Some belated ranting about Star Wars:

Attack of the Clones is a far more interesting book than movie. The movie was boring and hard to follow, but the novel reveals all the layers of story and character that went missing from the film. At 142 minutes, the AOTC film just skims the major plot points; why any of this is happening was left out and we have to go read the books to figure it out.

For one thing, it explains a lot about Padmé. We learn in the novelization of The Phantom Menace (pretty much word-for-word the film in book form and not really worth reading) that she isn't a cradle-robbing deviant and is in fact only five years older than Anakin, not ten years older as she appears to be on screen. The AOTC novel goes on to reveal a great deal of background about her family and the Naboo political system that in turn explains a lot about her relationship with Anakin. First of all, that Padmé was a 14 year old queen is just odd. It would be one thing if she had inherited the title, but she is an elected queen. (Most casual SW fans miss this fact entirely, making her activities in Eps II and III kind of confusing, but just one of those many details that people don't really get but just sort of accept to keep the peace.) So Naboo is a planet that selects its supreme leader from a roster of hormonal teenagers. I know plenty of 14 year old girls with whom I'd be hesitant to leave a goldfish for a week, but these people turn over their planet to 'em. Granted, the queens have all taken part in some kind of special schooling, but still. No wonder the Gundams prefer to stay underwater.

And it's nice to know that in a galaxy far, far away, some things are exactly like they are here on Earth. Despite Padmé's great achievements in saving Naboo, reuniting the races, and rising to preeminance in the Senate (at age 14, no less), all her family can focus on is why she hasn't settled down and started popping out babies. "So, Mom, did you see me on HoloNet News making my speech in the Senate backed by hundreds of supporters?" "Yes, dear, that's nice. When are you going to make me a grandmother?" Because Naboo has a screwed up way of picking its leaders, Padmé spent her adolescent years hanging out with creepy alien politicians instead of boys her own age, and now that she's a adult things aren't much better. Like other successful women across the universe, Padmé has a hard time meeting nice men, so it's perhaps not at all suprising that she falls for the first hot Jedi to come along and throw himself at her feet. It's lust, not love. Add in the fact that they don't really get to spend much time together, plus all the excitement of having to sneak around, and you have a situation in which they can happily maintain their hot-blooded fairy tale romance. She never gets the opportunity to figure out what a dope Anakin really is.