Spalding mon

So I guess not everyone is buying what good ol’ Spuddy Gray is selling? Am I really manipulated so easily? With one tiny phrase, which came with neither pomp nor circumstance, I started swigging the Kool-Aid and became entranced in Gray’s performance. Gray expertly plants the seed of reliability and believability by dropping in the tidbit that he does not know much about politics. Before, obviously launching into an overtly political tirade.

The parts of the movie that ruined the performance were the parts that reminded me that it was a production. The jarring camera movements and the obtrusive soundtrack and sound cues cheapened each moment.

According to little known resource site Wikipedia.org, Gray’s performance was FOUR hours long. I would eat a small hat to see that performance. I didn’t find the film overly short, or even too long so seeing that content performed by Gray would be fantastic. I know I could read it, but the piece really came alive in Spalding’s capable hands (mouth?).

The whole verbal aspect of this work, made it stand out amongst the rest for obvious reasons, but also draws attention to the grand tradition of verbal storytelling– something sort of neglected in the non-fiction arena. At least in terms of college classes and general discourse.

If people can be prized for their writing style, the ability to transform something that is not written particularly well into something extraordinary through performance is something that should be looked into more. Maybe I’m lazy, but because I didn’t have to read, I was more into the story. Gray dictated the pace which is a nice change from trying to cram a book down into my tiny grey cells in a limited amount of time. Which may be more my fault than the authors, but you can’t argue with the effects.

All I can say is: “more Kool-Aid please!”