Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 20:35:10 -0600 (CST) From: Charles Taylor <cecetaylor-AT-verizon.net> To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] What is it about puppets? What a great subject! I had to read the article: It stimulated a lot of thoughts. I too have puppets on display in my living room that frequently creates an unsetteling response from guest. Occaisonaly a visitor will be very outspoken about his or her discomfort with these =93things=94. These =93things=94 happen to be an exquisite pair of Punch and Judy puppets made by Wayne Barolow an extrodinary puppeteer from the nineteen thirties, forties and fifties. These puppets were costumed by Francis Oznowics, (mother of Frank Oz). They had been given to Bob Bromley and then Bob Bromley passed them on to me. I believe Wayne Barlow once was in business with Bob Baker manyyears ago. I recently saw a nineteen forty movie, Blackbeard in which the marionettes were made by Wayne Barlow and Bob Baker. John Carridene played the master puppeteer that was murdering ladies in Paris. I lhave long held a theory that the interest or fascination in puppetry is a natural phenomenon that stems from our primitive needs for self preservation. Humor me please. Now just imagine you are walking down a dark street on a windy night. No one is around. The wind makes the trees and bushes move. The junipers are swaying. The moon is out. Perhaps clouds make the night light flicker. This is a theme in many horror movies when the young engenue crosses the dark park. You are alert, your eyes constantly scan for something that moves, that might jump out at you. You watch the shadows for shape, size and eyes that gleam in the dark. Goosebumps rise on your skin. The hair on the nap of our neck is up. You are genuinely scared. Maybe you whistle or maybe you are as quiet as possible to not be seen yourself. Not until you are in the safety of your home can you relax and even laugh at the foolishness of your imagination. When very young children, say three maybe four years old, see puppets they think they are =93real=94 live creatures. This may frighten them. Experencied puppeteers know to move the puppet away from a frightened child so as not to further any fear, crying or screaming. How many parents forced their young infants to sit on the lap of Santa Claus while the child screamed in terror? Why would a child scream? Because they don=92t see Santa the way adults do. Our experience and traditions tell us he is benevolent, kind and filled with generosity. The child may see him very differently. He=92s a stranger, hairy, old, he smells funny, maybe he=92s a smoker. The child is asked to sit on his lap in close proximity and must touch and be touched by this stranger. The child is not able to communicate it=92s fears to the parents and so cries in fear or frustration. The parent is perplexed as to why the child isn=92t more cooperative for this photo that is to be sent to all the relatives as a Christmas card. But as children have more experience with puppets they come to realize that just because it moves, dances and talks, it does not pose a threat. Then the pretense, the suspension of disbelief, makes the puppet more enjoyable. As we gain knowledge of what makes the things go bump in the night, we lose our fear. We become more sophisticated about the environment and enjoy the savoriness of the complex world about us. That=92s what holds our fascination with puppetry. We know they aren=92t alive but we like to suspend our disbelief. Our =93fascination/repulsion=94 holds our attention. In Japan, I=92ve heard told, that the puppeteers remove the heads of the Bunraku puppets at night to prevent them from coming alive and causing mischief. So this fear maybe univerasal. We are afraid of most human effigies that move, puppets, automata, vet figures, statues, manikins etc. etc. etc. Puppets are inanimate objects in which they are =93given=94 life through the animation or manipulation by the puppeteer. My wife likes to agrue that there is a fine line between dolls and puppets. Her contention is that a child playing with dolls gives them animation through interaction though usually a very close and interpersonal relationship with the child and doll. I do question the objectivity of a psychologist, psychiatrist or analyst using the word =93dead=94 when refering to an inanimate object. Didn=92t they learn in high school the difference between objects once alive eventually become dead but objects never alive, such as a rock, cannot be dead? Trees, flowers, crocodiles, humans, fish eventualy die and become dead. But rocks, plastic, wire, beads, cloth, are not thought of as dead or even the undead. That is a bit too much. Now puppeteers maybe a bit more jaded about puppets than the average Joe. But really, a college educated adult that claims to understand the human mind should have a better understanding and knowledge of art, theater, and the differenece of animate and inanimate obejects to be taken seriously. I would have to dismiss anything the article by Paska or Heinrich von Kleist=92s seminal 1810 essay had to say as being very uninformed and predjudicial. Perhaps they were struggling to understand their own fear of their creepiness reaction and could not express very well their feelings through lack of personal experience. >From: Ed Atkeson <edatkeson-AT-earthlink.net> >Date: 2007/01/03 Wed PM 12:42:08 CST >To: Puptcrit <puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org> >Subject: [Puptcrit] What is it about puppets? >There was a string a few months back on the subject of "what is it >about puppets?" or something like. > >Pertaining to that, I've come across this article from 1998 on the >creepiness of puppetry. Includes comments from puppeteer Roman Pasca. >http://www.firlefanzgallery.com/creepypupp.html > >best, >Ed > >_______________________________________________ >List address: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org >Admin interface: http://lists.driftline.org/listinfo.cgi/puptcrit- driftline.org >Archives: http://www.driftline.org _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org Admin interface: http://lists.driftline.org/listinfo.cgi/puptcrit-driftline.org Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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