Moment of Silence: Kenny Baker

[ysabetwordsmith]

Kenny Baker, the performer who played R2-D2 in Star Wars, has passed away. 

Since Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) has already given the best possible eulogy, I will simply echo his here: "He WAS the droid I was looking for!"

I grew up watching those movies, but I always had a different perspective than most people, and one of the things I loved about them was seeing droids -- artificial intelligences -- portrayed as people,  even though they were often the butt of the joke.  R2-D2 helped save the galaxy, and I think part of that was made possible because he looked like a garbage can and talked like a machine, so people overlooked him as a possible spy.  We are the thorn in the foot, little buddy.

Comments

[thnidu]

Amen.

[siberian_skys]

I hadn't heard. Such sad news.

[redsixwing]

*salute*

[johnpalmer]

There was a fan theory I'd heard that R2 was a secret Jedi master and that the rises and falls in the series can be linked to his ability to participate or not.

I loved the theory, though I never tried to rewatch the movies to find out if it worked. It explained some things, though: "Why do you think he kept hooking into power supplies instead of data ports? He manipulated so much energy they looked the same to him!" and such.

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I guess I never noticed that other people didn't know that he's a Jedi. I thought it was obvious.

Have you read the argument about Jar-Jar Binks as a Drunken Master? It is surprisingly apt.

Re: Well...

[johnpalmer]

I actually independently formulated that theory, so I never searched it out. I actually imagined it being used as a threat - "Let me train Anakin or I'll have another master train him - like Jar-Jar!"

[rhodielady-47.livejournal.com]

Sounds like he had a happy life: A good career, a wife and two kids, and millions of devoted fans.
:^}

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

R2D2 was pretty much the secret head of the Resistance, or at the every least, it's spy-master.

Personally, I like Bakers work in Time Bandits more. He was a pretty darn good actor outside of the tin-can suit.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

That was the conclusion I reached too.