VILLAINS OF THE DAY: THE SKEKSIS !

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Today's "Villains of the Day" are
THE SKEKSIS!!

(by guest writer Mr. Legs!)

"Behold! The power of the Dark Crystal!"

This would be the last thing you heard before the final, trickling drop of your vital essence was drained from your withering body, mind, and spirit. The savage culprits behind this sadistic and self-serving act would be none other than the Skeksis.

The Skeksis are the corrupt rulers of the planet Thra in the film The Dark Crystal. The base of the characters is that they are the selfish and wicked halves of the former ruling UrSkeks. The word "Skeksis" serves as both singular and plural form for this species, with the singular being pronounced "Skek-siss" and the plural pronounced "Skek-seez." (Gee, thanks Wikipedia! I was always confounded by the proper pronunciation!)

The Skeksis culture favors repetitive flamboyance, emotional pettiness, and a carnivorous attitude toward life. Power lines are laid out from their castle to channel energy to them and then feed back noxious pulses in a form of planetary acupuncture. They have created creatures such as the huge, crab-like Garthim and the Crystal Bats to act as their eyes, ears and fists throughout Thra.

In the film, the Skeksis are represented by puppets engineered under the direction of Jim Henson. They are described by concept artist Brian Froud as, "... part reptile, part predatory bird, part dragon ." Froud expressed the importance of always starting with the eyes when drawing these malignant creatures. (Advice I took to heart as a tike when drawing up my own monsters.Thanks Brian!) They have sinister, decaying bodies under elaborate robes of lace, velve and brocade. The faces of the Skeksis have hooded, uneasy eyes and beaklike jaws. Arched talons and long necks are held poised as if to strike.

The hour and I half I first spent watching The Dark Crystal when I was 7 years old, had the most profound impact on me. It is to this day my absolute favorite movie of all time. I would torture my classmates at school by constantly repeating lines from the film. My favorite of which belonged to, who is in my opinion, the greatest screen villain ever...The Chamberlain, Skeksil.

"Please! Wait! Please, make peace! Please! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease?!!!"

The Chamberlain always reminded me of a cantankerous, bald, old woman with a syrupy demeanor walking down the aisle at our local Methodist church giving poisonous smiles of judgment to everyone she glided past. (Yes, I cast everyone in this film as I was bored in church!) The Chamberlain evokes a decaying, disheveled remain of what was once a proud, and not a little fabulous, Elizabethan Lord. Pre-production notes for the film describe the Chamberlain as resembling an overstuffed chair, with springs, sawdust, horsehair, webbing, sacking, and underfelt layered under a carapace of carved animal limbs and a collar like a headboard. The result is utterly sublime and wonderfully acted by none other than Frank Oz. The Chamberlain is my favorite! I LOVE HIM SO!

The Dark Crystal is one of the most divine achievements in art, storytelling, and film making ever created. Yes, you can still see poles attached to creatures' arms, strings hanging from the ether, and little people shoved into silicone body suits, but that is precisely what makes it so wonderful. It's a theatrical production with a stage that recedes into infinity! And who better to stalk that stage and reap fear from it's inhabitants than the Skeksis!

See it again today!
You will be inspired!