*Ignoring the old adage “If you haven’t got anything nice to say don’t say anything at all”.
Kids these days have absolutely no respect! None more so than Hollywood A-lister and go to movie neurotic, Jesse Eisenberg, who compared the events of last months San Diego Comic Con to “some kind of genocide”. So in Jesse Eisenberg’s head having a multitude of fans giving you love and support at one of the biggest events in the world where you are the undoubted star is akin to living as a Jewish person in Nazi Germany. He explained the gaffe away as him acting in character for upcoming movie Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. His character, the lead villain Lex Luther, is apparently privy to this sort of “hyperbole”.
However, this is not the first time Eisenberg (we shall refer to him by surname a wink-wink at an upcoming clip) has shot his mouth off before he has had time to think.
Exhibit A (“Foreman!!!”):
Exhibit B (Opposite the affable and always charming, Andrew Garfield):
Exhibit C (He can be a pompous ass on radio as well):
I understand this is meant to be all part of his dry sense of humour but whereas fellow actors come across as cool and charismatic when employing ‘said’ brand of humour (Bill Murray, Zach Galfinakis, The Queen of deadpan Aubrey Plaza), Eisenberg repeatedly comes across as pretentious and rude, oblivious to those around him. Maybe it’s because he has zero compassion and likes to clean up his mistakes with lines like “otherwise it will look like I’m responsible” followed with the oh-so-lovely “you’re on my time” or maybe he’s just a complete charisma vacuum like the characters he plays ( His performance as Mark Zuckerberg in the otherwise magnificent Social Network, ruined my whole enjoyment of the film). Maybe it’s because he is a little too awkward to pull off all his sarcasm; it requires a certain amount of playful confidence.
We all know deep down Hollywood actors are jerks (for us bottom feeders its hard to see the incredibly popular and beautiful kids as bastions of the moral compass) but when these personality traits seep into their public persona we are shocked. Eisenberg at 29 is in an incredibly lucky and privileged position, yet on numerous occasions has chosen to belittle others whose influence has put him on the top. Every little counts and in the public sphere of moviemaking you are only as good as the fans/supporters/media make you.
I understand hate is purely objective, some may see Eisenberg’s quirks as cutesy others may be less critical. Eisenberg has chosen his roles well preferring to stick for the most part with critically acclaimed directors/movie-makers (David Fincher, Noah Baumbach, Richard Ayoade) in lower level indie type flicks. He does seem genuinely passionate about acting, yet this seriousness and his deadpan schtick has simply worn too thin with me.
(Adding to my dislike is the fact that his acting chops never seem to stray to far from this dry, wise-cracking, arrogant yet ultimately rude and socially unaware persona – The Social Network, Now You See Me, One half of his role in The Double, his occasionally sufferable performances in Adventureland and Zombieland, yet still curiously anal and awkward – Eisenberg has basically built a career out of playing neurotic’s; a sure-fire way to make oneself a love them or loath them character, just ask Woody Allen)
Our Broken Record 