Recently, my wife decided that it was time for me to watch Moulin Rouge!. (She had recently suffered through the Mystery Science Theater version of Werewolf for me, so it was only fair that I watch a sissy musical with her.)In case you don't know, Ewan McGregor has got an incredible voice, I've never heard anything like it. Also there is some cool cinematography, but my praise of this picture ends there.
The only thing Hollywood loves more than Jennifer Aniston is pretending that they are part of a struggling theater act. I don't know why, but the subject matter of top plays and films is often a theater production, like Chicago, or something that goes behind the stage of a show, like Dreamgirls. This is every actor's favorite storyline but I don't know why.
The second favorite storyline is the Cinderella one, where a poor person marries a rich one. Again, I don't know why elite socialite actors think that they can relate to this one.
In the Moulin Rouge! story, a Bohemian wants to marry a rich whore. Sorry, I mean lounge dancer. No, I meant to say whore. Anyway, The audience wonders (1) if the struggling theater act will open to a large audience (and if they will get shut down by 'the man') and (2) whether the girl (whore) will choose to fall in love with the Bohemian writer or the rich guy (who, conveniently, happens to be 'the man' in this story, as well).
Does Hollywood expect me to believe that they can relate to these struggles? How many A-List actors have ever met and married a commoner who saw them at a show and fell in love with them? Am I expected to believe that these socialites really idealize a Bohemian lifestyle when their bodygaurds escort them to their mansions at the end of the day? These actors, who are adored by all and have everything they want, can only pretend to know what it is like to worry about their next paycheck or to love someone who seems to be out of their league. If Hollywood types really cared about the things they portray in these films they would date ordinary people and fund local theaters. Are any of them doing that?
These films always seem empty to me because I don't believe that the actors involved really understand the struggles they portray. I believed it when it was Jimmy Stewart, but not anymore.
2 comments:
Jimmy Stewart. He was the man.
And I like Ewan McGregor in "Big Fish."
Any movie that Jimmy Stewart is in definately trumps Moulin Rouge (and most anything out of Hollywood as of late).
Still the fundemental question that you are asking is whether or not an actor can accurately portray a life they themselves haven't experienced. I would say that it is their job to do so (though there are very few who are good at their job).
This raises an even more fundenmental question of whether we can ever understand the experiences of others. Are we always filtering the communication from others through our own experience and understanding? (I personally think we can experience things vicariously.)
Exstitential ramblings aside, I have recently watched several of Werner Herzog's films and I always find his choice of actors interesting. In 'The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser' his choice of the lead actor was a socially awkward street preformer because his social state was similar to the main character in the film. But then again Herzog's interest in real people doesn't go down as smoothly or enterain as well as hollywood's portrayals.
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