Quantifying acting
Oct. 28th, 2005 11:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gategrrlIn the arts, how "good" someone's work is strongly subjective. That's why some people think the Campbell Soup Can painting by Andy Warhol is the stupidist thing since the invention of Modernism, and others think it's the pinnacle of Modern Art, very sly and witty.
With actors and acting - it's apparent when someone is REALLY bad; they can't remember their lines, they feel like wood up on the stage/screen; their character doesn't *live*. It's also possible for a competent actor to move down a level, or a bad actor to improve.
So when two actors are compared, how is it possible to figure out who is the better/worse actor?
Are opinions based on Who I like Better? I like this actor's character better than that character's actor? I like what this one has done in the past better than what that person has done in the past? Or, I simply don't the fuck like this actor, and whatever he does is going to suck to me, cuz he's an ass and I'll never like him/her? or "My fandom politics dictate that I should hate this person's acting because."
How much Objectivity plays a role in your opinions? Or does it all?
So, when you say you don't like an actor/actress, WHY don't you like that actor/actress?
With actors and acting - it's apparent when someone is REALLY bad; they can't remember their lines, they feel like wood up on the stage/screen; their character doesn't *live*. It's also possible for a competent actor to move down a level, or a bad actor to improve.
So when two actors are compared, how is it possible to figure out who is the better/worse actor?
Are opinions based on Who I like Better? I like this actor's character better than that character's actor? I like what this one has done in the past better than what that person has done in the past? Or, I simply don't the fuck like this actor, and whatever he does is going to suck to me, cuz he's an ass and I'll never like him/her? or "My fandom politics dictate that I should hate this person's acting because."
How much Objectivity plays a role in your opinions? Or does it all?
So, when you say you don't like an actor/actress, WHY don't you like that actor/actress?
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Date: 2005-10-28 07:38 pm (UTC)I think some people can't distinguish between actor and character. Imagine an actor who plays these wonderful roles in 50 movies. Then, you get a chance to meet him and find out he's a complete twit/twat/dork. You developed an opinion about the actor based on the characters only to find out you were wrong, and no one wants to be wrong.
I never liked the country singer Shania Twain. I never thought she could sing, I never thought she could write songs and she came across as one of the most conceited, self-centered individuals I've ever seen.
Then I saw her interviewed and found out about her early life. I was unconciously basing my opinions about her on the videos and songs.
I still don't think she can sing and I still don't think she can write songs and I still have the impression that she's conceited (never do anything to muss her hair or break a nail), but I have more respect for her as a "person." I never thought of her as a person with a history before, just some singer/songwriter I didn't like to listen to.
I know the difference between the onscreen personality and real person, but if the audience is never given a glimpse of the real person, all they can do is form opinions based on what they see. Some of it is conscious, some of it unconscious.
As far as comparing two actors, some will think that Bela Lugosi was the finest actor to have ever existed, others will say Sir Laurence Olivier. It's all a matter of preference on that. Now, style and technique can be compared. Experience can be as well. I think only some things can be considered objectively because too much is colored by our personal preferences.
Just to add, I think Warhol's Campbell Soup Can is just a picture of a soup can. I don't find it compelling in the least. Now, Salvadore Dali's melting clocks, those are real attention getters.