The Accidental Bildungsroman of Mark Hamill - by Faro

You know, upon watching the first 3 Star Wars again I think Mark Hamill inadvertently gave a magnificent movie cycle Bildungsroman.

At first Hamill is completely useless. Losing a barely mobile android on the first day, having pathetic arguments about his future with his guardians, and getting beat up by natives and locals without even putting up a decent fight. Hamill is nothing but whiny and petulant, and clearly in need of a 24 hour mentor... but a mentor who knows that after some intense training the only real way to mature the gawky youth is to abandon him. Hamill's horror and sadness at losing Obi Wan are the first emotions he displays that seem authentic. Clever acting on his part? Or does the audience just share the acute sense of loss as Alec Guiness gets sliced in half by a sci-fi suit of armor wielding a lethal flashlight?

And then in the second film, due in part to facial scars created by a real life car crash and some bulking up in the gym, Hamill now physically looks the part of a revolutionary fighter. Stronger and with more responsibilities but still uncertain of much as he continues to try to learn... but that's good because various forms of confusion sit well on his face and we believe his struggle to grow because we are trying to understand as well. Blowing up the Death Star was a clear and present danger... but now they are slogging it out in guerilla warfare on an ice plant and later Hamill is learning about Taoism from a wizened little toadstool with a speech impediment. Life's gotten a bit more complex, and to cap it all off we find out that our arch nemesis is actually the universe's worst absentee father. Hamill has been derided for his cry of anguish at the end, but imagine yourself holding your bleeding* stump of an arm while Hitler tells you that he's sorry he wasn't there while you were growing up, but it was that crazy bitch-wife's fault and he knows he can't change the past but he wants to start making things right between the two of you. I think my cry of pain and horror and revulsion would sound fairly similar to Hamill's... and it felt right the first time we all saw it, but it became easy to mock on repeat viewings because of it's raw emotionality.

Then finally in the third movie, thanks to a constant all-black wardrobe, Hamill achieves mature certainty and a bit of gravitas. He knows about the Force, he knows about his father... hell, he even finally figured out about his sister(awkward!).... and at no point does he allow himself to appear confused. Worried, sad, angry, but never confused. This is not subtle acting by any means, but it is effective after two whole films where confusion was his stock expression. You can tell that his facial muscles would like to relax into a uncertain slackness, but he stays strong and stoic till the end when a couple of friendly ghosts and a rousing dance tune performed by miniature bears gets him to smile again... and really at that point, all we can do is smile with him.

Because we have grown up with him.

*Yes, I realize that his stump is NOT bleeding, because the light-saber instantly cauterized the wound. Everyone knows this... but it sounds more dramatic when you write about blood.