Now let me be clear, I'm a relatively happy heterosexual. It's just that sometimes you get caught up watching a show, suddenly 3 seasons have gone by and it's already tomorrow. Real case of the Mondays ! HA HA HA...
Rewatching 30 Rock from the start, and remembering my first experience with the show, I found myself, not as the analyst I idealize myself to be, but rather as the schoolgirl phasing out every character in the show except Jack Donaghy while ice cream gently drips from my lips on my purple PJs with my hair held up by the only crayon I have left from that not-so-long ago childhood.
Aaaahhh,.... Jack Donaghy, with his perfect suits, hair, ties,... That voice he uses while guiding Liz Lemon, soft, deep, authoritative. But also that other voice, louder, more directive, manlier...
I haven't seen many of Alec Baldwin's movies, actually none I think except Team America World Police, and the first time I saw a Baldwin on my screen was,... oh, the shame,... was, Daniel Baldwin in Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. I had no idea who Alec Baldwin was, thinking he was just another actor. In my mind, he wasn't worth the first name "Alec" being a great Alec Guinness fan (yes, "Obi-Wan Kenobi", but not just... check out his autobiography which is awesome : A Positively Final Appearance) and "Baldwin" meant very little to me.
Yet, as the episodes went by, I saw this excellent actor just making me beg for more. Taking off those schoolgirl goggles, the whole cast is extraordinary, and therefore the show is excellent as well. The writing, the acting and even the music by Jeff Richmond (the music got more and more interesting because in the very beginning of 30 Rock, the background music in some scenes sounded a bit too much like the titles for The Office (US) in my opinion) got better and better.
When I finally realized that Alec Baldwin, as an actor, was not only very good, but perfect for the role I started feeling weird and let me tell you why...
I'm not a political person. Hell, I'm not even sure what "election" means. But Alec Baldwin seems to have his own political views that differ somewhat from Jack Donaghy's. What got even weirder is the fact that I started thinking that I'd rather have Jack Donaghy running my network than Alec Baldwin... The problem is that I "know" Jack Donaghy much better than I know Alec Baldwin, thus, meeting Alec Baldwin would leave me in want of a topic of conversation. Yet, meeting Jack Donaghy, I would have plenty to discuss with him : the Fabian Strategy.
Little by little my mind started to wonder and wander through the maze of completely illogical thought process that I will not share with you (or will I ! ).
So I said to myself "not to worry, there is surely a reason". The reason is that as an illusion gets more and more confident and the show or movie or book gets past TOCS, something strange happens where our reality is confronted with the illusional reality.
Not very clear, let me explain.
These shows we watch air regularly and watching them becomes a sort of ritual. That ritual, coupled with the illusions set up, becomes a landmark in our lives. So the show becomes a reality just by being regular. Now this does not happen with every show, sadly, it only happens with excellent shows such as 30 Rock. What makes an excellent show ? Writing, acting and illusionizing.
Getting back to Alec Baldwin, his (and also the other cast members, but I'm justifying my Man Crush here,...) acting corresponds so well to the show, to the character and to the illusion that he is not part of the ritual really, but almost the ritual itself. The character becomes bigger than life and therefore bigger than the actor.
I don't know if all this makes any sense to you, but I'm really impressed with what he is doing on 30 Rock and so I wanted to share my admiration with you and try to decipher the reason(s) why, instead of stalking the man and covering my pillow with his hair and vice-versa.
Maybe what I mean by "Man Crush" is deep admiration but in the same way Mike Myers says Sean Connery is his Man Crush. Indeed, with every episode "my man crush deepens".
Don't worry dear friends, I have other man crushes... and even some women crushes !
Share, Comment and Subscribe !
As always,
Thank You
TRJ
Little by little my mind started to wonder and wander through the maze of completely illogical thought process that I will not share with you (or will I ! ).
How does it happen ? Why do we admire characters rather than actors ? It's not only Alec Baldwin, there also is Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, or Heath Ledger as The Joker.
So I said to myself "not to worry, there is surely a reason". The reason is that as an illusion gets more and more confident and the show or movie or book gets past TOCS, something strange happens where our reality is confronted with the illusional reality.
Not very clear, let me explain.
These shows we watch air regularly and watching them becomes a sort of ritual. That ritual, coupled with the illusions set up, becomes a landmark in our lives. So the show becomes a reality just by being regular. Now this does not happen with every show, sadly, it only happens with excellent shows such as 30 Rock. What makes an excellent show ? Writing, acting and illusionizing.
Getting back to Alec Baldwin, his (and also the other cast members, but I'm justifying my Man Crush here,...) acting corresponds so well to the show, to the character and to the illusion that he is not part of the ritual really, but almost the ritual itself. The character becomes bigger than life and therefore bigger than the actor.
I don't know if all this makes any sense to you, but I'm really impressed with what he is doing on 30 Rock and so I wanted to share my admiration with you and try to decipher the reason(s) why, instead of stalking the man and covering my pillow with his hair and vice-versa.
Maybe what I mean by "Man Crush" is deep admiration but in the same way Mike Myers says Sean Connery is his Man Crush. Indeed, with every episode "my man crush deepens".
Don't worry dear friends, I have other man crushes... and even some women crushes !
Share, Comment and Subscribe !
As always,
Thank You
TRJ
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