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Monday, May 14, 2012

The Sirius Black Problem

So. Yesterday, I watched two super awesome movies. One of them was ze following:




Yes, that's Sir Gary Oldman. I typically adore Gary's performances in everything, so I decided to check Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy out. Obviously, Gary was amazeballs. But there was one moment where I FLIPPED OUT and screamed at my TV: during one scene, Gary's character (an agent working for British Secret Intelligence in the 70s) is speaking to someone else. He starts by saying "If Witchcraft is genuine..."

And I went all, "OF COURSE IT'S GENUINE, SIRIUS!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW!!!!"

Then I realized two things.

1) I wasn't seeing Gary Oldman as Agent Dude From British Secret Intelligence. I was seeing him as Sirius Black, super awesome wizard badass from the Harry Potter series. 




2) I have issues (this is a recurring realization, actually...).


But the most important thing that dawned on me is this: sometimes I have trouble setting aside a writer's/actor's previous work, and blur the lines between that and the current one. I blend both projects together. Don't know why, but I tend to do so. In Gary's case, when he mentions "Witchcraft," he's referring to an operation, not magic. And yet, BOOM. I thought magic. 

The Sirius Black Problem, ladies and gentlemen. Oh, how it haunts me...

So now I'm wondering: has this ever happened to you?? If so, which two (or three...) projects have you blurred into one?

4 comments:

  1. I had a very hard time watching Ron Livingston in Band of Brothers, because I kept thinking of Office Space. He was terrific in both.

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  2. This happened to me between Twilight and The Host, both by Stephenie Meyer. I read them all within a month or two, so the whole Twilight universe was fresh in my mind as I read The Host. It made me see Wanderer and Bella in a very similar light, especially since they are both kind of down on themselves and have a "saving people thing" like Harry Potter. Great books! But I definitely had some of the Gary Oldman syndrome going on.

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  3. Actually I now see every HP actor and immediately associate them with their HP role. I don't think this will ever change.

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  4. I have the opposite problem. I always see Gary Oldman in his role from The Professional (strung-out, evil, dirty cop). Though, for some reason, my mental block didn't really carry over to his portrayal of Sirius. Sirius stands alone, and I didn't have any trouble confusing the actor with the character in the HP movies. But then, you gotta love Sirius: a rebellious bad guy who is really a good guy. Sigh.

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