Who is that movie really about?

[ThunderMace]

So. went to see Star Wars:ROTS yesterday on the IMAX. It was really a very enjoyable experience.

However, what I want to cover today is who's story Star Wars is.
If you watch the original Trilogy (4,5,6) it would seem that it is Luke Skywalker's story.
If you watch the second Trilogy it seem's as if the whole story is Anakin's, and Lucas has said as much.

I have another candidate though. I believe the Star Wars saga is the story of...R2D2.

What? how can that be? he's just a droid! this can't be his story! you may say to me.

I disagree, and here's why.

1. Artoo has been in every movie. Some of the characters are in most of the movies but the only 2 in all of them is Anakin/Darth and R2D2.

2. Not only is Artoo in every movie, but he is almost always where the action focus is. Whether with Anakin on his mission to rescue Palpantine, or with Luke in the swamp, Artoo has been where the most *important* action has been going on for the most part.

3. Artoo is the only one in every movie that is privvy to the secrets. Everyone gives R2D2 their secrets to keep. Anakin, Obi-wan, Leia, Luke. All have given the little droid something that they needed to keep on the DL so to speak. R2D2 is also the only character (IMO) that *really* knows what the hell is going on throughout all the movies.

4. Artoo is the most consistantly competent character in the entire saga. Every character from Darth to Obi-wan to Yoda to Luke has made a serious blunder at some point. All that is except the little astromech droid, who handles it all. From finding out where the heroes go for their rescue, to giving secret messages to the last Jedi Knight, to dealing with Jabba the Hut's annoying little monkey, to shutting down the garbage compactor, Artoo has saved the day more times than *anyone* in the saga.

5. And my final point: Artoo is the audience. He is our conduit into the world of Star Wars. He has no real voice so it's *our* voice.
He acts as our conscious throughout the entire saga. Feel bad about Anakin's fall? R2D2 was Anakin's trusted ally. Concerned about Luke's trench run at the Death Star? Artoo was there and helped.
Always there, always competent, always upbeat.

So you see, the Star Wars saga isn't about Anakin/Darth. It's about *us*. And we are embodied by a little blue and white astromech droid that is always where the action is. :)

[Got]

I like the theory but he's always just seemed like a convenient plot function to me.

Although, to be honest, I wish this was true. If Lucas was to come out and say that this was his intention all along, I'd hail the man a genius. I'm not even a Star Wars fan.

[EDIT] I wish I could accept that R2 was some sort of window in to the Star Wars galaxy to the audience but I just can't bring myself to lay that much ingenuity on to Lucas's shoulders as a filmmaker.

[Tarkenchi]

what if all the new starwars lucas does is through artoos POV? he tells the story? Ehh?! Its got the whole story, so it would be cool!

I like your theory.

[Jade_Dragon]

Actually, Lucas created R2-D2 and C-3P0 to be the unifying characters throughout the entire series. Although R2 was the only character to be from the very beginning to the very end, I think C-3P0 was built during Episode I. So he's also been in all of the movies. (Then again, I never saw Episode I, so I wouldn't know that for sure) And if Episodes 7-9 had continued the story after Vader's defeat, then the two of them really would have been the only characters to be in the whole story.

I wouldn't say that R2 is who the movie is about, but he is definately our eyes and ears. And he's a great character.

Actually, now that I think about it, one of the underlying themes of the show is the dehumanizing aspect of technology. And yet, in the middle of all this conflict is one little robot who is, in some ways, more human than his costars. It is like he is the positive side of technology that is becoming more human, even as the humans who are corrupted by technology (i.e., Vader) become less human.

I don't think it's too much to say that Lucas intended to put such a balancing factor into his story, to keep it from being totally one sided.

[Kinetix]

and threepio got his mind wiped but artoo didn't :eyebrow:

[Jade_Dragon]

and threepio got his mind wiped but artoo didn't :eyebrow:

Not only that, but I find it interesting that the one person who really needed Luke's help, his sister Leia, just HAPPENED to find herself in orbit around the planet where he lived, and took a chance on sending a message to a Jedi who was presumed dead, and whose whereabouts she could probably not be sure of.

I've thought that perhaps that seeming "coincidence" was actually Leia's latent Force sensitivity, in that she could sense Luke's presence on some level. Another possibility, though, is that it was manipulation on the part of the one little robot who still knew how all the pieces fit together. :D

[Charon]

I think Artoo is an extended metaphor for God. :D

[Got]

Not only that, but I find it interesting that the one person who really needed Luke's help, his sister Leia, just HAPPENED to find herself in orbit around the planet where he lived, and took a chance on sending a message to a Jedi who was presumed dead, and whose whereabouts she could probably not be sure of.

I've thought that perhaps that seeming "coincidence" was actually Leia's latent Force sensitivity, in that she could sense Luke's presence on some level. Another possibility, though, is that it was manipulation on the part of the one little robot who still knew how all the pieces fit together. :D
Ah, but what was glowing in the briefcase?

Oh crap, sorry. Wrong film.

[coldcut]

And then we find out that Anakin was just a ghost the whole time....

[inkblaster]

It's a damn fine theory. I think if it isn't about R2, he's certainly the hero of the story.
Starting in Episode 1, he's the one who gets the shields working again on Amidala's ship so she can get to Coruscant and get help.

In EPII, he once again saves Amidala from being covered in molten metal.

In EPIII, he saves Obi-Wan and Anakin in the elevator, and fends off the evil robots.

In EPIV, he saves EVERYONE from the compactor.

In EPV, he helps reactivate the hyperdrive doesn't he? I dunno, been a while.

In EPVI, He has Luke's lightsaber ready to deploy.

That's right, the fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of this tough little Astromech. Grievous is just lucky Obi-Wan got to him first.

[Tarkenchi]

In EPV, he helps reactivate the hyperdrive doesn't he? I dunno, been a while.

.

yeah, he did, the whole c3po saying you dont know how, yadda yadda, him doing like two things and VROOOM!

[Sable Phoenix]

Lucas has often said that R2 and 3PO are the narrators of the story, in essence. We see the story through their eyes, for the most part. It makes sense that they are always there. You're right in saying that they are the audience; the droids are the audience's avatars in the movie, but that doesn't mean the story is about them, they just have front row seats and they've given us season tickets.

[WingedAvenger]

Not only that, but I find it interesting that the one person who really needed Luke's help, his sister Leia, just HAPPENED to find herself in orbit around the planet where he lived, and took a chance on sending a message to a Jedi who was presumed dead, and whose whereabouts she could probably not be sure of.
I had always figured Leia knew Obi-Wan Kenobi was on Tattooine and was going there when Vader's Star Destroyer caught up with them, so she gave the message to R2-D2 and sent him along when she couldn't continue.

[Randomus]

R2 and Threepio are based off the hapless thugs in The Hidden Fortress, so your theory has merit, in a way. The Hidden Fortress is told from their point of view, as they're the only 'normal' characters in the story-- just regular guys caught up in epic events. R2 and Threepio are much the same. I'd say R2 is more of an anchor than a protagonist, though.

[Poison]

Good theory, Thundermace, I would agree.
And after seeing Ep3, I have to say: R2 is the dirtiest fighter in the galaxy.