QAF minor rant

Mar 16, 2019 14:38

I've had some health issues in the last couple of months, and am currently in recuperation mode after an operation. So I've been catching up on some QAF reading ( Read more... )

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Re: Justin ext_4516059 March 16 2019, 13:53:40 UTC
I agree with every single thing you said. I would address the Munchers and their actions during this particular story arc, but Honeyyyyy... this post would end up as much content as you would find in an encyclopedia if I tried that! So let me address your Justin comments, since while somewhat long, is still going to be a far more condensed version that I could make for Lindsay and Melanie's idiocy ( ... )

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Re: Justin wren_kt7oz March 17 2019, 02:21:20 UTC
Oh, I so agree with all of this. Debbie ... she has her moments, but she has as many really bad ones as she does good. And this is an example. What possible difference could it make to Mel and Linds if Justin was at their wedding or not? It's not like he was a close friend of theirs - he's just a kid that they enjoy patronising. (And seriously, every time I read one of Randy's comments about how Brian patronised Justin I want to scream at him "Are you kidding? Compared to how every woman in the show behaved towards him, Brian treated him with extraordinary respect ( ... )

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RE: Re: Justin gaedhal March 17 2019, 22:43:19 UTC
One thing Gale does is to play AGAINST the script, which gives
what he says so much more ambiguity and complexity.

And as Gale has said, it was frustrating to him that for every
movement Brian made towards maturity, he was dragged back
by some ridiculous plot twist (see the whole syphilis thing --
Brian, the poster boy for condom use, gets a disease that
can't penetrate a condom) that seems invented to bring him
back to square one.

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Re: Justin malanna42 March 17 2019, 22:54:08 UTC
THIS.

It could also have been true of Michael. He *should* have been the 'everyman.' Almost everyone has experienced the pain of unrequited love, and many of us with a close friend. We *should* have felt empathy for Mikey. We *should* have gone through that painful journey of letting go with him. We *should* have rejoiced when he finally found real love with Ben.

But, for me at least, none of that happened. And I lay that almost entirely on Hal. He chose to portray Michael as a whiny, immature, petulant brat. It didn't have to be that way.

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Re: Justin wren_kt7oz March 18 2019, 04:42:22 UTC
Well, exactly. Justin was always more likely to be the one who got something nasty, just due to his inexperience - especially while he was out in Hollywood, playing with a very different crowd than he was used to in Pittsburgh.

And you are totally right about the way Gale plays against the script. The way he delivered the "well, I guess we're all a little scared the first time" line in 101 is a really good example. That could have been said in a totally offhand way - which is what the "scripted" version of Brian would have done, cutting Justin off completely, denying any similarities between them. Instead, it's said with an entrancing touch of empathy and understanding. Not overdone, just THERE.

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RE: Re: Justin gaedhal March 19 2019, 04:29:22 UTC
It also helps that Gale has that little "catch" in his throat
when he talks very, very softly. It brings something totally
genuine, unlike the "acting" of Hal or, sometimes, even
Peter.

My acting teacher in college always used to yell, "I can
see/hear you ACTING! Stop it NOW!"

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Re: Re: Justin wren_kt7oz March 19 2019, 10:57:53 UTC
Yes. I have to admit that I'm very influenced in my response to actors by their voices. So it helps enormously that I just like Gale's voice, and Randy's. While Hal's was like nails on the blackboard to me from his very first line. That combination of smugness and whine when he was doing the "every nine seconds" line was simply unbearable to me.

But yes, Hal is definitely someone that you "see" acting (often very badly).

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