Ezra Klein: Soprentourage Blogging

« Scoreboard | Main | Inequality Facts, Cont. »

April 23, 2007

Soprentourage Blogging

• It's no fault of The Sopranos, which was cast and filmed ages ago, but I can't have been the only one creeped out by Junior's psychopathic, lonesome, young Asian friend. Bad timing.

• Oh, Entourage. You're so back. That said, the trope that sexual tension will be cleared by a sexual encounter has never made much sense to me. It's possible, to be sure, that the partners awkwardly fumble about and mutually decide against doing that again. But it's equally likely that it'll blow some minds and develop from tension into a crush, or into endless angling for another go, or into an invitation for dinner. And moving from tension to full-blown desire, or infatuation, seems troublesome for the agent-actor relationship.

April 23, 2007 | Permalink

Comments

The idea of clearing sexual tension with a sexual encounter would make perfect sense to Vince, even if not to we mere mortals. In the past, when Vince wanted to have sex with someone, he simply did so, and that was that. One can see why he would think this would be the same.

Posted by: MikeJ | Apr 23, 2007 7:57:14 AM

But it was Amanda's idea, not his.

Posted by: Ezra | Apr 23, 2007 8:01:08 AM

I don't watch the Sopranos, but showing an episode right now featuring a psychopathic young Asian seems to me to have been in incredibly bad taste, to say the least. Couldn't they have skipped that one, maybe with a brief explanation?

Posted by: beckya57 | Apr 23, 2007 8:04:01 AM

Ken Leung is awesome in everything. And he wasn't any more psychopathic than any other character on that show, he was just kind of gangsta. I didn't think of Virginia Tech at all while watching that.

Posted by: digamma | Apr 23, 2007 8:22:59 AM

I had the same feeling, Ezra--in fact, I remarked to Robert that isn't it a creepy coincidence that Jr.'s pal is so au courant in terms of his looks, nature, and ethnicity and I suppose other people are thinking the same thing. Yes, it was obviously written and cast ages ago, but still. Then again, when something that overwhelmingly tragic happens, it seems silly to suggest that seeing an Asian man cast in a violent role (like Hollywood never does that?) could somehow aggravate the unimaginable, mind-blowing grief that people in VA, and beyond, are already experiencing.

Posted by: litbrit | Apr 23, 2007 9:07:56 AM

Ahem... it's a teevee show. Don't think too much. You'll ruin it for everyone;)

Posted by: mcsey | Apr 23, 2007 9:10:47 AM

You're assuming that an agent and an actor were being honest to one another with what they were saying when they actually probably just wanted to fuck. Also, inferring from the previews of next week's episode, it DOESN'T work, and it does move into desire/infatuation.

And I would watch The Sopranos more, but I cannot get over the fact that Lorraine Bracco is paid money to act.

Posted by: dday | Apr 23, 2007 10:56:32 AM

I second Dday on both counts, with the caveat that I watch the Sopranos quite often. But that is definitely despite Lorraine Bracco.

An interesting moment in a New Yorker profile of Peter Bogdanovich a few years ago. He had directed an episode of The Sopranos, and we got to listen in as the editors sat there and laughed at Bracco's performance of a scene.

Posted by: Kyle | Apr 23, 2007 11:41:28 AM

Re: the Asian guy, I didn't find it creepy. Artistically it resonated so well (by accident) with a current event that it just made me think even more highly of the show. Like, this show is not only awesome in the ways they _intend_ it to be, but even in unplannable ways!

Posted by: mari lup | Apr 23, 2007 2:25:38 PM

"And moving from tension to full-blown desire, or infatuation, seems troublesome for the agent-actor relationship."

Yes. That is why Ari will get Vince back, and Amanda will become Vince's girlfried. Duh.

As for the psychopathic Asian guy being "bad timing": give me a break. Everyone watching is aware of the meta-context, and notes the coincidence. I don't think anyone says, "How dare they make me watch this - it is so badly timed!"

Posted by: bobbo | Apr 23, 2007 3:08:39 PM

Just like Ari is based on real-life agent Ari Emanuel, Amanda's based on a real person. Can't recall the name off the top of my head, but I recognized the connection from the first episode she was in. And this agent is pretty well-known around town for unapologetically using sex appeal and sleeping with clients, sometimes as a tool to steal them from other agents.

Posted by: Senescent | Apr 23, 2007 5:20:52 PM

I realize I forgot to make a point out of that setup, but it's this: even if in the next few episodes it looks like it turns into a real infatuation, it's entirely possible that Amanda's just playing to build up Vince's loyalty in response to the threat of Ari.

Posted by: Senescent | Apr 23, 2007 5:44:52 PM

As far as Amanda bopping Vince, does that mean Ari has to sleep with Vince too: didn't he tell Vince anything she could do for him, he could do better...???

As to the comment above that Amanda’s based on a real agent who sleeps with clients – if so, she’s not the first. Sue Mengers who was a high-powered agent for William Morris Agency in the late 1980s was supposed to have supplied clients with sexual favors and was reported to have bragged about ‘giving great head.’

But of course, "Entourage" is intentionally exaggerated for sexual comedic effect. Most of the large Hollywood agencies, painfully aware of sexual-harassment lawsuits, do what they can to keep sex out of the workplace. And that goes for extra-curricular client-agent relationships too. About three or four years ago I was briefly represented by CAA (no, I’m not famous – damn!) and during the times I was there for meetings and consultations I was struck by how ‘chaste’ it seemed. Corporate cubicles for most of the employees, everyone dressed informally but neatly, the ushers who escorted me across the lobby in blazers and ties. No sexually charged innuendos ping-ponging across the hallways -- in fact the strongest expletive I remember hearing was 'oh shit' when an assistant bringing in coffee spilled a container on the conference table.

Posted by: Jay Jerome | Apr 23, 2007 11:29:04 PM

The agencies aren't worried about sexual harassment lawsuits. They know that if anyone had the audacity to bring one, the whole industry would gang together to run them out of town on a rail, just like Amaani Lyle. That's what I like about Hollywood - personality never yielded to process.

Posted by: Senescent | Apr 24, 2007 1:16:49 PM

CAA chaste? at work, but get those corporate lackeys out to the sky bar and watch them whore...

Posted by: christian | Apr 24, 2007 6:48:24 PM

Just to be fair - though I haven't seen this new agent yet - Mengers big secret weapon was that she represented Barbra Streisand at the peak of her film career. Much of the rest - like the head comment - was mostly talk, proving that she could play on the field like the boys did (stories about her make her sound like a female Ari). In fact, I think Beverly D'Angelo's character is close to the real Mengers on the show. I'd bet that a woman agent actually using sex to keep her clients would be a recent (and not necessaily helpful) development. I try to keep Entourage in the realm of the fictional, but I think Vince and Ari are meant to be - we know it, and so do they. Ari deserves to suffer for that half-assed play he made to keep Vince at the end of last season. But he knows Vince, and he knows what works for him. I have faith.

PS, I think the point of Entourage is to watch Eric grow from being a hanger-on friend to a real LA power player - as his relatioonships become more superficial and more meaningless, and as he tries to fight it, I keep thinking he's learning all the wrong lessons - which are just the ones you need to learn to succeed out there.

Posted by: weboy | Apr 24, 2007 8:34:15 PM

托盘
 托盘
 钢托盘
 钢制托盘
 塑料托盘
 木托盘
 木制托盘
 纸托盘
 木塑托盘