No matter what is going on in her life–her planet being destroyed, leading a rebel army, captured by teddy bears–Princess Leia always has her hair done. Which begs the question–HOW?!
My friend Glenn, of FilmWonk, after reading the my Deconstructing Princess Leia and its sequel Part 2: Here Comes The General, commented that the movies have shown us droids doing routine tasks.
Glenn’s theory is that given the Empire’s use of droids, there is probably a droid for Princess Leia’s elaborate hair-dos. It sounds completely plausible to me. Not only that, but my guess is that that hair droid is someone we are very well acquainted with…
Before you object, I’d like to review the facts as I see them.
Leia spend a lot of time in remote locations with very little access to tech.
Is it possible she has the equivalent of a sentient hair dryer? Sure, but we usually see her traveling without any luggage–making a run to the Falcon is usual, and it’s hard to imagine the Falcon, a remote rebel base on Hoth or Endor stocking such equipment.
We have evidence that Leia is not doing her own hair:
Stuck with the Ewoks, this is the only time we’ve seen Leia with her hair down. Perhaps evidence that she was making due without assistance? A scene later, once the rest of the rebels have joined her, Leia’s hair is up again. Perhaps someone–or some droid–helped her with it?
So assuming that Leia is not doing her own hair, either these locations have a auto hair droid in them, or the hair droid is in fact either C3P0 or R2D2.
Let’s talk about the odds of each of these options:
C3P0
Strengths: C3P0 is a protocol droid. That protocol could include hair. It seems like it could line up with his programming.
Weaknesses: C3P0 doesn’t have great mobility–actually, he can’t even straighten his arms. It’s hard to imagine that he can do something as complicated as hair.
Evidence to the contrary: C3P0 spends quite a bit of his time in Cloud City in pieces, right around the time Princess Leia is getting her Cloud City ‘do done. That makes it nearly impossible that C3P0 is the droid we’re looking for. While it’s possible that Leia just used an alternate hair droid at Cloud City, the overall odds of C3P0 being a hair droid are slim.
Overall odds: 3,720 to 1.
R2D2
Strengths: R2D2 has been shown to get quite a bit done with his tiny extendable arms. Hair doesn’t seem out of his mobility range. And he was the droid Leia entrusted the rebel plans to. Maybe R2D2 knows all of her hair secrets as well?
Weaknesses: R2D2 is an astrotech droid. He’s designed as a mechanic and backup computer for small spacecraft. So it’s not in his traditional line of work.
Overall odds: Just like shooting Beggar’s Canyon back home–in other words, difficult, but not impossible if the Force is with you.
That’s all for today. May The Force Be With You!