The Inorganic Aquarian

[Please ignore the absurd reverse "Mandingo" psychology behind this movie poster--I know that it's difficult to do]

I've been on an Aquarians in film movie-watching kick as of late. Yesterday I Netflixed my way through Robert Altman's Persona-esque film 3 Women (like most experimental directors, Altman was born on a cusp, February 20 to be exact) and the double-Aquarius Christina Ricci-Justin Timberlake sleeper Black Snake Moan. It seems like a strange pairing and neither film has much in common with the other and were filmed 30 years apart, but the afternoon spent watching both films back to back proved providential.

In the 2003 Criterion DVD commentary for his 1977 film, Altman spent a great deal of his time on tangential asides about process. At times these tangents were repetitive and wildly meandering, but for the most part his commentary was riddled with unique insights that were stunning in their clarity as to the subject of what is real and what isn't. One such insight was the proposition that today's actors are more behaviorists than not. It's as if, he said, they are drawing attention to the fact that they've memorized the behavior and nothing comes across organically.

The performances by Timberlake and Ricci in Black Snake Moan exemplify Altman's point. As much writhing and spitting as Ricci does, it still feels as though one is watching an actress portraying a character rather than watching the character develop through story. In essence, it's overacted. The mannerisms are too desperate and emotions are too obtusely displayed--and that's the good acting. Timberlake takes it one step further with a face that seems to be begging the camera to believe him.

Watching their performances got me to thinking about when the last time was that I saw an Aquarius actor truly embody another character. With most Aquarius actors, you get the sense that they've memorized body language and emotional patterns and are forcefully projecting them. You get the sense that they're not quite convinced themselves. More important, you get the sense that they're just on the brink of cracking themselves up with how well they're doing.

Most Aquarian actors generally carry a slight smirk that gives them away. I'm thinking of folks like Christian Bale, Burt Reynolds, Newman, Fawcett, Travolta, etc. Most of them have made a career out of their famous smirks and have a difficult time "playing it straight." But when you think about it, it's to be expected. I'm not going to say that Aquarians don't lie--many are quite good at it--but I will say that the majority of Aquarians don't enjoy lying. So, you can gather that the art of lying--acting--doesn't come natural to them.

Perhaps they make better directors than they do actors. There's no shortage of Aquarian directors. And that, too, makes a lot of sense. Seeking the truth is so much easier to do behind the camera than in front of it and Aquarians are better at showing how behavior affects us than they are at portraying it.