METZ@MIT-ML@sri-unix.UUCP (10/05/83)
Stormtrooper armor, that most ridiculous of wasted effort....
How about this explanation:
The armor worn by the stormtroopers in the three SW movies is
not simply useless. It is, rather, obsolete. If such armor were a
holdover from earlier decades, when lightsabres were more common,
and if said armor were *USEFUL* against lightsabres, Then, perhaps
the wearing of the armor is simplya beaurocratic screwup, coupled
with, perhaps, some important person's ideas about how to impress
the yokels (in addition to Vader and the stormtroopers, those guys
who were apparently guarding the Emporer were wearing a variation
on the stormtrooper theme, in red, to mark them as Imperial Guards).
As time passed, weapons became more powerful, until the armor
which used to be good against the predominant weapon of the day
(the lightsabre) became obsolete. This would not be the first time
that weapons technology ran ahead of defense technology.
For supporting evidence, observe that Luke apparently swats
several of Jabba's thugs in the big fight scene in the desert, and
lo! they are not divided into separate parts. Also, note that the
blow that takes of Vader's hand is the climax of a long series of
blows, each more powerful than the last, spurred on by Luke's anger
and fear when Vader threatens to go get Leia and seduce her to the
Dark Side of the Force.
Harold S. Metz