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Subject: 
Re: Padme Naberrie
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.starwars
Date: 
Mon, 25 Sep 2000 19:34:02 GMT
Viewed: 
521 times
  
In lugnet.starwars, Dave Schuler writes:

I'm not sure how we're supposed to interpret that exchange, especially given
George's limp dialogue writing in general and his uninspired character
direction in particular.  There's no indication other than that single, off-
hand comment by QG that he suspects anything,

Actually, there are a couple of comments on Tatooine that make it seem as
though Qui-Gonn might know.  I can't remember the other one offhand, though.

and nothing visible is gained by
the "revelation" that he knows her identity.

No, but it does make for some interesting discussion, and that's what causes an
enduring work of literature rather than something you watch once and forget.

In addition, we have no
indication of how he's identified her

It's called the Force.  You have three other movies full of people doing all
kinds of wierd crap with the Force, why not this?

Let me put it another way:  The first time anyone in the Star Wars trilogy used
the Force to levitate something was Luke, stuck in the Wampa cave without his
lightsaber.  Yet no one then or now shrieks "Deus ex Machina!  The Force has
never been shown to do that!"

Rather than wondering how QG identified her, I think it's much more
interesting that Obi-Wan failed to identify the bogus queen.  Presumably he
spent a good deal of time in her presence, or at least nearby, and we have no
suggestion that he knew she was an imposter.  I suppose the quickest and least
interesting explanation is that he spent all his time on ship maintenance or
some kind of esoteric Jedi Meditiation. Another possibility is that, as a
fledgling Jedi, his powers of observation are not yet as sharp as they will
one day be.

Why is this not an acceptable explaination?

This, too, fails unless Obi-Wan is more dense than everyone in
the theater along.

No, there's a big difference between being a character *in* a story and being
someone *watching* a story.  Things are done to make viewers aware of plot
points characters just aren't.  As a consumer of entertainment, I'm sure you're
familiar with that idea.

It fails, also, because one of Obi-Wan's first lines in
the film implies a sensitivity to "unseen" things sharper than QG's; QG says
something like "I don't sense anything" when Obi-Wan expresses his
misgivings.

No, Qui-Gonn tells Obi-Wan to be mindful of the present, and not worry so much
about the future.  Obi-Wan was unable to figure out why he had these weird
feelings, and Qui-Gonn's attitude was basically "don't spend too much time
worrying about it".  Since even in the script this is said to directly
contradict Yoda, one can debate how good an idea it really is, but that doesn't
mean that Qui-Gonn isn't interested at all in things that might be hidden, or
secrets, or that he's less skilled than Obi-Wan at rooting them out.

In essence, I'm not sure I believe that QG knew Padme was really the queen,
despite his sarcasm.

Neither am I, but I'm not ready to call either interpretation wrong.

eric



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: Padme Naberrie
 
(...) Sometimes this is true, in that the interpretability of a work is what makes it endure. Other times, a work's ambiguity is destructive to the quality of that work, as I feel it to be in this case. (...) That's a total cop-out, unless the true (...) (24 years ago, 25-Sep-00, to lugnet.starwars)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Padme Naberrie
 
(...) I'm not sure how we're supposed to interpret that exchange, especially given George's limp dialogue writing in general and his uninspired character direction in particular. There's no indication other than that single, off- hand comment by QG (...) (24 years ago, 25-Sep-00, to lugnet.starwars)

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