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Post by snacky on Aug 23, 2014 19:03:57 GMT
I found this review while trying to confirm some info for another post here: www.weeklystandard.com/articles/person-interest_666587.html?page=1This review contains a lot of the usual celebration of Murdoch Mysteries: great historical series, detective using science and logic, etc. But it makes a point I haven't seen before on the second page, so I thought I'd post it here for people who work on MM promotion and reviews. He points out that William is not an eccentric genius. He's a very plain person that blends in to the background: he's hiding his genius. The article claims this is an asset for him in his work. I would dispute that. This character feature may or may not be an asset for his work just as it may or may not be an asset in his personal life: it's the fact it IS a character feature that makes William Murdoch interesting to watch. How many times has William's "blandness" come up as a romantic problem - but then that problem must be solved! I previously posted a thread in this section about how William's demeanor can be considered "feminist" because he is giving space for others to expand their personalities: his quiet demeanor seems to be sucking the audience in as well as his colleagues. And then there is his crime-solving style. He stands in a remarkably perpendicular way, kind of like a stake in the ground, personally embodying the reliability and stability of the law. He's part of the natural order, and that's what works when you don't notice it. A few words on Yannick Bisson here: he's been a genius himself at developing this character. He does a lot of work to emphasize this quietude, and a lot of acting with his eyes. The parts that do seem like bad acting on his part, particularly during the first Season are so, seem partly the fault of the writers for trying to make him discuss feelings instead of realizing that Yannick's strength lies in making the most out of saying nothing at all. He's extremely under-appreciated for what he can do with silence. Anyway, I thought the way this review framed William Murdoch's uniqueness as a detective was spot on, and I'd never seen it put this way this way before. Let's just hope William isn't wearing a "mask of sanity", lol! |
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Post by snacky on Aug 24, 2014 5:59:10 GMT
By coincidence, I watched Dinosaur Fever shortly after posting this. In this episode, one of the suspects talks about the new ideals of science: for the man to be forgotten, but to anonymously contribute to the advancement of knowledge.
William seems to have committed to subordinate himself to several larger structures: the ideals of the Victorian middle class and professional bureaucracy, the Catholic church and all the dogmas and institutions that implies, and the impersonal dictates of modern science as the key to the natural order (which he probably sees as reinforcing the social/legal order).
Most of us think of the response to the atomized, homogenized, dehumanized, mechanized modern world as an exaggerated hyper-individuality and selfishness (the "me generation"). Thus it's easier to identify with Sherlock's self-absorbed sociopath. William's character, the opposite of Sherlock's, is a personality at the very root of modernity, transferring its allegiance from subordination to God to subordination to a secular order. Frankly, I find this portrayal more historically informative and more interesting.
Again I wonder, as I've wondered many times, how Yannick thinks about this: whether this is indeed the angle he's using, and where he's "sourcing" it from.
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Post by Hodge on Aug 24, 2014 18:51:53 GMT
By coincidence, I watched Dinosaur Fever shortly after posting this. In this episode, one of the suspects talks about the new ideals of science: for the man to be forgotten, but to anonymously contribute to the advancement of knowledge. William seems to have committed to subordinate himself to several larger structures: the ideals of the Victorian middle class and professional bureaucracy, the Catholic church and all the dogmas and institutions that implies, and the impersonal dictates of modern science as the key to the natural order (which he probably sees as reinforcing the social/legal order). Most of us think of the response to the atomized, homogenized, dehumanized, mechanized modern world as an exaggerated hyper-individuality and selfishness (the "me generation"). Thus it's easier to identify with Sherlock's self-absorbed sociopath. William's character, the opposite of Sherlock's, is a personality at the very root of modernity, transferring its allegiance from subordination to God to subordination to a secular order. Frankly, I find this portrayal more historically informative and more interesting. Again I wonder, as I've wondered many times, how Yannick thinks about this: whether this is indeed the angle he's using, and where he's "sourcing" it from. I suspect you're over thinking this as far as Yannick is concerned as he's just interpreting what's presented to him in the script. However that doesn't mean that the writers aren't thinking of this angle. Whatever is being presented to him he's doing a good job. |
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Post by snacky on Aug 24, 2014 19:37:20 GMT
I suspect you're over thinking this as far as Yannick is concerned as he's just interpreting what's presented to him in the script. However that doesn't mean that the writers aren't thinking of this angle. Whatever is being presented to him he's doing a good job. Yeah, Yannick probably doesn't have very much time to consider it at all. But, as you say, perhaps the writers do, and perhaps they are feeding him that sort of interpretation? By this standard he's doing a better job than most people realize. I hope he keeps it up. He hasn't really been recognized by his peers, and I think that's what counts the most for actors. |
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Post by Hodge on Aug 24, 2014 20:20:46 GMT
I suspect you're over thinking this as far as Yannick is concerned as he's just interpreting what's presented to him in the script. However that doesn't mean that the writers aren't thinking of this angle. Whatever is being presented to him he's doing a good job. Yeah, Yannick probably doesn't have very much time to consider it at all. But, as you say, perhaps the writers do, and perhaps they are feeding him that sort of interpretation? By this standard he's doing a better job than most people realize. I hope he keeps it up. He hasn't really been recognized by his peers, and I think that's what counts the most for actors. Yannick's acting in MM is extremely understated unless you really watch and take note. To most people it probably seems like he's doing nothing much but in actual fact he's working the whole time. If I'm interested in a character I study the actors technique, something I've not been able to quit since taking an acting class many years ago. Too bad that he makes it look so easy, it's not and he deserves recognition for this series. |
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Post by snacky on Aug 24, 2014 20:47:40 GMT
Yannick's acting in MM is extremely understated unless you really watch and take note. To most people it probably seems like he's doing nothing much but in actual fact he's working the whole time. If I'm interested in a character I study the actors technique, something I've not been able to quit since taking an acting class many years ago. Too bad that he makes it look so easy, it's not and he deserves recognition for this series. I did appreciate that he was doing an "understated" character and some acting with his eyes, but I didn't appreciate quite how much until I started looking at More of a Spectacle's gifs. Yannick really does a lot of facial and gestural work!  I hope he doesn't get tired and jaded from lack of recognition and start phoning it in. That happened on several other long-running series' that I was a fan of.  |
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Post by Hodge on Aug 25, 2014 21:07:51 GMT
Yannick's acting in MM is extremely understated unless you really watch and take note. To most people it probably seems like he's doing nothing much but in actual fact he's working the whole time. If I'm interested in a character I study the actors technique, something I've not been able to quit since taking an acting class many years ago. Too bad that he makes it look so easy, it's not and he deserves recognition for this series. I did appreciate that he was doing an "understated" character and some acting with his eyes, but I didn't appreciate quite how much until I started looking at More of a Spectacle's gifs. Yannick really does a lot of facial and gestural work! I hope he doesn't get tired and jaded from lack of recognition and start phoning it in. That happened on several other long-running series' that I was a fan of. He's made it this far w/o phoning it in. I think he's pretty dedicated to the Murdoch role, he seems to love the character. |
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Post by snacky on Aug 26, 2014 3:25:23 GMT
Yannick claimed in an article that he goes home and tries to be as different from William as possible, but I think at heart they share some important values (some of which have been a theme through out Yannick's career - I've always wondered whether that's been intentional). Anyway, I think the commitment to the character partly derives from the fact that they share some values. It would be much harder to keep it up if he had to go in and play a character he "disagreed with" and knew he was putting those values out there. |
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Post by Hodge on Aug 26, 2014 17:33:03 GMT
Yannick claimed in an article that he goes home and tries to be as different from William as possible, but I think at heart they share some important values (some of which have been a theme through out Yannick's career - I've always wondered whether that's been intentional). Anyway, I think the commitment to the character partly derives from the fact that they share some values. It would be much harder to keep it up if he had to go in and play a character he "disagreed with" and knew he was putting those values out there. Physically Yannick is very different from William, whilst most of his acting takes place above the collar he stands and walks differently and the body language (such as it is from William) is also different. Plus not only does he look different, the hair makes a big difference in this, but he lowers his voice as William. I often wonder how much effort it takes to keep this up over 8 seasons. On the other hand I think Yannick does have some of William's values in common at least as far as family is concerned, they both also like fast cars! |
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Post by snacky on Aug 26, 2014 18:08:08 GMT
Physically Yannick is very different from William, whilst most of his acting takes place above the collar he stands and walks differently and the body language (such as it is from William) is also different. Plus not only does he look different, the hair makes a big difference in this, but he lowers his voice as William. I often wonder how much effort it takes to keep this up over 8 seasons. On the other hand I think Yannick does have some of William's values in common at least as far as family is concerned, they both also like fast cars! I think those physical differences would also help keep Yannick from "phoning it in", because those are work! Especially remembering to lower his voice - wow! The standing straight/taking up as little space as possible is something I've been taking notice of as I've rewatched the episodes with Eclair. I used to notice that William somehow looked different than everyone else: I wasn't sure if it was Yannick's posture or the different cut of his suit, but he just looked more "perpendicular". (I think of that word because it's from a line from a Henry James novel - I thought it was a great description of very proper, well-mannered people). lol about the fast cars! |
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