Only you can stop men from method acting

I have a gigantic exam to study for right now, but this needs addressing:

It’s a harrowing read, and the subtitle actually buries the lede a bit: not only did he give himself nicotine poisoning three times (or so he says1), he also developed a powerful… aroma that persisted even off set and around director Jane Campion’s friends, who, this must be emphasized, did not ask for this.

I asked a few days ago on my private twitter about what seems like a recent cultural backlash:

Since then, I’ve fallen down kind of a method acting hole these past few days, so I’ve been weirdly primed for this article to find its way into my life. Of course, there’s the ur-example of, there’s no other word for it, cringeworthy method acting from one Jared Leto. There’s Leonardo DiCaprio sleeping inside animal carcasses2 for The Revenant. There’s Will Smith and whatever the fuck was going on with Stockard Channing.

I don’t have a good answer to the question posed in my tweet because I am not the god herself, Hunter Harris. And every point about method acting has already been made—none of your coworkers asked for this, you’re putting yourself in real danger for no reason, and this is all just yet another symptom of the nerve of these men. The ego! The audacity!

All of this is to say that I have nothing new to contribute to the conversation. But Rome was not built in a day. And something still needs to happen because men are still doing this shit.

Enough with patriotism by way of supporting the troops or fireworks on the fourth. I am calling for a national moratorium on the practice of men using “method acting” as an excuse to fluff their egoes and put anyone in the same room/New Zealand ranch as them through hell. I am fully prepared to die on this hill, or at least get seriously maimed on this mound.

And so I ask you: what are you doing to prevent the men in your life from considering method acting? Are you noticing the warning signs (developing ego, suspicious smell, “Suicide Squad wasn’t that bad”)? Are you tearing down every House of Gucci poster you see? Are you gaslighting him into thinking he just made up the abstract concept of Daniel Day Lewis?

As for what I’m doing, well, one of my favorite shows at the moment features Jeremy Strong manifesting an ambiguous disorder for the sweet sweet Emmys clout. And for reasons I cannot explain, The Power of the Dog remains as my most anticipated film of the rest of the year.

But I still believe this is a fight we can win. We kept Jared Leto from winning another Oscar. With your help, we can end men method acting forever. A better future is possible.