How Hollywood has Started Valuing Fame over Talent and Why This Spells Disaster for the Movie Industry
As a 20-something college student, I love twitter. I use the social media platform as a source of entertainment and news. So if you’re like me and like to scroll through your Twitter feed more than you’d care to admit, you probably saw the newest Disney buzz of a live action “Hercules” being put into development. As a long time Disney fan and Geek mythology nerd, this news was thrilling to me.
I had been hoping for “Hercules” to get the live-action treatment ever since Disney started adapting its classics. Soon after this news was released, Twitter became a frenzy of casting possibilities. Soon enough, my feed was filled with star-studded dream casts for the “Hercules” movie. This, in of itself, didn’t alarm me, but as I kept scrolling, I saw that there was a common theme within these tweets. It seemed as though everyone and their mother wanted Ariana Grande, pop superstar, to portray Meg, Hercules’ sassy and sarcastic love interest, on the big screen. The buzz is perfectly portrayed here.
This buzz became so big that there was a rumor that Disney execs announced that Grande was at the top of their list for portraying Meg. Now, you might be wondering, “Maddie, what’s the problem with that?” At first glance, there’s no issue with the casting choice. Ariana Grande is a skilled singer and has experience acting. She was even on Broadway for a time. In fact, many fans claim that Ariana had revealed that Megara was one of her dream roles. Seems like a perfect fit, right? Wrong. If you look closer, you can see some glaringly obvious problems with this casting choice. For one, all though Ariana has experience acting, she has not seriously acted in several years. In fact, the last big project she performed in was “Hairspray Live,” which was disappointing to say the least. Ariana was not convincing as Penny and her voice, now finely tuned for pop music, seemed too abrasive for the musical’s songs. I’m sure Ariana Grande could hit the notes of Meg’s iconic solo “I won’t say I’m in Love,” but it would come out more as pop cover than an actual rendition. It just wouldn’t sound as the composers intended. You can see evidence of this in her rendition of “Beauty and the Beast” with John Legend. A pretty sounding rendition, but more for the soundtrack than the actual movie. On top of this, I have seen no evidence of Ariana Grande being able to pull off Meg’s sarcastic yet charming nature. Ariana’s acting resume has been limited to her playing sweet airheads like Cat Valentine in “Victorious” and Penny in “Hairspray Live.” I have not seen one performance of hers that has convinced me otherwise.
Now, you might be wondering how a casting director or Disney exec might miss these obvious red flags for the casting when I, just a college student who enjoys movies, noticed them. The truth is: if they cast Ariana, they won’t have missed them. They will have just ignored them. Nowadays film executives have become so concerned with making money, they don’t care if an actor is really right for the part. All they care about is if the actor will bring in audience members. Ariana Grande is a huge name is music and has an astronomically large fan base. If she was cast in “Hercules,” her fans would come flocking to the theaters. Who cares if she does the role justice if she brings in the big bucks? This type of celebrity casting has been seen again and again in recent years. Just look at the Young Adult dystopian movie “Divergent.” Shaliene Woodley, although a good actor, had no business playing Tris Prior. Woodley was soft-spoken and sweet where Tris was aggressive and harsh. She didn’t even fit the body type that Tris was supposed to have. Shailene was casted because she had acquired love from the masses in her portrayal of Hazel Grace Lancaster in “The Fault in Our Stars” and Aimee Finicky in “The Spectacular Now.” The studio execs thought she would bring in big numbers because of her star status and they were right….. for a time. The first movie was pretty successful, but even Woodley’s star status couldn’t hide the fact that she was so wrong for the part. The following movies “Insurgent,” “Allegiant Part One” and “Allegiant Part Two” were massive failures compared to the first. This trend can be seen many times throughout the movie industry. Executives have failed to realize that celebrity casting may make quick bucks, but in the long run, accurate casting is much more fruitful. Another problem with celebrity casting, is that it’s just plain BORING. I don’t know about y’all, but it gets so old to me to see the same actors casted over and over again. Where is the new talent?! Film studios have gotten in such a bad habit of just casting famous people, that they forget to look for a diamond in the rough. There are so many incredible actors out there just begging to be discovered, but they never will because Hollywood doesn’t give them a fighting chance. Let the undiscovered compete with the famous fair and square. That way people know for sure that the right person was casted for the right reasons. Lately, I’ve hated going to the movies because it feels like the producers are laughing at the audience. It’s like they’re saying, “Haha, we tricked them into seeing this movie because we casted so and so.” It shouldn’t feel like that. When I go to the movies, I want to be submerged in another world. That can’t happen if the characters are convincing. So, Hollywood, don’t make me grow to hate movies. Branch out. And as for Ariana Grande, if she is casted as Meg in “Hercules,” I hope she is casted for the right reasons and I pray that she does the role justice. With that, I wish her good luck. For those undiscovered stars out there, shoot your shot and don’t give up. Who knows? You may be that be the one to break the “fame over talent” status quo.
We are living in a critical world and I am a Critical Girl.
Critical Girl 