"Being yourself" is overrated...

baller08

Banned
Sep 21, 2008
135
0
I have to seriously wonder just how many actors you've worked with, or for that matter even known. Every actor must bring their character out from somewhere. They usually have to attach a personal experience to the scene they are attempting to portray to get the emotional level right, and you'll see that notion reflected when you watch any interview with them.

This goes to the point of my original post; these actors who portray other people really aren't being themselves. They have researched and sometimes even actually lived awhile in the actual environment for the characters they are playing to add authenticity.

A few people have said the advice "be yourself" is suppose to warn against mimicing other magicians, but the problem is they mimic because their natural self is uninteresting.

Actors literally go and add something to their personality so they are now a different person...or at least have a different side. Pierce Brosnan is actually a goofy guy if you've ever seen him on a talk show, but he can't "be himself" when he was playing James Bond.

When you are scripting your magic, and you decided to talk about the Chinese coins you use, because of your time spent in China…when you have never been, you WILL get called on it.

Most definitely. But if you actually visited China and it adds a lot to your personality then you would be authentic if you're doing a piece of magic with Chinese coins.

That's why having life experiences that have nothing to do with magic is important. My point is that while the advice "be yourself" might have started with good intentions, I think a lot of people these days use it as a reason to "stay the same". Today we as a society are rather weak...ultra-sensitive...and cannot take any criticism. So the advice "be yourself" becomes an excuse to "not change because you are special just the way you are" and I think that has become a very crippling attitude.
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
15
My point is that while the advice "be yourself" might have started with good intentions, I think a lot of people these days use it as a reason to "stay the same".

As evidenced by some of the knee-jerk reactions this thread has gotten.

Today we as a society are rather weak...ultra-sensitive...and cannot take any criticism. So the advice "be yourself" becomes an excuse to "not change because you are special just the way you are" and I think that has become a very crippling attitude.

I was born shortly after the whole Culture of Nice thing started to take hold. It drove me berserk. After a while it dawned on me that the people who kept repeating "be yourself" and it's associated slogans as a mantra... really didn't have their **** together and weren't doing anything to change that.

I would also like to ask if anyone has seen the movie Milk. Great movie. Harvey Milk was a free-spirited pothead hippy. But he cleaned up to enter the realm of politics and was a hero in the fight for gay rights. Would anyone say that by giving up the trappings of the hippy lifestyle that he wasn't being himself?
 
"Be yourself"...we hear that a lot.

I don't think anyone should be themselves because for most magicians the version of "themselves" is boring, nervous, and uninteresting.

When you go watch a movie, do you want the actor to "be himself" in every movie or would you rather see him play an interesting and different character?

And let's be honest here, a lot (not all) magicians have a stereotype of being nerdy, weird, introverted, and all around socially awkward. This stereotype is unfortunately not inaccurate. This is why magicians who are cool and have a great image appeal to such a wide audience and are financially successful, regardless of their skill level. But that is another topic.

Even the greatest illusionist of all, David Copperfield, started off fitting that stereotype. Don't believe me? Go back and watch his first 2 or 3 TV specials. It wasn't till his 4th year on TV did he go through a complete transformation of his personality, image, and waredrobe style. Only then did he become an international rock star because he appealed to a wider audience, especially women.


Truthfully...I really don't think "being yourself" is overrated. But I think the phrase should be changed to "be the best version of yourself" and that requires change and improvement....."change" is a scary thing to a lot of people. Usually those who need it most are the ones who rebel against it the hardest....kind of ironic.

In Wayne's lecture he talked about how he became a better version of himself when he started having more interest in his life other than magic. As his life experience grew, he had more material to draw from to fuel his magician persona.

I think all too often we use the phrase "be yourself" as an excuse to stay boring and uninteresting. And if you do that, not only are you not going to be a successful magician, you're not even going to be a very success person.
they don't want you to be a gimmick persona...like trying to mimmick criss angel, david blaine, or any of these guys....they simply mean for you to be loose...like sometimes....i do my routines totally mute..i say nothing....i stare...i give hand gesture...i motion....then i perform..instead of saying stop...i just give them the hand signal for stop...when i want them to watch carefully...i hold up one finger to let them know that i am about to do something....i never say a word...i try to make all of my routines...mute....
 
This goes to the point of my original post; these actors who portray other people really aren't being themselves. Actors literally go and add something to their personality so they are now a different person.

I can't say that I agree with you. I've lived in California too long, and met too many actors at the local Denny's or other like food joint to believe that. Danial Craig for example may indeed play James Bond, but so did Sean Conery, Sir. Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnen. All the afronamed actors did a wonderful job as the character, and all of them portrayed a distintivly diffrent version. The reason is; because they don't lose their individuality when they go on set. They reach within them and bring out their version of that character.

The only time you don't see this is if the character is a flat character. But then again that really isn't the fault of the actor more so it is the fault of the writers.
 
Nov 20, 2007
4,410
6
Sydney, Australia
This goes to the point of my original post; these actors who portray other people really aren't being themselves. They have researched and sometimes even actually lived awhile in the actual environment for the characters they are playing to add authenticity.

In general, I don't disagree with you. But take it from a working actor, almost every actor who portrays other people is extrapolating some aspect of themselves (this holds true for almost all actors portraying some semblance of reality). The reason you research and live the life of a character is to make that character part of yourself. The point isn't that actors are going away from themselves; rather, they're drawing the characters towards themselves. It may not start off being who you are, but in the end, the actor absorbs the character as a extended fusion of themselves, rather than the actor leaving behind who they are to become someone else entirely, if you get my meaning (I'm not sure I've explained that so well).
 
No, because I don't like Jack Nicholson movies

Oh, snap....

Just putting in my opinion here... when I perform, sure, I'm not entirely myself, because myself is some crazy guy who makes jokes about wangs every 30 seconds. Well, not really, but that's the best I can sum it up. :D
When I perform I keep the humour side, but in a mysterious way, and involving my spectators. Don't ask me how it works, it just does.

I think people here are trying to relate magic to acting too much.
It's like trying to relate phosphorus to tinfoil. Sure, if I looked closely I might find something in common, but in general they are completely different.

None of this discussion would matter if people just performed more and learned from it.
 

baller08

Banned
Sep 21, 2008
135
0
William and praetoritevong both brought up how actors go within themselves to bring something different to the characters they play, as in the different actors that have played James Bond.

But if you think about James Bond, regardless of who plays him, there has to be certain similar characteristics; he can't be a dorky guy who sucks with women for example. Which means...according to your premise...these guys must truly have at least some of those characteristics of James Bond, otherwise they wouldn't be able to go within themselves to use it.

All of that means, it's ok to be yourself if you:

a) Have some natural born gifts that make you interesting and engaging to the general population or...

b) Have taken the time to learn how to be interesting through life experiences and actually going out and doing things other than magic.


This post was focused on those who neither have A or have done B, yet takes the term "be yourself" as a reason to be the same. Those are the uninteresting people who should not "be themselves" and would be better off trying different personas, all the while working on option B till they can form a more authentic personality. I think there are more people who use the advice "just be yourself" inaccurately than there are those who use it correctly.


Acid Test

Walk into any social gathering, whether it be a lounge, a nightclub, a college club, or a high school party. If you could not do one piece of magic the entire night, would you still be interesting, charming, and engaging to people you've just met?

If the answer is "yes"....and you've actually PROVEN that time and time again...then by all means, just be yourself.

If the answer is "no" or...."sometimes"....then you can't just be yourself because your current version isn't good enough yet.
 

baller08

Banned
Sep 21, 2008
135
0
After a while it dawned on me that the people who kept repeating "be yourself" and it's associated slogans as a mantra... really didn't have their **** together and weren't doing anything to change that.

That's exactly right and I think in the recent 2 decades more and more people fit what you just described.

Many people today (young or old) do not want to put in hard work to reach their goals. We see it in magic more clearly because we focus on it; ie the person who learns a trick and immediately tries to perform it on youtube and ruins the effect.

But it's not a magic thing, it's a society thing. The instant gratification. The desire for as little work as possible but expecting big rewards.

In magic its, "Is it simple?", "Do I end clean?", "Are there any slights?", "I want a piece of magic thats easy but makes me look awesome".

Outside of magic it's, "I want a job that pays a lot but I don't have to work hard", "I want a hot girlfriend but don't want to have to change anything about myself to be better"

Look at the magic that is sold to us...what is the one phrase you see most often? "It's easy"..."It's simple". They know how to market to the lazy generation.

Now, before someone comes in and says, "Just because the concept is simple doesn't make the magic less effective"....don't bother because that's not the point.

Magic is marketed to the community this way because they know that's what this generation wants to hear.
 
Mar 29, 2008
882
3
“Be yourself. No one can ever tell you you're doing it wrong.”
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mar 29, 2008
882
3
“You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy.”
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
15
He was murdered for becoming a political powerhouse...not for being gay or a pothead...so by NOT being himself, but choosing to dress up in a suite and play the game, he ended up pissing off a guy and getting murdered because of the politics.

He died at the hands of a madman who saw Harvey as the source of his fall from grace rather than his own failings.

He made sacrifices to do what he believed to be the right thing. He believed in his cause strongly enough to make compromises, and those who knew him said that he had natural charisma and was well-suited to working in the political arena.

did you have to throw in the "****-all" you condescending ******* - call yourself a friend then talk down to me - give me a break Alex.

You've smacked me down when I've gotten hot under the collar. Same thing here.

The idea of being an individual is NOT overrated - to piss on this, is to piss on the freedom of being unique - a freedom not everyone has. This is NOT to say be like everyone else...which BE YOURSELF is the exact opposite of this.

No one was advocating against individuality. The argument was that the overly simplistic slogan of, "Be yourself," has been corrupted and used as an excuse to avoid having to make changes or adhere to one's ideals.

I recall when I first started studying social psychology and the pick-up arts. I knew my own social anxieties were holding me back. I couldn't be happy unless I fixed this flaw. Yet, when I started studying all this, there were people telling me that I wasn't being true to myself. That I shouldn't treat social skills as... well, skills to be learned. I was told to continue being painfully shy and lonely because it was more true to who I was. But I wasn't my ideal self.

I faced a lot of these criticisms through my life. The people least equipped to give me advice on achieving my ambitions and dreams kept telling me to give up on my endeavors because I allegedly wasn't being myself.

That is what I'm advocating against.
 

baller08

Banned
Sep 21, 2008
135
0
I knew my own social anxieties were holding me back. I couldn't be happy unless I fixed this flaw. Yet, when I started studying all this, there were people telling me that I wasn't being true to myself. That I shouldn't treat social skills as... well, skills to be learned. I was told to continue being painfully shy and lonely because it was more true to who I was. But I wasn't my ideal self.

Right on the money.
 
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