Sincerity is everything,
if you can fake that, you got it made.
Posted on 05/16/2012 10:21:19 AM PDT by greyfoxx39
A few months ago, Brian McFadden’s weekly comic strip in the Sunday Times offered ways for Mitt Romney to improve his image. One panel showed him with me on the set of Inside the Actors Studio, under the heading “Take Acting Lessons to Appear More Relatable.”
Initially amused by this unsolicited enlistment, I’ve found myself returning spontaneously and with increasing frequency to the task, sometimes starting awake in the middle of the night with acting advice for the candidate. Convinced that the only way to exorcise this possession is to confront it, I offer the following counsel.
In this media-saturated era, the line between politics and performance has virtually vanished, and the public is having a hard time believing Mr. Romney’s persona (as in dramatis personae) — a potentially fatal flaw for any actor, but especially for a presidential candidate. Why doesn’t Mr. Romney’s audience believe him?
Perhaps it starts with his laugh, a device he employs at odd moments and in a most peculiar way. (The public thinks that crying is the acid test of the actor, but in fact “laughing” is much harder — and Mr. Romney hasn’t mastered it.)
Listen to his laugh. It resembles the flat “Ha! Ha! Ha!” that appears in comic-strip dialogue balloons. But worse – far worse – it is mirthless. Mr. Romney expects us to be amused, although he himself is not amused. Freeze the frame, cover the bottom of his face with your hand, and study his eyes. There’s no pleasure there, no amusement.
Genuine laughter is triggered only by, and is completely dependent on, shared perception. That’s why we say we “get” a joke.
Another of Mr. Romney’s acting sins is sartorial. Calling Wardrobe! The combination of neatly creased blue jeans below and crisp white dress shirt or bespoke jacket above is a failed mash-up of bowling alley and country club. Inauthenticity is, after all, today’s topic, and I suspect that if Mr. Romney weren’t running for president, he wouldn’t be caught dead in that mismatch.
-SNIP-
When challenged on the illegal immigrants caring for his lawn, Mr. Romney responded: “We went to the company and we said, look, you can’t have any illegals working on our property. I’m running for office, for Pete’s sake.” While a few illegal immigrants on the lawn might not faze private citizen Romney, “running for office” requires a separate set of rules and, more important, a separate persona.
It’s that “other” Romney that seems to be confusing the public, and that launched my assignment in the Times. As worthy as the real Romney may be, he is not, has never been, and never will be the common man, and when he assumes the role in a crowd, his evident discomfort tells us that this guy doesn’t fly coach, much less go Greyhound, and, without the demands of “running for office,” wouldn’t be spending much time with these people who do.
-SNIP-
The lesson of Reagan is that, whatever his politics and legacy, there was always only one of him. Even with all his theatrical experience, he never essayed a dual role. So, for what it’s worth, my advice to Mr. Romney is this: Since the evidence indicates that you lack the skills to simulate what you're not, you should stick to typecasting and go with what you’ve got and who you are. It’s not just your best option, sir, it’s your only one.
If you can fake that, you've got it made.
Just ask Bill Clinton.
Or maybe Romney isn't sincere and we can tell. Reagan was sincere and it showed. It's a little more complicated than throwing another layer of shellac and shining up the ole facial expression.
CRAP !! james lipton and the new york magazine.
Isn’t That Special.
November gonna hurt jimmy.
As Sam Goldwyn said, “The key is sincerity. Once you learn how to fake that you have got it made.”
Listen to his laugh. It resembles the flat “Ha! Ha! Ha!” that appears in comic-strip dialogue balloons. But worse – far worse – it is mirthless.
It is mirthless; who talks like this???
Regardless of one's opinion of Lipton, this article nails a key lack in Romney's appeal. A lot of people WANT to believe Obama, and will still vote for him while very few want to believe in Mitt.
The left is just getting started on Mitt. Remember what they did to Dan Quayle for one mishap. They are much more invested in Obama and Mitt's "used car salesman" persona just turns a lot of folks off.
Mitt hasn't the chance of a snowball in hell of defeating Obama, even without all the voter fraud that will happen.
I stand with Jim Robinson...vote down ticket for conservatives.
See my tagline.
Hey, Jimmy! Why don’t you forward your advice to your tin-plated demigod, Barack? He’s not exactly the most sincere guy in the world, and his wardrobe (as if that’s important) is every bit as fake as Mittens’. And as for mirthlessness, Obama’s leer is more of a supercilious sneer than a laugh. Duplicity? Barack Obama has more faces than a cut diamond.
So methinks you’re wasting your vast talent on the wrong candidate.
I'm just keeping my hand in to combat all the Romney support on FR.
I plan to vote for Virgil Goode, as he seems to be the only conservative on the ballot at this point, down ticket for conservatives...and nasty accusations of my supporting Obama just roll like water off a duck's back.
Been posting on FR to defeat Mitt since '07 and don't intend to quit now.
BTW, who is "jimmy"?
None of my comments were directed at you. Jimmy is the dipstick who wrote this piece of dreck.
I didn't realize that.
Sincerity is everything,
if you can fake that, you got it made.
Excellent! Me too!
The truth is, greyfoxx39, that even the GOP-"no choicers" (ABO's) should be saying the same thing if they truly mean their pledge to force Romney and the GOP-e to move right and stay right or face holy heck from them.
Their message to Romney by loudly proclaiming their loyalty months before they have to is: "You've got us over a barrel, Mitt. We have no choice but you."
Speaking of tag lines.
Even Chris Matthews gets it right some of the time, ROTFL!
CHRIS MATTHEWS: "Well, this is how Mitt won the primaries. He spent tens of millions of dollars destroying his rivals with negative TV ads hoping that people would vote for him out of desperation. They certainly weren’t going to vote for Santorum or Gingrich when Mitt and his moneyed friends were through keelhauling them in one nasty ad after the other.
So this is what we’re getting this November: a candidate we know, and one waiting in the shadows hoping things get so hopeless that we elect that guy with the nice wife and kids, that one who won’t answer questions. Well right now, he won’t even tell us how he got rich for the simple reason he doesn’t want us to know the answers. He just wants us, well he just wants himself to be the alternative, the guy we end up with when nothing else is around. You know, sort of like going to Denny’s".
I do not go to Denny's and I do not vote for liberals.
Just how do yo know the list of things unknown about BHO is longer than Romney’s.
Really how much do you know about Romney (beyond his liberalism that is).
I believe that November gonna hurt Willard.
Acting Coach: OK Willie Mitty show me “compassion”
Willie Mitty: (Screws up his face in a leer.)
AC: NO NO Compassion COMPASSION
Willie Mitty: Can I try again ?
AC: Please do. NOOOO Ah give me fear...NO, FEAR You dont smile for fear.
Willie Mitty: Im trying my best.
AC: Yes but must your fear, terror, compassion, sadness, happy, anger all be the same facial expressions ?
Willie Mitty: I thought I was pretty good.
AC: Who told you that ?
Willie Mitty: (Leering) My little peon FRiends on FRee Republic
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.