Quote: (06-25-2016 06:23 PM)younggun Wrote:
No mention of Harvey Specter?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMqM7GVStdo
They've tried to betafy his character in the later seasons but he's a great example of game being used in both professional and personal contexts
He's what Barney Stinson should be like in a drama. I didn't watch that show because it was too "Friends" for me. But NPH plays a caricature. Much like Ron Swanson and Al Bundy. There's flat characters with very little depth.
Specter is something else
Harvey is very "alpha" in a paper way. But he's also "alpha" in a real way.
So the paper stuff - he's this hotshot lawyer, rich, powerful, impecabbly dressed, and always gets the job done. And he's always sticking up for his people. And he always has a plan. He always sees the angle.
It's a the typical Master of the Universe fantasy. Much like Barney Stinson.
The alpha-ness in Harvey's character isn't part of the "plot".
Anyone can be the Mr. Bad Ass. Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill played two bad asses in Batman vs. Superman - but there's not much range in their characters, or not much believable range. Part of that is the genre, part of the is the script, part of that is the director, some of that is the character, but a lot of it is the actor. Lex Luthor Zuckerberg was super interesting until the very end... I digress.
Stinson always plays it cool. He's unflappable.
Harvey is very flappable.
He gets mad.
He gets defeated. He loses the girls and there's consequences.
He's trapped by his image somewhat.
He's afraid.
He shows emotions.
He makes enemies.
Unlike Barney, with his angles and tricks, Harvey is the full man.
What makes that alpha is that when he shows himself, he doesn't too much care about the consequences. But he's actually trying to hold all of that back. He's a compelling character for that reason.
When he deals with women on the show - he's more than willing to go toe to toe with Jessica, who's his boss for most of the run. She scares the bejeezus out of everyone, and not just because she runs the operation.
With the romantic escapades, his flirting is top notch. He pushes sex without talking about. He doesn't take everything the chicks he says seriously, which is how the game is played.
By contrast - Louis is always reactive when he's not being selfish or venal. He makes for great conflict, and that actor knows how to hit those emotional notes to a tee.
Mike, the everyman with a the photographic memory is the heart of the show. (the show was a "case of the week" type show until they started leaning on the Aaron Sorkin/Snappy Banter,)
He has to be fairly bland in order to make all these other characters pop. The only person more bland then him is Rachel/The Fiance. Donna, Jessica, Lewis, Harvey...even the black lady brought in as Donna's replacement - are all more interesting than Mike. Hell Mike was guest starring on Orphan Black and that was a win for them. But Tatiana is probably the most interesting actor that nobody talks about.
Mike's character arc is going from boyhood to manhood - but he definitely lacks game. He approaches the relationships like a square.
Harvey on the other hand, he knows he can sleep with a chick. And the chicks he deals with smell that arrogance on him. And it's bait. They want to "one up" his smug demeanor, but by doing so, they get wrapped up in trying to beat him. And that's his trap.
That's the player's move. I'm getting this chick all into stopping me - but all that is doing is making me the thing she's most interested in. One slip, and she's in bed.
I wish I could pull up some clips, but if you watch the right ones - when he talks to a small group of people - the actors can't help but to turn their eyes and attention to him, and react to what he's saying.
Nothing is written in the script, that "Donna and Jessica both look at Harvey" - but when you watch the scenes - the body language of the actors all react to him. Part of that is acting on their part - but acting is bringing forth the natural reactions and body language that a person in that situation would have.
You can see this on mute. You don't even need to hear the words.
The game situations are of course all fictional -but to sell them to the audience - Gabriel Macht (the guy who plays Harvey) is able to create the tone, body language and demeanor to sell it to the actresses - and make them give him the right body language - which in turn sells the scene to the audience.
Gabriel might not even be Harvey. But to play that role, he has to really get in the shoes of someone with that sort of charisma and magnetism.
WIA
