Padmé's Portrayal in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

Padmé in Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Padmé Amidala, played by Natalie Portman, is the main female character of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, acting as Leia Organa's analogue. First introduced in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Padmé, on paper, shares character traits with Leia, as both are portrayed as courageous leaders who are able to take a stand when they need to. Padmé's overall character arc leaves quite a bit to be desired, however.

Padmé, like Leia, is introduced as a political leader in the first film. Originally disguising herself as a handmaiden, Padmé eventually reveals herself to be the queen of her home planet, Naboo. Although she needs to be rescued in the beginning of the plot, Padmé takes an active role in unfolding events in the rest of the film. She first accompanies Qui-Gon Jinn during their stay on Tatooine and later by retaking her palace by force. While much can be said about the lack of depth displayed in her characterization, Padmé isn't defined as being a complete damsel in distress.

This aspect of her character remains mostly consistent in Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Padmé, now a senator for her planet, remains politically active and continues to make important, though sometimes reckless, decisions, such as urging Anakin to save his mother despite Obi-Wan's orders to primarily protect Padmé. She later shows that she can still take care of herself in battle during the fight in the arena.

Padmé's midriff bearing outfit in Episode II

The fight in the arena also highlights one of the major shifts in tone between the first two films. Padmé's outfit is ripped apart while fighting one of the monsters, which coincidentally happens to reveal her midriff for the rest of the battle. The torn outfit is often used in promotional materials for her character, including toys associated with the series. The outfit, and the forced nature of how Padmé acquires it, ties into the discussion on the sexualization of midriffs in Rosalind Gill's "Supersexualize Me! Advertising and the "Midriffs."" Portman even positions the outfit as something empowering in one of the film's featurettes, further highlighting Gill's commentary on the internalized sexualization of midriff advertising. Padmé herself falls into the exclusionary category discussed by Gill, as she fits the "narrow standards of female beauty and sex appeal." The featurette also highlights George Lucas's decision to portray Padmé in more "sultry," revealing costumes throughout the entire film in order to signify Padmé's "feminine" side to the audience, which can be related to our earlier discussion on gender signifiers.

Padmé's role in politics and gender role as a psuedo-empowered female character is completely diminished in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, where her role as senator, and a formerly strong female character, is more of an afterthought. The romantic subplot fully established in Episode II takes full precedence over Padmé's other roles. Padmé's relationship with Anakin results in her being punished for falling in love. Near the end of the film, Anakin chokes her, and while she survives for a short period of time, Padmé ultimately "loses the will to live," possibly due to having "a broken heart." Her death has been ridiculed for being especially corny, and for also being the final stage in Padmé's lackluster character development. Over the course of the trilogy, Padmé goes from being a somewhat strong female character and positive role model to a marginalized supporting cast member.

Axe and the Role of Gender in its Advertisements

Axe (known as Lynx in some countries) is a body care brand primarily aimed at men, though its parent company, Unilever, suggests otherwise. As we've discussed in class, Unilever also owns Dove, known for its Real Beauty campaigns. Originally founded in 1983, Unilever proudly proclaims that Axe has been helping guys get the girl since the brand launched, acknowledging that the brand is based on "disruptive advertising" and "attention grabbing ads."

Axe's ads have largely relied on tying sex appeal to masculinity, portraying individuals who use Axe as "real men" who easily attract women. One early 2000s ad features a cheerleader chasing a football player onto the field, tackling him and ripping off his clothes. The ad suggests that this is part of the "Axe Effect." In this ad, sex appeal is linked to smelling "good," while athleticism and other stereotypical masculine attributes taking on a more ancillary position. Women, on the other hand, are reduced to caring solely about scent, suggesting that women are ultimately driven more by lust than anything else. The also features one of the core components of Axe ads from the 2000s: sexual attacks as the result of using Axe. What would generally be considered rape is lauded as a positive when it happens to men by various Axe ads, reflecting and highlighting a dangerous norm of our society.

Other Axe ads feature similar tones while moving away from the older style of ads. The ad shown in the video above, entitled "Office Love," originally aired in 2012. The ad features hair and a female chest on legs, showing how the two characters are constantly prevented from interacting with each other until after work, at which point they become regular humans. The ad proclaims that "hair [is] what girls see first," and recommends using an Axe product to attract women. Masculinity is tied to both Axe products and good-looking hair in this ad, though it's important to note that the ad suggests that attractive hair is only possible due to Axe in the first place. The ad also implies that while women see and focus on hair first, men first see and focus on breasts, tying masculinity to lust. The implication for women, on the other hand, is inherently objectifying. Breasts are used as the sole gender identifier for an entity that would otherwise be featureless and genderless. The hair itself, on the other hand, is not linked with any real gender identifier until the end of the commercial, where it's revealed to be the hair of a man.

Axe launched another ad in 2013 to promote its Black Chill product line. The ad's narrator states that "the world is facing one of the biggest crises in the history of history: girls are getting hotter and hotter." Men are shown getting into various accidents due to lustfully staring at passing women. Samantha Escobar notes that ad shifts blame of men’s poor behavior onto women, linking the cultural ties between appearance and justification/victim-blaming to the ad. Escobar also notes that men are portrayed as being unable to control themselves without using a product. Escobar's observations suggest that the ad is tying "true" masculinity to lust, with consumerism being the only option to control said lust.

A more recent ad, which aired for the first time in 2016, offers a different view of masculinity. The "Find Your Magic" ad attempts to add diversity to what would typically be considered "masculine" by our society, featuring a paraplegic man and a man dancing in heels. Axe's senior director, Matthew McCarthy, stated that more than ever, guys are rejecting rigid male stereotypes. Carlo Cavallone echoed McCarthy's sentiments, saying that the intended purpose of the ad was to give guys a sense of confidence and liberate them from stereotypical bullshit about what it means to be a man. While the ad is more inclusive than the average Axe ad, there is still much to be desired. All of the men in the ad share the same lean body type, though some are more toned than others. Masculinity, therefore, is tied solely to this body type rather than multiple different body types. Women receive less focus than in most Axe ads, though they are still portrayed in sexually objectifying roles (reflected when the narrator says "who needs all that when you've got...the touch" while a woman moans in bed).