Hopefully as you watched The Phantom Menace you noticed the five women who accompanied Queen Amidala. During nearly all of the action, Amidala was flanked by at least two of these women. If you did not notice them, then go watch your tape! Or you could read the novelization for even more information concerning these women. "Oh, but what's so special about these women," you may ask in a sarcastic tone. Let me try in my most humble of ways to explain the splendor that is the Fab Five. I will surely fall short, but I will do my best.
These five women who go by the names of Sabé, Rabé, Eirtaé, Saché, and Yané are the unsung heroines of the movie. Throughout the film Queen Amidala is portrayed as a girl's role model and while she is indeed wonderful and smart, she is not the true heroine of the film. "She's the queen, she serves her people, she was brave and caring, she thought of a plan. Surely she is the heroine!" the opposite stance may go. She is a heroine, but not *the* heroine. That position goes to each and every one of those five previously mentioned women. "Why?"
Throughout the film, they are sadly in the background: always behind the queen, rarely speaking, and never complaining. Their dresses compliment Amidala's dresses, so it can be wrongly assumed that they are mere decorations simply there as eye candy or to make the queen look that much better. But appearances are deceiving; these five women are bodyguards who to the public eye are merely the queen's hairdressers and makeup artists.
These women are the epitome of loyalty. As previously mentioned at least two of the five are always with the queen: watching, waiting, on the alert. They were trained in fighting, and would gladly give their lives to protect their queen's life. When the queen is at risk they are at risk, especially one in particular. This one is Sabé, who in times of danger is the queen's decoy. She dresses as the queen and pretends to be her. This puts her at considerable risk and according to the novelization of the movie she was even shot during the battle for Naboo. Although she was not hurt badly, it is still noteworthy that Sabé, while in the queen's role, gets shot while the true queen emerges from the battle scratchless.But Sabé did not complain about her job nor did she hold a grudge against the true queen. When the time came, she simply melted into the background as Amidala stepped into the limelight. Never once harboring negative thoughts or longing to take Amidala's place.
These women are brilliant, devoted, brave, etc. They are detrimental to the movie. As stated before, Sabé's quick response to the queen and cunning acting played a key role in winning the battle for Naboo. When Amidala was caught and things were not looking good, Sabé appeared like an avenging angel and demanded the Viceroy's attention. Grabbed it so much so that he had no choice but to believe she was the queen. This gave Amidala the moment she needed, and the queen and her forces won because of that moment. If Sabé had not intervened at such a timely moment, who knows what the result of the battle would have been. Yet the queen gets most of the credit for the victory; Chancellor Palpatine told Amidala it was she who saved Naboo. But what of the key role the handmaidens played? Was it not Sabé who was a much-needed diversion? Were the other handmaidens not risking their lives creating diversions and firepower? Even then they are in the background, and, thus, passed over.
Furthermore, all five women add to the queen's presence and mystic. All five women are not elevated nor do they have any special prestige that can be discerned. They are just friends to each other and the queen and doing their job while at it.
Since these women are so obviously what a role model should be since they do not receive great fame, are not a queen, are loyal, caring, true friends, and are content to be in the background, why is it that they do not receive much credit? By credit I mean that Lucas Merchandising does not do that much to promote them. The Queen Amidala ultimate hair doll was not rightly named Sabé even though anyone who watched the movie knew it was Sabé and not Queen Amidala who wore that dress. Hasbro shoots out figures faster than the eye can blink and yet there are no handmaiden figures out, although sometime this year a Sabé figure is supposed to be released. Also, Hasbro spits out forty different versions of Anakin and Obi-Wan yet cannot spit out a version of each handmaiden. Many Jedi Council members who just sat there have figures out now or on the way. There are even different versions of the Battle Droids. It is a given that if a character appeared on screen for at least a second (just look at Aurra Sing) Hasbro will release a figure and that character will be promoted. Hasbro speaks in the language of the dollar so why don't they open their eyes and look to the Handmaidens? There are not only five of them, but they undergo nearly as many costume changes as the queen! Hasbro seems to like making a separate character for each costume so surely the handmaidens could be used wonderfully. With the handmaidens popularity growing steadily, people would buy the figures.
I find it odd that the handmaiden fan base continues to grow although they have basically no publicity at all. You may find a few pictures of them in the various books and magazines (including the SW Insider), but those pictures are normally out of focus when it comes to them or the actresses names' are not even mentioned (such as on the official site). I have seen more pictures of the pod race then I can stomach. I have seen multiple pictures of the crowd from every angle possible. I have seen the people of Mos Eisley again and again. The aliens, the droids, the pods, the ships, etc. *But what about the handmaidens?!* And what exactly was the meaning of the Aurra Sing cover of the Insider?! She turned her head in the film. Oh wow, i am so amazed that if she was edited out I wouldn't notice or care. So she is supposed to be a big thing in the next two movies? Well, that's fine and dandy, but is it worthy of a cover when the Fab Five continue to be ignored and shoved aside when they did play an important role in Episode One? NO, it most certainly is not!
Also, what about books? There are a few Amidala books that feature the handmaidens. Granted there is one children's book that is devoted to how Amidala was trained with her handmaidens. Yet, there are five women, each with a different story to tell. How did they become handmaidens? How old are they? What are typical days like? When did they and Amidala first realize they were friends as well as working together? What exactly was their training? What sorts of adventures have they had? What happened to Yané and Saché on Naboo while Amidala, Sabé, Rabé, and Eirtaé were gone? etc. It would appear to me that there are many, many possibilities when it comes to books that could be written about the handmaidens. Yet the question is not is there any possible stories to write about, but rather, will anyone besides fans take the incentive and write about those stories?
In conclusion, the handmaidens are *the* heroines of the film due to their great personal qualities. They have a growing fan base, but are still relatively ignored by the merchandisers, much to the fans dislike and frustration. If you too love the handmaidens and want to see them get the credit and spotlight they so rightly deserve and you feel like trying to help their cause then here is something to note:
Rebel Rumblings, P.O. Box 111000, Aurora, CO 80042.
That is the address to the fan letter section of the SW Insider. It states that they read all their mail, so maybe if enough of us go and write a letter, be it long or short, perhaps someone will hear our collected plea and do something to bring these spiffy and mysterious women into the spotlight.
There is also the official site. This is for the ask the Jedi Council section. So far they have answered no handmaiden questions (big surprise right?), but perhaps they will if we continue to try.
Last of all is Scott Chernoff of the Star Wars Insider. His e-mail address is SWUniverse@aol.com. Simply send him a note asking for some Handmaiden coverage. Most likely he won't write back, but he may do an interview or two if enough of us fans ask him.