Mea Culpa, Mr. Boreanaz, By D. W. O'Dell Options

[MediaBlvd Magazine]

Discuss this exclusive article by D.W. Odell here! Link to article in MediaBlvd Magazine.



By D.W. Odell

It’s not often that I’m wrong, and it’s even more uncommon for me to admit that I am wrong. But I’m feeling generous and have decided to come clean. I owe David Boreanaz an apology.

As a devoted fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then of Angel, I watched Mr. Boreanaz on television nearly every week for eight years. He started out as a callow but smoldering presence on Buffy, and eventually grew in stature to the point where he could carry his own series on his back. Yet, all the while, I was frequently heard to say, “I hope David Boreanaz realizes that his career will end about five minutes after Angel is cancelled.”

I had my reasons (as someone in the movie, The Rules of the Game, points out, “Everybody has their reasons.”). Boreanaz had almost no acting experience before beginning his career on Buffy. In a commentary track, Joss Whedon confesses that he wasn’t impressed with his acting ability, but after seeing a screen test he noticed that every woman in the room had turned into a puddle of water. Hollywood careers have been based on less.

So David Boreanaz was cast as Buffy’s tormented, eternal vampire love. His chemistry with Sarah Michelle Gellar was palpable and Boreanaz wasn’t asked to carry the show thanks to its strong cast. His acting skills developed quickly, but still looked awfully green even in Season 2.

Then, after three seasons as a second banana on Buffy, he got his own show, Angel. He reportedly had a torrid affair with one of his cast mates (I’m guessing it wasn’t Seth Green) and eventually left his wife and married a actress who starred not on Baywatch, but the Baywatch parody, Son of the Beach. The new show had a devoted following but was never a ratings juggernaut. Still, episode for episode, the quality of the five seasons of Angel is comparable to that of the first five seasons of Buffy (we do not speak of Buffy Seasons 6 and 7 - except for the musical episode - at least not in polite company).

Then Angel was cancelled, an idiotic, insane decision made by a network that will cease to exist after this season. In his entire career he had played exactly one role, and now it was over. While Angel was on air, he had had a semi-major role in only one movie, the forgettable horror flick Valentine. I figured it wouldn’t be long before he was making straight-to-DVD thrillers and movies for Skinemax.

But wait! His next project: a TV series called Bones. It turns out he CAN play someone other than a 240-ish vampire boy toy. His comedic skills have developed nicely, and he once again has considerable chemistry with his co-star, Emily Deschanel (that’s one thing about chemistry—they don’t teach it in acting school). He’ll never win an acting award, but . . . oh wait; William Shatner’s won two Emmys, so anyone can win one.

Bones has formally gotten the nod for a second season. It has performed admirably in the ratings, even in some time slots not considered advantageous (and in some that were). And, as with Angel, he is not part of an ensemble but carries the show on his back (along with Ms. Deschanel).

So congratulations, David Boreanaz! Your career will be a far longer one than I imagined. By the way, could you teach me how to turn women into puddles of water?

[SingleTimer]

Thank you for your generosity. In answer to your question "could you teach me how to turn women into puddles of water?" I have three suggestions:

1) Don't have the FIRST words out of your mouth be "It's not often that I'm wrong"
2) Don't have the SECOND words out of your mouth be "and it's even more uncommon for me to admit that I am wrong."
3) Don't presume that one should judge his/her success, or lack there of, by your imagination ("So congratulations, David Boreanaz! Your career will be a far longer one than I imagined.")

One question for you. Who DOES have much acting experience BEFORE the beginning of his career? ("Boreanaz had almost no acting experience before beginning his career on Buffy.")

This was an article about his career, I thought, so your remarks about his private life and William Shatner would have been more appropriate in a different forum (or better yet, kept to yourself.)

I agree, though, that the cancellation of Angel was idiotic and insane.

[caitlin1592]

Dear Mr. D. W. Odell

As A woman I can tell you how David Boreanaz turns us into "puddles of water". He is a gentleman, Never says a mean thing about anyone, is seriously in love with his wife and son ( and not ashamed to tell anyone who asks), He is considerate, caring, sweet and charming. He treats his fans with respect and gratitude. He understands that in order to "make it" in his business that he must work hard and yet still puts family first. He has a balanced spirituality about him that is endearing.
If all that isn't enough then you need to take a good look at him. Smoldering chocolate eyes, chiseled features, a body I am sure that Apollo envies and to top it off a smile that can charm a snake, not to mention several million women globally. His facial expressions say more than most peoples entire body can say and each year David gets better and better.
David's work may not be critically acclaimed but his fans love every single movie and television show he has done and he has won, I believe, about 10 various awards for his work.
Mr. Odell, you need to open your mind and close your mouth if you ever want to turn women"into puddles of water" because humility and charm is what it takes and you don't have them.

[anindoorkitty]

By the way, could you teach me how to turn women into puddles of water?

I suspect that, much like chemistry, the ability to turn women into puddles of water is not something that can be taught (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/wink.gif)

[tcjmom]

(IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/no.gif) In your article you said "In a commentary track, Joss Whedon confesses that he wasn’t impressed with his acting ability, but after seeing a screen test he noticed that every woman in the room had turned into a puddle of water." (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/confused.gif)

I'm trying to understand how you got that paraphrase from the following which is verbatim from Whedon's comments on that commentary.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 1 DVD set - Disc 1 - From Commentary by Joss Whedon for the episode "Welcome to the Hellmouth".
"David came in. Gave a very good read. I liked him. Wasn't exactly, you know, my type. I wasn't sure we necessarily had the guy here until I asked the women in the room, Gail Berman, exectuive for Sand Dollar and Marcia Shulman, our brilliant casting director, who had both turned into puddles the moment he walked into the room. They had just disappeared, they were so excited about what he was. I had to defer to them. They seemed to know better than me and Thank God I did because, uhm, David turned into, you know, not only a great star, but a really solid actor."

[Nevermore101]

Yo! Odell dude!
I am totally down with you! Chicks don't give me the time of day either and I also hate them dudes who always get them to put out for them.
So, give us at least that!.
I mean, it's bad enough that those dudes get all the babes, now they have to get creds as cool and good at what they do? Not while you and I are around, my man! Keep tearing down man - it's not as good as scoring, but takes the sting a little!

Your pal forever
Nevermore

[brummsumsel]

Well, as a 'aged' woman I can say - women are not pleased being called chicks or babes! (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/headslap.gif)

Women want to be treated with respect and David does that and that is one of the things what turns women on.

David did great in Buffy and was even better in Angel. Because there he had the chance to proof everybody wrong saying his career wouldn't last. It was a major mistake to cancel Angel and I bet the network knows it by now. And for not having any acting skills before Buffy, he did a darn good job, coz I was falling for him the very first minute he showed up on screen. No wonder I became one of the mods of his board here on MB.

And one word about the comment about William Shatner - that man has been in the business for plenty of years - so he must do something right.

[Shabnam]

Aww, people...this article is meant to be funny, from what I understand (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/lol.gif)

[SingleTimer]

Then it missed the mark.

[Amanita]

And now, here comes the "apology".

http://www.mediablvd.com/magazine/Magazine...0060420160.html

I appreciate that this time you do not insult members of David family - although you don't fail to drop casually the term "mimbo".
You were not joking before and you did NOT fix it now.
What you did you revealed the reasons for your chip on the shoulder.
Recently I saved a post from Whedonesque because I thought it's like a rhorshack test for you guys:



http://whedonesque.com/comments/10141#121045
And I will admit, that I'm a little bitter over DB's success, seeing that other actors who I feel are far more talented than him(AD, JM) can't get decent, steady work that is worthy of them. Not that being Aly's arm candy doesn't pay well, I'm sure, but still..."

Mind you, I am sure AD was added for appearance of legitimacy.

Your gratuituous insult to Glenn Quinn (who, being DEAD cannot defend himself) reveals the fact that you probably only watched the 5th season of Angel and as such, utterly unqualified to assess David's work. (no one in his right mind who watched the first season would insult Glenn like this).

Again, I don't know who died and made you critic and why do you think David Boreanaz needs your validation or his fans need to put up with your snark.

Your apology is NOT accepted. (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/confused.gif)


One more thingL Single Timer: you rock!

[shrrshrr]

We absolutely appreciate everyone's feedback and the fact you've not only taken the time to read the articles but have registered in order to comment.

I just want to take the opportunity to clear up what appear to be a few misconceptions:

1) Mr. O'Dell was not apologizing. I hesitated to post the article because I felt people would misconstrue it as an apology, but that is not the case. I can't stop you from personalizing his views, but he has not read any of your comments and they are not aimed personally at anyone who has posted on this thread. (Edited to clarify further - I made a few comments to him in passing about some of the responses his earlier article generated, which is what he's referring to and is the full extent of his knowledge of your posts.)

This is an article that is simply his opinion. He considered his view after a while and decided to amend the original article. That is all. I know this personally for a fact.

2) We thankfully live in an environment where everyone is entitled to her or his own opinion, whether you agree with it or not. Clearly, in this case, you do not agree with Mr. O'Dell's opinion. You are welcome to submit an article from your own perspective, so long as it meets the guidelines and is media-oriented. Please feel free to enquire - everyone should have the opportunity to be heard.

Thank you.

[Amanita]

We absolutely appreciate everyone's feedback and the fact you've not only taken the time to read the articles but have registered in order to comment.

I just want to take the opportunity to clear up what appear to be a few misconceptions:

1) Mr. O'Dell was not apologizing.

(IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif)
In that case the second article is completely pointless. It would be nice it Mr O'Dell would stop obsessing about David Boreanaz and would return to his original hobby: the magnificent accented one . Everyone would be much happier.

P.S. I did NOT personalize his response. I did figure that he was aware of the criticism in general (as mentioned in the article) and decided to give a new try - now with mimbo instead of bimbo and trashing the dead. Of course everyone is entitled to his opinion. Decency is not a prerequisite - but it would make a nice goal to strive for.

[shrrshrr]

*nods* This was my concern, that people would misunderstand why he wrote the second article.

I'm of the understanding that he rushed the first one a bit. So when I mentioned it had sparked quite a reaction he took another look at the article and decided he hadn't quite gotten his perspective out clearly. That's why he wrote the second one.

Honestly, though, that doesn't mean you all shouldn't come by and give us your views. We really do appreciate the time you've taken to give feedback.

ETA - Again, he is aware only in general that his article sparked a considerable response, not the detailed content of that response. While no one posted on this thread there was also a positive response to the article; not everyone was offended by it. My responsibility is to let him know when his articles generate feedback so that he has the opportunity to decide if he wishes to review that feedback, or not. In this case he chose not to, except as in response to my very general comments.

Also, just so I'm not misunderstood, I was using "you" in the general sense, not the personal sense. Next time I shall use the term, "One," so as to be more explicit.

[Justify]

It would be nice it Mr O'Dell would stop obsessing about David Boreanaz and would return to his original hobby: the magnificent accented one . Everyone would be much happier.

That has got to be one of the most mis-directed criticisms I've ever seen. It's absolutely hilarious that there ARE people so obsessed with David Boreanaz that two articles that are generally positive about a guy who at best is a 2nd rate actor are getting this response.

I want to weigh in here. I'm offended by Mr. O'Dell's article that DB is even compared to a mimbo (and I thought the term was actually himbo- oh well) even if the point is saying he isn't one. Damn straight he isn't (and never was), that part at least is right. There are a lot of great looking guys on TV and in the movies who are there just because of their looks, and to compare any overweight old has-been troll (in general, not DB in particular) to any of the young hot guys who are on TV for that reason is pretty offensive to himbos in general. This guy is a marginal actor, and obviouslly has some people who will obsess over him (this thread is a demonstration of that I suppose) enough that he can carry the 2nd spot in a show on Fox. I'd like to see how long he'd last in a show on one of the real networks though. But a mimbo? Nah, he was just a 2nd rate actor who got slighlty better. He never had the looks to be a himbo. The acting ability, yeah, but not the looks.

[Amanita]

On behalf of Glenn Quinn who is being insulted gratuituously and ignorantly and being dead cannot speak for himself

from the decision maker himself:

"I killed Doyle, and I’d do it again,` laughs Minear."


Doyle meets his end in `Hero`, as the character sacrifices himself to save humans from a weapon launched by a group of Nazi-like demons. `I killed Doyle, and I’d do it again,` laughs Minear. `Truthfully, we killed Doyle because we thought it would be better for the show. It was something that was decided way before ‘Bachelor Party’. All of those episodes that featured that character were there for this moment when he sacrifices himself. There were a lot of reasons, but I think mostly we were still figuring out the show early on; we were still figuring out what the dynamics should be. Again, you look at the pilot and the story where Angel doesn’t save the girl. You look at episode nine of a 22-episode season, and the guy who is in the main titles, the sidekick, dies. The reason for that is that it proves anything can happen. It was decided early on that that would be an interesting, creative thing to do. And there was also some feeling, too, that David and Glenn’s characters were very similar: They were both half human and half demon; they both had a past; they both were brooding type characters, and they were both searching for redemption. It just seemed like the same note to some degree. So we decided we could do two things. We could shake up the universe of the show; we could give our characters an emotionally resonating event that would help infuse the show a little bit. Again, for the first nine episodes, their shared history feels like it should be another series. This is a huge event in our universe that can inform things to come. I think you’ll see that in later episodes. You look at THE EXORCIST episode, ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’, and if Doyle hadn’t died, it wouldn’t be as interesting.
http://www.timminear.net/archives/press/000040.html
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As for the resentment brigade that Mr Odell summoned from the pits of bile - well, there's an article about the courage it takes to bleach that may more meaningfully capture your attention:
http://slayerverse.org/tanet/net_buffy_us/...ws.php&id=33224
(IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/bawl.gif)

[tcjmom]

(IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/shock.gif) And it wasn't taken as an apology. (I am speaking of the article "Boreanaz Redux")

First - "tone" in written material is very difficult to convey.

Second - You said - "...who are worse actors than David Boreanaz was when he started out." Sounds like double-speak to me.

Third - You said - "Doing accents is a tricky thing, and has no correlation with acting ability." So why did you bring it up? To have something else to insult Mr. Boreanaz about?
(IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/uhoh.gif)

[Shabnam]

Really shrr this has me rolling my eyes and sighing (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/lol.gif) *shakes head*

[shrrshrr]

This is good - healthy debate is good, as is voicing opinions, even if they're completely different. It's the beauty of free speech (and the internet). (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/smile.gif)

[Shabnam]

*nods* (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/lol.gif) I know it's good (IMG:style_emoticons/mediablvd/wink.gif)

[SingleTimer]

Wow, I rock? Cool. And Wow, again, this is still alive. Who'd have thunk it?

Mr. O'Dell's second article mentions that his criticisms were misunderstood and attempted to justify and/or back-peddle: ("...I certainly didn’t mean to say that he was a BAD actor...". Well, no, not in so many words, but it was certainly implied ([from the first article]: "He'll never win an acting award, but . . . oh wait; William Shatner’s won two Emmys, so anyone can win one." [my apologies to Mr. Shatner.] )

Also: "...you have to admit that his Irish accent was abysmal." Actually, I don't have to admit anything, but I digress. You're right - ability to mimic an accent does not equate to acting ability. Accents were not part of the first article, nor were they mentioned in any of the remarks. So what's the point in mentioning them here?

Finally, are there comments to this article posted elsewhere than here? Because I don't see where anyone took issue with Mr. O'Dell's having an opinion or expressing it, only with the mean-spirited and sarcastic way in which it was done. I like sarcastic humor as much as the next guy, but so much of it is tone of voice and facial expression, it simply does not work in this media. Sorry if I'm coming off as uptight (I've been accused of that, and worse, and lived to tell the tale), but in my opinion, funny is not funny unless EVERYONE is laughing.