[DarthTherion]

How about this theory -- Senator Palpatine rigged the election and/or pulled strings to get the young girl elected, knowing that she would be easy to manipulate. And indeed, she is: her predictable defiance in the face of the Trade Federation's threats allow Sideous to convince his cronies to invade Naboo; this creates sympathy for his planet and creates an environment in which the idealistic queen can be convinced to call for a vote of no confidence against Chancellor Valorum.

Palpatine is behind it all, that sneaky bastard!

[Lord Melkor]

Yes, and Star Wars is so much like Earth... They should have culture that would be just like on Earth

[barend]

People can belief in Force, but not in society where they can elect a young queen. Weird.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

People couldn't believe in the force... that's why midichlorians were invented.

[ernesttomlinson]

And maybe they elect people from certain families? People can belief in Force, but not in society where they can elect a young queen. Weird.

No, logical and sensible. There are different kinds of fiction and not all are equally believable. I can accept the basic premise of, say, faster-than-light travel in Star Trek and other space operas (I'm not one of these hard SF fans that gets a fit of the vapours over anything not "plausible") because it is in the background, part of the texture of the story[1]. Feats of technology in space opera are part of the game. In Star Wars, the Force is, in a similar way, part of the texture of the story.

Making up impossible things about people, however, is a different matter. Technology or magic may change but people remain about the same and so people who do stupid, unbelievable, or irrational things in fantasy or sci-fi are just as stupid, unbelievable, or irrational as they would be in any other story. What we see of Naboo's government is nonsensical and incompetent. (Come to think of it, is there a single competent character in the prequels? A single one? Even the bounty hunters are incompetent.) That is impossible to accept and all the handwaving about how it's just fantasy isn't going to change that. The Force is magic. Governing is practical and, considering how much of the prequels focus drearily on political machinations, Lucas should have handled it practically - or not tried in the first place.

1. But they ruin it in Star Trek: TNG by botching up some pseudo-scientific claptrap about it. The warp drive in original Trek just is; aside from the occasional line about dilithium the warp drive is accepted just as another tool. TNG's pathetic attempts at explaining the impossible were clumsy, even comical. Just like Lucas's midichlorians, eh?

[Lord Melkor]

Well, people of Tibet choose a child to be their leader, Dalailama.

The fact that you are igorant of the cultural variety of human beings doesn`t mean that this stuff doesn`t make sense.

But I would have preferred if Amidala stayed a Queen.

[jariten]

Who elects a 14 year old to control a planet?

A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY...

[barend]

well, all i can say is...

NO WONDER THE REPULIC FELL APART!!!

but this makes the rebellion of the OT technically selfish and evil!!!

[Darth Player]

[So they have a 14 year old Queen, OK lots of precedent in that in History, so far, its tolerable, especially if she just fulfills ceremonial unctions, and represents Naboo in that manner among the other worlds.

But elected? And then they elect ANOTHER 14 year old as Queen? The one with the annoying Indian voice, then her follow-up at the funeral in ROTS? And they all dress ALIKE? WTF? Not only do they dress alike, but she changes outfits every ten minutes for no apparent reason?

This, from a planet which provides itself on a voluntary defense force that just happens to have fighters powerful and fast enough to inflict damage on their main foe. Some coincidence.

Tarkin should have targeted Naboo first.

Padme was the first Jon Benet Ramsey of the Galaxy.