Saturday, February 03, 2007

Mascot Violence: What to do?

In today's news, a man dressed as a Wookie was arrested for attacking a tour guide on the streets of Los Angeles. Chewbacca allegedly headbutted the tour leader who had admonished him for harrassing two tourists. According to the newsstory, he costumed actor responded,
"Nobody tells a Wookie what to do."

A few weeks ago, a family filed similar charges against the bouncy "fun, fun, fun fun fun," Tigger at DisneyWorld in Florida. While posing for a photo with a family, Tigger allegedly punched the a 14-year-old in the face.

This begs the questions What changes a person's behavior once they are behind the mask? Should we carefully consider who is permitted to don our Rocky costumes, if and when our campaign for mascot change is successful? How can we prevent abherent behavior in our mascots, and thus, preserve the integrity of the mascot ideal?

The answer may lie in the mascot training process. Perhaps mascot therapy and conditioning should be a part of this process. It is clear to any Star Wars fan that the actor in the Wookie costume BECAME the Wookie, racting as Chewy himself would have. Tigger is perhaps THE single most annoying Disney character, hyped up on unrefined honey and likely caffiene, he wants to steal the show by bounded in and bouncing around...the innocent blow to this teen's face was likely a consequence of the actor becoming just as annoying as the character he is playing.

I can only imagine what would happen if a ballistic rocket was able to fully get into the character.