It is dawn in Naboo's Lake Country. A lone figure stands on a balcony overlooking the lake, his hands folded behind his back. At first, one notices how much the stance is similar to Darth Vader's in the classic trilogy. Then we get a better look at what the young man on the balcony is wearing.
It is a loose-fitting shirt of gauzy material, draping softly over his slim, youthful frame. Cut low on his chest, it teasingly reveals his back and shoulders in the morning light. It recalls the romantic image of swashbucklers from another time and place. The softness of its appearance reflects the peace its wearer tries to seek from meditation, but cannot find. It is seen only for a few minutes, in only one scene in Attack of the Clones, yet among Anakin Skywalker's female fans, it has taken on a near-mythic status.
Known in fan circles as "The Meditation Shirt" or simply "The Shirt," it has inspired extensive discussion on various lists and message boards. It has appeared in countless fan fiction stories; one fan fiction even poked fun at its appeal, with Anakin telling Palpatine the garment "worked like a charm" on Padmé. It is a popular "keeper" item among Anakin/Padmé fans. While there isn't an entire web site devoted to The Shirt's complexities as there is one devoted to Princess Leia's infamous "slave girl bikini," just about any site devoted to Anakin, the Anakin/Padmé romance, or actor Hayden Christensen has at least a few photos of The Shirt posted.
The filmmakers and marketing people understand The Shirt's appeal as well. The March 2002 issue of Vanity Fair magazine featured Anakin and Padmé on the cover; she is wearing her yellow picnic dress while Anakin is dressed not in his Jedi tunic, but in The Shirt. Having Anakin wear The Shirt in this photo emphasizes the romantic imagery because he appears more relaxed and more intimate with Padmé. Not to mention that it better plays up his physical attributes than the Jedi tunic. The film itself goes a long way to underscore Anakin's youth and physical beauty. In most scenes he is photographed flatteringly. The scene in which The Shirt appears has a dream-like beauty to its cinematography. Of course this is to add weight to the tragedy of his eventual mutilation and transformation into Darth Vader. One of the themes present in the saga is the destruction of beauty from the time of the Republic to the time of the Empire. In the 1984 book In A Faraway Galaxy, author Gracia Fay Ellwood mentions the Mesapotamian half god/half man Duzumi. Ellwood says that while Duzumi was not a terribly heroic figure, he was "intensely desirable" and enjoyed a cult of mostly female worshippers. Thus The Shirt may be playing up Anakin's desirability not only to Padmé, but also to the audience. The love story has even greater resonance if we can see -- just a little -- of what dazzles each person about the other.
The convention of baring heroic figures dates back to ancient Greece. Heroes were frequently depicted unclothed on vases, statues, frescoes, and other art. This was due in part to the ancient Greeks' idealization of the youthful male form. It is a convention used in ancient Rome, then by Western artists for centuries. The Shirt is in that tradition, but here it is more coy than explicit. This is even the case when Anakin is seen completely shirtless in the nightmare scene. The sheet is pulled up pretty far and most of his chest is obscured in shadow. There's no real reason why he would be wearing a shirt while standing on a balcony if he'd been sleeping shirtless (it's not as though the thin garment could ward off the morning chill), but having him stand there bare-chested somehow seems too blatant and over-the-top (no pun intended).
Besides, at this point of the film, Anakin and Padmé are in an unspoken game of seduction. The idea is to show a little but not too much too soon. Padmé herself is wearing a very revealing nightgown in this scene, a far cry from the Victorian nightgown she wore earlier in the film. But she is still modest enough to wear a robe over the gown. The next time you view Attack of the Clones, watch Padmé during the balcony scene. Her gaze discreetly travels up and down his body. She can't take her eyes off of him and like Duzumi's ancient worshippers, neither can the ladies in the audience.
Gracia Fay Ellwood mentions the motif of nakedness in scenes of rebirth and renewal. One could make the argument that the revealing nature of The Shirt, along with Anakin's state during his nightmare, mark a rebirth of sorts. The tone of the film changes at this point, as Anakin's story grows darker and as his relationship with Padmé takes a new course.
Whether one appreciates The Shirt purely for its aesthetics or appreciates it in ways apart from its visual appeal, it will be the object of admiration for many years to come.
