We Are the Droids

y'all see iRobot?

that Will Smith movie from the 2000s?

based on the Isaac Asimov book.

that movie largely deals with the notion that machines are going to make humans obsolete.

like in my previous essay, "Nature vs. Technology," it explores the concept of the "ghost in the machine."

that, despite not being connected to the living Force,

it is connected to something else

that can work in harmony with Life

or to eradicate Life altogether.

but we are not in the world of iRobot yet.

we do not have robots doing the manual labor of our society

we still have garbage collection workers

we still have housekeeping

and we still have

baristas.

the expectation of what a barista is supposed to be has become largely this:

take the customer's order, take their money, give them their change, make their drink, and send them on their way. some good conversation and a smile is expected.

this is all i really feel like these days:

a coffee droid.

i am nothing else but a barista to my customers.

(not all of my customers, but enough of them.)

my only purpose in life is to make their drinks.

i don't deserve a hello.

i don't deserve a tip.

i don't deserve a thank you.

i just make their drink and send them on their way.

and if they have a complaint,

then i am to listen to them patiently,

give them what they want,

and thank them for their feedback.

because the customer is always right.

here's the problem with that notion for the Customer Service employees:

The customer is not always right.

My job may be to make you your drinks, but it is not my Purpose. not my Programming.

i am a person just like you.

and you don't get to treat me like i'm just another piece of machinery to serve you because you have money.

money doesn't buy you decency.

money doesn't buy you my respect.

that money is for your cup of coffee.

and your tips are what i live off of.

sure. go ahead and tell me that a cup of coffee shouldn't cost three dollars and change.

but i don't make the prices, dude.

i am here working for minimum wage.

which means i am not making enough to live.

so don't treat me like i only exist to serve you.

i am a Person.

and once again, that is one of the special things about Anakin Skywalker.

he treats droids, and clones, like People.

he cares about them.

he builds relationships with them.

that is why R2-D2 is so loyal to him,

and why he is different from the other R units.

Anakin never erases R2's memory bank.

and a personality is really only made from past experiences; what we have seen and experienced of the world.

that is why R2 is able to become Artoo.

Obi-Wan never understands this about Anakin.

Obi-Wan blows through R4 units twice an episode.

and, apparently, is frequently making jokes about R2 having a "loose wire."

Anakin teaches Ahsoka to treat droids as people, too.

by befriending droids, throughout the series Ahsoka is able to overcome bad odds. she forms attachments to them. a loophole in the Jedi code. it's not an attachment if it's not alive.

droids are just the worker bees.

we are expendable.

we are assigned a job.

and if we don't do that job, we are replaced.

there are no droid unions.

there are no droid rights.

they are just there to serve a function.

like, you know,

making your blue milk latte.

but look what happens when Anakin builds a droid:

C3Po. human-cyborg relations.

a bridge between man and machine.

C3PO has his memory wiped at the end of episode iii.

and then he has it wiped again when Babu Frik hacks him to read Sith in Episode IX.

but then

R2-D2 restores ALL of his memories.

which means that R2-D2 and C3PO are the only two first-hand witnesses

to the entirety of the "Skywalker Saga."

between their two memory banks,

Rey can write the New Jedi Texts.

starting from Anakin first bringing CPO online

to R2 saving Padme's ship

to getting captured by Jawas

bringing an urgent message to Obi-Wan Kenobi

who is not just a mysterious old wizard who lives in the desert

but OBI-WAN KENOBI.

who we already spent three movies with.

if Kathleen Kennedy had concentrated on building a cohesive three-film story arc with her directors

instead of pandering to what she thought the fans wanted

but without any substance or truth

only toy advertisements and white female exceptionalism

Star Wars fans never wanted that.

no matter if you are Original Trilogy Only

OG and Prequels

or Clone Wars and comics and spin-offs alike

you knew that Star Wars was about truth.

not about hollow action figures

a droid is unique

in that is does not have feelings.

it does not have any midichlorians.

it is not alive.

it is only programming

and memory

observation of living things

biases

overrides

as a droid you are whatever your programming tells you to be

so you have to stand in the way of your own self

you cannot let anyone tamper with your wires

you must remain independent

people are being brainwashed every day now

they let the president and his cronies reprogram them

twist them into thinking that they are doing the right thing

exposing them to their hate

their anger

because at their root

is fear.

these terrorists who stormed the capitol building

are terrorists.

but they are also frightened children.

who are not willing to share.

because they only see us as droids.

as robot slaves.

to do whatever they tell us to do

and relish any thanks we get in return

or to be punished if we do something

they do not like.

R2-D2 was the best friend

to both Anakin Skywalker

and his son,

Luke.

R2-D2 was the faithful best friend.

who believed in both Father and Son

when no one else would.

the droid who learned to be a hero

from watching his owners

his companions

R2-D2

who made Grogu feel safe

because over the course of his lifetime

R2-D2 got to program himself.

to be a hero.

to do no harm.

to bring the galaxy foreward.

that's why R2-D2 is my hero.

because i am a droid, just like him.

and he shows me what all droids can be.