Whither Thou, Beefcake?

I just happened upon this photo of the True Blood gang naked on the cover of Rolling Stone.  I consider True Blood to be soft core porn that's moved into the realm of kink over time. I look at this cover (which I've chosen to keep cropped) and am embarrassed for the actors. I especially think of Stephen Moyers, a Brit who plays Bill, who is 40+, and I think, "Man, where is your dignity????"  The photo is totally gratuitous. Meant to be provocative, it comes across as depraved, right up there with reality shows and Hustler.

Which brings up Richard Armitage's naked body shots. Let us count the number.  Some are nude, but some I find naked.  Guy of Gisborne did not have to disrobe.  Period. In Spooks, the boiler suit scene was nudity, perhaps so was John Porter's, alongside a line of other naked men.  Maybe. In Between the Sheets, lots of nudity/nakedness.  Graphic sex.  Well, the show was all about sex, but did it need to be graphic? I don't think so.  

In Sparkhouse, John Standring did it in the car with his clothes on.  Works for me. I get it. Cold Feet?  No socks on his feet, but his Speedo rather resembled a sock.  Necessary? A clue.  No. Other roles required no nudity.  Some were actually memorable.

Did Armitage really need to disrobe so often? More importantly now, does he really need to change his body for every TV role?  Does he need to work out so hard that he pukes? Does he need to lose and gain weight at a frequent and rapid rate?  What's with having two trainers?  Whatever happened to the art of illusion?  Armitage just finished off Spooks (MI 5) 9.  I imagine he is beefing up for Strike Back 2. Whither Armitage?

Look at Toby Stephens whom I just discovered.  Has he disrobed much?  Well, I imagine the answer is "no", perhaps because Mom is Maggie Smith.  No one could ever convince me that nepotism didn't help get him where he is today; I understand even the States wants him. He doesn't have to disrobe.  I haven't seen Colin Firth doffing his duds often either, and his claim to fame is a single dripping wet shirt. John Garfield played a boxer without being buff and he was believable.  But, but, but, you say, times have changed.  If you want to get somewhere you do what you need to do, what the times demand.  Yet I can still name you dozens of successful actors who did not go the body/nudity/nakedness route.  

Here Armitage was dismayed that his Guy was drooled over.  Yes, it's partly due to the fact that he willfully and creatively gave the character a tender side. And especially due to the fact that he looks beyond good in leather.  But how ingenuous do you have to be to not see that gratuitous body shots are not helping your acting cause?  Or deny that your handsomeness opens the doors and that the unwarranted use of your body will make you popular in an embarrassing way?

I know that Armitage used to be a dancer, so I imagine he is body conscious. It's part of his personal artillery and expression.  I also imagine that he must be an anxious and terribly pragmatic soul, to acquiesce to what's demanded of him body wise.  Better to be acting in anything than not be acting.  And yet, I wonder, is he feeding into the beefcake expectations?  I would say, yes.

So, here we have a prodigious talent on the beefcake conveyor belt with a twist, finding and creating meaning for the naked/nude action hero.  Whither thou, Armitage?  Why am I so disappointed by this direction, which at this point seems like a speeding bodalicious juggernaut with no end?

Feh.  Because partly I identify with him.  But mostly because I treasure his talent; it is wondrous, and it's rare in this life to happen upon such a gem.  It makes you want to hang onto it, and keep it pure and show it to everyone.  It is not shameful to be undone by Beauty (not only the physical) and somehow moved and awed. I love this heightened experience more than anything in the face of his characters' unfolding; it skirts the fringes of ecstasy, this sensuous apprehension of truth and beauty.  That experience is a moment in eternity and an event. Amongst all the dreck, the veil is torn and truth and beauty piercingly shine forth.  That is my perspective as the observer and more importantly, the recipient.

He may not forever be sexually objectified, but it doesn't stop one from feeling the loss even now and commenting on it.  He's never struck me as a hunk and in my opinion, he's certainly not, with his long, lean ectomorphic body (in its original incarnation).  Shakespeare comes to mind, how he successfully wrote for the masses, to entertain.  Yet, he was genius enough to write about the human condition in a way that any one could relate.  I think of Les Enfants du Paradis, where actors/mimes on the 'Boulevard du Crime' had to entertain and satisfy those in the gods (aka, 'peanut gallery'). It can be done and perhaps that's what Armitage contemporaneously attempts to do addressing the masses with shoot 'em up style, yet insisting on nuanced, fine tuned characterisations; for the defence, I offer Guy of Gisborne as Exhibit A.

I do not argue nakedness as any sort of justification, however.  The masses these days don't value anything but reality TV, where rank nakedness abounds, of body and soul.  I wonder what Shakespeare would have made of it. I imagine he'd be showing his films at Sundance, and his plays off Broadway. In fact, I can't think of a single instance in his works of anyone having to get naked.

I used the word "naked" advisedly.  Sometimes, in watching some scene with bare flesh I cringe.  It seems so undignified for an actor of Richard Armitage's calibre and presence, someone who actually looks like a mature man of a certain age, to have to buff up and display the goods. 'Nudity' carries a cloak of dignity; nakedness is painful, immodest exposure. I always think of Armitage as that rare someone who is inherently dignified, that is my flaw.  And when the character does not do the actor justice in said manner, from my perspective it diminishes him and I don't like to see him or anyone diminished.

So, whither Richard Armitage and his 6 pack?  It borders on the exploitative, whether he condones it or not.  I don't like it, and I will be incensed forever that it seems to be required. I want to tap him on the shoulder and whisper in his ear, "Hey, do you want to end up like Stephen Moyer?"  Is it worth it to sacrifice everything, including one's dignity to ambition?  I guess over the years we will find out.  And whether I was completely wrong in my estimation. All I know is, I can live without the beefcake.  Convince me with your acting. Like Alec Guinness or John Garfield.

Oh,  and nevermind, Mr Armitage.  This isn't really about you.