Core Response

This week’s readings had an emphasis on performance. Dyer notes that Marlon Brando’s performance prepares the audiences for what is to come in which his character “at last destroys the woman herself (Blanche), devouring her futile illusions of Southern gentility” (142). Brando is used as an example of the method in which actors value the emotional over the social and intellectual components. It is noted that there is a sexist bias in the method because while men are typically tied to emotions of disturbance and aguish, women as connected to repression. The raw and violent scenes are only made authentic when contrasted with Blanche. It is not only in explosive moments of anger that Brando gives us strong emotions and insight into his character, it is in the subtle details of the ways in which he eats an apple, consistently scratched his belly, or drinks beer with loud gulps. Barry King’s insights into the differences between stage acting and film acting solidified how actors often “tend to develop a ‘personality’ for the purposes of public interaction” for their own personal gain (176). I was reminded of the discussion we had regarding “Now, Voyager” where the film was particularly effective because they utilized Bette Davis in a very non typical role for her. In seeing her in the opening scenes ungroomed and powerless, the audience makes instant connections to the Bette Davis persona they were used to. In understanding the progressions of various performance styles from stage to screen, and also to more specific modes such as vaudeville, music hall, radio, melodrama, etc. we se how stars become commodities themselves. While the stage might have valued their content output the most, the screen allowed for there to be an importance on the person beyond the character. The star image has become in garnering attention to ways in which actors prepare for their roles. I remember hearing about Jared Leto’s ridiculous antics as he prepared for his role of the joker, and how his choice of method acting was becoming more annoying than admirable. Perhaps if social media had been around when Brando was around we might have heard how Brando might have been a jerk at all times to prepare for his role as Stanley.