaker 1: that was a weird movie. Luke was always hopeful, and
Speaker 1: so was Padme right until her death. That hope lived
Speaker 1: on into her children, a new hope. If you will,
Speaker 1: I will, Ah. There's one reason her story is so painful.
Speaker 1: As an audience. We know what happens to her, but
Speaker 1: it's always hopeful.
Speaker 2: Yeah, She's always hopeful throughout. And you just know, this
Speaker 2: goes so terribly.
Speaker 1: You're breaking my heart.
Speaker 3: You're going down to pass. I can't follow.
Speaker 2: That is a line that's been a Craine for me
Speaker 2: because of fan fiction, people have made that into a
Speaker 2: good line for me.
Speaker 3: Here's another quote from Johnston.
Speaker 2: That's how I got through writing the depressing tragedy that
Speaker 2: is looming at the end of this because I know
Speaker 2: that hope Injurers, that good Injurers, and Padme believed it
Speaker 2: even right up to the end. Yeah, so I you know,
Speaker 2: clearly I'm a big fan and you can't maybe trust
Speaker 2: my suggestions. But I will say there is a lot
Speaker 2: of like these books I've heard wonderful things about the
Speaker 2: comics are good shows, Like if you're interested, there is
Speaker 2: material out there that did give her more of a
Speaker 2: backstory and something more like just strong and complex and
Speaker 2: really flush her out as a character.
Speaker 3: I guess it does exist. But thank you, thank you,
Speaker 3: thank you for letting me have this. I feel a
Speaker 3: little tear eyed. I'm getting a little emotional.
Speaker 1: You're hugging yourself a lot in that like cute child like,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm seeing that for sure.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, they moved me every time I tell you so.
Speaker 2: Thank you for letting me go on this journey, giving
Speaker 2: me the space, and yes, we do want to hear
Speaker 2: your suggestions. I sw we have a list, We keep
Speaker 2: them and we're gonna get to them. You can email
Speaker 2: us at stuff Media, mob Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com.
Speaker 2: You can find us on Twitter at mob Stuff podcast
Speaker 2: or on Instagram at stuff I Never Told You.
Speaker 3: Thanks as always to our superproducer Christina.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Christina, and thanks to you for listening.
Speaker 3: Stuff I Never Told You, the production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: For more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast,
Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.