Totally oblivious to the power of the face, or: Doing my bit for Richard Armitage’s box office
I have my RL social media fairly strongly separated from my Richard Armitage social media. I allow a few crossovers, but I keep most of my Richard Armitage updates out of my RL FB — and if you read this blog via FB, you read Michaela Servetus and not me. Anyway, for whatever reason, I put my “like” of the Old Vic FB page in my RL FB, which meant that I saw the post about Armitage signing the posters in that feed — and then I liked it and shared it in that feed — so all my RL FB friends saw it. Which isn’t really a problem anymore, if it ever was. So Serv likes a play, or a handsome man. Neither of those things would surprise anyone in my RL feed.
Except, I forgot — probably about a quarter of my feed are people whom I know professionally. Again, not a problem. Except, my professional research area was early modern religious history. Oh, yeah. These are people who actually have a high interest in the subject matter.
It started with a friend who edited a professional journal that I used to write tons of book reviews for in the first decade of the century. He liked it, shared the photo, and said, in capital letters in his share, WHO IS THIS? He got something like five likes from his FB friends. Then he sent me a PM because we hadn’t chatted in a long time, and he wrote, I admit I probably wouldn’t have gotten in touch without having seen that photo. Is that a friend of yours?
Om, no. Just an actor whose career I follow.
Too bad, he wrote, I was thinking it is really time for you to get back into circulation.
LOL, I wrote, maybe, but I think he’s a little out my league. Like I would be dating an actor who’s appearing in a starring role at the Old Vic.
I was looking at the web page, he wrote, and I think a lot of our colleagues would be interested in this production. And you know a lot of people are in Europe over the summer using the libraries. Mind if I post it on our FB page?
No, I replied, go right ahead.
In my little world there are three or four big professional organizations and a lot of smaller interest groups. I just saw the post linked on the page of the third one. I can’t figure out whether this is happening because of interest in The Crucible or because Richard Armitage takes such a great picture, or both, but my colleagues are definitely getting an eyeful this weekend.
Oops.
So if you see a lot of sedately clothed middle-aged theatergoers in jeans and backpacks with notebooks in their hands staring at the stage attentively and whispering with American accents — well, you’ll know how those people got there.
Me + Richard Armitage 
That is excellent! Perhaps Richard will end up in a footnote somewhere, someday.
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That, I would love. I know he’s ended up in the dedications and acknowledgements to a few novels.
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Love it 🙂
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Amazing what can happen from a little “mistake.” Anything to help RA!
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I’m sure it won’t be crowds and crowds. But maybe two or three? 🙂
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That’s a perfect match – so there will be e folks among the audience who won’t embarrass RA, humble fellow well-wishers and theatre-goers! Well done!
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I don’t think anyone in the audience will embarrass Richard Armitage.
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Das war ja wohl mal dermaßen was von absichtlich, oder? fettes grinsen
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eigentlich nicht, sonst hätte ich es viel früher machen müssen — naja, ich denke meistens nicht an Armitage, wenn ich in meinem RL FB bin.
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Fällt mir schwer zu glauben! Aber gut, lassen wir das mal so stehen 🙂 Dann sollen sie mal pilgern. Jede Form an Unterstützung wird genommen.
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Genau — Hauptsache, Tickets werden gekauft, Plätze werden gefüllt.
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Eben, den Blick fürs Wesentliche nicht verlieren! Was sind wir uns wieder einig 🙂
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P.S. “Ist das ein/dein Freund”. Welch in aller unschuldigen Unkenntnis gestellte Frage! Allerliebst 😀
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I suspect my FB friend wanted to be introduced to Richard Armitage, if RA were my friend.
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1000%-ige Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass er vorgestellt werden will 😀
Es gibt also eine Welt außerhalb des RA-Universums! Immer wieder gut, dass man manchmal daran erinnert wird. 🙂
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Hahaha! I’ll look out for your former colleagues 😉
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They may have white tennis shoes on, use oddly abstract vocabulary, and complain about the prices for a drink in the interval.
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Some say there are no coincidences. So the fact RL , RA and FB came together while RA is doing a play your colleagues might want to see while they are in Europe is no accident. Besides, it might have been more difficult to explain if a picture of Porter, Thorin , eyelashes or shirtless Guy had appeared. Harder to link those pics to historical research or professorial interest. But I bet you could do it if you had to.
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I’m sure I could think of something 🙂
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Just a thought: I am aware of researchers who use their connections with professional associations to create “reasons” for one of said associations to SEND them to events connected to “research they want to develop further”….? Hmm? Any research hypotheses concerning this important historical event that you might be able to “develop further” by seeing the Crucible in the round?? 🙂 Think seed money, girl! (Or at least, tax writeoff!)
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I think if my area were theater, there could be an argument … 🙂
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Serv- after some of the people I’ve seen in action, it wouldn’t be that hard (unless the academic connection is just something you can’t stomach right now).
OK, just quick & dirty: The Crucible in context of other presentations of the Salem Witch Trials in theater/literature/documentary (fill in the blank or all of above), and their influence on historical evolution of the public’s understanding of this event (select time period leading up to present day. It’s NECESSARY to see this production by Yael Farber, in the round at the historic Old Vic, as Most Current portrayal of this event in American history. Compare / contrast / spin / rinse / repeat. (Just to be clear, I’m not suggesting “spinning” the research, just the proposal 🙂
You could do much better, of course….historical implications are there, not just theatrical. And you have touched on some of this already in other posts. Just sayin’. 🙂
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Nice story. But I can’t get over the “out of my league” comment. You know that one of my pet fantasies is that RA somehow stumbles across your blog, gets intrigued, wants to know you etc. OK, imagination running a bit wild – but would the idea really be so outrageous? That he is interested in an intellectual, thoughtful, witty woman? (And I am really that generous 😉 – I don’t really need him for myself, it is enough to fantasize about him…)
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I agree 100 per cent. I have that fantasy for Serve, as well. Only I have a pr social media person for Warner Bros. inviting her (as an influential blogger) to a premiere. Then RA shows up to meet her personally (and privately) before the Red Carpet, and they form a friendship, He has to work hard to convince her that he is in her league. But he prevails, after much perseverance. 🙂
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That’s a sweet fantasy. There’s a fanfic like that, about a fanfic writer whose work he read, and he contacted her to meet, and they fell in love. If I were WB I am the last blogger I’d invite to a premiere.
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Crap, I thought I was being clever and original. I should know better. Why would you be the last blogger invited to a premiere? Are you Cinderella in RL? Do you burp a lot in public? Do you talk during movies and kick the seat in front of you? insist on extra butter on your popcorn then wipe your fingers on your formal frock? I don’t think so.
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Because I say things that make people angry 🙂
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Who doesn’t? I will be your minder for the evening and make sure you only say insipid celebrity things. You may be allowed to talk about the weather and how much you adore labradoodles.
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yeah, but WB would invite a blogger to the premiere because of hoped-for good publicity. They want to control their media messages as fully as possible. Hypothetically, they invite me. Hypothetically, I get over my repeated insistence on the blog that I am not in this to be Richard Armitage’s publicist, and hypothetically, I go. Hypothetically, I write my opinion … this cannot end well, even hypothetically.
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But you know, they could invite YOU. You obviously are much better control of yourself.
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Are you talking to me? In control of myself? I am notorious for dropping F bombs when provoked. And writing your opinion can end well, hypothetically, you might like the production (whatever it is).
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yeah, that’s a pretty outrageous idea. Aside from the fact that I’ve written about him every day for four years? That’s not a huge turnoff? I’m pretty sure it is. Also, I really don’t think we’d be that compatible, from what I can glean about him personally (and I have to keep in mind that practically everything we know about him is a media effect). I wouldn’t mind having a boyfriend with artistic and cultural interests, though, I will certainly say that!
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And you share the water aversion thing, so you would never disagree on vacation choices. No ocean, no deep lakes. Dry land preferred. Maybe pools ok if it’s really hot. I think you like the same music, too. And you are tall (not as tall as I, but close), oh lot’s of things. You both live on the same planet. Compatible – enough. You’d probably be a perfect match on E Harmony.
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he’s not religious, though. that’s a pretty severe deficit from my perspective.
Why is this about me all of a sudden? This was about geeky professors discovering a great summer diversion! Let’s talk about them!
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I don’t know any geeky professors personally. Sorry. I do know one, very well, she is an artist and not geeky at all. I did meet a bunch of them on an alumni Carribean cruise. They lectured in the evenings about places visited during the day. The audience was way geekier than they were. They and the alums were from four Erebor-type schools, one of which Mr. Jones attended. One lecture focused on the middle passage and racial memory. Anyway, it’s your blog so I am focused on you. But I will desist.
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Fantastic!
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🙂
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I love this! Two worlds collide…and in a really great way too 🙂
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what would be nice is if the FB linking made it to some of the British professional assn’s — hmmm ….
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Yep. See above.
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Fabulous! I love it. And who knows – their maybe a few professional colleagues who will fall under the Armitage spell…
It certainly is great to get the word out about this particular performance of The Crucible. 🙂
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well, that would increase my interest in attending conferences. We could have panels and cocktail hours, fund a scholarship …
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LOL. Nobody say again that academics are dry spinsters ggg. Well, the power of the Armitage is hard to escape, anyway… Go get yourself a research grant, Serv. You may know a few people in the right places 😉
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I don’t think I’ve known an academic who was, actually — something men say about women whom they feel threatened by, I guess.
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😀 I know.
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I’m wondering about the research grants, though.
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There. I think you have covered some of the groundwork there in your posts. Now you need to get stuck in some proper research. (Not that you have anything better to do…)
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in essence I’ve proved it’s possible to do a lot of the research without funding. Messed up my own grant proposal. Tja.
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Maybe we need to establish a RAworld research grant? Just thinking: You have put so many of the stories from RA’s oeuvre into a socio-politico-historical context. That’s actually a fantastic resource for the Army. A pity that this is lost for the wider public, though. Just imagine you compiled some of your theoretical writing in a book and made it available via e-book or as a printable edition via blurb… I’ve been thinking of compiling my ooofs in that format, mainly for my own vanity but who knows whether there is any further interest…
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I think if I wanted to write a history book I might have written a different one than this. But you should definitely go ahead with the oooofs!
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That is just a vanity project, Serv. There is no added value in it.
Maybe you should write the definitive, unauthorized Armitage bio ggg. Again, groundwork done.
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Nah.
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😀 Ok. I understand.
Anyhow, don’t let me draw you back into the realm of academia which you have only just escaped. Enjoy your freedom.
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Definitv solltest du das tun! So viel Wissen und Herzblut: das gäbe einen preisverdächtigen Besteller und nebenbei generierst du ein bisschen Geld für die Altersvorsorge! Also, nicht so schüchtern. Und stell dir vor: Dein Buch mit seiner Widmung! Na, kommst du ins träumen? Perfect in every way 🙂
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Ach was, das sind ja alles nur eitle Wunschträume. Und angesichts der Fotorechte geht das eben auch nicht. Widmung von RA? Um Gottes Willen! Dann würde der den Schlonz ja sehen!!! Grauenhafter Gedanke. Ich schreib das ja nicht für ihn, sondern für mich und euch. Nee nee, das lassen wir mal so, wie es is.
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You ARE both great resources of info/commentary in the RA-following world.
You’d have a great idea for a Kinfle book, Guylty, except for the trifling matter of not owning the rights to republish the photos for profit. 😦
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You’ve hit the nail on the head, Trudy. Hence I can never do anything about this apart from for my own enjoyment. Unless I get the photorights. I could attempt that, I suppose… I should really make some enquiries, just for the fun of it. I am also interested to know how much the images are going for…
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