Why didn't Obi Wan or Owen recognize C3PO and R2D2?

Obi Wan gives off a surprised look, kinda like you give someone you havent seen in a long time, at R2D2. From that i can believe he knew who that was. And besides where is it said droids couldnt have the same name? TPM showed a droid that looks just like 3P0 so the look of the droids isnt anyway to identify them. Theres probably millions of droids that look like 3PO and R2.

 

Obi Wan's been waiting "until the time is right" for almost 20 years. When he comes to Luke's aid after the Tusken attack he knows the the time has come, but I think that look of surprise you mention with R2 illustrates that he knows the next step, or maybe he had a vision of R2 having importance in his involvement with Luke's future.

 

Some people just can't bring themselves to buy this can they?

 

Who says that they didn't remember the droids? Twenty years passed by and there's tons of protocal droids in the galaxy and all of them look like C-3PO. Plus, Senator Organa had Captain Antillies give See Threepio a mind wipe so. C-3PO didn't remember Obi-Wan or Owen either.

 

Well right, C-3PO doesn't remember anyone or anything because of that mind wipe. And as I said before, I think it's reasonable to say that Owen didn't remember either droid...

But I still definitely think that Obi-Wan remembered both droids. He has a look of recognition when he sees them, but as I and others have said he keeps it to himself so as to not reveal too much too soon to Luke. R2-D2 also remembers Obi-Wan but likewise says nothing to either Luke or C-3PO.

 

When i was little, before the prequels but around when the special editions came out (19 now), i thought Obi-wan did know R2-d2, i always found his lines about not recognizing them suspicious and obvious he was hiding something. And then after learning he knew Vader was luke's father, i was sure he had known R2. This has never been an issue for me. Looking back, Owen not recognizing C-3PO is an issue, but as many have pointed out, all Protocol droids look almost the same.

 

Right, so not really an issue after all. As I said, even if Owen knew that his step-mom's droid's name was C-3PO (who, as mentioned, was silver/gray color at that time), we don't actually see Owen ever hear in ANH that C-3PO is the name of the gold protocol droid he just purchased. Only Luke is around when C-3PO introduces himself and R2-D2 by name.

 

Here's the thing. There are thousands of protocol droids in the galaxy, right? Probably hundreds of the 3PO model alone. But only 26 letters in the alphabet. Unless there are only 26 3PO protocol droids in the entire galaxy, this nomenclature system is going to be problematic. Fan rationalization is needed!

My personal theory is that Threepio's "full" name, C-3PO, is probably the protocol droid equivalent of "John," or some equally common human first name. In which case, the designation "C-3PO" is actually human shorthand for some obscenely long robot serial number.

This would explain why Owen doesn't recognize C-3PO; there's likely more than one droid by that name, and Owen would hardly be expected to assume that this was the exact same droid he'd known years ago.

The same issues with droid nomenclature also hold for R2-D2, and I'd apply the same fan-rationalization there.

 

^ That's possible too, but I still think it's a moot point because Owen simply doesn't care what their names are... and we never see him hear their names in ANH.

 

It only adds to the fact that most people in SW don't give droids a second thought. They all look the same and they don't have souls.

 

I hope I'm not the only one who whenever the OT is on SpikeTV and 3PO says: "Thank Darth Vader"...er, I mean "thank the maker."

 

Because Lucas didn't write it that way in 1977.

 

probably because at that point he didnt give two-hoots about 3P0 or R2,he had much more important things to do then get all giddy over two droids.

 

Absolutely! A New Hope always raises "ahhs" and "oohs" when my wife and I watch it. No doubt about it, the prequels have enriched the original films. Check out Obi-wan's face when he prepares to answer the question "How did my father die?" - a piece of acting that borders on the serendipitous.

 

No, because Lucas wrote all of this in 1977 context, and then pretty much changed many storylines in each movie which throws Star Wars way out of context.

The reason Obiwan original had a hard time telling Luke what happened to his dad, because it was his former pupil, who was NOT the same guy as his dad. So in many ways he felt responsible for Darth Vader going to darkside and killing Lukes father. Just the same reason Owen doesn't recognize C-3PO because in 1977 he never owned him!

Come on man, you're not one of those people who thinks that Lucas had this all planned out in 1976???

 

The point is not that Lucas had it all planned out in '76/'77, but that the movies were very skillfully made to fit together anyway. Just because his ideas and even intentions may have changed or evolved over time does not negate that. So it is indeed very accurate to say that "the prequels have enriched the original films".

 

Why so aggressive?

Look up serendipity in a dictionary and then get back to me. You clearly don't get my point.

 

Oh yeah this really enriched Return of the Jedi:

Luke: Leia do you remember your mom, your real mom?

Leia: ............ SHE DIED WHILE I WAS VERY YOUNG.


ROTS: Padme dies at childbirth

 

Glass half full or half empty?

 

Half empty, apparently. It's easy to try to pick apart someone else's larger viewpoint with one-off examples. Anyway, if the point has to be addressed: is a newborn not technically "very young"?

 

I think Leia was destined to have Memories about her mom just like luke sort of felt the force knowing his father of images and feelings even thou vader was not present at the birth of the twins. He never talks about his mother threw out the movies. Leia had some memories about her mother just images and feeling but she did not know her personally. Just Like luke not knowing about his father until the Empire Strikes back. Yoda on the other had was present at the time luke was born making luke feel theres something familiar about this place.

My thearoy is luke knew alittle about his father threw the force and leia just had alittle memorys about her mother. padme did die when Leia was very young.

 

Let's look at Bail Organa: [image=http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080823033855/starwars/images/5/50/Bail_Organa_Mug.jpg]
Let's look at Princess Leia: [image=http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080506155345/starwars/images/8/89/Leia_endorpromo02.jpg]

Related? Probably not...I think it's not impossible that when Leia was a little girl, her parents sat her down and told her that she was, in fact, adopted. It's also not impossible that Bail might have had a photo of his old friend and colleague Padme Amidala...

Back to the topic, I think that Obi-Wan and R2 were lying to Luke and 3P0--excuse me, remembering history from a certain point of view. It's absolutely true that Obi-Wan never owned R2, but nobody ever asked him if he *recognized* R2. In-universe, Obi-Wan and Yoda lied to Luke plenty of times, either by giving half-truths or failing to make conversation. Whether Lucas had actually thought of these plot points from the beginning is, IMO, irrelevant. What we've got is a completed work now, and we should look for ways that the apparent contradictions might make sense. Just because something is or is not shown on screen doesn't necessarily mean it's true--the characters could be lying, or leaving things out.

 

Interesting you should mention how Bail's physical appearance doesn't match Leia's.

Adrian Dunbar, an Irish actor, was cast to play Bail in TPM, as a background character. However, he wasn't called back for AOTC, and the part was recast with Jimmy Smits.

[image=http://home.comcast.net/~ervind/Senantiles.jpg]

This is what Dunbar looked like in-character. Not very far off from Leia, really, so it's less obvious she was adopted.

Back to the topic... I, too, like the ambiguity in the whole "does Obi-Wan know R2 or not" question. It can be good filmmaking technique to leave some things unstated, and let the viewer work it out (and draw whatever conclusions they wish) for themselves.

 

If somebody re-sold me my first computer or a vacuum cleaner I had 20 years earlier I wouldn't remember it.

 

Yeah, but the two of them hanging together should be a major clue, as other droids don't seem to be "friends". So these two particular droids, coming to Tatooine of all places, looking for Obi-Wan Kenobi, it should be obvious.

Now, granted, R2 stays with Padme and 3PO is on Tatooine after TPM. But for the 3 years or so of the Clone Wars between AOTC and ROTS, the two droids are definitely part of their lives, especially as R2 is given to Anakin and is always at his side (and presumably modifying him, to fly, etc.). That's actually more disturbing than not recognizing 3PO -- Anakin went to war with R2 and certainly talked to him like another sentient being.