Mandalorian Graffiti
In the opening scene of “The Sin” (The Mandalorian 1.3), the Mandalorian Din Djarin is transporting the child Grogu in his ship, the Razor Crest. Grogu bothers Din by taking the knob off one of the Razor Crest’s control levers and playing with it, prompting the Mandalorian to take it away and put him back in his seat.
Later, at the midpoint of the episode, Din has a change of heart about delivering Grogu to the client who put a bounty on him – and this wordless moment of decision hinges on the knob that Grogu removed. It is when Din returns the knob to its place that he remembers how Grogu played with it and chooses to go back for him. The knob thus becomes an icon of Din’s protective, paternal attachment to Grogu – and at the end of the episode, after rescuing Grogu, Din removes the knob from its lever and gives it to Grogu to play with.
This miniature character arc pays direct homage to George Lucas’ 1973 film American Graffiti, which he made before the original Star Wars. In American Graffiti, the greaser John Milner cruises around the town of Modesto until he is unexpectedly saddled with the responsibility of looking after a young girl named Carol, who irritates him by – among other things – removing the knob from the gear-shift of his car. After making several attempts to get rid of Carol, Milner eventually has a change of heart and decides to let her ride along with him, and at the end of the film, he gifts her the knob to remember him by.
Like John Milner, Din Djarin starts off as an independent, unattached loner who spends more time with his vehicle than anyone else and initially resists the responsibility of taking care of a child. Ultimately, though, both Din and Milner step into the role of a protector and surrogate father – and both Din and Milner symbolically seal this transformation into self-giving responsibility by giving away a part of the very vehicle that formerly represented their unattached independence.
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Characters: Din Djarin / Grogu
Shows: The Mandalorian
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Concepts: attachment and detachment / children / fathers
Influences: American Graffiti
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Nailed it again.