I admit I didn’t watch the GOP convention. The only thing I bothered to tune into was Clint Eastwood’s speech. This left the pundit class perplexed.
It often sounded as if Eastwood was a doddering 82-year-old. Yet the seeming offhandedness was punctured by calculated jabs, with a comedian’s sense of timing. There was a studied unstudiedness to the performance. Catching the audience off-guard by appearing to ramble, which left the listener unprepared for the surprise attack in the next line. The very unpredictability made it suspenseful. What’s he going to say next?
In the age of YouTube, this is bound to be a hit, in a way the carefully scripted, focus group vetted speeches of the other speakers will never be.
Nice post!
ReplyDeleteAlso, Eastwood made use of an empty wooden chair to pretend dialogue with Obama. As an actor, director, and all around consummate artist, Eastwood would be adept at making use of stage props to convey a certain message or simultaneous messages. I don't know if this was his intention with the empty wooden chair. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was.
That is, I would think it's possible Eastwood could've been using the empty chair as a sort of theatrical device or extended metaphor to further illustrate the verbal criticisms he leveled at Obama and his administration. For example, it's possible Eastwood meant to communicate Obama's empty promises or hollow character by an empty wooden chair. An empty chair used in such a way would serve as a poignant and resonate image with the audience, I think.