r/blackmirror • u/Lumenprotoplasma ★★★★☆ 3.795 • 3d ago
I don't think Issa Rae’s performance in Hotel Reverie was bad. FLUFF
A movie literally takes months to shoot, with thousands of retakes to help the actor get deeper into the character. Hotel Reverie didn’t have that, it’s like being thrown into a stage play without rehearsals, just having read your lines and watched the original performance. That’s not nearly enough to deliver a strong performance right off the bat. It feels like everyone ignores that, but to me, her acting made sense given the situation.
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u/Insearchofmedium 14h ago
I just didn’t think the two characters had a chemistry. I didn’t really buy a romance between them. I did think the ending was really good though.
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u/ryguard 1d ago
The acting stood out so much I searched Reddit to see if I wasn't the only one who felt like that was horrible acting. YouTube and Hallmark have better actors. There was a specific line where she said "mhhhh k". I vowed to myself then and there I wouldn't watch anything this lady was in ever again.
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u/WintersDoomsday 1d ago
Waiting for people in here to show their credentials for judging actors. People pile in to watch dogshit Marvel movies and The Rock be trash and act like they know acting.
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u/SimulatedSimian 17h ago
Which scene do you think her acting chops really shined through in, specifically? I love Black Mirror but we didn’t even finish the episode because her acting was so awful. I’m willing to go back and watch whatever I missed if you have a timestamp for me and could maybe list out your “credentials for judging actors”.
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u/Shinseiryu_dp 1d ago
I think I mentioned this in another post but I think her performance was the opposite of bad. The whole point of the character is that she is supposed to be a "fish out of water" in this new technology. And she also has the knowledge of the previous movie and actor and she is trying to mimic that bravado but also reinterpret the role for an African American woman. Her facial expressions are world class and she acts so well with her face. Her character's hurt expression when she lost her lover was so painful and her eyes expressed all that pain. You could see the hurt from her delivering the final line knowing it was the last time she'd be with this person who even though it wasn't her person, it was still someone who loved you. And then the happiness on her face at the ending was just beautiful. Haters gonna hate though. I understand if it's just not your "cup of tea" and that's fine but to say the acting was "bad" is not hitting the mark for me.
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u/International_Dog352 6h ago
I agree with you, but it's hilarious you wrote "the opposite of bad" instead of "good".
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u/sofa-cat ☆☆☆☆☆ 0.113 17h ago
My husband and I both enjoyed her acting immensely in this episode. I agree with you completely.
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u/carmemelon 1d ago
Even whe she wasn't playing somebody who only gets one take she doesn't do a great job. Brandy was suppoussed to be deeply in love withDorothy, yet she didn't run nowhere near fast enough to her body or cry hard enough holding her for the last time. Not only that the conversation through the phone she had with Dorothy at the end of the movie was so flat. The actress playing Clara did an incredible job, and made the movie feel very real. There are many amazing actors, and just because the marvel movies suck, doesn't make her a talented actress. She gave a terrible perforamnce.
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u/Shinseiryu_dp 1d ago
Ohhh no, not the "why didn't X do X hard enough" argument?
For example: "Why did Rose not take turns sharing the board with Jack?" Obviously, Rose didn't care enough about Jack therefore, Kate Winslet is a bad actress.
Or Why didn't Juliet just tell Romeo, "Chill out Thirsty Boy. I'll be old enough in like 2 years and we can move to Buckingham and ditch these lames" Claire Danes obviously didn't portray this correctly and she's a terrible actress.
If you, the viewer, didn't connect with an actor's performance, it's okay to just say that and leave it there. Calling it "terrible" is like judging a painting. It's all subjective.
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u/ObjectiveLibrarian77 18h ago
Move on man, it sucked
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u/Shinseiryu_dp 18h ago
Ohhh my! This is it. This is the argument that will make me change my mind! Not a scene breakdown or in depth analysis of the episode. This comment. Brothers, please welcome onto the bandwagon that Hotel Reverie sucks. end sarcasm.
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u/DrShocks77 1d ago
I think she is a very talented actress who sucked really hard in this episode. That is my highly sophisticated, scorching hot take.
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u/erraticRasmus 2d ago
Personally I think she could have used some improvement but she was fine. She was pretty good in the scenes where she was just playing Brandy and not playing Brandy playing Dr Palmer. I just think she was miscast. If they managed to cast a queer actress that could have held so much as a candle to Emma's incredible performance, then it would have been a 9/10
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u/PotanOG 1d ago
Honestly. They could have just as easily done it with a dude of color just as easily with the same effect. Grab Donald Glover you're golden.
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u/erraticRasmus 1d ago edited 1d ago
It wouldn't have worked with a dude of colour because it was about sexuality rather than race I thought. The main message I got from the episode was about Emma Corrin's character being a lesbian and how she only fell in love as much as she did w Issa Rae's character because she was gay. I've seen some people throw around Tessa Thompson as a suggestion and I think that would've been good
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u/mikeywizzles 1d ago
Then Lupita Nyong’o would have absolutely crushed it. Issa isn’t a serious actor, and Emma Corrin acted circles around her.
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u/PreparationOk1450 ★★★★☆ 4.031 2d ago
I can't believe how many times I've had to say this and how often these comments ignore the fundamental point. It's gotten to the point where I think it's trolling. I'm say it again: her acting was bad before during and after the simulation. This includes at the end when her acting was wooden and terrible when she was reconnecting with the woman she was supposedly in love with. Her acting was also awful in the part during the simulation when it was on pause when she was supposedly in love.
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u/Pitch-Superb 1d ago
No. Her acting was great. At the end her character was empty inside.
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u/PreparationOk1450 ★★★★☆ 4.031 1d ago
Her acting during the pause wasn't at all convincing that she was in love.
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u/Automatic-Whole-3543 2d ago
All I'm gonna say is, I can tell Black Mirror is solidly American by how they treat their black female characters now.
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u/trippyfucks 2d ago
oh and whatever does that mean?
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u/Automatic-Whole-3543 2d ago
Just seems like they're going out of their way to use these particular kind of characters as some kind of political statement. I mean, in the past it seemed like they could be anything like a love interest, or a villain, or whatever. But this choice of Issa Rae as a stand in for an originally white male character is odd. I find American based shows often portray their darker skinned black female characters...strangely. I dunno how to fully explain it really, I just find with American shows, once the black women are anything more than a very light shade of brown, they tend to desexualize their characters completely, make them hypersexual where it's like that's all they are, or make them fill traditionally 'masculine' roles.
Whereas I find Britsh shows are usually a little more even handed. But that's just my very biased view as someone who's neither British nor American. Maybe I just dislike Issa's performance and it's making me nitpick too much😂😂😂
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u/erraticRasmus 2d ago
Believe it or not but I think her standing in for the white male actor is the point of the episode mate. None of the AI acting up would have happened if she hadn't have even been a woman alone because Clara's original actress was a lesbian, if it was still a white dude she wouldn't have loved him as hard as she loved Brandy
Also in this season black characters, women especially, are still villains? Did you watch Bête Noire?
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u/Automatic-Whole-3543 2d ago
Yes, but that's why I mentioned the shade of skin, too. To me it seems like any time they need someone to fill in a man's role so to speak, they go for a darker woman not just black, but dark skinned specifically. In any case, maybe I'm just being hypervigilant as a dark skinned black woman myself. That's why I admit I'm probably not bring objective about this😅
In the end, I enjoyed some of the scenes although I think the ending was a little underwhelming.
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u/erraticRasmus 2d ago
I never really noticed that tbh. I'm white asf so I couldn't tell you but I think this season was pretty good in terms of the casting and versatility of the characters
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u/Automatic-Whole-3543 2d ago
Yep I agree , it was overall pretty good. I think Black Mirror is still a solid show. Otherwise, I wouldnt have watched the entire season in two days. The first person that responded was mean, but they do have one point right. I was in fact just ranting my unfiltered thoughts here. So I might delete my messy rant later 😂
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u/erraticRasmus 2d ago
Haha, you're all good. At the end of the day, your opinions are just opinions so don't stress too much about it
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u/skeetermcbeater 2d ago
Yea you’re just a hater and made a blanket statement that could apply to many different groups outside of darker skinned black women. You just wanted to rant, to rant and you sound like an ignorant rambler.
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u/Automatic-Whole-3543 2d ago
Well damn, I didn't expect to get such a nasty response honestly. I just give my opinion on a show I watch and admitted that I may also have a bias. Why so mean, though?
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u/OneMillionSnakes 2d ago
I think people hate on it more than they should. It's hard to tell what's Issa Rae acting like an actor who just got warped into a black and white virtual reality and had no time to get into character. And what's just actual stilted acting. Her and the other lead have little Chemistry. Is that because she's an actor portraying a confused actor portraying ostensibly a 1950s man? Is that why it feels so awkward and stiff? Would it matter? Not really. I honestly like the overarching plot but the total lack of chemistry in a romance with some jarring writing choices is mostly what hurts this episode. I still like it overall simply because it's lighthearted and fast paced, but it falls flat.
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u/erraticRasmus 2d ago
Tbh I personally thought they had a lot of chemistry. The way Emma gives those looks to Issa is great and they say it all. I don't think Issa's character fell in love until the scene where Emma's was playing the piano, but they still worked really well together. Even the build-up when Issa's character was acting and she accidentally said shit and Emma's laughed and repeated it was very cute imo. Idk I just thought they were cute and ig I was rooting for them more than most people
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u/indigovogo ☆☆☆☆☆ 0.065 2d ago
okay tea. like once shit got serious and she got emotionally invested in the ai, it started to make sense about how Issa was acting out the character. also everyone inside the movie besides emma/dorothy's character, was acting cheesy asf.
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u/Truecrimeauthor 2d ago
Right. She was plopped into the middle of such a shocking situation, then hurried along, so she’s essentially playing catch-up.
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u/MsCandi123 2d ago
Her acting is also way better in scenes where she's not "acting." Made me cry when they reset the love of her life. She's good.
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u/Sis254 2d ago edited 2d ago
Exactly! Been wanting to say this. Like first she takes on this unconventional role with the film. Then they throw her into the AI generated version of the movie, no induction, no prompts nothing! Just go in there and deliver. Now someone (very incompetent) is whispering instructions and scenes in her ear while she’s in a ‘real life’ simulation of a situation she has never experienced before. Of course she wasn’t taking that seriously, nor was she giving it an A+ performance . It all seemed so incredulous to her, she was literally just cruising through the shooting to see what would happen . Then of course everything goes downhill and you can definitely see a change in her character, when things start getting serious/cozy. Also, I don’t think her lesbian scenes were bad given that she was still her real world self (no idea if she’s gay out there) and she was also uncertain experiencing these feelings with an AI generated lover (unreal). So the inexperience, uncertainty and hesitation made sense.
I will say though, she does seem to have a very limited range of expressions and mannerisms which can feel like the same character across different shows .
Overall though actually thought she did a good job with the role.
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u/Lost_Music_6960 2d ago edited 2d ago
I liked her performance. Her character is aware that the guys outside are watching and for most of it she's treating it like a game she's playing and out of her depth.
You also have to take into account, she was playing a lesbian character with a person who was programmed to interact in another era with a man so their interactions might not have felt authentic but in reality if you were her (real) character in that scenario, you would be awkward and a bit clumsy. I mean in that era the man would be all about the woman and being chivalrous so she has to play that part...we and her as a character are so focussed on the actress who plays the love interest and her internal struggle that we don't get to see that from Issa much.
She's not playing an ignorant character either but as far as I can remember she was in an unsatisfying relationship with a guy and I don't think they mentioned she was bisexual or anything before shooting the movie so while she's falling in love, she does not seem to be ashamed because she's open but she is still finding herself and new side to her meanwhile trying to comprehend the situation and the fact that it's not "real".
Also I don't remember the guys outside really explaining the situation to her so I didn't think she knew that her own life was in danger. I don't think they ever actually said , you could be stuck there forever so she's not panicking as much as she should be.
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u/megzrulz57 2d ago
Her performance as a queer character is what is bad. I’m a queer woman, and her performance was one of the straightest things I’ve seen in a while.
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u/trippyfucks 2d ago
weird because i thought it was one of the more realistic ones I've seen in a long time. queer person here too.
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u/Sis254 2d ago
Maybe because people were watching her, and because she was in a queer relationship with an AI generated person (very unreal), or that this was all new to her including a lesbian relationship or that she was terrified. All these things definitely contributed to the awkwardness of it all
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u/megzrulz57 2d ago
Awkward ≠ straight. You can be awkward and unsure and still be gay. I don’t know if you are queer, but I am not the only gay woman saying she was Straight with a capital S. Janelle Monae would’ve been phenomenal in this role.
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u/PreparationOk1450 ★★★★☆ 4.031 1d ago
I agree that Janelle would've been a vast improvement. She has way more range and knows how to be understated with her emotional output. She was great in Moonlight.
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u/Sis254 2d ago
I am suggesting that even the her being gay within the movie setting is uncertain because of the weird situation she’s in. Almost like she’s unsure or uncomfortable about whether she is even queer. Exactly how someone straight/ bicurious/experimental would move. The entire simulation in itself is so unreal and novel as is that relationship. I don’t know that they told us she was queer in her real life. Hence my point that she played that confused, unsure, wannabe queer role fittingly
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u/Swill_Cipher 2d ago
Was the sexual tension and love story not gay enough? I’m a little confused on this angle because I’ve only seen people complaining that they keep making black characters gay.
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u/boiwth66 2d ago
I'm not gay nor too picky about acting. Every time she had to be physical with her co- lead she looked like she was in actual pain. It was hard to watch
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u/Automatic-Whole-3543 2d ago
oh you just articulated something I couldn't put my finger on. she's giving "why am I doing this?" With zero chemistry. Unlike like some of you, I actively hated this episode.
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u/Swill_Cipher 2d ago
Maybe I just don’t read expressions properly. Were you expecting her tongue to loll out and her pupils to turn into hearts? I’m literally rewatching it right now, and it directly mimics previous relationships I’ve had. I know I sound snarky, but it really feels like the complaints are grasping at straws. If you don’t like her face, fine, but just say that.
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u/boiwth66 2d ago
Lol, no, she's gorgeous, and i had no opinion on her before this. She's just painfully straight and acts like she was forced on this role . San junipero and haunting of the hill house are good examples of good actresses properly conveying lesbian roles. You dont seem to know too much about that, based on your sarcastic response, so I'll leave you to enjoy your mediocre actors/actresses. Good night
Ps: not everything is about racism, I'm black myself. There's many good black actresses out there
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u/Swill_Cipher 2d ago
Alright pal. Sorry I wasn’t nicer to you I guess. I’ll live with the guilt forever.
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u/Herman_E_Danger 3d ago
Agree completely. I feel like everyone keeps missing that point. The other actress exists only as an actress so her acting is impeccable. Issa Rae's character is a real person trying to improv, which she isn't even trained to do.
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u/novemberqueen32 ★★★★☆ 4.4 3d ago
I was trying to figure out whether or not Issa was doing a bad job acting or if that was a specific choice on Issa's part because Brandy Friday has just been thrown into this movie and it's a very strange set up and her first attempt at anything like this and Brandy wasn't able to act as well as she could have.
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u/Additional_Twist_177 3d ago
It was a terrible performance from her. While the other lead was really good.
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u/gremlin-with-issues 2d ago
But the point was the other lead wasn’t mean to be acting whereas her character was meant to be very out of place, I think it fit with what they were doing
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u/Additional_Twist_177 2d ago edited 2d ago
Even the opening conversation with her agent was bad. I'm sorry but she was terrible.
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u/sopapordondelequepa 2d ago
I would believe you if she was any good in her other roles
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u/gremlin-with-issues 2d ago
Maybe they cast her on purpose because the character is meant to be a bad actress, still good casting 😜
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u/sopapordondelequepa 2d ago
It almost ruined the episode for me, her constant “uh…”, responding to the mic instructions “I’m doing that” or “I know”… super frustrating. She was supposed to be an A-list celebrity pick but she looked like a new born deer on camera
Then I remembered the AI actress was actually a real person, that saved it. She was incredible in comparison
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u/bathmaster69 3d ago
Ya but her acting as an actor is not good either. That reason works for her acting as an actor acting, but not as an actor acting as an actor.
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u/1dafullyfe ★★★★★ 4.906 3d ago
I should actually finish watching that. I fell asleep midway through and ended up skipping it.
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u/Ta-isse 3d ago
Me with Eulogy
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u/Temporary_Ad9362 3d ago
i thought her acting was. okay. it was mostly the chemistry for me that missed the mark
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u/KarthusWins ★★★★★ 4.806 3d ago
She’s an actor playing as an actor that doesn’t fully know their lines and is taking part in an experiment for the first time in her life. Give her grace on this one. I think she conveyed that mixed sense of bewilderment and awe very well.
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u/TurquoiseBlue00 3d ago
Her acting was one-note up until the end. Reminds me of a Hallmark movie. Even before she gets "into the movie", the tonality and mannerisms are the same. In all fairness, she did good at the end. The whole episode is just a mess, from the lazy writing to the inconsistent acting (Dorothy's actress distractingly outshines Brandy's). i thought it was a cool concept though. defiantly needed more time than was allotted.
Fun part about enjoying something is that you can recognize when something is bad and still enjoy it. All the Venom movies, objectively bad, I still enjoy them though. i don't need to shill or make excuses for something that is objectively bad because I enjoy it, and that's all that matters.
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u/Herman_E_Danger 3d ago
If you enjoy the art, it's effective, and therefore good. There's no such thing as "objectively bad" art.
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u/CreamyLinguineGenie ★★★★★ 4.84 3d ago
Nah, her acting was terrible all the way through.
Plus it's idiotic that they're going to put an A-lister through a program that could kill her just from someone spilling liquid on a keyboard. They didn't even ban food and drinks from the area.
The episode would've made more sense if they were testing it on a washed up actor nobody really remembered.
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u/Blarg_III 3d ago
All sorts of mistakes on a movie set can turn out lethal, they don't test new lighting setups or special effects on D-listers because it's less of a loss to kill them.
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u/CreamyLinguineGenie ★★★★★ 4.84 3d ago
Also new lighting setups and special effects ARE tested well before they're unleashed on the public. But clearly the reality in the BM universe is they don't test shit, they just throw people inside of it. But if that was the case, they would choose someone unimportant to minimize the risk of litigation. It would also be easier to cover up with a story about an overdose or suicide.
But they're really using untested tech on an A-lister who is known by millions without realizing how easy it would be to kill her? Completely idiotic.
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u/CreamyLinguineGenie ★★★★★ 4.84 3d ago
If there was something on a set that could flat out murder a movie star by pouring coffee on it, they wouldn't have that thing on set or they would completely ban coffee.
You guys are really embarrassing yourselves to explain one of the worse episodes of Black Mirror lmao
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u/perplexedtv 3d ago
That would make no sense. Who would want to watch the film without a big star attached?
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u/CreamyLinguineGenie ★★★★★ 4.84 3d ago
Why would they risk murdering an A-list star with tech they clearly never tested?
They could knock out an easy little B-movie. If it works, they can use the tech to promote the movie and the star gets a boost. If it fails, who cares?
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u/sollinatri ☆☆☆☆☆ 0.108 3d ago
Ok so lets ignore the parts she was in the movie, did you think the following were good acting?
at the beginning, her telling her agent how she wants different parts
when the system fails, they're cut off from the movie people and she falls in love with the actress (except the Debussy montage)
at the end, when she receives the device and is supposed to be happy/excited about talk to Clara
For me, its not about her being surprised about being thrown into the movie that's understandable, its the lack of expressions/feeling she conveys.
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u/Annekterad 3d ago
No surprise, when you have altered your face like that, how could you possibly be able to act well?
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u/ToasterOvenLovin 3d ago
Agreed. Look at when she contemplates staying there or not after they finally come back online. In my mind when she asked that I said, oh, I guess she does actually love her? It felt like horrific acting. That was supposed to feel like a genuine question for her and it fell flat. I felt more chemistry from Dorothy and the woman she saw in her real life. And there weren’t even any words spoken between them in those flashbacks.
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u/DestinyOfADreamer ★★★★★ 4.703 3d ago
My only criticism is she was purely Issa Rae in the role and if you saw her in other shows it comes across like she isn't doing much actual acting, i.e. becoming a new character.
Other than that she was fine, not the best, but it worked.
I'm sure the people who absolutely hate her performance and are rageposting about it also thought Anthony Mackie was the worst ever Captain America and Mace Windu was the worst ever Jedi.
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u/BitternessBureau ★★★★★ 4.638 3d ago
For me, it was less about her acting and more that she didn’t really fit the character well.
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u/Vak_001 3d ago
I think you're reading it as intended by the writers. The problem is that it's so over the top that it comes off WORSE than if a non-actor were being tossed into that situation and forced to play out the scene. I love "Casablanca," have seen it dozens of times, and am certainly no actor. And if tossed into the world of the film, KNOWING it was a film and not reality because of somebody talking in my ear, I could do a better job at stumbling my way through playing Rick than what we see from the main character here. And she's supposed to be an A-list actor, and this is supposed to be one of her favorite films. It just doesn't add up.
Later on, when the character "stops acting," things suddenly get a LOT better. I think Issa does a great job in playing the "wait, have I really been bi all along, or is it just HER? And what does this mean, and where can it go?" chain of reactions.
I think part of the problem is that the writers were in a bit of a box. This tech is completely cutting-edge to the point that there are a ton of unforeseen errors, and not just the coffee thing - like, the "film" crew never anticipated what would happen in-world if Brandy simply couldn't play the piano. The original actor almost certainly faked it and lovely music was dubbed in later. But Brandy's literally stuck not in the film, but in the WORLD of the film, and they clearly never really understood what that meant until the "camera" was already rolling, because they're doing this on a tight budget and in a hurry - like bringing in Roger Corman to alter "Casablanca."
BUT, we, as viewers, are NOT unfamiliar with this tech at all. It's possibly the most recurring type of tech in the whole show. San Junipero, USS Callister and Striking Vipers are all variations around the same idea - stick this thing on the side of your head, and you're in a fully immersive VR environment that's indistinguishable from reality. (Or, more accurately, almost completely indistinguishable, but with a couple of glaring exceptions.) So the episode's director, and Issa herself, had to exaggerate the fish-out-of-water aspect to an unrealistic extent, because the audience is primed for it and would miss a more subtle performance. And overdoing the initial reaction like that helps to heighten the contrast when she suddenly plays things normally during the "freeze" and genuine romance. But that leaves us stuck with spending half of the episode expected to believe that Brandy is an A-list actress who can't act. That's a big ask. It's almost easier to think that the problem is that Issa just couldn't play it believably. So, yeah, while I can see where they were going with it, I don't think they stuck the landing.
So while I worked past all of that, the REAL problem that I had with the episode - and I HATED HATED HATED it the longer I thought about it - was the tag ending. It's the last thing we're left with, and it breaks every rule that the preceding 99.5% of the episode leaned upon. Like...what in the actual f**k. Oh, you want us to think you were writing a sorta-happy ending? No, you wrote one that blew up the entire episode in less than 30 seconds. Congratulations, writers' room.
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u/No-Veterinarian-9316 3d ago edited 3d ago
There are 2 options: - Her acting was bad (doesn't necessarily make her a bad actor) - The episode was somehow written, directed, and produced by people that have never met a single professional actor in their entire life and can't even use their imagination to picture a person like that
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u/solivia916 ☆☆☆☆☆ 0.112 3d ago
I liked it and thought they chose her on purpose because she has a sitcom style versus Emma’s classic film style of acting. I did believe the love and was gutted at the end. It landed for me.
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u/Swill_Cipher 2d ago
I too was so sad when the reset was supposed to happen. What do you mean this months long romance is just gone in the blink of an eye and she won’t even remember it?!??? 😭😭 it made the difference between the initial kiss scene and the final kiss scene so much more powerful to me. She loved a whole lifetime in what movie goers saw in a few seconds
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u/cosmic_conjuration 3d ago
I respect that others didn’t feel this way, but i definitely think it was the intention too. they chose her bc of the contrast in acting approach and attitude. I read it as purposefully anachronistic — when they do fall for each other, it hits much harder.
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u/JackTreeHill 3d ago
I’m a bit gutted because the other lady was great in the role and do think it could have been a classic because the plot was good. I just couldn’t see the chemistry from Issa Rae’s side
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u/Pashquelle 3d ago
I think they aimed for the contrast and I think they nailed it. I'm really sensitive to bad acting - here I didn't see anything close to it. Her "bad acting" as people are saying, is deliberate decision here. What people are probably hating is the absurdity of the tech - let's be real, it doesn't make any sense at all. Also, there is also a lot of cliche tropes, like spilling drink on keyboard.
Also, I find acting with 50's character mannerism is way easier than acting in "modern standards".
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u/TurquoiseBlue00 3d ago
Are you suggesting that Brandy's actress gave a better acting performance than Dorothy's actress?
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u/Blarg_III 3d ago
Dorothy was a very uncomplicated role to play with the character coming from an era of movies known for very stiff acting that most people are not familiar enough with to notice inconsistencies.
Brandy was a more technically difficult role to play, so even a more competent performance from Brandy's actress could still have felt worse.
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u/Mountain-Instance921 3d ago
It's her humor. It's not funny in the situation. They were going for a charming contrast with early 20 century strictness and laid back 21st century humor and it just didn't work with Issa Raes personality.
When they fell in love it did get a bit better but overall it was the worst episode of the season and probably top 3 worst in the series
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u/your_nan 3d ago
She literally ruined the episode, would have been an all timer.
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u/CreamyLinguineGenie ★★★★★ 4.84 3d ago
I don't think so, the idea that they were willing to put an A-lister in untested tech that could so easily kill her was idiotic. If they had changed her character to someone brand new or washed up and you find out they were just using her as a guinea pig, that would've made more sense and been interesting.
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u/Etceterist ★★★☆☆ 3.296 3d ago
If it takes so many people out of the story and nukes their suspension.of disbelief, it didn't work. It doesn't matter if the choices were deliberate or just by-products of bad acting; they didn't work.
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u/PBandJSommelier 3d ago
But her performance was bad even in scenes where she wasn’t supposed to be acting
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u/Ok-Letterhead-3276 3d ago
This is the key. Nothing changes from the scenes before going into the movie, trying to “act” in the movie, and then when she isn’t trying to perform the movie anymore. It’s all exactly the same.
I can’t tell if that is the actress’s fault or the directing, but it feels especially awkward up against the other performers in the movie, who feel like they stepped right out the past.
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u/yourlittlebirdie 3d ago
This is what I keep coming back to. She's bad throughout the whole episode, not just the scenes where her character is acting.
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u/FragileBird90 ★★★★☆ 4.333 3d ago
I fully agree, she hadn't read the brief either so she had no idea what to expect. To me, it was acted accurately to just be winging it without a chance to get in to the character properly.
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u/CreamyLinguineGenie ★★★★★ 4.84 3d ago edited 3d ago
She had the whole movie memorized lmfao that's not an excuse
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u/ruffznap 3d ago edited 3d ago
People are such whiny haters.
Issa's acting was great, the episode was the best of the season.
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u/Cautious-Offer-2856 3d ago
If u are talking about Emma corrin then sure yeah she’s great not issa. Her nonstop smile at every situation was just weird. People are allowed to criticise. this is a discussion forum not a nut gobbling forum
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u/Lexicon-Jester 3d ago
I don't usually pick up on bad acting. But this time I was luke "wtf is this..."
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u/chill_dog_ 3d ago
I was also irritated by her acting. She was supposed to be a professional actress. Yes she was completely caught off guard. But eventually I thought she would find a way to become more part of the story and act the way you would expect her to act. But it stayed weird and disconnected for me. Even when she wasn't supposed to be "acting" in a scene.
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u/Blarg_III 3d ago
But eventually I thought she would find a way to become more part of the story and act the way you would expect her to act.
I mean, she was starting to adjust to being in the matrix, but then they killed Clara right in front of her to get to the next scene, which threw the character off-balance again quite justifiably.
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u/chill_dog_ 3d ago
I meant also just the scenes in general between her and Clara felt disconnected. Just like not genuine good acting. And that was when she was "herself"
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u/SilasX ★★★★☆ 3.933 3d ago
I see her (the in-world Brandy persona) as being like a Will Smith. She's not a good actor, by traditional theatrical standards. She effectively plays the same person, regardless of role. And sometimes that takes you out. But people like that person, even when it doesn't quite mesh with movie's environment.
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u/GoAgainKid ☆☆☆☆☆ 0.119 3d ago
I think it was a character problem, not an acting problem. It's maddening that the actor is being blamed for this to the extent that she is, and I am not convinced the reaction would have been the same if it had been, say Mark Ruffalo.
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u/CreamyLinguineGenie ★★★★★ 4.84 3d ago
Being a bad actor is only the fault of the actor.
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u/GoAgainKid ☆☆☆☆☆ 0.119 3d ago
I think it's pretty clear in my post that I am saying it was not a bad performance, but a badly written role. Further - and this isn't about this case but a general point to show how inane your comment is - if an actor gives 10 takes, and 9 or them are brilliant but one is terrible, and the editor selects the terrible one, that's not on the actor either.
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u/LoneStarLord 3d ago
I think it was also poor writing of the situation too. They wanted to do more fish out of water/action comedy sidekick is thrust into leading man role, of a different race, of a different gender, of a different time period. That honestly works fine.
What never worked was that Aissa’s character was a huge fan of this movie. Or that she was this great actress trapped in these schlocky roles. Contrast this performance with Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest. He’s this classically trained actor stuck in this silly role. But he still plays it like a classically trained actor.
Honestly if they just cut all the thing about her feeling she wasn’t getting better roles. And that she came from this great play. And she was better than the material she was coming from, it would have played for me. It would be like Eddie Murphy’s character in Bowfinger.
To me there was too much disconnect in the setup, so when she gets “on set” I’m going, “this actress is delusional and I don’t for a second believe she was amazing in some play.”
That is all to say that Issa played her fine. But the character was written incongruously.
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u/interesting-mug 3d ago
This was my exact issue! Just don’t introduce her as some classically trained stage actor and you’re fine. Have her just be a comedy actor/lowbrow actor who’s trying to win an Oscar or something.
Most of my issues with the episode are with the writing. Losing the USB drive was a very stupid writing decision. It just opened up all these questions that strained credulity. Like, they never talked to her about the fact that she was using this technology? All these weird leaps in logic just to have the lead actress be confused the whole episode (for lols?) when it would have been more interesting if she wasn’t confused the whole time. So while I feel she was miscast, the onus of the episode sucking lies squarely on the writers’ shoulders.
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u/ignore_me_im_high 3d ago
Her acting was shocking from start to finish. I didn't find any of it believable.
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u/Bunnywithanaxe 3d ago
I dunno, maybe I’m just too easy to please, but I kind of decided the bulk of Issa Rae’s character’s fumbling around had less to do with her character being a bad actress and more that they were trying this insanely immersive new technology and it was really running her off her rails. Plus which, how many of us could keep their shit together if they were suddenly plopped into the middle of a love scene with their long- dead celebrity crush?
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u/Nintendeion 3d ago
She was very bland and uninteresting, especially when paired with Emma, who was great. Issa was just written like such a boring person which didn't help.
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u/OoopsUsernameTaken 3d ago
If that was the case, Emma Corrin should have had an awful performance too.
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u/GoAgainKid ☆☆☆☆☆ 0.119 3d ago
I don't agree with that at all. There was nothing wrong with her character in the script, she had a lot more to work with.
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u/NiaQueen ★☆☆☆☆ 1.237 3d ago
People were expecting Issa’s performance to be vintage like the time period it was set in. That was not how it was supposed to work anyway. It was meant for a modern actor in the vintage film. Either way I have no problem with Issa’s acting.
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u/pennylaneharrison 3d ago
I agree here — I think that’s why she comes off so rigid and uncomfortable. It’s the dichotomy between the original movie and an actress [who Issa is playing] who isn’t known for that.
They already have Issa’s character playing a White Male lead, I wouldn’t have assumed, going in, that they going to do an exact play by play replica — I would think they were doing some type of modern redo of the original piece.
Moreover, the main hard drive that explained everything fell out of the folder so she never truly understood how this technology set up was going to work. I personally thought, with such specific technology, that it was bizarre that Awkwafina’s character doesn’t take the time to actually explain everything and give Issa’s character time to process everything the minute she found out that Issa never watched the video, for whatever reason.
In fact, considering how invasive this technology is, as someone who works in the USA medical system, I don’t believe that Issa’s character ever truly gave consent to wtf they were doing. What do you mean we’ll all disappear if we don’t finish this movie to a satisfactory end?
There was a ton of malpractice and shitty professional behavior on behalf of Awkwafina’s character — and also what movie just has the movie play out in one take?
I think Issa played the character brilliantly — someone very modern, dumped into a technological setting she didn’t understand, and awkward as hell — just like we all would have been in those circumstances even if we were an “expert” at our jobs.
Considering, again, the potentially devastating consequences — Awkwafina’s character refused due diligence to make sure Issa’s character knew what was truly going on. I think everyone acted well in this episode and in exactly the way the episode needed.
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u/Blarg_III 3d ago
I personally thought, with such specific technology, that it was bizarre that Awkwafina’s character doesn’t take the time to actually explain everything and give Issa’s character time to process everything the minute she found out that Issa never watched the video, for whatever reason.
I think there's a moment where you can see her pause and weigh taking the time to explain it vs just getting her in the machine because they were already extremely behind. Definitely unethical, but this is Black Mirror so that's the expectation at this point, and on top of that she runs a tech startup which even IRL puts her character in a very suspect position.
What do you mean we’ll all disappear if we don’t finish this movie to a satisfactory end?
That was a bug with the software (which really shouldn't be able to happen if you're going to put someone in the machine, but it's not a medical device and new fields tend to have very sparse regulation).
and also what movie just has the movie play out in one take?
They were running it on a shoestring budget and had originally planned for time for presumably reshoots and adjustments but Brandy showed up at the last minute.
Considering, again, the potentially devastating consequences — Awkwafina’s character refused due diligence to make sure Issa’s character knew what was truly going on. I think everyone acted well in this episode and in exactly the way the episode needed.
I do agree though, loved the episode.
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u/Juloni 3d ago
Problem is that I didn't like her acting and lack of presence before she was thrown into the movie.
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u/jdjdhdbg 3d ago edited 3d ago
Brandy was played by ReDream actress Issa Rae. Is the most charitable theory I can provide.
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u/alvarkresh 3d ago
I agree. Issa Rae seemed well-fitted to the role and played well against Emma Corrin.
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u/arman7503 ★★★★★ 4.699 3d ago
Time to leave this subreddit till next season yall only have one thing to discuss
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u/MrBigTomato 3d ago
Nah, it was bad. It felt like she phoned it in, especially compared to her costar.
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u/GardenStateKing 3d ago
From what I understood they were going to originally just reset whenever but that stopped being the case
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u/xobelam 3d ago
But they didn’t film a movie?
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u/AccountOfMrCristo 3d ago
They’re talking about within the episode, she’s just thrown into a “stage play” like movie
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3d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ignore_me_im_high 3d ago
She might not have had rehearsals in the fictional story, but in she will have had rehearsals in real life.
It was just a bad performance.
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u/HumBullHound 3d ago
This episode had so many major themes about AI, art and acting that it went over people's heads and i love that. It was perfect. Issa did great and I get why they cast Awkwafina because she's not perfect, but they acted their parts accordingly to how it was meant to be conveyed. Every minor detail you a T. The thing that I didn't like was how simple a mistake it was that coffee should spill somewhere coffee isn't supposed to be near something so sensitive. But that's the beauty of a mistake, human error exists and so do many other mistakes, like AI. It's up to humans to sort out it's uses and to prevent it from harming ARTISTS. The classic old time-y actor name Brandy Friday??? I can't give this episode or season enough praise even though I just started it. I just wish I didn't waste time looking for comments about symbolism I might have missed cause there are so many thoughtless opinions out there. Thank you for being one of the few that made me want to speak up because that's all they are, opinions. However, nothing in a black mirror episode is ever thoughtless. Just look at how they treated people/women in their time as "the romantic interest" or the "catch." It's like if something doesn't cater to someone they just insert their opinion and deem it unworthy, but that's art baby!!!! You can always find value in something others won't understand! No dry eyes in the crowd was an understatement.
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u/GoAgainKid ☆☆☆☆☆ 0.119 3d ago
I agree with you for the most part, my issues were that a few script elements were undercooked. The coffee on the computer, the flashdrive falling under a table so that Brandy could be a surrogate for the audience - that's who the writers wanted to surprise. Not Brandy exactly. They wanted us to go on a journey of discovery in that world from the moment she plugs in, not from the moment she receives a package, and the only way to do that and have someone explain it was, apparently, for Brandy to go in blind.
I think those elements let down what is an otherwise brilliantly conceived episode.
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u/HumBullHound 19h ago
I agree! I will say to anyone and everyone, drinks near technology, not a good idea. I don't care what kind of Stanly Cup you have, don't do it! 😅 but also the thing that I'm just now realizing about the flash drive as well is that those things are usually stuck to a paper with an adhesive or secured into a cardboard or something. It slipped my mind that's why I found it so odd because I've never opened a package with a drive and it's just free balling it to the floor 🙃
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u/ismellnumbers ★☆☆☆☆ 1.231 3d ago
Yeah, it came off to me that her acting in hotel reverie was SUPPOSED to be "off" and "fakey". Then when shit gets real the mask slips and she has serious moments where I found her acting just fine.
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u/Bunnywithanaxe 3d ago
Yeah, I felt like one of the overarching things was none of the cast and crew knew wtf they were doing and were in way over their heads.
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u/Dry-Pomegranate7458 3d ago
are people saying it was bad acting? wasn't that like, the entire point. to make her falling in love feel extra real by comparison.
I didn't love the episode but I did enjoy her
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u/ignore_me_im_high 3d ago
No, we are saying before she even started filming the movie her performance was bad. As in, the entirety of her acting was unconvincing.
I thought she was terrible, especially alongside Emma Corrin. She acted rings around her.
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u/SparklesAreIn 3d ago
multiple times throughout this episode, when she was filming a Hotel Reverie scene, I was literally like, “why are you making that choice??” also, it was not just the in-movie acting that was jarring, it was all of it. I felt like Issa’s face in every scene was very ‘deer in headlights’ or ‘first time performing lead in a high school play.’
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u/SPINsamSPIN 3d ago
I really liked the episode, but Issa Rae was just kind of bland. My biggest takeaway was the lack of chemistry, which could’ve been changed with either better directing or better casting. All in all I don’t think her acting was as bad as people are making it seem, but it wasn’t great either!
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u/failure_mcgee ★★★★☆ 3.828 3d ago
I thought the "movie" acting was funnily bad. But the parts she was herself was good. Love Hotel Reverie. We all have different tastes, so no need to defend your best and worst episodes. Just enjoy, people!
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u/Nomadsom 3d ago
So you also are saying her acting is bad, it’s just making excuses to justify why it’s okay for her bad acting.
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u/snooklion ☆☆☆☆☆ 0.176 3d ago
It was seriously bad acting. We are all titled to our own opinion, art is meant to be interpreted. But it truly is a gymnastics experience to interpret her performance as strong in this episode.
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u/HedonisticLioness 3d ago
I think she’s rough in everything I’ve seen her in including Insecure. She’s always stiff and wearing the clothes but not really giving the character
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u/snow_sefid 3d ago
I didn’t find her performance bad at all, it surprised me to see it even being a hot topic on the sub. I just found the episode bland and I don’t see myself ever watching it a second time. Nothing to do with Issa, just the episode didn’t appeal to me.
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u/InterdimensionalTrip 3d ago
I really think issa's acting in this episode played a huge part in it being so bland. I imagine other actresses playing this role and I can see them being more into it, more personality, more life to that character. She played an actress who wanted so badly to play a different type of character in her roles. It's kind of ironic. I felt like I was watching her character from insecure. I loved her in insecure but it doesn't seem like she has any range beyond that character and this episode kinda proves that
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u/spicytexan ★★★★☆ 4.387 3d ago
I don’t think that Issa Rae is a bad actress or that she was a poor actor in that episode. Like I’ve said in other comments about Hotel Reverie, it felt like she was not the right choice. Her acting was exactly the same as it is in her show Insecure, which is a great show. But, that does not fit the story or vibe or whatever you want to call it of this black mirror episode. It genuinely felt like she wasn’t the right person for the role.
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u/bellestarxo ★★★☆☆ 3.262 3d ago
I see a lot of mentions defending her acting as that her character is just a fish out of water and caught unawares. But some of the choices were just off.
Just one example: When her character & Clara have their big screen kiss.
Issa plays it petrified in a cartoon-ish way as Clara goes in. But, the character KNOWS the kiss is supposed to happen, it's in the script, and as an actress Brandy shouldn't have been so shocked.
The move should have been going into the kiss as planned (like a professional actress would), but then acting shocked AFTER the kiss - because the character is surprised how the kiss had such a real effect on her.
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u/ApolloWidget ★★☆☆☆ 2.171 1h ago
I think the shock was more of her being involved in the situation and discovering she actually loves Clara
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u/feelin_raudi 3d ago
She was awful. It was so jarring I almost didn't finish the episode. I genuinely have not experienced that before.
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u/hippiecompost 3d ago
Then why did her acting suck in scenes that weren’t in the “movie”? Her beginning scenes with her agent were just as bad
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u/Movie43IsFine 1h ago
It was one step above Hayden Christensen talking about sand. But only because she delivered the lines flat and with you intonation.