A Galaxy of Things: The Power of Puppets and Masks in Star Wars and Beyond

ISBN-13: 9780367684419 / Angielski

Colette Searls

Opis

A Galaxy of Things explores the ways in which all puppets, masks, makeup-prosthetic figures are "material characters," and uses Star Wars creatures, droids, and helmeted-characters to illustrate what makes the good ones not only compelling, but meaningful.

The book begins with author Colette Searls’ Star Wars thing aesthetic, described through a release-order overview of what creatures, droids, and masked humans have brought to 45+ years of live-action Star Wars. Building on theories from the burgeoning field of puppetry and material performance, it defines these "material characters" as a group and describes three specific powers that they share—distance, distillation, and duality—using characters like C-3PO and Jabba the Hutt to exemplify how all three work to generate meaning. An in-depth exploration of the original Empire Strikes Back Yoda and "Baby" Yoda (Grogu) reveals how these two puppets use those powers to transform their human companions: Luke Skywalker, and then Din Djarin. Searls provides an in-depth analysis of Darth Vader’s mask trajectory across three trilogies (1977–2019), revealing its contribution as a "performing thing." Finally, the book presents problematic uses of material character powers by critiquing droids in service, and the historical use of racial stereotypes in figures like Jar Jar Binks, before offering a hopeful analysis of how early 2020s live-action Star Wars began centering the non-, semi-, and concealed human in redemptive ways.

This is an accessible exploration for students and scholars of theatre, film, media studies, and popular culture who want to better understand puppets, masks, and makeup-prosthetic characters. Its terms and concepts will be useful to scholarly explorations of non-, semi-, and concealed human portrayals for a range of other fields, including posthumanism, object-oriented ontology, ethnic studies, and material culture.

Spis treści

1.  The Things in the Galaxy  2. Distance, Distillation, and Duality  3. Powerful, Puppetry is: How two Yodas make meaning  4. I Find Your Lack of Face Disturbing: The mask performance of Darth Vader (and friends)  5. Climbing Out of the Sarlacc Pitt: The problematic side of material character powers

O autorze

Colette Searls is an Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), USA, where she teaches acting, directing, and puppetry. She is an award-winning puppetry artist and has received grants from the Jim Henson Foundation and Puppeteers of America for her original works in object theatre.