Hawaiian Ice, My Way
Here's where I stick up for people who don't need it, haven't asked for it, and I'm sure don't care one way or the other...
The other day I wrote about Tom Selleck and his Jesse Stone movies. When I've read other online opinions about them, the vast majority is of the same opinion: they're excellent movies. The disturbing thing is how many people seem genuinely surprised that Tom Selleck does such an excellent job. Why wouldn't he?
There's a cultural snobbery that seems to ridicule men (I can't think of any women) who make enormous names for themselves with television shows that can be labeled as trendy. I didn't care for Magnum P.I. myself. I didn't like the pilot, the shady sidekick, I really didn't like Higgins, and the constant bickering turned me off. The car was cool but would a P.I. really drive one of those around? Maybe if he wanted everybody to look at him...
Don Johnson suffers from the same image problem. I loved him in Harlan Ellison's A Boy and his Dog. He was great in Paradise, possibly the last movie where Melanie Griffith looked like Melanie Griffith. He showed his usual charismatic screen charm in Tin Cup. But he made his bones with the Miami Vice TV show and it's become a post-eighties cliche. He, too, drove a cool car, but it wasn't enough. He did a fine job in the show, you just had to like the show. (I liked Nash Bridges must better.)
Do we resent these guys their success? Why don't we do the same for any women? If these guys were the lousy actors or punchlines they're too frequently portrayed to be, how'd they succeed at all?
It's not fair, and damn it, I'm here to stand and up and be counted. I'm not ashamed that I like watching these guys work on screen. They beat the snot out of enigmas like Keanu Reeves and Paul Walker. Those guys I don't get at all. Then again, they haven't been in cheesey hit TV shows.
A musical name pops out at me, too: Paul Anka. I like the guy. For years I've heard people deride him as some kind of second rate talent. He was a legitimate teen idol, writer and performer of hits like "Diana" and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder." He showed his longevity with hits (and Kodak commercials) like "The Times of Your Life." According to him, his song "My Way" caused Sinatra to reconsider his retirement.
Personally I think he survived the creepy AM horror of "You're Having My Baby." As far as I could tell, America forgave him for that one. His downfall was his first big hit, though, and he can't get over that any more than Selleck could outpace Magnum or Johnson could leave behind Miami Vice. Fifty years later, five decades, Anka fell in "Puppy Love" and we won't let him out of it. I think something's wrong with us.
The other day I wrote about Tom Selleck and his Jesse Stone movies. When I've read other online opinions about them, the vast majority is of the same opinion: they're excellent movies. The disturbing thing is how many people seem genuinely surprised that Tom Selleck does such an excellent job. Why wouldn't he?
There's a cultural snobbery that seems to ridicule men (I can't think of any women) who make enormous names for themselves with television shows that can be labeled as trendy. I didn't care for Magnum P.I. myself. I didn't like the pilot, the shady sidekick, I really didn't like Higgins, and the constant bickering turned me off. The car was cool but would a P.I. really drive one of those around? Maybe if he wanted everybody to look at him...
Don Johnson suffers from the same image problem. I loved him in Harlan Ellison's A Boy and his Dog. He was great in Paradise, possibly the last movie where Melanie Griffith looked like Melanie Griffith. He showed his usual charismatic screen charm in Tin Cup. But he made his bones with the Miami Vice TV show and it's become a post-eighties cliche. He, too, drove a cool car, but it wasn't enough. He did a fine job in the show, you just had to like the show. (I liked Nash Bridges must better.)
Do we resent these guys their success? Why don't we do the same for any women? If these guys were the lousy actors or punchlines they're too frequently portrayed to be, how'd they succeed at all?
It's not fair, and damn it, I'm here to stand and up and be counted. I'm not ashamed that I like watching these guys work on screen. They beat the snot out of enigmas like Keanu Reeves and Paul Walker. Those guys I don't get at all. Then again, they haven't been in cheesey hit TV shows.
A musical name pops out at me, too: Paul Anka. I like the guy. For years I've heard people deride him as some kind of second rate talent. He was a legitimate teen idol, writer and performer of hits like "Diana" and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder." He showed his longevity with hits (and Kodak commercials) like "The Times of Your Life." According to him, his song "My Way" caused Sinatra to reconsider his retirement.
Personally I think he survived the creepy AM horror of "You're Having My Baby." As far as I could tell, America forgave him for that one. His downfall was his first big hit, though, and he can't get over that any more than Selleck could outpace Magnum or Johnson could leave behind Miami Vice. Fifty years later, five decades, Anka fell in "Puppy Love" and we won't let him out of it. I think something's wrong with us.
posted by Rick Ollerman at 3:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home