Still true after 8 years (and a sixth): me + richard armitage

My actual blogiversary was in late February, but I’ve been unable to make myself comment on almost any anniversary or holiday this year. You may have noticed there was no New Year’s resolution post, no birthday post, and I barely managed to cover Passover. I so often feel paralyzed by events, or the news, or whatever, but I didn’t want to skip it entirely. So two months late, a blogiversary post for me (and you). Thanks to Richard Armitage, to Guylty, who wrote many posts here, and to everyone who is (still) reading and commenting and lurking after all this time!

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Richard Armitage: He’s still got it

Richard Armitage as Chop in Urban and the Shed Crew.

Watching Urban and the Shed Crew in its entirety for the first time two weeks ago, I thought exactly that: “You’ve still got it, boyfriend.” Technically speaking, I suppose we should say “you still had it,” as this performance is four years old. Even so, it came after a year where Richard Armitage had done no screen work apart from Hobbit / BOTFA pickups, and Jackson is known to demand a fairly specific style of relatively un-naturalistic performance from his performers. I don’t know how much directing Candida Brady did, either, although I’m guessing not much. The previous year, Armitage had apparently expressed a fear to Sarah Wayne Callies that after two years under prosthetics, he might need to regain his acting chops. This piece definitely shows that they had not been lost. And to be honest, after a phase with so many heroic, villain, or genre performances, and then Mr. Nobody Daniel Miller, it was heartening to me to see Armitage playing a flawed human being again, using his normal panorama of expressions, a character who wasn’t trying to hide who he is.

All I need to do to change my mood is to see a performance

There was a phase at the beginning where I was (re-)watching Richard Armitage’s performances every single day, and it lasted about five years. I’d started at a moment of intense stress, and the fact that I’d gotten out of the habit reflected how much my general circumstances had improved. I’d forgotten that old strategy, but recently in a moment of utter desperation I turned Lucas North on and Lucas North turned me right back on in return. As often as I’ve watched these shows, I really still need to continue to watch them because they are a constant reminder of the things about Armitage that impress me so much, particularly of his creativity, skill ,and physical prowess.

Mr. Thornton is still my favorite, followed (this surprises me) by Thorin Oakenshield

They could have a serious hauteur competition.

Mr. Thornton caused Armitagemania onset, and I devoted a lot of attention to figuring that out and describing it. Thorin Oakenshield has meant a lot to me, too, although I’ve spent the least time on that. But I think of him constantly at the moment; the figure continues to hold meaning for me in more practical ways at present (perhaps because I am not overworked). Maybe time to write about it.

Others in the top ranks in no particular order: John Proctor, Lucas North, Guy of Gisborne, John Standring, John Porter (and probably Chop).

Honorable mention: John Mulligan, Ricky Deeming, Raymond de Merville.

The ones I’m scared to think too much about the implications of: Francis Dolarhyde; Uhtred.

Richard Armitage on stage is the ultimate fan experience

Richard Armitage’s entry into the scene as John Proctor in Act One of The Crucible, June 2014. Photo by Geraint Lewis.

The first night I saw him on stage was life-changing. I will never forget that moment. Love, Love, Love, although not the masterwork of theater that The Crucible was, was still worth every bit of time, money and effort I spent on it. He’s right — there’s an energy that goes out from the stage that is not like anything I’ve experienced on a screen. I’ve accepted (in the course of all the vagaries of this spring) that there may someday be a stage performance I won’t be able to see — but it won’t be for lack of trying. The jolt from The Crucible has lasted me for years.

On screen, the details are the best

This is the scene where Porter is preparing to insert the knife into his anus. I’m including it because (a) I wanted a picture of Porter here; (b) it’s funny and (c) I loved Armitage’s story about him telling the director how long of a shot he would need to get it in.

I’ve written about so many favorite detailed acting moments, and so many more remain to be discussed. They’re the thing that keep me looking and again — slight changes in Mr. Thornton’s expression as he watches Margaret’s coach drive away; the way that Lucas reacts to the evil Sarah as she dangles him on her poisonous string. Even Daniel Miller had the moment where Esther Krug was baiting him about his mother’s death. The way Guy kisses Marian back when he realizes he’s being kissed. Armitage puts these moments together in scenes of amazing depth: I think of Guy’s response to the Sheriff or Lucas’ fatigue over his job. These are things I can watch over and over again and they give me a similar energy each time, after years.

Interview Armitage can be a lot of fun — but less so in press blitz interviews

Compare this:

To this:

He’s come a long way. He still finds interesting things to say, and ways to be funny and incisive. A lot of the interview fatigue I’ve been feeling lately is due to poorly-prepared interviews who ask the same questions over and over again. I’m impressed at how he makes me keep watching by building in new details to each interview. However, even he struggles at times — I’m thinking of the string of interviews about Into the Storm.

Richard Armitage’s mere appearance is a signifier for positive feelings

I would never say I don’t have preferences. And they are: Beard, not stick-thin, as little photoshopping as possible, especially around the eyes, clothes in which he feels comfortable (that can include well-cut dress clothing). That said, it remains the case that just seeing his picture thrills me, and that there are no pictures of him as a person that I find ugly or unviewable or that make me look away. His image functions a bit like an icon, insofar as it triggers feelings of peace and euphoria. Better if he’s smiling, for me, but even his frown can make me smile.

OK, maybe he wouldn’t need to wear this sock / shoe combination ever again. But he looked great from the jeans cuff up. Richard Armitage, Toronto airport, spring 2015.

Cheese is delicious and Claude Monet agrees with me

Richard Armitage, as Claude Monet, delighted over his cheese purchase, in the second episode of The Impressionists. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

And it’s been truer for longer than eight years. What would a post on this blog be without some random but compelling detail?

Moving on …

Who the “real” Richard Armitage is continues to evade me — but I’ll never stop wanting to know

Next to Mr. Thornton’s primacy of place, I think this is the biggest constant for me over the last eight years. I want to know who the person is who consistently provokes such intense reactions in me. I’ve tried so many times to put a picture together. It’s something I can still talk about with fellow fans, although I mostly do it privately at the moment. Admittedly, since Twitter I’ve discovered some definitive data points that are less [coughs] conducive to my admiration than others. I do prefer knowing the truth than to believing a lie, even if I don’t necessarily the truth, or I struggle with it. I’ve accepted that we will only ever see facets of Richard Armitage, and also that people change. But I can’t imagine not being curious about the real Richard Armitage.

Which means I end up learning about things I’d hardly or never care about otherwise in order understand his context

The historian’s dodge in situations like that (not unlike that of the actor, perhaps?) is to try to build a context for the subject, to understand his circumstances better. So I’ve tried to do that over the years — learning about the industry and artistic structures and circumstances that might have conditioned his past decisions and will create opportunities for him in the future. In the category of never: what Marvel may be doing with the MCU next. In the category of hardly: a long article about an LA French film festival, which has only ever honored woman director: Julie Delpy (I guess this bodes well). More interesting: aspects of the actor’s craft; organizational changes at EPIX.

I’ve come to terms with having a fan identity, and I love my fan friends, but fandom itself continues to mystify me

Richard Armitage, The Crucible stagedoor, August 22, 2014.

At the beginning, I felt almost anguished about being a fan — that this particular preoccupation had fallen upon me. It took about eighteen months and the help of some friends to get past that stage, but now I’m comfortable saying even to close friends and family members that I’m a fan. A sort of reverse process has occurred with regard to fandom as a whole, though. I will always be grateful for my fan friends, and particularly for their support in 2013. But so many of the dynamics of fandom puzzle me beyond belief. I’ve always thought that one can’t be a fan alone, without other fans — it would seem ridiculous to me to say I am a fan of Armitage but not part of the fandom. At the same time, my immersion in the fandom is the thing I struggle with most on a regular basis. The biggest issue is probably the regular demand that fans never say anything critical about Richard Armitage or his projects. Nyah, nyah, boo, boo, I am a fan anyway. The smarm campaign that’s come from Cybersmile and which some fans have taken up depresses and irritates me in equal measure. Everyone has the right to fangirl as they will. I just wish I understood the whole thing better, and I wish I understood how to enjoy the fandom more.

Marketing will always be a chief source of potential alienation

Although I would never deny that it has its moments.

One particular bête noire for me, and something that makes me feel uncomfortable and unbelonging, is marketing. Some professional marketing is better than others: I still mourn the absence of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit marketing schemes in my life. He made me glad to be spending the money. Other marketing is poor or erratic (Berlin Station), or just plain aggravating (Audible). I know that my frustration with it increases in direct relationship to the extent that it reveals its manipulative tendencies openly, or fails to give me content in return for attention. It’s much worse when it comes from inside the fandom. It’s a dilemma because some marketing fun, and because without marketing I wouldn’t know what is happening. But this blog has been way too much news and publicity lately.

The creative boost is still the most important consequence and I need to make more of it going forward

Richard Armitage, Audible interview, 2018, included to keep my mind on the present.

I have lunch with Obscura periodically, but we don’t often discuss Armitage or the fandom any more — we’ve got other common interests and concerns that occupy us more urgently. It occurred to me when I saw her this week that the thing I’d have said about the fandom (other than urging her to see Urban and the Shed Crew as quickly as possible) was that I need to focus less on the news, the marketing, and the gossip, and more on the writing and creativity and exploration end. I’ve been saying this to myself for quite a while. The current news situation always makes it easier to avoid doing my own work, drown myself in fanfic or read social media. The fog is lifting and the creativity paralysis is ending, in that I’m back to writing more spoofs again (this is something I tend to do when I’m angry about something), but I need to move back that next step and focus on doing the writing I want to be doing instead of the news cycle. I’ve said that to myself before but I really need to get on top of this. Daylight is burning.

~ by Servetus on April 25, 2018.