This month’s Star Wars writing prompt on Anakin and His Angel is “There are several amazing supporting characters throughout the Star Wars galaxy, from the noble and sweet handmaiden Dorme’ to the crazy and mischievous Salacious Crumb. Which character from the films or cartoons do you particularly love the most?”
Every month that I do the prompts, I struggle with narrowing down my choices, and this month was no different. Does supporting mean anyone besides Luke, Leia, Han, Rey or the like? Does Obi-Wan count? I was very close to picking him, as he truly was a supporting character in the original trilogy, but later became a main one in Episodes I-III. Indeed, I hope he gets a spin off movie about his years in exile, but I digress…
As Star Wars is often male-centric, with female representation grossly neglected, I want to spotlight a woman. Who better than Shmi Skywalker, the matriarch of the Skywalker clan?
But what do we even know about Shmi? Even before Disney took over the Star Wars franchise , Anakin’s mother fell to the trope of the saintly mother’s death as fuel for the main character’s development. From Bambi to movies of today (especially Disney films) the mother MUST be killed, or dead already, to build sympathy and push the plot forward. We barely got to know Shmi, for everything that made her who she was happened offscreen. How exactly did she become pregnant with Anakin? What was her background before his birth? We never witnessed her marriage to Cliegg Lars and her being a step mother to Owen. Had she been able to be a loving mother to Owen, which in turn made him willing to take responsibility for baby Luke?
There were so many missed opportunities with Shmi. She is an enigma, forced into a martyr role, so as to represent Anakin’s descent towards the Dark Side. She made sacrifice after sacrifice for Anakin, and willingly sends him off to the Jedi Order. Although I am complaining about her small role, that scene of their goodbye tore at me, for I imagined how I would cope sending my child away forever. Her only reunion with him comes at a heavy cost, and she would be devastated to know what he did afterwards.
Although I have picked her as my favorite supporting character and I feel the actress Pernilla August did as much as she could with what little was given her, her small role symbolizes to me missed opportunities. Star Wars stands out for varied and complex characters, so it truly is a shame that Shmi couldn’t be given a richer role in the Star Wars universe.
-Nancy
Graphic Novelty² 
May 24, 2017 at 11:17 am
Good point , I’d have liked the movie had they given her more screen time than Jar Jar Binks 😠
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May 24, 2017 at 6:00 pm
Jar Jar was the WORST!
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May 25, 2017 at 10:54 am
From a theological standpoint, Shmi has always fascinated me. If Anakin is the Chosen One, the fact that he’s born of a virgin further underscores that, adding him to a list of important religious and mythological characters who’ve had such a birth – Christ being chief among them. Lucas used Christian theology brilliantly and creatively n the Original Trilogy, splitting Christ’s role as savior and redeemer between Anakin and Luke respectively. Having Anakin be conceived in such a way only adds to that mythos. Shmi should then have a Marian level of importance in the Saga! Great pick, great post, and I’m with you – she’s way under used/explored in the films, especially for a character with such importance. There’s so much that can and should be done with Shmi!
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May 25, 2017 at 10:38 pm
Anakin’s virgin birth cemented the Christ comparisons, although I thought it was a bit of overkill for Lucas to choose that way to explain his parentage. There needs to be a prequel book about Shmi to explain her background and flesh out her character.
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May 27, 2017 at 4:13 pm
I would love a novel about Shmi! The virginal conception angle would give SO MUCH to explore, emotionally and thoughtfully. Also, as you’ve discussed in the post above, what of her friends, family, goals, etc.? Who was she before she was a mother? There’s so much potential.
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May 27, 2017 at 9:40 pm
I wonder why no one has pitched a book with that angle. Perhaps Lucasfilm wanted her to forever be an enigma, or explaining her life would be opening too big a can of worms with canon.
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May 28, 2017 at 12:37 pm
Reading your thoughts just made me realize how cynical I am! My feelings were always that a) Star Wars isn’t great with expanding their female characters and b) Star Wars isn’t great with detailing the importance of mothers and their relationships with their children so they left Shmi aside.
Obviously the EU gave us Mara Jade, Jania, Admiral Daala, and Winter – to name just a few – but when it comes to the characters in the films Lucasfilm tends to stay anchored pretty securely with the boys. In addition to Shmi, I’m also amazed we’ve never gotten a novel, series of novels, or comic series about Padme’s time between TPM and AOTC.
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May 25, 2017 at 8:24 pm
I did a blog post once on supporting characters I would love to see get their own movie and Shmi was up there. I thought it would be fascinating to see her point of view – so I love your answer! I should probably think about my answer for a while…and then post past the deadline again, lol.
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May 25, 2017 at 10:29 pm
A prequel book about her would be a best seller with Star Wars fans!
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