Originally posted by Chunk
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Daniel Day-Lewis or Denzel Washington?
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Originally posted by res View PostUhh, are you debating how Denzel plays each role or how balanced his resume is? I was discussing the former, and responding to people that seemed to be suggesting that Denzel was the same in every role, not that every role he took was the same.
I had assumed the people that were assessing Denzel had seen him in something other than his "cop/officer/bodyguard roles". If they didn't, well then they weren't qualified to make an assessment anyway. The roles he has played (from a slave, to a gay man's Civil Rights Attorney, to Malcolm X, to a New York Gangster, to a Shakespeare character) are sufficient enough to establish his range as an actor. As for whether or not his resume should be even more balanced, as i said, i agree with that. He takes on too many action movie roles for my taste when we have plenty of lower caliber actors for that.
But it's not worth citing his portrayal of Frank Lucas as evidence of his range because there was essentially no difference between who he was in American Gangster and who he was in...Man on Fire for example.
He may take on different roles, and he never does bad because he's an incredibly likable guy, but just because he takes different roles doesn't mean he excels in them. I'm just saying that to compare him to a guy like Daniel Day Lewis is crazy.
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Originally posted by savorduhflavor View PostBut it's how he plays those roles man. Look, he's had some great performances. I don't deny that, and I like Denzel, I really do. He was great in Malcom X.
But it's not worth citing his portrayal of Frank Lucas as evidence of his range because there was essentially no difference between who he was in American Gangster and who he was in...Man on Fire for example.
He may take on different roles, and he never does bad because he's an incredibly likable guy, but just because he takes different roles doesn't mean he excels in them. I'm just saying that to compare him to a guy like Daniel Day Lewis is crazy.
lol I think your general point is that you like Daniel Day Lewis alot better, and that's fine.
By the way, I don't think that what i was describing in my first post was racism, it's just an aspect of the way people think.
Some of the people that believe that Washington isn't great and is always the same person in every role, I believe, do so because Washington having come from a particular environment as a Black man has a certain distinctive manner and sound that is not the cultural default. Now when people see white actors acting in line with the cultural default in terms of their manner, sound and demeanor, it dosen't come off as distinctive, it comes off as "normal". Consequently they are often able to see more "range" within that actor then they are in the Black actor. Let me ask the people that have made this claim a question. How many Black actors do you think are not the same in ever role, not including actors with a stereotypical "white sounding" voice like Sydney Poitier and others?
If you think Washington as a serious actor just ought to be able to transcend this reality and become another person, let me ask you another question: How successful do you think Daniel Day lewis would be at playing a Black man?Last edited by res; 01-14-2010, 03:57 PM.
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Originally posted by res View PostSo your not sure which of the two points you are arguing?
lol I think your general point is that you like Daniel Day Lewis alot better, and that's fine.
By the way, I don't think that what i was describing in my first post was racism, it's just an aspect of the way people think.
First you were saying that he doesn't get the credit for his versatility cause he's black, essentially.
Than you were saying that he's played a ton of different roles. I just simply responded saying that playing different roles and doing a good job at it are different.
Sure, a cop and a gangster may be different roles. But he was the exact same in both roles.
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