Skip to main content

How the Oscars Got Me Wondering Whether Playing Everyone's Favourite Game Will Give You Cancer

No, I'm not talking about when a boy and girl put their naked parts together, nor am I talking about that game where you are symbolised as a shoe or a thimble and go around and buy property. No, I am talking about the game where you choose actors to portray the mental image of a picture in your head - also known as Celebrity Cheek (because I have heard people pick actors for nearly every feature but their rear ends).

Yeah, I actually sat myself down with my homework in front of me and sat through the how ever many torturous hours of the 83rd Academy Awards. And yes, seeing Melissa Leo drop the f-bomb and James Franco in drag - not to mention his granny say "Marky Mark" - made it worth it. But seeing all of these men that I've continually drooled over, and the ones that I just think are amazing, as well as those women who are so pretty I wish they'd trip, it made me wonder: to what extent should authors match familiar faces to their characters?

I'm not frowning and nay-saying at this - I mean, hell!, I even do it - but just think about it. It's awesome to name George Clooney as the perfect face for your MC, and usually, we are quite apt at watching films and stopping it halfway through because "OMG, that guy looks exactly like my MC's arch nemesis from high school! Must. Search. IMDB." (Come on, I know you do it.) There is nothing wrong with that - in fact, there are always reasons to do it that are extremely beneficial to our writerly processes.

However, what do you say to writers who base characters entirely on celebrities? There are a bucketload and a half of actors whom I adore, who would never fit into any of the characters in any of my novels. I would die of happiness if I could use Ralph or Joe Fiennes, Robert Sean Leonard, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kevin Spacey, Natalie Portman, Gwyneth Paltrow or even Sean Ashmore - but I can't. So I wouldn't consider changing one of my MCs to suit the kind of role one of these actors would take, or even what one of these actors look like. After seeing The Social Network, for example, would you sit down and create a character (and I'm not talking extra, or minor minor character, I'm talking prominent reoccurring character) based entirely on Andrew Garfield? Looks, personality, even speech?

I'm unsure of whether this has come out coherently or whether most of you have given up already and resorted to skimming - I apologise. (*is still watching the Oscars*)

Here is where I shamelessly plug the blogfest Now Starring... over at Rapturous Randomocity and tell you all to pull together your movie buff brains and churn out some headshot pictures, via Google Images.

So, feel free to throw in your 2 cents below. Do you cast your characters? Do you think people should? Or, what are the boundaries before an author goes too far?

Comments

  1. I can't find anybody out there who looks like my MMC - he's just unique in my head ;) I do think that Ashley Greene is a good match for one of my FCs, but generally I have clearer pictures in my own head of what they look like, than any photo can give.

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I'm developing a new character I often go scouring the web for look alikes. (Then paste them in my document.) No one ever fully fits the bill. As far as personality goes, same story.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My characters just pop into my head. It would be fun to sit down with a sceth artist because I can never find look alikes for them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My characters are usually generally just based on people I've met (not close friends or anything) or admire, but they often take on their own shape to match their personality. It makes me wish I could draw. I wouldn't want to base my character on a celebrity though. What's the fun in plastic perfection? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi! Well, I don't cast my characters. They are all originals straight from my psychotic writer's brain. They are born running, there's no slow birthing process. :)

    ♥.•*¨ Elizabeth ¨*•.♥

    ReplyDelete
  6. I cast my characters all the time. With actors, random photographs from stock sites, even hand drawn stuff. It's funny, because my "real" characters turn out to be cartoons sometimes. I honestly never find anyone that looks EXACTLY like any of my characters, but some come pretty darn close.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Honestly, I can't think of any that would make a perfect fit. Perhaps, that's a good thing? :) New follower and fellow crusader here just (finally) making the rounds. Happy Thursday!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

D'You Ever Get Those Umpteenth Draft Blues - They're Like the Mean Reds (Or, I Need to Buy HG Wells' Time Machine off Sheldon Cooper)

Say hip hip hooray for absurdly long titles. (And if you didn't catch those references, look here (at 2:50) and here ) I apologise profusely here, boyos. School has been an even greater burden that I'd ever imagined. If I want this mark I've been blabbering about, I am going to need to clone myself. Seriously. It's been a long week since I last spoke to you all and I'm afraid it may be another until I can break above the water. I'm drowning in homework, and core texts that I absolutely despise. In fact, I'm starting to look a little like this: And this glorious situation sparked me with inspiration as gracefully as lightning destroys a palm tree. Inspiration for, well, my blog. *Casts longing glance to manuscript in the corner* As I tried to straighten out my weekend to catch up on all the work I missed when I was sick this week, I realised that Saturday - my devout RETURN revisions day - was being consumed by extra reading/film viewing/art sketching for s

"In 900 Years of Time and Space, I've Never Met Anyone Who Wasn't Important Before" (Problem: Boring Lead, Riveting Supporting Cast)

I received an email the other day from a reader (who wanted to remain anonymous in this post - but we'll call her Sarah) who told me that she was having trouble getting into her protagonist, despite this being her most prominent POV. She is dynamic as many Young Adult characters are, but at the beginning she's anxious and self-doubting because she's in that adolescent phase when you realise everything you know about yourself is completely wrong and you're just starting to discover who you REALLY are. There's not much that makes her like me (or am I kidding myself?) even though I've been in the same position as her. Well maybe not exactly since this is YA SF, but as far as her emotional state goes, I've been through that. But I just feel like she should've developed more by now, and she still feels like a faceless stock character. Bildungsroman is the nature of YA above all, and that relatable trait for the protagonist is necessary. To some extent,

Have we seen the end of action-oriented YA?

Well, have we? A lot of writers struggle with balancing action and suspense with realistic development and emotion. I've received a couple emails about concerns that in writing physical struggles at the forefront, internal conflict plays second fiddle.  In many ways, characters vs. plot  or even the conflict in pleasing your readers vs. pleasing yourself. We get caught up in all the little opinions - agents condemn certain features and talk about the importance of "emotion" and issues relevant to the YA audience, and critics on sites like Goodreads can be absolutely brutal about their preferences.  We as authors have a tendency to reconsider our choices and our work in their desire to be relevant and pleasing and, well, good. But it's all about balance. And I do mean action-oriented   and not action-packed .  All plots have a sense of urgency to them, and that pacing is absolutely vital. It's important not to forgo that in the mistaken