EPISODE 106: THE DEATH OF R2-D2 (AKA ROBOTS, PART DEUX)
POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW
Kenny Baker (aka R2-D2) (aka my childhood) (aka don’t judge me) died last week, aged 81. I don’t know how much you knew about him; honestly, other than a) he was English; b) he and Anthony Daniels didn’t get along (Daniels supposedly didn’t consider what Baker did “acting”; I must say, while I love C-3P0, there is no world in which Anthony Daniels is not at least a little bit impossible – he’s basically robot Tony Randall*); and c) he was also in Time Bandits.***
*If you don’t know who Tony Randall is, just stop. We get it. You’re younger than the rest of us. The world is your special something. No one cares. **
** No, really. No one.
*** See prior notes, then delete your account. Alls of them. PS Your parents only had you so that they could mess with you.
I realized I had never even thought to wonder, what exactly did Baker do as R2-D2? Like for instance, what does that job interview look like?
It turns out, he told us: “Lucas came into London looking for someone to fit inside the robot. In fact, they’d already made the robot, but they couldn’t find anybody to move it, because it was heavy....I was the right size. That was all it was. And I just jumped into the robot.”
That’s not to say Baker found the offer attractive. “I didn’t enjoy it at all, I didn’t like it all. I didn’t think it was gonna be very successful. So I turned it down about three times … I thought, ‘Well, I’d rather not be stuck in a robot, to be honest.’ But they talked me into it and, as we all know now, it was a big success.”
Being R2 never really became “fun”, either. Not only was he trapped in a heavy, hot steel can for hours at a time (imagine all that time in Tunisia...), he never really got the opportunity to connect with the other actors. It sounds like he barely knew most of them. In one fan interview, he talks about how even he and Daniels had zero onscreen connection, not because of animosity, but because neither one of them could hear or see.
Truly, how tiny are the chances that those kind of circumstances could still generate the Laurel and Hardy chemistry of those two characters?
In these interviews, Baker also laid out the job: basically, any time R2 was motionless*, Baker was inside, providing reactions to the things going on around R2 – aka turning the helm left or right, rocking, hopping up and down, making the lights and appendages work.
* Quick tell: if the R2 unit had its third leg extended, Baker was not in it.
BAKER
NO BAKER
BAKER
NO BAKER
BAKER
NO BAKER
DOUBLE REVERSE NO BAKER
He didn’t drive the thing. Nor, as far as I can tell, did he get to trigger the beeps and the boops.
Even so, George Lucas – who he has enormous praise for, way beyond most of the cast – said, and I absolutely agree, when Baker was inside, Artoo came to life.
Baker talks about Lucas telling him to project emotions like happiness or sadness. How is that even possible? And yet, time and again, like some crazy combination of mime and puppeteer, that’s exactly what Baker did.
Sigh. Why do all the peoples have to die?
There are other great stories about Baker. His own background was in cabaret and vaudeville; he and Jack Purvis had a comedy team called the “Mini Tones” that was very popular. (A taste from 1987.)
He actually only agreed to do Star Wars assuming he could get paid as much as he did in his show. Which, given that that was about $7800/week in today’s money (aka a pittance) (aka the cost of Harrison Ford’s first earring) (aka what Apple pays its Chinese factory employees for five years work), he later regretted.
Another part of Baker’s agreement was that Purvis would also get roles. Which he did, including -- I love this -- the Jawa that shoots Artoo.
*Speaking of Jawas: Can anyone tell me what their deal was? What were they under all the robes? Given their glowing eyes, could it be that they are robots themselves who have turned on their own? And if not, were there ever Jawa Jedi?
I might be the only one (aka the right one) (aka listen to me, JJ Abrams) (aka I am currently available to render writing and producing services), but once we’ve gotten through some of the obvious Star Wars spinoffs – Rogue One (of course), Young Han Solo (When Greedo met Hanny), something Bounty Hunter-y –
(Wish I could take credit for this...)
-- when all of that is said and done, I think it’s pretty clear, we need a Jawa movie. Like for instance:
RESERVOIR JAWA
REVENGE OF THE JAWA
DO THE RIGHT THING, JAWA
Okay I’m done.
No, really. That’s it.
DARTHY DANCING
(Except I’m serious. As long as it went dark or weird (aka noir) (aka not Ewok) (aka if they use “Jawa” as a verb or adjective I’m out) I would eagerly watch a Jawa film.
A JAWA NATIVITY
One last thought about all of whatever crazy hot mess this newsletter has become:
Generally, if you’re trying to figure out how who the main character of a movie is – and pretty much every movie has one—there are three good things to check. 1) Who’s mentioned in the title – “Harry Potter and the _____”; “Vera Drake”; “Bambi”; 2) Who’s the first character to appear onscreen and/or the focus of the opening scene—“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” opens with his mother calling his name while he lies in bed; “Sicario” (which no one saw and everyone should, it’s fantastic) opens with Emily Blunt’s FBI agent preparing to burst into a drug den; and 3) Who’s the character on the journey.
You’d think the hero of "Star Wars" is Luke Skywalker. And in a lot of ways that’s hard to argue with. But the first characters we see are R2D2 followed by C3P0, hurrying to battle stations as their ship takes fire. And for the entire first twenty minutes of the film – an eternity in screentime – the story is all Artoo’s. He’s the one with the quest, he’s the one that takes all the resks. Even once Luke shows up, he is just a means for Artoo to get to Ben.
Also, Artoo and Threepio are the only characters whose stories travel the whole series. Threepio is just being built in “Phantom Menace”, and it’s in the subsequent escape from Naboo that Artoo first emerges as more than just another droid (aka laser cannon fodder) (aka did you ever notice that even though they’re completely intelligent and capable of autonomy no one really seems to care too much if droids get destroyed?) (aka FREE THE DROIDS NOW). The whole idea of calling the series “Star Wars” really emerges from the droids' point of view – they (and us) are the only ones who see the bigger picture.*
*It’s pretty fashionable to hate on the Old Testament (don’t get me started) (aka the God of the OT is not as horrible as you’ve been told) (aka there was no actual flood, people) (aka “Jealous God” means “God who loves us so much it shreds him when we betray him”) (aka Okay, yes, he does not always respond in the most productive of ways, but the point is he chooses to be vulnerable enough to be hurt by us, which is actually a pretty wild concept) (aka again, God did not trigger a worldwide flood) (aka no, not the dinosaur meteor either).
But Star Wars is actually a modern version of Genesis – generations of a mythological family whose stories, temptations and choices vis-a-vis one another and their God dovetail and veer off in interesting and meaningful variations.
Having said that, it never goes well when people try to make one-to-one correlations
between pop culture and Jesus.
And if all of that doesn’t convince you that Artoo is central to the series...think of how many times he ends up protecting and or saving everyone. “Star Wars”: he risks everything to get Leia’s message to Ben, without which Luke doesn’t end up with the Rebellion blowing up the Death Star. He’s also the one that ultimately saves the gang from the trash compactor and keeps Luke’s X-Wing flying in the trench – and almost dies in the process.
In “Empire” he’s the one that finally gets the hyperdrive back online that lets Leia and Luke escape (and does the same for their parents in “Phantom Menace”). He provides the light saber that Luke uses to free Han in “Return of the Jedi” (I know, not such a big deal – actually, the weakest Star Wars movies are always the ones where Artoo/Artoo-replacement BB-8 aren’t given satisfying opportunities to save everyone. True fact. Check it out.)
The classic Artoo scene -- early in “Revenge of the Sith”, he has to face two huge battle droids all by himself. He’s got no business winning, and he’s got Obi-Wan on the other end of a radio demanding his immediate help. But through some very clever oil and fire action, he finishes his opponents in an instant, and goes back to work. He’s all by himself. No one beyond us ever knows about it.
That’s Artoo in a nutshell – the brave little hero who puts his life at risk a hundred times to help without anyone even knowing it. “Star Wars” is in many ways the opposite of the kind of scifi we were talking about last week, a fundamentally hopeful world in which the small and ordinary together are able to discover enormous reservoirs of courage and possibility within themselves and overcome impossible obstacles.*
And hidden in the midst of it all, part wide-eyed child, part wise man, R2-D2, the series’ secret heart.
And Kenny Baker, his funny and oceans-deep soul. May he rest in peace.
*Put another way, everything and everyone that “Game of Thrones” raises up to later murder, “Star Wars” believes in. Ned Stark would be head-Jedi if he were not in Westeros. And Cersei would be a bar wench.
++ LINKS ++
Thanks again to Chris Kent for his great and funny insights into thinking about the future last week. As I mentioned, Chris does this kind of stuff for a living. Here’s the link to his company. And here’s the link to his Twitter feed, which I highly recommend both for its ah-has and ha-ha’s.
Sticking with our topic, in case you ever wondered what it would look like if Artoo danced like Michael Jackson...
And if you haven’t had enough of Star Wars meets 80s theme songs...
And if you have...(Trust me, give it a minute. You will not be disappoined.)
Also, Lucasfilm released its second trailer for Rogue One. This “Kylo Ren Reacts” immediately followed (and is hilarious).
Finally, a Star Wars meme that Tim Kaine would love. And a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” that is entirely not scifi and yet feels more suited for Mos Eisley Cantina.
The summer isn’t over yet. And as a spiritual director once said to me, “God is just crazy enough that he might give you the biggest gift on the very last day.” So, you know, keep your eyes open.