Wait. That was a costume?!
I joke, of course. Probably the most abiding joy of the Mos Eisley Cantina is knowing these creatures come
straight out of a sketch-book - that they're the result of
designers and make-up artists just making whatever they want.
And it occured to me recently these alien extras were a lot like the gargoyles, or more accurately "babewyn", of a cathedral (strictly speaking "gargoyles" are just the water spouts), anonymously crafted chimerae specifically designed to look out of place, images of sin upon which the workers' imaginations could run wild.
And then I tried to remember which I'd experienced first: Star Wars or a catheral, because other similarities were also springing to mind. Shared ingredients. That Star Destroyer passing overhead in the opening shot of "A New Hope", for example, felt a lot like when one first steps in and looks up at those impossibly high vaulted ceilings. Nearly all the images are of men, apart from one beautiful, robed virgin to whom the world defers. And big pillars.
What else? Luke at the end firing plasma into the reactor shaft is like when you're given the bread, you know, communion wafers. Look, I haven't got very far with this idea which is why today's post is mainly just these excellent behind-the-scenes photos which I found here.
All I'm saying is: one of the reasons Star Wars was so popular might be that it was secretly a cathedral - Wait... That was a set?!
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