Thank you for the feedback. Not sure I’ll be able to get to the novelization but I’ll definitely check out the video you mentioned.
I’ll keep playing with the Tusken confession scene but I think we just fundamentally disagree. Padme has always been characterized in other media as someone who fights for the rights of the downtrodden and sees the humanity in everyone. There’s even a deleted scene from this movie where she volunteers with alien children. I just don’t believe she would react that way to Anakin admitting to killing children, even if the Tuskens are stigmatized as a savage/monstrous race.
That’s fair; I think the intent back then was probably more to portray the Tuskens as wild animals more than intelligent beings, but I won’t argue if it still reads weird regardless.
Ultimately though, the specific scene isn’t as important as the wider point I was trying to make, which is that for even the most seemingly-inarguable thing you’re gonna have differing perspectives. That’s why I’m hoping for an AotC fanedit that wouldn’t be trying to alter the text of the film at all. I feel we have enough fanedits trying to, effectively, rewrite the prequels by trimming or cutting scenes. Effectively, I want a version of “what would AotC look like if Lucasfilm had gotten an extra couple months to do another editing pass”. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has ever really attempted that.All I really want out of an AotC edit is one that portrays the film’s contents as they already are, but adjusts the pacing and exposition, so that it isn’t expecting the viewer to juggle tons of info for multiple plotlines throughout the entire 2hr+ runtime lol. Again, that’s something I really like Caleb Gamman’s edit for, it really streamlined the experience; I just disliked when it started cutting things that fell into subjectivity, or diluted the George Lucas-y personality of the action scenes. He uploaded a few short videos on YT detailing his editing process, which I recommend also giving a look for sure!
I get what your saying, but I think there will always be some amount of subjectivity to a fan edit. We can apply certain principles to our decision making, but they will always be filtered through how we interpret those principles. In this case, I feel like the way Anakin emphasizes killing “not just the men, but the women and children too” is clearly intended to communicate that he’s crossed a line, and Padme’s reaction feels less like an intentional choice by the filmmakers, and more that the hadn’t considered her interiority as a character outside of how she supports Anakin’s story. You might disagree and that’s also a subjective interpretation. Ultimately, the official cut is George Lucas’s cut. I don’t really get a sense that he was rushed or didn’t get to fully execute on his ideas. This fan edit attempts to preserve more of the spirit of George Lucas than most, but it’s still ultimately filtered through my feelings on how to best communicate the narrative he was trying to tell. It’s okay if ends up not being for you, but I appreciate your feedback.
And to add to what Jar Jar Bricks said: Yes, consistency with current canon is also a goal of this edit, and everything we know about Padme from other sources (and even other parts of this film) kind of conflicts with her reaction here. Notably, I’m not actually changing the intent or outcome of the scene, just softening it a bit so her reaction feels a bit less out of character. If I really wanted to change things, I’d copy the Hal9000 approach of cutting the scene entirely, but I do think it has value for Anakin’s character development.