Review of Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (2011) by Zeke T — 31 Jan 2012

Seeing the smiles of Kevin Clash and the children he entertains makes the documentary worth it. The whole time I marveled at Kevin's absence of inhibition while puppeteering his various puppets, especially Elmo. Some, I'm sure, mock the 200 or so pound black man for making his voice sound like a helium-induced, lovey-dovey, childish, and "unmanly" character in Elmo. There's no shame in Kevin Clash's face while he puppeteers, only pure joy. Does he recognize how strange others might think him? Does he ignore it, or is he socially ignorant? Based on what I saw, he's very apt in social situations, casually and sincerely speaking to the camera, puppeteering, doing everything pretty gracefully. I'm naturally cautious and reserved, and I want to reach the place where I'm like Kevin. I want to let go of the inhibition, I want to experience the alleviation of crawling out of myself and putting all I am into an activity, without a thought as to how it might look. Of course there's more to Kevin than the documentary explicitly shows (it mentions "ex-wife," and briefly shows that perhaps he didn't spend enough time with his daughter), but Kevin Clash, while he's in his field, is a man who experiences the intense delight of being a child. Kevin is engulfed in Elmo, putting all his love and charisma into that fleeced little mouth, and it was refreshing to see him let everything go.

Watched Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 10:15 P.M. in FSU's Student Life Cinema.