Jedi vs. Confederate Artillery
This weekend I took Whitaker (my son, age 9) and a couple of his friends to see live Star Wars characters at Richard's Comics on Laurens Road and a Civil War encampment/reenactment in Pendleton.The Star Wars people were really amazing in a kind of geeky, endearing kind of way. These people are all members of a club, the "Carolina Garrison" of very serious, Star Wars lovers. Their costumes were mostly terrific--especially the two Jawa kids and both stormtroopers. Boba Fett was there, Darth Vader, a Tusken Raider, rebel soldier, various Jedi warriors, etc. The best moment had to be seeing Whit and his friends running around, playing with the Jawas. It was hilarious...certainly would have been my dream as a kid...playing with Jawas. Too cool.
The Civil War reenactors were also very cool...kind of redneck in a way, but equally devoted and serious about their costumes. They too, represent an upstate club of reenactors--both Union and Confederates. Most impressive was when they fired their cannon. Yeah...like an authentic, Civil War-era cannon. It was super-loud...shook the ground under your feet. These people had set up a whole bunch of tents on the grounds of this old plantation house right off Highway 88 in Pendleton. It was drizzling rain all day, but it didn't dampen their spirits. The people stayed "in character" the whole time. A group of rebels asked the kids if they wanted to join the army. When Whit said no...that he wanted to join up with the Federal troops, this woman asked for a musket and aimed it at him. He ran off screaming. Great, great stuff.
So, of course, I spent the day comparing these two very different, yet very similar encounters. Both represent a strange degree of devotion...lifestyle choices that are, frankly, a bit geeky. Yet both also reflect a kind of theatre that is undeniable compelling. From childhood Halloween costumes to high school plays to jobs that require specific uniforms...people--all people--like to play dress-up. We like to put on the clothes of our heroes (I dressed a USC football player several years ago when I was making BRAGGING RITES. It was a thrill.).
What does this mean? Why are people like this? How should this knowledge affect what we do at J.L. Mann as theatre artists?
posted by CW at 7:58 AM
5 Comments:
Everyone gets a kick out of being someone that he/she is not. That's one of the biggest plusses of acting for me. You leave the troubles of your everyday life in the green room while you go onstage and become someone (usually) completely different. That character's issues are much more pressing than your own, at least for those 2 hours (give or take). Acting's probably the only thing that I do in life where I'm not worrying about something else while I'm doing it. If I'm really into it, nothing else is on my mind but the show, and there is no comparable escape.
You are a great dad
I strive only to be a better dad than Anakin Skywalker.
Thanks for noticing.
HA! YAY! Something I have a little knowlodge on!
As we all know, I cosplay (or at least just started cosplaying), and that's the same as the star wars guys and the confederates, except for the Japanese-origin and I only cosplay at conventions hahahhaha.
The act of dressing up, in the cosplay aspect, is showing an appreication for the character, the series, and creator of the series. We cosplay to show off our favourite character/anime series.
As for the relation to theatre, I think that if people are willing to shed their own personallities for an entire day (or longer, anime conventions last allllll night and all day for usually 3-5 days hahhaha), the dedication to purity of character is possible. I mean, if you're on stage but your mind isn't in the moment and you jsut don't feel like wearing the uncomfortable costume or being there, it's not worth wasting the effort to allow that person to perform.
(When you cosplay, you can always tell the best cosplayers, not just by how amazing their costume is, but also by how focused they are. I've seen cosplayers who had to hold an extremely difficult pose for about an hour because so many people were trying to get their picture. It was insane~)
I thought it was Richard's...I was so mad that i missed free comic day.=[
At any rate, anything I would have said has already been said, especially by Brennan.
It's usually something to do with looking up to the character or place in time, with a gigantic amount of respect. It's always obvious who has the most respect because they try to hardest to stay as absolutely correct as they possibly can...the saying does go imitation is flattery.
People everywhere are intrigued by the idea of being somebody else, be it for a short time, or a long time. Getting a chance to come out of your own skin and adopt somebody elses is something most everybody has dreamed about. Like "just..." said, it's an escape, and everybody needs that once in awhile.
Dressing up as someone else is fun, besides.
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