I think you were dead-on. One of the flaws with the film is that supposedly there's this devasting near-twenty year war being waged (we're told in the opening that there have been 'casualties' on both sides) yet the never-ending morning commute traffic on Coruscant is never disturbed or disrupted. . . . despite huge battles literally being waged over-head. In film, Gone With the Wind goes a long way to defining the word 'epic' for me. So when I see a character like Padme . . . and a supposedly devasting war, I want to see carnage and I want to see a women like Padme surviving in the carnage (like Scarlett in Atlanta or later back on Tara, the family plantation). What I don't want to see is her caged up in some luxury penthouse. So I really agree with you. A real opportunity was missed. The planet should have been blown-up, disrupted and Padme should have been in the middle of it -- even if she was just making clothes for the twins out of curtains in the ruins of senate.