Marlon Brando: Views iv

Marlon takes a shortcut to Method. Instead of trying to brew up the right expression, the right emotion, the right gestures for the scene through an intense concentration on his own emotions, thoughts, and being, he stirs up the negative emotions, thoughts needed for the scene in others. Method acting can be an intensely slow process and Marlon is tired. In On the Waterfront, he stirs up these emotions by opening being hostile to other actors. Sometimes, it is the very worst in us that brings out the best in us. They bark back at him, and he starts to see something of the truth of their lives. Sometimes, he even sees who they are sleeping with, whether they are gay or not or even other truths. People become more transparent and then their eyes retreat into their own lies.

In Good Will Hunting, Good Will has this gift to see into people. I think Will uses mainly Freudian Methods. Will studies people and puts people on the defensive. He watches how they react to certain situations, how they transfer their guilt through scapegoating, how they learn to hide their homosexuality through overconcern and overly fatherly advice. Will is a genius, but his view of people is very shallowly based. People are more intricate than that and destroying people because his father beat him is a very shallow way of viewing reality.

So Marlon uses this Method to bring out excellent performances in his colleagues, but they all start to hate him. They view him very suspiciously. They want him out and they are certainly going to scapegoat him. Rumors of Marlon's homosexuality and immorality flies around like scavengers waiting for dead meat. People hate Marlon. They want to crucifiy him.

Despite all that, Marlon gives his best performances. If America hates Marlon, England loves him. There, he competes with the best Shakespearean actors. Of course, this is 1953, one year before On the Waterfront, but my point is still valid. In America, he literally had no competition. His training period did not pit him against any actors of his calibur. The English Shakespearean actors are all highly skilled theatre actors and actresses and they all know each other, but Marlon is the only one who truly acts Roman in Julius Caesar. His gestures are more natural, more free. The English WASPS may fancy themselves have descendents of the noble Romans, but Marlon is the only one who is truly phallic. His verbal command of Shakespeare's English is full, natural, and his style is filled with content. This is where he becomes anti-American to a certain extend and at the same time becomes the darling of the American upperclass although he was already so after Streetcar. In general, you cannot become so fully hated by one group that another group or sub-group does not love you.

Viva Zapata, On the Waterfront, Julius Caesar... these are classic Brando performances that reflect the rise of American power and influence in the world. The new, cool, titanic masculinity and individuality reflects the continental, Byronic cynicism. Europe loves Brando. England loves Brando. America is wondering if Brando can pull Western culture together. Already though, Brando is feeling a fascination with Asia or what was then called the Oriental and Indic Cultures. This was really not atypical of the time. Academics like Joseph Campbell, Marxists, and Leftist Liberals were feeling an attraction. Their view of Asia and India was that of an eternally calm and serene culture which took hardships in stride. This view is a greatly false view, and one that is promoted mainly to foreigners.