David O'ConnellBeing Elmo
December 12th 2011 04:38
Kevin Clash is one of the most famous men in the world………………with his hand up a puppet. As the voice of the most famous muppet of them all, Elmo, Clash’s rapid rise through the puppeteering ranks is a story of persistence, affinity with his craft and basic human decency. From an early age, Clash, living humbly in his home town of Baltimore, revealed a propensity for acting out characters and experimenting with voices.
Long spellbound by Sesame Street as a youngster, he sought a means of expressing his own creativity through his own handmade puppets. Makeshift shows for his own family quickly progressed to realising the greater good his talents could bring. Clash identified the special needs of sick young kids and altruistically designated time to inject joy into their lives whilst bringing his quickly evolving stable of characters to life.
The film, sporadically narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, attaches special significance to crucial factors, both at home and abroad. Firstly, the encouragement of Clash's parents who rather than berate their son's first crude attempts - which saw quite a few items of clothing ruined through this experimental phase - offered nothing but support for his endeavors. Then there was the 18 year old Clash's first journey to New York where he met legendary puppet creator Kermit Love, a benign fatherly figure who would expand the vista of vocational possibilities for the impressionable Clash. This connection later proved vital in opening doors that saw him embraced by the Henson corporation. This in turn led to a chance encounter with an unknown Elmo just as he being discarded by another Sesame Street puppeteer for possessing little in the way of workable qualities.
Directed by Constance Marks, with the assistance of Philip Shane, the necessarily simple, pared back Being Elmo is a truly inspirational film. It’s also one that sheds an illuminating light on a profession that most of us are effectively blind to; we see the end result of the puppeteer’s work but to sneak a glance below the camera line is to be afforded a miraculous fresh perspective on what these remarkable men and women do for a living.
Clash is a role model, not only as a professional willing to share every last bit of his acquired knowledge, but as a human being. It’s this sobering perspective of a humble man – though one not above self-admonishment of his dereliction of duty on the homefront - that reiterates his generosity and enormous humility. Hubris is simply not part of this man's character. And yet despite his creation's fame, Clash remains conscious of the privilege of his position and of serving a greater good in sharing the symbolic and literal joy that is Elmo to the unconditionally spread awaiting arms of a world full of happy children.
Being Elmo will be screening in a special season from December 27 to January 8 at Melbourne's ACMI cinemas. Full details can be found HERE at the ACMI website.
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