CT It's always bothered me of how mean Han always was to C3P0.

Yeah, Han was mean to C3P0, but it didn't bother me. It was usually funny. C3P0 exasperated nearly everyone; even insulted him. I guess you could say it was his lot in life to suffer.

 

It's a bit of an influence from Dune. A.I. is sued in SW, droids are free willed but kept under control so as not to run amok and potentially have to war with organics.

 

3PO just wasn't programmed with the correct protocol or customs for dealing with a Corellian smuggler.

 

What a lot of people don't see is how much trouble C-3PO causes Han Solo - especially in Empire.

Most of the time Han tells C-3PO to shut up, it's when C-3PO is going to say something Han really wants to know Like Luke not reporting in or the Hyper-Drive is damaged. And C-3PO takes it to a whole new level when he continuously disrupts every attempt at romance Han makes towards Leia. Watch it again with an eye out for this - it's almost like young Anakin programed C-3PO to be a chaperone for any daughters he might someday have. His timing is incredible.

To make it worse and funnier, C-3PO immediately warms up to Lando. And when Lando starts putting his smooth moves on Leia and Han might hope for 3PO to meddle - guess what C-3PO has been shot by Stormtroopers and is missing.

Even in the Force Awakens C-3PO pops his head in to disrupt Leia and Han's reunion. I think both 3PO and Han give as much as they get.

They make for a pretty weird and funny comic duo.

 

He wasn't doing it because he was getting annoyed, he was trying to get him to do as he was being told. When Threepio babbles on, it's difficult to interrupt him unless you're being a bit forceful like Luke was, or very forceful like Han.

 

Right. When 3PO gets a head of steam going, it's difficult to get him to stop. Short of outright switching him off.

 

No, I agree with Sarge, Luke was losing patience, if only for a brief moment.

 

Good point! In Dune it is hinted at that at some point in the past machines were close to destroying or at least controlling humanity. Maybe there was even a Terminator-like situation? Since then all computers have been banned. Though I don't think anything similar happened in SW (unless it's in some EU book) there may be some reason behind people not trusting droids that much and never letting them have much control.

 

I'd say this trend is much more pronounced in ESB and ROTJ. IIRC Lawrence Kasdan really didn't like 3PO as a character but enjoyed writing for Han, which resulted in a much more aggressive dynamic between the two.

And as far as Dune goes, the Butlerian Jihad was also a major influence on the 70s-era idea of the Clone Wars.

 

I do think something needed to shift after ANH, that film used 3PO and R2 in the "Hidden Fortress" fashion as more down to earth observers of grand events but I'm not sure that would have worked across thje entire trilogy.

The Han/3PO exchanges weren't entirely one sided either, the "negative power coupling" exchange or "its against my programing to impersonate a deity".

 

This is very interesting. Any sources? What was the 70s era idea of the Clone Wars? In the movie it's only mentioned but never explained. It would be really interesting to find out that Lucas actually took the Butlerian Jihad as inspiration for the Clone Wars. However they where two completely different universes/historical eras with different backgrounds that had absolutely nothing in common, at least if you consider the SW films compared to the Dune books. Any interviews, sources or whatever?

 

The Butlerian jihad was never more than hinted at by Herbert. Very few details were provided. There is some really cool material on it in the not-quite canon (but Herbert approved ) Dune Encyclopedia.

Now - there is a (completely inconsistent) version of the Butlerian Jihad described in terribad books by Herberts son and Kevin Anderson... but most Dune fans ignore that dreck. (I unfortunately had the misfortune to try reading one of those books....... BAD)

 

3PO is a total jerk of all time in TESB moreso in ROTJ so not at all.

Chewbacca puts him back together and what does he get for it?

 

Talking to Leigh Brackett in 1977 (as quoted in The Making of Empire), Lucas said the Clone Wars involved the clones as the "bad guys" who were hated and feared by the galaxy at large as a result. Very much like the taboo against "machine minds" in Dune. I believe the Clone Wars were also meant to explain why people in SW use mechanical prostheses instead of cloning new limbs.

On topic: Kasdan didn't like C-3PO, and that's very much reflected in ESB. But George probably pointed out he'd got the droid's characterization wrong: there's nothing in ROTJ like teh ESB asteroid field chase where 3PO suggests outright surrender to the Empire.

 

The Han and 3PO stuff is always funny as heck to me. It is the most funny part of the OT. Han just has no patience with 3PO. I get the vibe Harrison Ford doesnt like Anthony Daniels too and using the camera time to rough him up. It all seems so improvised and that what makes it funny.

 

Han's annoyance with C-3PO was a little exaggerated in "The Force Awakens," playing off a few moments in the other films. He had never before just flat out ignored him.

 

It's funny you mention this because as I was reading through this thread it occurred to me that given the amount of screen time Han and 3PO have together you never see Ford and Daniels together outside of that. Which made me wonder what dynamic and possible unfriendliness exists between them, and how much of that comes through on screen.

It's possible that Lucas himself may have even meddled in their unfriendliness in order to facilitate that level of genuine dislike for each other on screen. I've read of several instances in this era of filmmaking when directors would exploit actors' personal grievances amongst each other in order to garner genuine emotions towards each other on screen. And it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case here.

 

I kind of like how Han was always impatient w/him. It is kind of reflective of how the general moviegoing public (presumably) would feel about his constantly rambling and raging on. I like how when in ESB they finally do shut him down, he just motions casually to Leia!!

 

If we include the EU, it kind of depends. In the Brian Daley novels, Han says that he not fond of "machinery that talks back". However, he develops a liking for the easy-going Bollux and mischievous Blue Max. It's understandable the more formal and proper Threepio would get on Han's nerves.

Re: the Ewok village and Luke, slightly annoyed, saying to Threepio, "Just tell them," it was almost different in the movie. Behind-the-scenes footage shows Harrison Ford coming up with the idea that Luke and Han (and maybe Leia) would all simultaneously say, "Tell them!" That would've been funny.

 

R2 isn't real nice to C3PO either, he pushed C3PO off of high places at least twice, once at the battle droid factory and again off of Jabba's barge. However, R2 does come to C3PO 's aid. Young Anakin in TPM doesn't treat him very well either, just up and leaves him without a casing.

After ROTJ in the 80s, Kenner proposed a story idea to George about a new story line to continue the action figure line post Endor. In their story idea, after the defeat of the Emperor, a new villain who is a master cloner restarts the clone wars with his army of clones. At the same time, Tarkin has survived and has built a new Imperial droid army, and the rebels are caught between the two sides fighting both. Of course Lucas rejected it, as he envision the stormtroopers being clones according to 1978 Lucasfilm literature, plus it fits with the already mentioned clones being bad guys. However, it seems he might have recycled parts of the Kenner proposal into the pt, by having the Jedi caught between the clones and battle droids, but in a more clever way.

 

I'm very sure that Anthony Daniels once said that he liked that Harrison Ford was going to be cooked for him, though I forget the source. It shouldn't be hard to find, though I'm sure it says something about their relationship.

 

3PO was exasperating to be around, especially in ESB. As the captain of the Millennium Falcon and as a rule-breaker, Han is quite different than 3PO. No one likes a backseat driver.

 

Han's reaction to C-3PO was spot on. Han isn't interested in statistics, people who worry or people who tell him not to do things. Han is a man who acts on instinct.

 

Anakin eventually came back for 3P0 in AOTC and took him along.

 

That reminds me: how come Lucasfilm has never put out those deleted scenes from AOTC of Anakin putting the casing on 3PO? There were a whole bunch of reshoots when that subplot was cut.