By: Kyle Scully
Over the weekend, Twitter user Jim Does a Star Wars, posted this seemingly innocuous tweet about The Mandalorian.
https://twitter.com/ObsKenobs/status/1328159462457290754
On the surface it’s a fairly standard joke made to garner a few chuckles (it succeeds) but it did get me thinking about, Some Came Running, a film with a similar conceit as The Mandalorian. Some Came Running is a 1958 drama directed by Vicente Minnelli (he also directed Meet Me in St. Louis, Gigi and An American in Paris) and starring Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine and Dean Martin.
The film centers around Dave Hirsch (Frank Sinatra) an Army veteran and failed novelist who ends up back in his hometown after passing out drunk on a bus in Chicago. Ginny Moorehead (Shirley MacLaine) and Bama Dillert (Dean Martin) fall into his life and challenge his status quo.
Dillert is a cool character that doesn’t appear to take life too seriously, the complete opposite of the Mandalorian’s no-nonsense hard-nose approach to life. They do share one central characteristic. Both characters refuse to take off their hats. No amount of physical violence, logic, or philosophical reasoning can convince them otherwise. This trait gives them both a certain sense of nobility. Despite being a bounty hunter and a gambler respectively, they each live by their own code. They stand by their code and won’t break it for anyone or anything.
It’s only by their own efforts does either character allow for that code to bend even slightly. The Mandalorian takes his helmet off for IG-11 but only on a technicality. Dillert removes his hat as a sign of honor and respect near the end of the film as way of paying his respects to Ginny after she sacrifices her life to protect Hirsch. It’s a crucial moment that doesn’t go unnoticed by the characters on screen or the audience watching the drama play out. This is the highest level of respect Dillert can bestow on another person. He doesn’t write a speech or start a charity as a way of honoring Ginny. He removes his hat and in his eyes that’s a far greater offering than anything else he could have done.
The Mandalorian may address the hat and its value in much the same manner. The question remains though, who is worthy of The Mandalorian’s highest honor? It’s hard to say whether or not that person has already appeared on the show but it doesn’t seem that anyone has earned that signature compliment from our favorite intergalactic bounty hunter. It can’t be The Child because nothing bad could ever possibly happen to the cutest creature in the whole galaxy so let’s erase that thought from our minds. Otherwise, it’s hard to pick anyone worthy of the honor. When that moment does come it should play with the highest sense of wonder and awe. It should get every audience member out of their seat and send them cheering.
Dillert chose the perfect moment to remove his hat and pay his respects. It’s only a matter of time before The Mandalorian does the same.