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Bernie wants me to watch The Mandalorian so he can discuss it with me. I will probably try for his sake, but I’m honestly not really interested. I’ve never been a Star Wars fan— I find it kind of cheesy and none of the characters have ever really grabbed me —and I’m often at a loss to see what inspires so much devotion beyond nostalgia. And one thing in particular is the enthusiasm people have for Boba Fett. While the Mandalorian bounty hunter of the show is not him, it’s clear the whole premise is trading off of the affection people have for the original character.
I’ve always been vaguely put off by how much people seem to like a character that has... nothing to him. In his original trilogy appearances, he has no personality. He accomplishes basically nothing, so it’s not like he’s a badass, or even an effective threat. He misses every shot he takes and dies like an absolute bitch, in a moment that feels like the narrative is trying to get rid of him as quickly as possible because it doesn’t want to deal with him anymore.
I’ve always found him ridiculous because of this. However, I really OUGHT to like him— because, in his popularity, he proves a point that’s really important to me. WHY do people like Boba Fett? Because his costume is so cool.
That’s basically all there is too him, in the absence of a personality or meaningful action. He doesn’t even have hair or a face or even much of a voice; the costume is literally all that’s there. And its design is sufficiently evocative and imagination-capturing to enable so many people to latch onto him and do their own filling in of a personality behind the armor.
He’s the literal perfect example of how much a costume can create a character. The idea that costumes are NARRATIVE, that they can be packed with INFORMATION, is something I believe really strongly. People read them and receive messages from them whether they realize it or not.
And this look is unique and evocative. It looks worn and lived-in, giving him the sense of experience and having survived rough conditions, while also keeping with the very everything-is-junk look of most non-Imperial tech. He is scrappy, practical, weathered. He still looks at home on dull sand planets but also introduces an unusual his color scheme for the otherwise very chiaroscuro films, with its red-yellow-green combination. It feels like a real, lived-in commando look, while still capturing the spaceman aesthetic. It’s aged really well, too, despite having been designed in a decade where a LOT of the aesthetic has not. And his lack of distinguishing features make it easy to imagine who he might be— specifically, whoever you want him to be.
If anybody ever doubts the power of costume design, he’s the perfect example to point to. A multi-decade long fan obsession, spawned by literally nothing but an evocative suit.
I’ve always been vaguely put off by how much people seem to like a character that has... nothing to him. In his original trilogy appearances, he has no personality. He accomplishes basically nothing, so it’s not like he’s a badass, or even an effective threat. He misses every shot he takes and dies like an absolute bitch, in a moment that feels like the narrative is trying to get rid of him as quickly as possible because it doesn’t want to deal with him anymore.
I’ve always found him ridiculous because of this. However, I really OUGHT to like him— because, in his popularity, he proves a point that’s really important to me. WHY do people like Boba Fett? Because his costume is so cool.
That’s basically all there is too him, in the absence of a personality or meaningful action. He doesn’t even have hair or a face or even much of a voice; the costume is literally all that’s there. And its design is sufficiently evocative and imagination-capturing to enable so many people to latch onto him and do their own filling in of a personality behind the armor.
He’s the literal perfect example of how much a costume can create a character. The idea that costumes are NARRATIVE, that they can be packed with INFORMATION, is something I believe really strongly. People read them and receive messages from them whether they realize it or not.
And this look is unique and evocative. It looks worn and lived-in, giving him the sense of experience and having survived rough conditions, while also keeping with the very everything-is-junk look of most non-Imperial tech. He is scrappy, practical, weathered. He still looks at home on dull sand planets but also introduces an unusual his color scheme for the otherwise very chiaroscuro films, with its red-yellow-green combination. It feels like a real, lived-in commando look, while still capturing the spaceman aesthetic. It’s aged really well, too, despite having been designed in a decade where a LOT of the aesthetic has not. And his lack of distinguishing features make it easy to imagine who he might be— specifically, whoever you want him to be.
If anybody ever doubts the power of costume design, he’s the perfect example to point to. A multi-decade long fan obsession, spawned by literally nothing but an evocative suit.
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