Mr. Monk and the Mimetic Actor -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: [1], 2 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 10:17:36 03/02/08 Sun
Author: Janelle
Subject: Mr. Monk and the Mimetic Actor

I was watching an episode of Monk the other day and was treated to the dangers of mimesis first hand. For those who aren't familiar, Monk is an obsessive-compulsive detective whose amazing ability to notice details and stage crimes, helps the police department solve murders. On a previous episode, Monk helped solve a high profile murder which had involved a famous astronaut. In this following episode we find out the case garnered a lot of attention and led to a movie being made about Monk and the case. The actor who was to play Monk began to shadow him as any actor would. However, this actor involved himself so completely in the role and in Monk's life, after finding out his life story, that he not only began to speak, dress, and act like Monk, but he also adopted all of Monk's neuroses. He even took it upon himself to actively seek the man to killed Monk's wife. Of course, he doesn't have all the information and, as a result, doesn't go after the correct man. The episode culminates in Monk trying to prevent the actor from killing an innocent man. In the end, Monk is left basically trying to win a struggle with his "twin", with his "double".

What is perhaps most frightening is the fact that this was not the first time that actor immersed himself too deeply in a role. When this loss of identity is played out before us with such potentially tragic results, primitive societal fears concerning imitation and doubles are suddenly a lot more understandable.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Re: Mr. Monk and the Mimetic Actor -- Katelyn R., 22:01:11 03/02/08 Sun