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Star Crossed

© Paul F. McDonald

Attack of the Clones is many things to many people. For some, it is a history lesson revealing a lot of the backstory that was spoken of but never shown in the original trilogy. For others, it is a detective story with Obi-Wan Kenobi hot on the trail of Jango Fett, slowly but surely uncovering a plot to take over the Republic. For others still, it is just a good action film. It is all those things, but it is also something of a first - the Star Wars version of an epithalamion.

From this perspective, it is essentially a galactic love poem featuring the forbidden romance of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala, and as such, it does a good job of weaving allusions to other mythic tales that likewise confront such time-honored themes. Some of them end in tragedy, others don't, but all are epic tales of love involving gods and mortals and other tempestuous pairings. Many give rise to all sorts of trials, trips to the underworld, and even deaths and resurrections. Most of the ones here were taken from the Latin poet Ovid, who recorded many of the Greek and Roman stories that have been passed down through the ages.

Whether the story be ancient or modern, there is always something that evokes the compatibility of the lovers, as they each have to have something that the other lacks. This is as true in Attack of the Clones as it is in Roman myths. Anakin is a Jedi Padawan who is being brought up by his master Obi-Wan, and though there is a great respect and friendship there, the relationship can be a bit strained at times. Having left his mother behind on Tatooine, Anakin has been without a prominent female figure in his life for ten years. Padme brings such a sensibility with her, as well as all the nurturing and acceptance that comes with it. For her part, she has been consumed by her political career, and has given very little time to think about her own needs and desires. Anakin brings a certain amount of fun and mischievousness into her life, as well as the possibility of a family.

Vertumnus and Pomona are two mythic characters that likewise are at odds with one another to begin with. Pomona is a wood nymph who loves the orchards that she lives in more than any of her possible mates, and so she rejects suitor after suitor. Vertumnus is half-immortal, but even he cannot resist her. He falls in love with her the moment he sees her, but he is rejected like all the rest. Venus the goddess of love has to intervene, and she ordains that the two be married. Though they cannot see it, they complement each other perfectly, and she gives them the example of the trellis that holds up the grapes so that they will not be trampled underfoot. Without the trellis, the grapes would be useless, and without the grapes, the trellis would be as well. So is it with all true lovers.

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