C3PO - Was his contribution really that useful?

Ok, this could be potentially quite controversial but I was just wondering recently how important C3-PO's role is in the whole saga. Don't get me wrong, I like the character, but still think this applies.

Would the story have panned out in a similar manner had 3PO not been involved. I was thinking that most, if not all of the time droids are involved, its R2 thats the hero - whether it be saving a spaceship in the heat of battle, rescuing Amidala with his rocket boosters, connecting to some computer terminal to unlock a door, getting a message to Obi Wan etc etc etc. Ok 3PO has his uses - translating R2's gobbledegook etc, but when has he really saved the day or made some important contribution to the cause?

I can think of a couple of examples: telling R2 to shut the wall down in ANH (although he left the comm link off in the first place), talking to the Falcon for Han, communicating with the ewoks (although it was Leia and Luke that freed them in the end)... hmmm I'm struggling.

What do you think? Am I being blasphemous or is C3PO really not that critical to the success of the Republic/Rebellion?

 

I think acting like a god in ROTJ more than makes up for any of C3-PO's failings in the previous films. If he hadn't been there, it looks like the heroes would have been lunch and that wouldn't be a very rewarding conclusion to a six film saga.

 

Well yes that is true. However, that was more a result of him merely being present. Luke brought about that result - 3PO may as well have been an inanimate object. Without Luke's help he couldn't have saved them. I take your point - I suppose 3PO was needed to communiacte with them, but I still don't believe he was very influential or effective over the 5 films so far.

 

And to be perfectly blunt, Luke remained calm knowing that 3PO would get them out of the sticky patch in the end - if 3PO had not have effected their release I'm sure Luke would have had some Jedi other trick up his sleeve (at the risk of alienating the ewoks but effective nonetheless).

 

Threepio also points out R2 for Luke to buy, imagine if Luke would have picked another droid...

 

Well, yes...but what makes you think every character in a saga has to be integral to the plot just to be in the movie? R2 and Threepio are secondary characters, which means their interaction with the plot and their influence on the events that unfold will be restricted to the scope of what the main characters create for them. More importantly, they're mostly there for comic relief reasons, so their dramatic impact is even further limited.

Yes, SW could have gone on without Threepio. But would the universe have been the same without the beloved durable diecast duo?

 

I'm sure you're right, Luke could have kept them from being lunch even by alienating the Ewoks-- but remember how necesssary that Ewok cooperation turned out to be in shutting down the shield! Sure, it wasn't Threepio's intention, and yes, he probab;y could have just as well been a stone that the Ewoks venerated. But he's certainly not worthless...

 

To answer the intitial question, no. C-3PO had good intentions yes, but no one really cared. Even if he did, it more than likely wouldn't have changed anything.

 

Ok 3PO has his uses - translating R2's gobbledegook

That's about it and an important one

 

From a story point of view he is not important at all.
He is in there for comic relief. That is really about it with the exception that he turned the tide of the battle of Endor. It would really not make much of a difference whether they won Endor or not. Anyway he has a very minor importance in the saga, he is in there for the audience.

-Seldon

 

If you apply the traditional formula of the 'hero's journey' to the characters in ANH, it shows that C-3PO's contribution to the story was useful.

In the context of the hero's journey, with Luke being the hero here, the hero needs a herald(s) to arrive and present to him his call to adventure. The droids are Luke's heralds.

From Mary Henderson's book Star Wars The Magic of Myth, page 26:
"The Jawas take the droids to the Lars homestead, unintentionally becoming the hand of fate that brings the princess's message-and the call to adventure-to young Luke.
Traditionally a herald was the messenger of a royal personage...See-Threepio, too, acts as an unwitting herald; his first conversation with Luke is fraught with prophecy."

C-3PO, along with R2, are both 'messengers' of a royal personage (Princess Leia). Although R2 was the one with Leia's actual message, the way the story is written it is C-3PO who ensures the Lars buy R2.

Could Lucas have gotten by with only R2 as Luke's herald, sure, but the pairing of the two droids together provides comic relief throughout all of the films. Not to mention the several instances when 3PO's translation abilites come in handy...with Jabba, with the Falcon's computer, with the Ewoks....I'm a hopeless 3PO fan, so I could be biased.

 

No.

In the overall grand sceme of what happens within the story, C3PO's contribution was not important.

However, as a story telling device, C3PO's involvement is absolutely essential. Comic relief and perspective shift, are advanced film making concepts that were really pushed into the fore-front by the original trilogy.

If you want to get malicous about it, you could point to a number of the characters within the original trilogy and question their importance. It all really boils down to Anakin/Vader willing himself to toss the Emperor down that shaft. Could that have been done WITHOUT Luke's involvement? Where does Han Solo fit in? Is Leia even in the conversation? It doesn't even matter that the two death stars were destroyed, IF Anakin/Vader doesn't toss the Emperor down that shaft, everything up to that moment would be pointless.

 

One of the things I liked about Return of the Jedi was the irony that now, in the conclusion of the saga, C-3PO finally had an important role to play. After all, if it wasn't for the Ewoks help, the Rebel strike force would've been captured and the Rebel fleet could've never blown up the Death Star. So yeah, I find it amusing that for 36 years C-3PO has just been sort of tagging along and being witness to important events just by chance, and now, finally, he's in a situation where he can turn the tide of a battle for the fate of the entire galaxy.

 

2 words: Garbage Masher.

C3PO saved them... or he told R2 or somethin like dat dont remember

 

He's also a symbol of the wonders of technology in direct conflict of technological abhorrations - like Vaders suit. Thats getting a little deep though, but Im thoroughly convinced its the reason why Lucas has Anakin as 3PO's creator. Its sad and ironic and is supposed to say something about technology.

 

I can't believe I'm reading this.

C3P0 is hardly my fave character but come on, of course his contribution was useful.

This is C3P0 HUMAN, CYBORG RELATIONS.

This mismatched droid put together by a 9 year old boy bridged the ultimate gap between cultures both mechanical and organic.

Wether the most advanced culture, criminal fringe or hearty primitive, this DROID, a souless creation that embodied the insecurities of the most powerful Jedi turned Sith all-too-often saved the day if not by action, but inaction, clever words, or just a good old fashioned used speeder dealer persona.

Don't let the butler persona fool you. 3P0 was smarter then he looked.

He's also a great game master judging by the Ewok's reaction to him...

 

He's also a symbol of the wonders of technology in direct conflict of technological abhorrations - like Vaders suit. Thats getting a little deep though, but Im thoroughly convinced its the reason why Lucas has Anakin as 3PO's creator. Its sad and ironic and is supposed to say something about technology.

That's true - in a strange way, we've ocassionally seen Threepio parallel what happens to Anakin. In TPM, we find that Threepio is built by Anakin, in a very embryonic and innocent state - just as Anakin is in TPM. We get to AotC, and on Geonosis, Threepio's head is switched with a battle droid - he has Threepio's head and a battle droid body, shouting things like "Die, Jedi dogs! Oh, what did I say?". This foreshadows what will happen to Anakin, when he will eventually need an almost completely mechanical body, lose his true identity, and will eventually be conflicted about what he's doing - firstly killing Jedi, but then after ESB having doubts about that after meeting Luke. There's another one in ESB, when Threepio's body is blown apart, and he's eventually pieced back together - just as Anakin is doing with his morality. It's interesting that he's always put back together by Artoo, our little hero. These are things that are used for comic relief, but also to parallel what happens to Anakin, so he doesn't have a big role in the plot as such, but he's a clever storytelling device.

 

Good observations, DarthyMarkyMark. I would have to agree with many of the other posts which suggest that C-3PO is essentially a comedic foil. I like him very much as a character, and he is wonderfully well played by Anthony Daniels (who hasn't really recieved the sort of recognition he deserves), but as is the case with many other characters in the "Star Wars" saga, he isn't that interesting or useful. This is obviously not new information, but Lucas famously lifted the archetypes of both Threepio and R2-D2 from characters in Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress". I think that Lucas is basically using the droids as the two 'constants' throughout the six films; he is always stating that the saga is really 'their story'.

NOTESomewhat unrelated) If anyone has the Criterion Collection DVD of "The Hidden Fortress", there is a recent video interview with Lucas, as he discusses Kurosawa, "Fortress", and its influence on "Star Wars".

 

Really, the film where Threepio is the most superfluous and reduced to entirely being a comic sidekick, is ESB. He does help fix the Falcon, but the poor guy is kind of lost without his other half, Artoo.

I think it's true that Threepio plays his biggest role in ROTJ. Sure, Luke did the mojo that made the Ewoks think Threepio was their god, but Threepio spun the tale that got the Ewoks to join the cause.

That's an excellent point about Threepio being influential in that he convinced Luke and Owen to buy Artoo. I'd never thought about that before.

The major thing about Threepio, to me, is that he represents the average man in crazy circumstances. His reactions to a lot of what goes on in the movies mirrors our reactions if we were in those situations.