VIDBE-Q
Volume 62 Issue 1
A Detailed Look at Chirrut Îmwe
Chirrut Îmwe, a Rebel fighter who is blind, stands as one of the most notable supporting characters in
the film and a model of the inclusivity of Rogue One. In the movie, Chirrut's blindness seems to help him
connect more deeply with the force than the other characters do. Chirrut becomes almost like an oracle that
can see beyond the world in front of him. Without the use of his eyesight, Churrit develops a keen sense of
his surroundings and listens intently for incoming danger. He senses the force around him through kyber
crystals on the end of his staff, and as result, he easily identifies the kyber crystal in Jyn's necklace and senses
the presence of the force with her. His acute sense of his surroundings makes him a formidable warrior
capable of defending himself whenever the enemy attacks. Throughout the film, Churrit makes explicit
comments that demonstrate how others around him lack awareness about his disability. At one point in the
film, the enemy covers Churrit's head with bag and the character fires back with "Are you kidding me? I'm
blind" (Gareth, 2016). This moment and others like it aid the audience in building awareness about the
misconceptions people have about people with visual impairments.
Interestingly, Churrit was not originally written as a character with a visual impairment. In a 2016
interview with Josh Rottenberg at the Los Angeles Times, Donnie Yen described how he collaborated with
the film's director Edward Gareth to develop this character. Yen (as cited in Rottenberg, 2016) explicates that
he wanted Chirrut to be more unique and less cliché, so he suggested that the role be played without the use
of his sight, adding both humanity and vulnerability to the character. To create this effect, Yen used whiteout
contacts to simulate the visual impairment. According to the interview, the experience was more difficult than
Yen had anticipated because he could not see the other actors' expressions, making it hard to know how to
react in the scenes. Additionally, Yen claims he could only work for about three hours before needing to
remove the contacts, and when he did, his eyesight was still somewhat impaired due to the strain of wearing
the contacts for so many of hours. Despite these challenges, Yen conducted all of his martial arts scenes
without the use of his sight, which added a sense of authenticity to his performance. Chirrut becomes a key
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