The Phantom Menace/Fridge

After it was all over, why the heck did nobody think to go back to Tatooine and buy Anakin's mother? She would probably have sold for less than the cost of one of Amidala's fancy dresses; it would seem like a small price to pay to reward the kid who saved their world. (Why? Because without Shmi dying horribly several years later, there's no Darth Vader, that's why.)
- But...they didn't *know* she was going to die and turn Anakin into Vader. Or if they somehow did, wouldn't that give them extra incentive to go rescue her?
  - Even with the forsight of her death it still seems like a dick move to forget about Shmi and have Anakin be chatised every time he confesses to worrying about his mother. Even if he never got to see her as often, knowing that she was safe and not a slave probably would have made Anakin less of an angry jerk and more of the noble jedi that he was supposed to be. That way, Anakin's story can actually be tragic when the character isn't a jerk.
For all the Jar Jar Binks haters out there, consider this. If he didn't survive this movie, he would have never started the vote to put Palpatine into power, and Anakin would have lived his life as a Jedi. In other words, we have every right to hate Jar Jar, because he caused the rise of the Empire.
- While I fully support Jar Jar hatred, I'm not sure we can say that without him the Empire wouldn't have risen. He was there because Amidala needed someone to act in her place while she was gone, and surely there would have been someone else there without him. I suspect that Palpatine would have been able to manipulate the replacement.
Meta-example: George Lucas stated the film was intended for kids. Which explains taxation, trade federations, Senate hearings...
- George Lucas stated the film was intended for kids. Which explains the several plotholes, annoying jokes, and Jar Jar.
  - Lucas meant that the intention of the movie was to get hold of kids' money. The sloppy writing was just a bonus.