E.G. BellAnyone who has raised an adult and lived through its teenage years knows sarcasm. As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said (about pornography):
“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [“hard-core pornography”], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.” (emphasis mine)
I was reading a news item the other day having to do with sarcasm and how it is often misused. Among several examples given of a speaker claiming to use sarcasm was that of a world leader who was trying to explain his suggestion on national television during an official government press briefing that perhaps disinfectant could be injected in the body somehow to address covid. To paraphrase Potter Stewart, I may not be able to define sarcasm, but, having raised three adults through teen years, I absolutely know it when I hear it.
Drawing from the news item quoted:
“Sarcasm, on the other hand, is most frequently used to disparage the actions of other people. If someone tells you that you’re a real genius after you forgot to meet them for an important appointment, they clearly don’t mean that you’re mentally gifted. Simply put, irony is commentary, but sarcasm is criticism.”
The disinfectant suggestion was NOT sarcasm. It was a sincere question asked about possible treatments for a severe health issue.
This whole topic made me think of another situation that I have been watching over the last several years regarding movie stars. I’m talking about specific stars and roles they have had in which they did very well (my opinion).
Hulk Hogan, for instance, portrayed a professional wrestler in a ‘sparring match’ with Rocky Balboa in one of the Rocky movies. I thought he was believable in the role. He appeared in several forgettable movies, but he DID make several.
Jason Mamoa starred in the Aquaman movies. This was really my introduction to Jason. Since then he has appeared in movies and several commercials that play up his humanity. In one he is doing a tea party with his daughter. In another he comes in and takes off his ‘work’ outfit, stripping away his muscles and revealing underneath a frail “90-pound weakling.”
John Cena has appeared in several entertaining movies. His first was “The Marine” where he rescued his wife from a group of bad guys. This is my favorite kind of movie. Good guys beat the living snot out of bad guys. I also like comedies and John Cena has appeared successfully in several. “Blockers” jumps immediately to mind and “Daddy’s Home” (one and two) with Mark Wahlberg. John Cena has done a LOT of movie and television work. He moves seamlessly between self-deprecating comedies and avenging good guy roles.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is another actor whose movies I have really enjoyed. Steve usually plays an extremely tough guy. Invincible. Always putting whuppings on bad guys or groups of bad guys. He is a tough, hard, stoic, often morally questionable man who always reveals a soft side eventually. Justice prevails. He sees to it. You’re never sure he is trying to be funny. He administers justice while dealing pain to the wicked. He has a large catalog of movies including the “Expendables”, “The Longest Yard (remake)”, “Hunt to Kill”, “Recoil”, and “The Package”. If you like seeing good win out over evil, and evil get violently defeated, Steve Austin does not disappoint.
Dave Bautista is another actor who makes enjoyable movies and he also does a range of comedy through good-guy-clobbers-evil-doers. One of his most recent, and very enjoyable, movies is “The Glass Onion” on Netflix. This is a dramedy. It is not violent. Here Dave is not a fighter but rather a podcaster. Unexpected. I always have to do a doubletake to verify that he is not Steve Austin. They don’t look that much alike but have an appearance similar enough to confuse me. Dave has done a lot of different roles and a lot of different movie types. In addition to “The Glass Onion”, you might have seen Dave in “Blade Runner 2049” and “Dune”. He has also been in “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, some of Marvel’s “Avengers” movies, the James Bond movie “Spectre (I)” and the comedy “My Spy”.
Another movie star, perhaps the gold standard of this list of stars in this review, is Dwayne Johnson. He has played good guys (“Walking Tall (remake), comedy (“Jumanji”, “Jungle Cruise”, “Central Intelligence”, “The Tooth Fairy”), a superhero (“Black Adam”), etc. Dwayne is box office gold, and every movie I have ever seen with him in it has been great. He is often a good guy overcoming bad guys but rarely the violent Steve Austin type. He has a million-dollar smile.
You might be wondering how I went from sarcasm to a group of movie actors/superstars with a catalog of (mostly) extremely satisfying movie (and television) experiences. You might have seen a common thread in the list of actors. They are or were all professional wrestlers and had varying degrees of success in that “sport” also. They had huge followings and a built-in fan base for ventures beyond the ring. Wrestling fans seem to worship their “heroes,” suspending disbelief while drinking in WWE violence and spectacle. I’m not a professional wrestling fan. I have never watched a match in person or on television. However, in every case cited above, I have enjoyed big names in this “sport” in movies. And I have quite often come away thinking to myself,
“Professional Wrestlers can act. Who would have ever thought it!”
And in case you did not get here way ahead of me, THAT is a true example of sarcasm.
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