but would your Surrogate have Jennifer’s Body
Well, I saw two movies in the last two weeks, Jennifer’s Body and Surrogates. Jennifer’s Body was fun horror/comedy, and Surrogates was kind of fun (because of Bruce Willis) sci-fi/action, but it was Surrogates that got my brain a-scrambling like a midget on a treadmill. Well, it was a combination of Surrogates and this quote from the lovely and talented Holly:
(Realizing, of course, that I can paint whatever picture of myself I want on here, but that’s beside the point, wink wink.)
That kind of rolled around in my brain at the time like a lost marble, but it wasn’t until Surrogates that it kind of sunk in for me. Not to spoil anything, but most of the Surries look like their real-life counterparts (Bruce WIllis is Bruce Willis, but with awful hair; Rosamund Pike looks like herself but with big hair and better skin; Ving Rhames looks like himself but with a glorious beard and Bob Marley dreads, etc.) Now I know that it’s probably a question of cheapness on the part of the filmmakers. Plus why would you cast name actors and not have them look like themselves; but aside from two or three background figures, all the rest of the Surrogates looked like real people too. Just slightly cleaned up, smoothed out real people without blemishes or scars or body fat.
It’s the best version of whoever that actor is.
Really, that’s what we all do. Sure we don’t have robot wigs, but I think that deep down everyone does their best to put their best foot forward because most of us believe that deep down, there’s something good about ourselves. Sure we might want to shave off a few pounds or not have to worry about shaving every 6 hours to keep a smooth face or would like to thicken up the ol’ head of hair and other things that aren’t talking about my personal issues exclusively, but for the most part, we think we’re all right. Or that we have the potential, at our core, to be something attractive to others. We might not feel that way, and we definitely exaggerate our own flaws more so than others would, but we all want to think we’re redeemable. And, for the most part, we are. Or we could be. That’s why people play Second Life.
That’s kind of what blogging is, in a way. We’re putting out some version of ourselves, be it overly positive, overly critical, or just exaggerated in some way, for the consumption of others. Our words (well, my words) are my Surrogate to you, the uninterested reader who has long since branded this a teal deer and moved on to something with a punchline.
This is how I present myself to the world, at least in this location. I take on other tones at other places, share different pieces of myself in different areas, but it’s not the full picture. To put everything out there is to take on too much risk. Somebody might see something or read something and be offended or confused or whatever. That’s what Surrogates are good for in the movie, and that’s what Surrogates are good for in the blogodecahedron. That’s why all those social media things have privacy functions. We need to keep some folks out and let other folks in.
We’re all one step away from a dentist chair, a robot in a wig that looks like Perfect Us, and no reason to change out of our pajamas.
Tags: Action, blogging, Den of Geek, horror comedy, Jennifer's Body, movie reviews, my Surrogate has laser beam eyes and a chainsaw hand, rambling, Sci-Fi, Shameless Self Promotion, Surrogates, teal deer
September 28th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Weird. I’ve been riding this thought train off the rails lately, and I’ve been planning a post all day in my head wherein I further explored this concept (sort of). Now I don’t have to. Thanks, and thanks for the linkage and kind words.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
The train of thought has room for many hobos, so don’t let me stop you from expounding your own thoughts on the subject. If you can somehow talk about cheap sfx and/or bad crepe beards, so much the better.
October 1st, 2009 at 3:59 am
I remember taking this interpersonal communication class, and talking about how we present ourselves differently to different people. You are going to put on a more professional face for your boss than for your friends. And when those little worlds collide, it can sometimes create an uncomfortable situation.
I can see blogging as another facet of that.
October 25th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
[...] the enigma of me, wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door | A while back, the amazing Mr. Hogan linked one of my posts in a very insightful post of his own. As I commented there, the subject matter [...]