понедельник, 28 января 2013
Actor says teens should be portrayed with respect, reality from
www.knoxnews.com [October 11, 2002]
By Terry Morrow, News-Sentinel television writer
October 11, 2002
read morePASADENA, Calif. - Actor Randy Harrison doesn't like the rap teenagers get on television.
"So often teen stuff is marketed toward a teen audience and really patronizing and condescending," says the star of "Queer As Folk" and the cable TV movie "Bang Bang You're Dead" (airing at 8 p.m. Sunday on Showtime).
"I know because I am the one who has to embody teenagers. If it is (junk), then I would know."
The baby-face Harrison looks all of 16, though he is 24. Because he has played teens his entire career, he says he can spot a poor teen project a mile away.
Many TV projects aimed at teens don't really speak to them, he says.
"I have been playing teenagers my entire career. It's important (teens) are handled with respect on television," he says.
Claire Fisher of "Six Feet Under" is a realistic teen, he says. Justin, his character on "Folk," is also a well-defined teen character.
"They are not role models," he says. "They are just three-dimensional characters." On "Queer As Folk," he plays a lonely gay teenager having an affair with an adult. The graphic sexual content of the show isn't something he always supports.
He calls his character's affair "codependent" and "abusive."
But "I have to do it," he says.
"I signed on to do it. I was aware of it. I still would argue for the merits of it and that people see it.
"I have to remind myself of that when it gets most redundant. ... The sex lives of these characters are the center part of this show, so I have to remember that."
читать дальше"Bang Bang You're Dead," his first TV movie, focuses on school violence as seen through the eyes of a student (Ben Foster), who is a victim and at risk of becoming a perpetrator.
Harrison plays Sean, the leader of a subversive clique that challenges the school's bullish elite. By being subversive, his group, nicknamed the Trogs, represents a danger to the school's well being, too.
The movie is based on the hit play of the same name. The show was so successful that it is often staged in schools to help open dialogue about violence.
"What drew me to this (movie) was the fact it handles a subject that is taboo but not in a way that glorifies it or takes advantage of the taboo subject matter to draw an audience," he says.
"I think it handles school violence in a honest and respectful way."
In his own life, Harrison had a plan to survive high school.
"I was careful to surround myself with supportive people," He was open about his sexual orientation in high school, but he realized everyone else might not feel the same way. "I got away from people who were destructive," says Harrison, who is gay.
He attended school in Atlanta.
"There's been a growing anxiety just in our national character and ... it's exacerbated by adolescence," he says.
For many teens feeling isolated, he says, "there's no outlet to have any kind of catharsis."
To make it worse, "violence is so romanticized in our culture," he says, "and there's so much greater access to weapons and so many factors play into it."
Nowadays, Harrison says he hears from fans who "feel less isolated" because of his work.
"One thing that sort of redeemed me and helped me feel less alone when I was in high school was art, was literature, was theater, was music," he says.
"I have found it is a great relief to find characters to whom some people can relate."
Copyright 2002, Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
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28.01.2013 в 18:23-
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28.01.2013 в 19:42относительно) я его давно знаю, больше двух лет точно, с удивлением обнаружила, что пропустила, когда тот период выкладывала.
и в очередной раз жалею, что тут нельзя посты в нужном порядке располагать, очень бы мне такая фишка пригодилась.
мне удобнее, когда статьи в правильной последовательности....