Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released at the end of the 20th Century, sixteen years after the Return of the Jedi. Despite mixed reviews, it was the highest-grossing film of 1999 and took the title of second highest grossing film ever, second to Titanic. It launched the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy that ended up being the last Star Wars creation by George Lucas, who sold the entire franchise to Disney in 2012 for $4.05 billion. In The Phantom Menace, Darth Sidious basically plays a master game of chess against the Jedi and the Galactic Senate as he manipulates the Naboo (especially Queen Amidala), deposes his rival Supreme Chancellor, replaces him in an election, and finally outwits the Jedi Council right before their eyes.
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For Amidala’s part, she is whisked away from Naboo when the Trade Federation invades and occupies the capital city of Theed. Along with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, she explores the Tatooine spaceport of Mos Espa and meets ten-year-old Anakin Skywalker. After trying not to get heatstroke during Anakin’s big podrace, she finally gets to Coruscant to plead for the defense of Naboo, only to be tsk-tsked away by the Senate. Amidala walks right into Palpatine’s spider web and retaliates against Supreme Chancellor Valorum, calling for a vote of no confidence. She initiates the path Palpatine uses to eventually take over the Galaxy. She then leaves the political efforts to Palpatine and returns to Naboo with the Jedi. Since the Naboo have no army of their own, she establishes an alliance with Boss Nass to use the Gungan Grand Army against the Trade Federation, culminating in the Battle of Naboo on the Great Grass Plains. They are victorious, and Queen Amidala is restored to her throne.
Being from Naboo, Senator Palpatine is not surprised by the youth of Amidala. Only Qui-Gon Jinn expresses some annoyance at Queen Amidala’s inexperience. Everyone else seems to overlook the figure before them. What is really going on for the Naboo to elect a child as their head of state and head of government?
How is it that the Naboo allow minors to run for office? In the United States, a citizen must be eighteen years of age before they can hold any public office. Most of the world shares the same age of candidacy, and some even set the required age to twenty-one. Amidala is presented as a child prodigy in Star Wars lore, but that still cannot account for the enormously complicated task of governing an entire planet, its resources, managing its conflicts and celebrations, representing Naboo to other planetary leaders, and commanding a presence in the Galactic Senate.
There is no indication in any Star Wars that the Naboo are superhumans. If she is an ordinary girl, how can the population of a planet view her as a world leader? Who was she campaigning against in the election, a toaster oven? Was there no one else more qualified or capable on the entire planet of Naboo than her? What about her father, Ruwee Naberrie, or her mother Jobal? How about her older sister Sola? Could Palpatine maybe have maneuvered his way into the monarchy? The only reason Queen Amidala is a fourteen-year-old girl is so that the age gap between her and child Anakin was not so great that their later romance would be implausible. Even though it is, but that is a different argument.
Speaking of toaster elections, why would the Naboo have an elected monarchy? It is one thing for the monarchy to be a tradition of their planet, which it is, it is another to have a monarch democratically elected to office with a two-term limit and no tolerance for hereditary succession. That is not a monarchy, that is just a democracy. It would make sense if Queen Amidala were elected for life, or, if she belonged to a Royal House that rotated elected members of its own dynasty, and she happened to be the one elected for that season.
Not only is it unusual and confusing for a mere child to win a major election, it becomes even more convoluted when the election is for a title that means one thing but in practice is something entirely different. Does President Amidala sound less majestic? Or could it be that George Lucas assumed it would justify Leia Organa’s royal title? Except for the fact that Senator Bail Organa’s wife was the hereditary Queen of Alderan until the Death Star paid them a visit. Why is Naboo a monarchy by name only?
The only way to organize this illogical mess is to assume shenanigans. Could it be that Naboo is one of the most corrupt planets in the Mid Rim, possibly the galaxy? Could it be that, where as Jabba the Hutt rules his criminal organization de facto, the Naboo mafia rules behind proxies? On the surface, Naboo seems idyllic and utopian. They have no army because they do not believe in violence or aggression. They make peace with the Gungans without hesitation because it is mutually beneficial, no prejudice or bad blood between them, no negotiating or quid pro quo required.
Beneath, Naboo must be seething with corruption. It would be so easy. Who would oppose them? There is no army, the government is a paper lantern, and evidently, no other planet in the galaxy cares to take their regime to task. The monarchy is nonsensical, the monarch is a puppet, so the Naboo mafia is free to act as they please. Could this be how Palpatine learned his political savvy? His family could very well be leading members of the organization.
Either Amidala rules due to a deliberately fraudulent government that uses her as proxy to a secret mafia, or having a child win an election to become President-Queen is bafflingly stupid.
Naboo is unlike any other planet in the Star Wars galaxy. It has the most beautiful landscapes. The architecture of the city of Theed is built in an Italian Renaissance style. Lucasfilm found the pristine site of Villa del Balbianello on Lake Como, fifty kilometers north of Milan, to play the part of this interesting but inconsistent society in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
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