So much of The Mandalorian rests on the power of that helmet. I call this, and what every Stormtrooper wears, a helmet-mask because it's a hybrid -- it has a dual purpose to protect and conceal (and to protect through concealment), and it's both separable from the character and essential to their identity. I love how Boba Fett is revealed, after such extreme fan anticipation, in the first episode of The Mandalorian's second season a few weeks ago. In the door of the saloon, we see a man standing in that iconic armor, last seen (live-action wise) getting swallowed into the lethal pit of Sarlaac in 1983. But it's so clearly NOT Boba Fett. How do we know, since his face is covered? We know because he's too skinny. There is something just too lanky in the outline, the armor doesn't fit. So the reveal is actually just a tease... the kind only material characters can make: that's Boba Fett's helmet-mask and armor for sure, but some other snail has crawled into his shell. It's a wonderful plot device because it makes us ask so many more compelling questions... did Boba Fett survive? Did the Sarlaac barf up his metal parts? Later in the episode, we get some answers in flashbacks, for the stuff of Star Wars has a life of its own, and often crosses paths with scavengers the Jawas. Another answer, but with yet more teasing: at the very very end of the episode, Boba Fett the flesh actually does appear. How do we know it's him? As he turns to the camera, we recognize the actor, appropriately aged, as the the clone original from the prequels. So here is a character in two parts, how did he become separated from the helmet-mask that defined him? I'm betting there will be a significant reunion between the man and his helmet-mask in an episode to come.
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This seems super right to me: "I call this, and what every Stormtrooper wears, a helmet-mask because it's a hybrid -- it has a dual purpose to protect and conceal (and to protect through concealment), and it's both separable from the character and essential to their identity." I have not watched "The Mandelorian," so am not up on what is going on... I think historically, with, say, Greek, Roman, and medievial armor (also Japanese and maybe Chinese armor?) there are similar helmet-mask traditions... "Star Wars" as a cultural phenomenon completely dependent (I would say) on puppet, mask, and object performance is so worthy of study, and I am glad you are focusing attention on this! Simply its existence as a contemporary form of epic (in the Aristotelian sense, but also in the Brechtian sense) storytelling with puppets, masks, and objects places it in the mainstream of similar puppet performance traditions as wayang, tolu bommalata, Chinese puppetry, Sicilian marionette theater, medieval cycle dramas, and other object-oriented forms. Yes!
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John Bell
11/20/2020 07:28:29 am
(sorry! I misspelled "The Mandalorian"! d'oh!
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Colette SearlsNotes as I write my book, A Galaxy of Things: the Power of Puppets and Masks in Star Wars and Beyond (forthcoming Routledge Press, 2022). ArchivesCategories |