NNY273000 @ July 14, 2009 08:30 pm wrote:
Now, as I watch the video I've come to find it sadder to watch Dan smile at work rather than see him look glum. Disney pays him for his showmanship and ability to handle obnoxious tourists... the only acting he really puts to use is for hiding the pain.
I know I've been thinking too much about the life trajectory of a fictional character in a song, but it seems to me that what really messed up Skipper Dan's life (to the degree that it is messed up) is not that he wound up not acting, but that he wound up not-famous. I think it's an important point. Do you value doing the thing itself, or do you value the acclaim and fame that necessarily only come to a few? Because if it's the thing itself, you could be happy doing community theater or Jungle Cruise narration. But if you want fame, or feel you deserve fame but don't get it, you set yourself up for a lifetime of dissatisfaction.
When I brought a friend to a concert who only casually enjoyed/respected Al's works, one of the things that he enjoyed best was that Al sings even better on stage. Its usually the opposite for entertainers.
At least it's the opposite for the ones who don't lip-synch on stage. Al sings really well, and there have been enough little flubs over the years to prove that it ain't synched (besides the fact that Al has SAID he doesn't lip-synch on stage)
"Weird Al" has a charisma that's all his own. The awkward, the misshapen, the socially inept flock to his banner.
