Just Try to Disprove Me Benjamin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ipruujooJQ&feature=related

Ok. So sorry that the clip is long, but it actually begins on 5:02. (Its a really long scene) The actor in question is Woody. The reason why I love Toy Story (the first movie I ever saw in theatres) is that the characters are toys. The toys are animated by the Pixar Studio, and the animation (the film) is voiced-over by actors. ( Tom Hanks in this case) But the magic of Toy Story, is that the characters are so well done, that I do not feel that I am watching trash. I feel immersed in this new world that the film creates for us, believing in the characters, rather than just simply watching them perform and letting 'Hollywood do the rest'.

Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) tells us about actors and cameras. He discusses that actors give off an aura that makes their 'art' on stage unique, and that by subjecting them to the lens of a camera, (such as in film) the actor's 'art' and uniqueness is lost in all the technicalities that a cameraman and cinematographer takes care of. This in turn diminishes the point of the actor's 'art'. "It compromises certain factors of movement which are in reality those of the camera, not to mention special camera angles, close-ups, etc... This is the first consequence of the fact that the actor's performance is presented by means of a camera." (Benjamin, section VIII)

Now, I'm sorry Dr. B that I may not be following directions, but I could not resist. What would Benjamin say about that Toy Story scene that I posted, beginning at 5:02? In my opinion, if Benjamin was following the writing process that we are beginning to learn about, and he just happened to complete his final draft, I believe he would trash his own copy of "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Think about it. He is sitting in a theatre, watching the movie, then boom! A talking toy. Not only a talking toy, but a very realistic looking toy performing at such perfection that the Broadway talents are difficult to compare. And with the talking toy there are beautiful backgrounds and settings that were obviously constructed from an artists' perspective. What can he say? That there is no art in this movie? That the compelling characters do not give off an 'aura'? Could he honestly sit through and finish the movie and not like it in some way? No sane critic who lived in any age of the film industry could.

True, this is not a "real" actor in front of a film set or on a stage, but I really felt like proving a dead Socialist (or Marxist) wrong. "The film responds to the shriveling of the aura with an artificial build-up of the 'personality' outside the studio." (Benjamin, section X) This is a new age of acting Benjamin. An age where visuals in acting no longer comply, but rather, take an auditory approach. Your topic about acting has been disproven. It is no longer viable. "That's not acting, that's performing with style."(quote by me... I think)