SPOKEN WORD ACTING – A COMPARISON
Spoken Word is a catch-all term used to describe various genres of spoken performance. For this Instagram and Vine Installation Blog I am focusing on Spoken Word Poetry and how it relates to Acting, Journalism and Rapping. I am also focusing on how technology has impacted these forms of creative communication. The spoken word in acting is vital to its message. Body language and non-verbal communication in Acting are key components to nuanced sophisticated stories. Technology has separated the audience from non-verbal communication within Spoken Word. A generation of people more interested in popularity and money than the merits of a well-written and executed performance has evolved from the separation of the actor and his audience.
Evidence of a shifting creative focus can be seen in the type of performances that entertain the Millennial Generation. Reality Television and viral You Tube videos capture the essence of technology’s impact. Below are comparisons between performances before the introduction of modern technology and after.
BEFORE: The Cosby Show was a situation comedy show that ran for 8 seasons from 1984-1992. It focused around an upper-middle class African American family living in Brooklyn. The children were raised by a strong and authoritative mother who had a career as an Attorney and a mild mannered father who was an Obstetrician. Some critics felt The Cosby Show inaccurately left its white viewers believing that racism and poverty were a thing of the past. Despite the reservations of their critics, the Cosby’s taught their audience important and moral lessons about difficult issues such as teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency and dyslexia. The show is inspired by Bill Cosby’s stand-up act, which revolves around his real family, and is a portrayal of fiction about fact by award-winning professional actors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cosby_Show
AFTER: Keeping Up With The Kardashians is a reality show that has been running since 2007 for 8 seasons. It chronicles the lives of a blended family; the result of Bruce Jenner, his wife Kris Jenner, their children together and their children from previous marriages. The family is chaotic, dysfunctional, wealthy and most importantly famous. The children were raised wealthy and famous and know nothing else. The most widely recognized fame is derived from Bruce’s Olympic career. Bruce was the 1976 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Decathlon. He went on to act in various television roles and remained relevant for many years. Kris Jenner is famous for being the ex-wife of lawyer Robert Kardashian. The program encourages fame for the sake of fame: an endless cycle where publicity stunts feed tabloid journalism which feeds further pointless fame which feeds program ratings. The show allegedly does not follow a script and the roles are not played by professional actors, with the exception of Bruce, whose role is actually minor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keeping_Up_with_the_Kardashians
“The main similarity between The Cosby Show and Keeping Up With The Kardashians is that both shows present characters that are likeable, but not relatable, to the majority of their target audience. The result of the likeable/not relatable paradox is that the target audience becomes so connected to the characters that their goal is to one day become the roles these characters portray.”
BEFORE: Take This Job and Flush It
Sani-Flush
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sani_Flush
Before technology, the topic of using the toilet was addressed in an entertaining way: with a choreographed musical using a toilet as a prop. In this Vine video, the audience is made to think of how dirty toilets are and the best way to keep them clean for a long time. The jingle has a written message, its tune is catchy and the singers are singing on-key. The routine is choreographed and the performers are dressed professionally. The target audience seems to be young adult women juggling taking care of their home with being working professionals. The commercial admits that women are still expected to fulfill the role of a maid, but also addresses that women are also professionals and lead busy lives where they cannot be cleaning toilets 4 times a month. This commercial tells a story about the generation of that time, and that story is not impacted by technology.
AFTER: Sittin On Tha Toilet
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCymXCym5gf7s13lJ6yUVDDQ
Elonia
After technology, the topic of using the toilet is addressed in an entertaining way: with a buffoon using the toilet. In this Vine video, the audience is made to think of how they dirty their toilets and the best way to pass time while doing it. The improvised chant has no real message, its tune is catchy but is purposely chanted off-key. The performer is also doing an improvised potty dance while seated and is dressed like a maid. The target audience seems to be The Millennial Generation juggling boredom with using the toilet. The video admits that Millennials have grown up in an environment where creative storytelling is a thing of the past and Reality Television is best when the characters are dysfunctional and candid. The fact that this video went “viral” is evidence of the impact technology has made on the generation of the time.
Generational Comparison of Dramatic Performance
Below are Vine videos illustrating the generational impact of technology. Here, dramatic performances that entertained a pre-technology generation are compared with viral videos that entertain the Millennial Generation.
Dramatic Performance: Puttin’ Spells on Every Damn Body In Town
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_%282000_film%29
In this courtroom scene, Keanu Reeves gives a riveting performance as a man threatened by the psychic abilities of his wife’s friend played by Cate Blanchett. In a twisted storyline, Reeves is a “redneck” who cheats and beats his wife and is accused of killing the Governor’s daughter, with whom he was having an affair. The Governor’s daughter was found dead in a lake on Reeves’ property and the town psychic had a vision of her death before she was found. Here, Reeves is expressing his anger at the town psychic advising his wife to stay away from him and the implication that he murdered the Governor’s daughter. His belief is that he’s been framed by the psychic who in some magical way has orchestrated an elaborate conspiracy involving his destruction. Reeves’ portrayal of this twisted storyline in these few seconds is believable and disciplined, balancing story and emotion.
Reality Television gone Viral: You’ve Gotta Be Kiddin’ Me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraldo_%28TV_series%29
The talk show Geraldo was one of the earliest approximations of Reality Television. Although the show’s 11 season run occurred before modern technology, it still had a major influence on post-modern Reality TV. It is a combination of Talk Show, Tabloid News, and Reality Television. In the video here, John Metzger has just finished calling Roy Innis an “Uncle Tom”, Roy loses his temper and grabs John by the throat. Shortly thereafter, an all-out brawl ensues, involving the audience, the guests and crew. This brawl was unscripted, unexpected and undisciplined. John Metzger is a Klansman and Roy Innis is a Black Activist. Neither involved party is an actor reading a script. The balance of story and emotion is completely thrown off here. As a result, the episode was one of the most infamous in history.
Dramatic Performance: I Love That it Takes You an Hour and a Half to Order a Sandwich
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Harry_Met_Sally…
This video is captured from the New Year’s Eve scene in When Harry Met Sally. Here, Billy Crystal’s character Harry proclaims is honest love for Meg Ryan’s character Sally by listing off the little things she does that the audience originally thought annoyed him. The message here is that when you love a person, you love the annoying parts of them, too because that’s what makes them who they are. Like the prior Dramatic Performances, this film was released during the 1980’s. It illustrates how the pre-technology generations were impacted by the absence of technology and what types of spoken word were considered entertaining.
Viral Video: If Your Boyfriend Hits You or Beats You Up…Stay With Him
https://www.facebook.com/romina.b.garcia.3?fref=ts
Romina Garcia
This video is taken from a video posted on Facebook by a young woman named Romina Garcia. She has over 150,000 fans, so naturally the video went viral. The disturbing part here is the message this video sends: when you love a person you love how they will risk getting arrested and spending money to be bailed out to teach you a lesson. I’ll be honest, her argument didn’t make sense, and is likely something she regurgitated from her boyfriend’s philosophy, since she’s heard it so many times. In fairness, this video received a lot of backlash from critics, but at the same time she is quite famous among her generation and followers. She has a Facebook page where she is considered a role model to hundreds of thousands of young people, yet she seemed pretty brain dead. Possibly from all the beatings. You be the judge.
Click the title below for my next Blog:
Spoken Word Journalism – A 70 Year Journey via Instagram Installation
Stephanie "Surreal Sista" Williams 
Leave a comment