My kids and I watched this delightful documentary recently about
Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who is best known for having developed the Sesame Street character, Elmo. Because our family does not watch much TV,
our kids have not even seen the television show very many times. But even if you are not a regular viewer, who
doesn’t love Elmo?
One sweet aspect of the documentary was the explanation of the essence
of the Elmo character. He is supposed to
be a little kid who is the embodiment of love.
He is vulnerable and loves others.
And that vulnerability and love is very endearing to people. He is wildly popular with children (and
adults alike).
One beautiful, but heart-breaking aspect of the film was where
Mr. Clash explained that he had never really understood the impact the Elmo character
had until Sesame Street began to get
requests for visits by terminally ill children.
It had a profound impact on Mr. Clash when he was told that spending
time with Elmo was the dying wish of many such children. It was moving to see in the film the
adoration of kids like that and the hugs they gave the puppet. And the bittersweet looks of appreciation on
the faces of their parents. My hearts
just broke for them that they were guiding their children through their last
days on this earth. But meeting Elmo
seemed to bring peace to the families.
I thought the documentary’s exploration of the influence of Mr.
Clash’s own family on the development of the Elmo character was also really
interesting. Some interviewees talked
about how Elmo’s pure, loving heart was a reflection of Kevin Clash
himself. But one interviewee, who had
known him since his early days as a teen puppeteer in Baltimore, disagreed and
said that the reality was that Elmo was a reflection of Kevin’s parents. They were so loving, supportive and
enthusiastic; those qualities were expressed in the Elmo character.
Indeed, it was really sweet to hear Mr. Clash’s parents being
interviewed. They were just bubbling
with pride in their son. The Clash
family lived in a poor neighborhood when Kevin was growing up. Money was really tight. Kids at school made fun of his interest in
puppets. At one point, his growing
obsession with puppets inspired Kevin to cut up the lining of his dad’s winter
coat to make a new puppet. After he
realized what he had done, he was fearful of what his dad would do. But the elder Mr. Clash was so impressed by
the puppet his son had created, he simply told Kevin to ask first next time before
cutting up clothing. (Baltimore winters
are cold, what a reaction!) Despite all this,
Mr. and Mrs. Clash supported Kevin’s unusual passion.
In the days before the internet and when long-distance was
expensive, Mrs. Clash even tracked down the man who crafted Jim Henson’s Muppets. That gentleman ended up becoming Kevin’s
critical mentor who taught him a lot about puppeteering and even opened doors
for him with Jim Henson. Thank goodness
for a supportive mom!
The last part of the film I wanted to mention was Kevin Clash’s
own family. Apparently, his marriage and
his daughter’s birth coincided with the rise of Elmo as a cultural
phenomenon. Kevin Clash was traveling a
lot and his marriage did not last. He
also missed a lot of his daughter’s childhood.
But he loves her so much. At one
very touching part of the film he compares the wonder of creating a puppet and
the wonder of creating a human being. He
describes the joy it brings him to make puppets and create puppet
characters. But he describes with a
sense of awe that his daughter is more amazing than any puppet. With tears in his eyes, he describes his
pride in and love for her.
Psalm 103:13
As a father has
compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
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