Method (Realism part 2)(Realism Returns)
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Method acting
13 min read
The article critiques 'Method' acting extensively, discussing its dangers and the false equivalency between real suffering and good performance. Understanding the history and techniques of Method acting (Stanislavski, Strasberg, Adler) provides essential context for the author's arguments about 'Toxic Realism'
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Stunt performer
16 min read
The article extensively discusses the craft of stunt work, contrasting trained professionals like Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves with actors who dangerously attempt stunts without proper training. The history and professionalization of stunt work illuminates the author's point about artifice enhancing rather than diminishing performance
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Suspension of disbelief
13 min read
The article directly references Coleridge's coining of this phrase and discusses the audience-performer pact as foundational to theatre. A deeper understanding of this concept's philosophical origins and theatrical applications supports the author's central argument that staged realism is more effective than actual reality
AUTHOR’S NOTE: As a reminder, This whole elaborate rant is based on an online panel/lecture I did back in 2020 for Page 23 at Denver Pop Culture Con. Last week’s coverage of Realism was from the beginning of that preso, and now you’ve got the second half today, plus!! I also have added a couple clips of some early proto-posts that later morphed into “I Do My Own Stunts” which ended up published in stage combat journal The Fight Master. Obviously since 2014 and also 2020, I’ve had many new thoughts and many new things have happened on these topics too, and so I have adapted all this to more align with my current thoughts and our current pop culture sitch. And if you think I’m done complaining about Joaquin Phoenix, I’m definitely not.
Toxic Realism: How ‘Method’ acting is a dangerous joke(r)
Part 2: Method
I Do My Own Stunts
Why do we glorify things like actors doing their own stunts instead of professionals? Or, even worse: things like DiCaprio cutting his hand open for reals in Django Unchained? How about the mental health problems like panic attacks on that set?
There are several possible answers, the most obvious of which, to me, are: 1) machismo; and 2) a false equivalency of real to Realism, and that into quality.
In the case of moments of violence, onstage or onscreen, reality actually looks way more fake than rehearsed Realism. Or it’s not even visible—especially on a live stage, a real fight move is usually far too quick and small to be seen. And if an audience can’t see it, then it doesn’t really matter how ‘authentic’ it is, does it? At that point, we’ve stopped telling the story, which “at the first and now, was and is”* the aim of all acting.
Boxer? I Hardly Know Her
Stage combat needs to be choreographed, performed within safe distance, rehearsed about a gajillion times so as to ingrain the moves into an actor’s body, that he can feel safe acting while performing the potentially dangerous moves. In film, all this is true plus the stunts themselves need to be performed by another actor, a stuntperson. Problems come in when the actor or director begins to feel like the fight move is, well, rehearsed, and opts for a more dangerous choice because it feels more
...This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.