The professor in my university directing class was a withering critic. His most stinging remark was, "I'll assume that was a
choice,"
which of course indicated he believed just the opposite --that you were in fact an incompetent who'd lost control of the scene. This came to mind when I read WaPo's review of the new Johnnie Depp Pirate vehicle. We saw part of the original in a motel room on a road trip, and even the kids wanted to turn it off. Depp was so effiminate it was unwatchable. I attributed this to bad acting. WaPo (to which I blissfully no longer subscribe) thinks it was
a choice.
As you watched, you wondered, "Is this going to be too much, too weird?" Is he going to scare family audiences -- or lure them in? And how does a male Disney hero get away with that much eyeliner? This was the delicious undercurrent: a sexually ambiguous Sparrow, not just confounding fictional adversaries but sending titillating ripples of uncertainty through the rows of multiplex patrons.
I think I'm right.
Update: Arrr.
someone liked the sequel, though.
