Comment of the day: "Way to limit a career"

Anthony Michael Hall defined a subculture for an era once, back in the days of the Brat Pack, when over the course of two great years and three great movies he pretty much single-handedly made it (sort of) okay to be a nerd -- at least, that's what I argued...

By Jef Otte

April 15, 2011

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Anthony Michael Hall defined a subculture for an era once, back in the days of the Brat Pack, when over the course of two great years and three great movies he pretty much single-handedly made it (sort of) okay to be a nerd -- at least, that's what I argued in my post celebrating his birthday yesterday. But it's been a long time since Hall was that lanky, bug-eyed kid, and in the ensuing years, he actually put on weight and became something of a jock -- and though he's never recaptured the zeitgeist-defining moments he had with John Hughes, he's had a career of some note. Reader cdthomas resents that I ignored that.

So, okay. His comeback era, with his bulked-up capacities as a leading man, mean nothing?

The radical way he became a bully during EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, trivial?

His six years as lead on THE DEAD ZONE, just a bump on the highway of your overdetermined nerd-god narrative? Way to limit a career to prove your point.

He can kick back now (as on COMMUNITY) and mock not just his nerd but now jock images; he's earned it.

Alright, cdthomas, so I didn't just ignore it, I pretty much completely glossed it over -- and looking back, yeah, was pretty crazy to see him as more or less the polar opposite of his image up to that point in Edward Scissorhands.

So I admit it: I wasn't being fair. It's just that I've never cared as much for jocks, you know?

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