Thursday, October 14, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
A 'Real' Jedi
I acquired a new toy that instantly has become my favorite. It is a plastic vault that contains what appears as an ancient manual for the training of Jedi.
The book is annotated by several figures from the past and future of the Jedi order. It is called the Jedi Path. While not an extensive tome, it is laced with drawings and pictures and pressed between the pages are souvenirs of various types such as a coin and a padawan's lock of hair. This gives the book a feeling of authenticity.
The vault opens slowly with exotic sounds and pulsing blue lights at the bed rises to present the book for extraction. Wow, what drama. You want immediately to open it and start reading.
I know this sounds nutty, but I find a great thrill in playing with this adult toy.
The Force is with us!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Costume Dress
I've been creating and appearing in Star Wars costume now for a couple of years. The question comes to mind once in a while as to why people enjoy dressing in costume. And the answer is not an easy one to elaborate, but I'll take a shot at it from my perspective.
A couple of years ago I learned that a celebration was going to be held in Los Angeles commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the creation of the Star Wars Saga on film. It was much too late at that time to arrange to attend. I was heartsick that I wasn't going to get together thousands of fans like myself since I live so far away in Washington State.
George Lucas came on the scene of my life when he launched a futuristic first film called THX1138 about survivers of a nuclear hallacaust that went underground centuries in the past. It was all about one person's efforts to escape that system and find his way into the unknown world on the surface. Needless to say, it wasn't a chick flick, and my wife was bored to tears watching clicking computers and silver robots in motorcycle cop uniforms. But I was hooked. I declared then and there that if this fellow Lucas made another film I'd be there. When Star Wars hit the screen I was a devoted fan.
I told my lovely wife that I was going to sew a Jedi costume to help me feel like I was a part of this celebration that I would never see in person. She rolled her eyes as she did when I got into amateur radio and had visions of budget dollars evaporating into deep space. (This is why I have a policy of not keeping close track on my costuming expenses and spread them over as long a time interval as possible.)
In my persuit on the Internet to find supplies and help, I stumbled onto some of the biggest and most active fan clubs I'd ever imagined. I never even considered joining a fan club for anything even when I was a kid. But when I saw pictures of folks of all ages wearing character costumes that looked like they just stepped off the silver screen, I was dedicated to making the most screen accurate outfit I could and become part of a costuming fan club.
HAM radio operaters are frequently asked why they do it. There are dozens of reasons given, but most of us really can't put into words why we can sit for hours tuning frequencies just so we can find another electro-magnetically addicted person somewhere on the planet to exchange a few location facts with and send a postcard for confirmation. But anyone of us can tell you that there is an adrenalin rush when we hear that other signal or voice come out of the ether into our headphones. In other words, some are susceptible while others are immune. It's kind of in your blood... I guess.
The same is apparently true of Star Wars costumers. We just know when we see these great characters in the films, and now extended books and games, we want to be that person or alien, even if for a little while. My wife, who was on her way to a performing career in live theater before a serious accident left her in a wheelchair as a young adult, has shown me that the best actors are those who feel the most comfortable in becoming another person through a role. This also explains why so many top acting professionals seem to have trouble living normal everyday kind of lives. Many have a deep need to get the adulation they missed from not having supportive homes and lifestyles in their youth. While this is not true of all actors, it is very prevelent in the industry. Audiences can pump up the adrenalin flow through their response to an actor's presence of product on the screen.
We who spend hours sewing, leatherworking, gluing, riveting, forming molds, and raiding every second-hand junk store for the next prop part, know that when someone recognizes you as this new personnae from the Star Wars galaxy it lights a fire of enthusiasm that can only be compared to a chemical stimulant, and without any permanent side effects to your health. (Well, except for the aches and pains in us older fans.)
However, we costumers need to keep this rush alive to give us a new goal for another costume. This is accomplished through seeking out events that even remotely relate to Lucas character. Our year is often busy with attending conventions, marching in parades, putting on charitable photo shoots, and entering all kinds of "thons" to support every kind of cause immaginable. We know we will be an attention gathering addition to these activities and give us a forum to display all our hard work. In order to hear people say things like, "How much does that costume cost, and where can I get one?", we have to put ourselves in front of the public. Unfortunately, we have a limited paparrazi so we have to do our own leg work.
I guess what this means is that we all in some way have a need to feel the connection to our public and our characters to lift us out of our day-to-day and make us something bigger, more loveable, stronger, recognizable, etc. than the way we see ourselves in the mirror. Is this truly healthy? I don't think anyone can patently say for every individual. But when we seek to "play" this way for the benefit of others as a side effect, then it's a win-win situation for the societies in which we really live. Most fantasy stays within the confines of a cranial cavity. Ours takes us to other worlds and dimensions on vacations unlike anything the normal traveler will experience.
So I would recommend that anyone wanting to explain why we costume should get in a comfortable chair, close their eyes, and try to remember when they were a pre-teen and dug around in a trunk full of clothes or mother's closet to step into another world. We fans will always be young when we put on latest paraphernalia. There is often a group shout at each Star Wars Celebration convention that says it all. "Star Wars is Forever!"
A couple of years ago I learned that a celebration was going to be held in Los Angeles commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the creation of the Star Wars Saga on film. It was much too late at that time to arrange to attend. I was heartsick that I wasn't going to get together thousands of fans like myself since I live so far away in Washington State.
George Lucas came on the scene of my life when he launched a futuristic first film called THX1138 about survivers of a nuclear hallacaust that went underground centuries in the past. It was all about one person's efforts to escape that system and find his way into the unknown world on the surface. Needless to say, it wasn't a chick flick, and my wife was bored to tears watching clicking computers and silver robots in motorcycle cop uniforms. But I was hooked. I declared then and there that if this fellow Lucas made another film I'd be there. When Star Wars hit the screen I was a devoted fan.
I told my lovely wife that I was going to sew a Jedi costume to help me feel like I was a part of this celebration that I would never see in person. She rolled her eyes as she did when I got into amateur radio and had visions of budget dollars evaporating into deep space. (This is why I have a policy of not keeping close track on my costuming expenses and spread them over as long a time interval as possible.)
In my persuit on the Internet to find supplies and help, I stumbled onto some of the biggest and most active fan clubs I'd ever imagined. I never even considered joining a fan club for anything even when I was a kid. But when I saw pictures of folks of all ages wearing character costumes that looked like they just stepped off the silver screen, I was dedicated to making the most screen accurate outfit I could and become part of a costuming fan club.
HAM radio operaters are frequently asked why they do it. There are dozens of reasons given, but most of us really can't put into words why we can sit for hours tuning frequencies just so we can find another electro-magnetically addicted person somewhere on the planet to exchange a few location facts with and send a postcard for confirmation. But anyone of us can tell you that there is an adrenalin rush when we hear that other signal or voice come out of the ether into our headphones. In other words, some are susceptible while others are immune. It's kind of in your blood... I guess.
The same is apparently true of Star Wars costumers. We just know when we see these great characters in the films, and now extended books and games, we want to be that person or alien, even if for a little while. My wife, who was on her way to a performing career in live theater before a serious accident left her in a wheelchair as a young adult, has shown me that the best actors are those who feel the most comfortable in becoming another person through a role. This also explains why so many top acting professionals seem to have trouble living normal everyday kind of lives. Many have a deep need to get the adulation they missed from not having supportive homes and lifestyles in their youth. While this is not true of all actors, it is very prevelent in the industry. Audiences can pump up the adrenalin flow through their response to an actor's presence of product on the screen.
We who spend hours sewing, leatherworking, gluing, riveting, forming molds, and raiding every second-hand junk store for the next prop part, know that when someone recognizes you as this new personnae from the Star Wars galaxy it lights a fire of enthusiasm that can only be compared to a chemical stimulant, and without any permanent side effects to your health. (Well, except for the aches and pains in us older fans.)
However, we costumers need to keep this rush alive to give us a new goal for another costume. This is accomplished through seeking out events that even remotely relate to Lucas character. Our year is often busy with attending conventions, marching in parades, putting on charitable photo shoots, and entering all kinds of "thons" to support every kind of cause immaginable. We know we will be an attention gathering addition to these activities and give us a forum to display all our hard work. In order to hear people say things like, "How much does that costume cost, and where can I get one?", we have to put ourselves in front of the public. Unfortunately, we have a limited paparrazi so we have to do our own leg work.
I guess what this means is that we all in some way have a need to feel the connection to our public and our characters to lift us out of our day-to-day and make us something bigger, more loveable, stronger, recognizable, etc. than the way we see ourselves in the mirror. Is this truly healthy? I don't think anyone can patently say for every individual. But when we seek to "play" this way for the benefit of others as a side effect, then it's a win-win situation for the societies in which we really live. Most fantasy stays within the confines of a cranial cavity. Ours takes us to other worlds and dimensions on vacations unlike anything the normal traveler will experience.
So I would recommend that anyone wanting to explain why we costume should get in a comfortable chair, close their eyes, and try to remember when they were a pre-teen and dug around in a trunk full of clothes or mother's closet to step into another world. We fans will always be young when we put on latest paraphernalia. There is often a group shout at each Star Wars Celebration convention that says it all. "Star Wars is Forever!"
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