Be Yourself

Typecasting has been an issue in Hollywood since Day 1. Actors play one role, and then they are stuck playing that same idea of a character in every other movie they're in. Sure, that might seem to get boring, but think about it. It worked, didn't it? The Marx Brothers literally played the same characters in every one of their movies, and they will be remembered forever.

It has recently come to my attention while reading a review in EW on Youth in Revolt (that I have yet to see still, but it is on my list) that Michael Cera is being typecasted. Wow, you're just realizing that? Yes, he always plays the lovable nerd. Can we fault him for that? In a society where to be an "attractive" man you need to have washboard abs, a glowing tan and be 7 feet tall, Cera wasn't going to get any conventional roles in Hollywood.

This ideal man (the same goes for women) is not what the average person looks like. Cera is the average joe. The guy who sits next to you in math class. The clerk at the grocery store you shop at. He makes movies believable - something that mainstream movies have been missing for awhile.

Cera would have thrived if he continued to just stick with independently made films. For years, indie productions have been more realistic than Hollywood movies beccause the actors weren't built like Greek gods. They were characters that the audience could relate to, in all aspects.

However, Cera made a little movie called Superbad, and the rest if history. He had become a household name. Then, after being a critic's darling for a year or so, they go and chastize him for playing the same character over and over again. As I said, yes this is true. They think it's a bad thing, though. I say nay.

Why? Because each movie is completely different. For awhile, Hollywood was stuck in a rut. Every movie that was coming out was either a sequel, a super hero movie, a remake or a remake of a super hero movie sequel. While all the movies Cera has starred in aren't paticularly rememberable (How about Year One?), they are unique. Who cares if you can take Evan from Superbad, put him next to Nick from Youth in Revolot and the character reads the same? The movies are still just as good. People still pay good money to see them.

It seems that anymore actors are basically playing extensions of themselves. The big names will continue playing the sterotypical hunks and Cera and other members of his crew (Jonah Hill, Cristopher Mintz-Plasse, etc.) will continue to play the nerds. I guess it's true that high school never ends, but I'm proud to be in my clique. Nerd chic is back in.