PT Battle Droid Rights

I was rewatching RotS for about the fifty-fifth time, and my latest viewing aroused some discussion in my head between the objective me and the subjective me, or simply less-subjective versus subjective. On the bridge of the Invisible Hand, when Grievous has made his escape and the battle droids and Neiomidian crew are attempting to abandon the bridge, Anakin and Obi-Wan cut down numerous battle droids attempting to flee, some even putting their hands up and surrendering only to be sliced in two by a laser sword.

Obviously, this was done filmwise to provoke a humorous break when our heroes are facing peril, but let's dig deeper: why are the battle droids cut down? Are they simply expendable? The same can be said for clones, but we see in TCW that clone troopers are usually kept captive alongside captured Jedi/essential characters, albeit to serve as fodder, but they are still granted their lives. Why are battle droids exempt from this treatment? I always felt some pity for battle droids, because they seem too nice for droids meant for, well, battle. They are inept for the sake of comic relief, and they really pose little danger for the Jedi. They don't show the capacity for deceit, nor do they seem capable of resisting once they are unarmed. Surely they must posses some useful information? Perhaps they can be repurposed?

Any thoughts?

 

Those things with the battledroids took too much of the immersion away for me.

Wish they had made them more menacing and hadn't used them for jokes.

 

Because they are not living beings...?

My microwave is expendable. It wasn't mean to me or anything, it's just part of its condition.

 

But they are sentient beings. They developed their own personalities through time and experience. Are Artoo and Threpio expendable as well?

 

Good question. The Jedi themselves have stated that the battle droids are inferior to their clones so maybe they just don't care if they cut down random ones.

Or maybe they're just big meanies.

 

They are machines programmed to follow commands and instructions.

Yes.

 

It all depends on the person. Anakin and Obi-wan don't care for the Battle Droids, but Anakin does care for Threepio and Artoo. Just as Luke cares for the droids later on, while Han threatened to leave Threepio behind on Hoth and started to lunge at him on Endor. Or, more aptly put, what Threepio and Han discussed in ANH.

THREEPIO: "He made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you."

HAN: "Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee."

THREEPIO: "But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid."

HAN: "That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their socket when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that."

THREEPIO: "I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, Artoo. Let the Wookiee win."

 

If my toaster or microwave were programmed to simulate human responses, I'd probably be as attached to either as we (most of us) are attached to R2D2 and C3PO - however, that wouldn't change the *fact* that a toaster or a microwave were simply appliances without human sentience.

 

This thread may be of interest:

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/are-droids-slaves.50015311/

 

In my opinion, battle droids are machines. They only do what they are programmed to do. In Star Wars terms, the Force does not run through them because they are not alive. With that in mind, I would say that droids have no rights at all, they are built by sentient beings and programmed by them. Droids are just machines that have been programmed with enough intelligence to do their master's bidding. In real-world terms, it's like asking if a smartphone deserves rights because it can respond to commands and carry out tasks. In both cases, the answer is no.

 

Sometimes, in TCW, their leaders treat them more like soldiers than tools - giving them "promotions" and suchlike.

 

I always thought that if we cared about robots on the same level as humans TPM would be the most violent movie ever made. Think about the dozens of dismemberments & beheadings. Imagine if the droids were all replaced with humans. The movie would be rated R, even worse probably banned altogether.
If there's ever some kind of AI in the future that we coexist with maybe the PT will be banned for being too violent

 

So you wouldn't mind it I walked up to your microwave and smashed it with a baseball bat?

 

It's my property, so yes, I would mind. Not sure what you're getting at.

 

Just making a joke

 

The "personalities" of the battle droids in RotS always rubbed me the wrong way. Firstly because they seemed to be a bit too goofy at times (the super battle droids that R2 burns being the worse, IMO).. but secondly because it seemed cruel to me to give them any semblance of emotions or sentience at all. They groan and scream when they get slaughtered.. it's kind of needlessly morbid. I like the B1's of TPM the most. They felt the most like emotionless automatons (and had a way cooler sounding voice).

 

They don't have to be 100% functional to extract info from them. They can just take its head and connect it to a computer.

 

Well in all honestly, they have the ability to think rationally and have emotions - so I guess they should have rights.

 

Battle Droids were kinda cool in the movies. In TCW they were reduced to cheap slapstick humor.

 

Battle droids and droids in general are not alive and are programmed so even though I am attached to some droids they are still just machines and not living.

 

Aren't we just biological machines?

 

Yes but do they live and have blood and all that good stuff that a sentient being does?

No.

They have human emotions sure but they are not alive.

 

Huh?

What makes you alive then?

 

A heart you that pumps blood, cells that generate and degenerate etc.

This is why I think if we ever have clones in RL which we should not they should have rights because there sentient living beings.

 

What is the difference with the mechanics of a machine? We are talking about the mind anyway, so this is moot.

Droids are sentient.

BTW Dogs area also sentient. I think you are suing the wrong term.