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| 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.
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| 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.
Although Padmé’s character arc has changed throughout the films, it was based off of two different perspectives. Not only was Star Wars based off of the typical space opera, it also was shaped around Joseph Campbell mono myth or the hero’s journey. This perspective is primarily part off the hero with 1000 faces, this is basically someone from the common world is introduced to the supernatural one. The first to episodes in the Star Wars universe (episodes I-VI) is centered around male characters of Luke and Anakin Skywalker. This aspect however is being changed, focusing on a female hero in the new take from J.J. Abrams. View see this emasculating feature in all of the hero characters as well as the side characters. Luke is seen in a devastated state in episode IV when his aunt and uncle died and princess Leia is put in a slave bikini in episode V. Anakin is constantly seen whining and complaining in episode II and Senator Padmé is slowly made more feminine. In episode VII, Rey is emasculated by being bound in a chair, helpless, and Fin was early on having a break down from battle, which was seen as a very negative behavior. People are bound to see connections of a character becoming emasculated or feminized over a time span in many movies and media.
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