Comedy Actresses

Today I watched an hour long round table discussion with some of television's leading comedic actresses.

Hollywood Reporter invited Zooey Deschanel, Christina Applegate, Julie Bowen, Laura Dern, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jane Lynch, and Martha Plimpton to sit down and discuss what it means to be a comedic actress in today's world.

Look how funny they are being

This is a great example of something being thought provoking, but still not very good. I'm not overly impressed with the whole thing, but it gave me a lot of questions about comedy and gender to ponder, so it was certainly worth my time. 

First off, Hollywood Reporter spends a strange amount of time showing us footage of them being photographed. I know it was probably for the magazine, and they wanted video they could mix with the audio of the round table discussion, but I felt like waaaay too much of this was just shots of them looking pretty for the camera. If the goal of the discussion was "why aren't women taken more seriously comedy", cutting the interviews with shots of them posing and preening undermines the whole thing. 

Also, I felt there are some major undertones of competition and jealously going on throughout the interview. Maybe it's a result of getting that many celebrities to interview each other, or because they are all technically competitors in their careers (didn't the Emmy's just happen?), but there's a part of me that just feels it is because they are women. Get a group of women together, no matter how powerful or assertive, and the same games seem to appear. 

For one thing, I heard a lot of apologizing- people saying sorry for what they said, or for losing their train of thought, or saying something that could be potentially embarrassing or contrarian. It seemed to me the main goal was to keep the tone light and happy, more than to make a point or to express a strong opinion. Compare this to 'Talking Funny', which I watched a few months ago (here) where they had no problem calling each other out or flat out disagreeing on topics. 

Also, a good amount of time was spent complimenting each other. Not that there is anything wrong with showing respect for your contemporaries, I just felt the motive behind most of these comments was less "I respect you" and more "we're cool, right?". If the interview was all men, I don't think they'd spend this much time talking each other up. It reminds me of a Cracked article that talks about why women take so long to say goodbye at parties: 

"In research published by Daniel Balliet, Norman P. Li, Shane J. Macfarlan and Mark Van Vugt of the American Psychological Association in Psychological Bulletin, men cooperate better with other men than women cooperate with other women. Researchers reviewed 272 studies containing 31,642 participants in 18 countries. Each study contained one social dilemma. In a social dilemma experiment, two or more people must choose between short-term self-interest and long-term group interest. The research revealed that women were more likely to cooperate when men were involved and women were less cooperative than men in same-sex situations."

Read more.

I don't know how well any of the women in this interview really know each other, but I got the feeling they wanted us to think they were all best friends. 

For the record, I don't blame any of these women for their behavior. I think our gender roles and expectations are hard wired into our brains from a very early age, and those who choose to live in front of the cameras have to deal with them even more often than the average person. So I don't slight any of them for acting this way- it's a result of our gendered society. 

You can watch the full interview here: 

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Peepshow

Today I watched a documentary about the British tv show 'Peepshow'. I think I found this documentary on Tumblr. Peepshow is a BBC show staring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. I first learned about these dudes from their amazing sketch show, 'The Mitchell and Webb Look". Here's one of my favorite sketches ever: 

 Mitchell and Webb: Scooby Doo

The documentary is just a basic overview of the show; its genesis, the behind the scenes work, the characters, and the actors that play them. There are a couple of cool stories from the cast and crew thrown in too. 

Having only seen one or two episodes of Peepshow, I really learned a lot. It makes me want to watch more of it. I, like most comedy nerds, automatically assume most British comedies are going to be good, and this one seems to promote that assumption. 

I suggest you go watch some 'Mitchell and Webb", then go check out Peepshow, then hit up the doc for some trivia. 

You can watch the documentary in entirety here: 

 

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Running Man Documentary #1

Today I watched a short documentary produced by the makers of The Running Man, a 1987 Schwarzenegger movie. The documentary is a special feature on the dvd.

So, a couple things right off the bat. I love Schwarzenegger movies. For a long time I thought I only liked them ironically, the way I like modern rap and dime store sci-fi books. But I've come to realize I just legitimately like them. To properly test this, I asked for nothing but his movies for my last birthday. After watching one a month for the last year, I can honestly state I like them, non-ironically, as the cheesy action movies they are.


I recently rewatched Running Man as a tribute to the recently deceased Richard Dawson, ex-host of 'Family Feud' and main bad guy in RM. 

On the second disc there are two short documentaries loosely based on themes presented in the movie: one is about the rise of reality tv and the other is about the threat of a police state. Today I watched the reality tv one. 


The doc, about 20 minutes long, is a mix of interviews with sociology experts, television executives, and ex-reality tv stars discussing how and why reality tv has become such an American obsession. Their answer is that we love living vicariously through others, we love watching villains, and tv shows love tiny budgets and not having to pay their talent much money. It was a match made in heaven. 


The part I found most interesting is when the tv execs basically admit that reality tv isn't really that 'real'- they acknowledge that scenes are prompted, dialogue is constructed, and emotions are heightened to unbelievable levels. But in the same breath they defend it as a strong form of entertainment that still sheds light on the human condition, and thus preventing them from fully having to admit what a giant crock of shit it all is. 


If you want to watch it, you can come borrow my 'Running Man' dvd.

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Day 20: The Life of Reilly

I continued my trend of comedian docs with a doc on Charles Nelson Reilly. It was actually pretty funny at parts, but it was super sad and kinda creepy in others, so I feel like it cancels it out.

Charles Nelson Reilly was one of those dudes I knew nothing about, but could instantly recognize. He existed in a era when celebs were walking caricatures, expected to crack wise and spout puns as often as they did on screen. He was known for his flamboyant nature: gaudy clothes, ridiculous over-reactions, and insanely large glasses.

 So this is an hour and half 1-man show that Reilly wrote to discuss his life, childhood and career. It's mostly him on stage, with some extra old clips and photos thrown in by the filmmakers.

What I learned: Basically everything. I knew nothing about this dude, so it was all new to me. Most of it was pretty sad: his aunt was one of the first women to ever get a lobotomy, and it went horribly wrong. When he was a teenager he witnessed a fire in a Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1944 that killed 168 people.
There were over 7,000 people in attendance
The flames got so hot they cremated people and left nothing behind
Back then bands would perform "Stars and Stripes Forever" in cases of emergency
One of the guys who was convicted of starting the fire later went on to serve in Congress for 24 years
(note to self- watch a doc about circuses soon- they sound pretty nuts).

What I liked: The dude is pretty funny. Even without his costumes or props Reilly is such an talented story teller he sucks you right in. The dude has had some shocking, terrible, unbelievable things happen to him; so much so it's amazing he can talk about them, even laugh about them. I appreciated how flawlessly he could switch from humor to the heart-felt.

What I didn't like: The film-making style took me a while to get used to. The rapid switching between multiple cameras, most of them close up, made it feel more like a Joe Rogan special than the life story of an 70 year old man. Also the added clips and video, though interesting, took away from the intended austerity of the one-person show. Reilly surely worked hard to recreate his entire world on stage using only his words, so taking us out of it with clips seemed to counteract that.

A couple of thoughts:
He, like so many actors, regales us with his first experience at a movie theater as a child, and the burning desire he felt to one day be a famous performer. Call me jaded, but why must we always hear about the burning passion actors seem to possess? Should it make us happier for them that they got what they wanted? Having that desire doesn't make you more talented.  What about all the millions of people who have that same passion but never get to experience it?
He never directly discusses his sexual orientation, but it's hinted at through several stories. In a society where celebs are rewarded for being open with their homosexuality, I can't imagine a time when you had to hide it, for fear of blacklisting or an even worse fate.
In a lot of ways he reminded me of Salieri, the character from the 1984 film Amadeus. Salieri spends the film reminiscing on his life, his unhappy childhood, his desire for fame and talent, and his need for self-acceptance. I saw a lot of parallels here.

I think it's a good film, and would probably be more satisfying for those who are familiar with him already. I saw it more as just an interesting older man who lived a pretty incredible life. The film can be watched on Netflix instant.

Here's the trailer:

Here's a link about the Fire, in case you want more info on that. 

The Hartford Circus Fire

And finally, here's how I know CNR; his work in All Dogs Go to Heaven: