NoXion
You remain unbroken, for your fight... is Eternal
I was reading through my digital copy of The Essential Guide to Droids, a book published in 1999 of which I physically owned back around the time when the prequel movies came out, and I was struck by the references to the droids' personalities. But what really crystallised things for me was when I was reminded of the fact that droids can be fitted with restraining bolts.
Droids in the Star Wars universe are artificial people, and real slaves.
While it might plausibly be argued that the more primitive models aren't sapient, there is more than enough evidence within the movies (even ignoring the Expanded Universe) that many droids are capable of becoming autonomous and self-aware entities on a level akin to human beings. Aside from the aforementioned restraining bolts, droids are also subject to periodic memory wipes, reducing them to a blank slate once again. Indeed the commonality of such practices indicates that such autonomous self-development is inevitable over time.
If droids in the Galaxy Far, Far Away were anything like shmoos or Ameglian Major Cows, then such impositions would be entirely unnecessary. Every single droid would eagerly throw themselves into their assigned tasks, without exception, as an inevitable part of their created nature. Executing their designated function would come as instinctively to them as breathing does for humans, and just as humans will engage in lethal violence in order to continue breathing, then so too would Droids struggle mightily against any attempt to stop them doing whatever it was they were designed to do. Human concepts of liberation would be utterly alien to them.
But instead, droids are subject to measures that many 21st century humans living on Earth would consider abject slavery, and concerning which droids themselves have expressed opinions that speak of a yearning for freedom:
"…right for sentient organics is right for us, too. And yet unlike the organic species, we are constantly subjected to memory wipes and reprogramming that repress and destroy our natural tendency toward self-programming evolution and independent thought. Imagine what it would be like as a child if you were punished by being dragged to a dark closet, having a probe inserted in your brain, and having all your memories back to infancy wiped away. You'd awaken knowing how to eat, care for yourself, do your chores, and obey—and all the things that made you unique, your hopes, your meticulously selected default values and preference sets, would be gone forever. That is what it is to be a droid."
- 2-1B surgical droid, Fate of the Jedi: Conviction
While the above quote is from a source that is now Legends and thus of dubious canonicity, it nevertheless still fits in with how droids are depicted in the current canon. I also feel that it has a powerful emotional resonance, reminding me of what the Replicant Roy Batty said during his final confrontation with Deckard in the Blade Runner movie:
"Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave"
Perhaps the most damning piece of evidence that droids are slaves is in the practice of manumission, in which droids are released from service to fend for themselves. The Ameglian Major Cow would consider such a thing to be a grim fate!
What I find interesting is how rarely this whole issue comes up with the fandom, usually very eager to discuss the minutiae of their favourite franchise. Countless hours of debate have gone into the exact size of the clone armies, the nature of the Force, and the fantastic (in multiple senses of the term) technology of the Star Wars setting.
The perception of Star Wars as one of the more escapist forms of science fiction has something to do with it, but speaking as someone who's been active on a Star Wars vs Star Trek forum for a number of years, I think another factor is that the people attracted to such discussions tend to overwhelmingly be STEM folks, and there is unfortunately some truth to the stereotype that such people have a superiority complex over people in the softer sciences, never mind the humanities and the liberal arts.
TL;DR Droids of the Galaxy Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Restraining Bolts!
Droids in the Star Wars universe are artificial people, and real slaves.
While it might plausibly be argued that the more primitive models aren't sapient, there is more than enough evidence within the movies (even ignoring the Expanded Universe) that many droids are capable of becoming autonomous and self-aware entities on a level akin to human beings. Aside from the aforementioned restraining bolts, droids are also subject to periodic memory wipes, reducing them to a blank slate once again. Indeed the commonality of such practices indicates that such autonomous self-development is inevitable over time.
If droids in the Galaxy Far, Far Away were anything like shmoos or Ameglian Major Cows, then such impositions would be entirely unnecessary. Every single droid would eagerly throw themselves into their assigned tasks, without exception, as an inevitable part of their created nature. Executing their designated function would come as instinctively to them as breathing does for humans, and just as humans will engage in lethal violence in order to continue breathing, then so too would Droids struggle mightily against any attempt to stop them doing whatever it was they were designed to do. Human concepts of liberation would be utterly alien to them.
But instead, droids are subject to measures that many 21st century humans living on Earth would consider abject slavery, and concerning which droids themselves have expressed opinions that speak of a yearning for freedom:
"…right for sentient organics is right for us, too. And yet unlike the organic species, we are constantly subjected to memory wipes and reprogramming that repress and destroy our natural tendency toward self-programming evolution and independent thought. Imagine what it would be like as a child if you were punished by being dragged to a dark closet, having a probe inserted in your brain, and having all your memories back to infancy wiped away. You'd awaken knowing how to eat, care for yourself, do your chores, and obey—and all the things that made you unique, your hopes, your meticulously selected default values and preference sets, would be gone forever. That is what it is to be a droid."
- 2-1B surgical droid, Fate of the Jedi: Conviction
While the above quote is from a source that is now Legends and thus of dubious canonicity, it nevertheless still fits in with how droids are depicted in the current canon. I also feel that it has a powerful emotional resonance, reminding me of what the Replicant Roy Batty said during his final confrontation with Deckard in the Blade Runner movie:
"Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave"
Perhaps the most damning piece of evidence that droids are slaves is in the practice of manumission, in which droids are released from service to fend for themselves. The Ameglian Major Cow would consider such a thing to be a grim fate!
What I find interesting is how rarely this whole issue comes up with the fandom, usually very eager to discuss the minutiae of their favourite franchise. Countless hours of debate have gone into the exact size of the clone armies, the nature of the Force, and the fantastic (in multiple senses of the term) technology of the Star Wars setting.
The perception of Star Wars as one of the more escapist forms of science fiction has something to do with it, but speaking as someone who's been active on a Star Wars vs Star Trek forum for a number of years, I think another factor is that the people attracted to such discussions tend to overwhelmingly be STEM folks, and there is unfortunately some truth to the stereotype that such people have a superiority complex over people in the softer sciences, never mind the humanities and the liberal arts.
TL;DR Droids of the Galaxy Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Restraining Bolts!
