This week’s Sunday Edition is by Alex Greenblatt. He reached out to me to write on an issue close to his heart, the Oscar Isaac/Jessica Chastain gif. Please Enjoy.
A fifty one second film by Edward Berthelot surfaced on twitter last week which beguiled the eyeballs of the celebrity twittersphere. It depicts a single shot—slow motion—of the two stars of HBO’s remake of Scenes from a Marriage on the red carpet of the Venice Film Festival. The piece is shot from the back 3/4s view leaving Isaac’s face in clear view while Chastain’s remains obscured. The narrow depth of field and shallow focus leave the rest of the paparazzi in the background blurred but prominent as if we are right there with them. Perhaps we are Chastain, or Isaac. If we couldn’t tell by the tightly manicured and dolled up looks of the two, we can tell by the distant camera flashes in the background that these are important people. As Isaac rubs Chastain’s shoulder he leans in, sludging through the 240fps slow motion, to give her forearm a kiss. At roughly the same time she pulls him in for a hug, creating an awkward moment where Isaac misses and lands a sloppy one on her armpit.
Most see this as sexy. How could they not. Despite (and perhaps including) the strange armpit faux pas, the entire video is filled with mystique and sex appeal. Berthelot himself has deemed the moment “Yesterday’s [as of posting the photograph] best moment”. He has gone onto post other alluring celebrity videos including an Instagram reel montage of Gigli’s own Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez taken from afar.
Many people have taken this video in a more conspiratorial route. As is normal with Hollywood our minds tend to think fanatically in relation to it and the morons of online have gone down a route of infidelity, or possibly polyamory. It’s very confusing what people are trying to suggest but the line of thinking makes sense. It’s a much more convivial affair to imagine two celebrities are fucking than a celebrity and a nobody. Also, infidelity is enjoyable. Look at Stanley Tucci. He cheated on his wife with Edie Falco and now both are the model for MILF/DILF’s.
Now I don’t believe this to be true. Infidelity happens a lot and also a lot in Hollywood but I don’t buy that Isaac is a part of it. Much like Craig Ferguson (the man who hosted the Late Late Show back when it was an honourable title to have) Isaac has a flirty personality. Craig Ferguson is disarmingly charming and is quick to touch, complement and stare deeply at most people who he talks to. It’s alluring and flirty; perhaps a tad suspicious but it doesn’t go very far. It’s not like John Travolta, a man oozing with so much slime, it’s practically coming out of his ears. Isaac is no different. I don’t mean to pull an Andrew Cuomo but the man’s mother is French-Guatemalan, ergo he is a touchy person in the same way Ferguson is. This combined with the cinematic shot graciously captured by Getty Entertainment has gotten people to view this moment almost like a scene from the mediocre looking HBO show he was there to promote.
All this to say that some people are touchy feely and very slimy like John Travolta and others are charming and respectful like Oscar Isaac and Craig Ferguson. Neither of the latter seem like they would cheat on their partners but also who knows. I don’t know these people. My opinion of the video is that it was mediocre. Despite not being staged it feels very staged. It accomplishes what it was supposed to accomplish and Berthelot did a great job but at this point I’m exhausted by people making conjectures about celebrities based on “how they look” at someone else. Judging a verte moment caught in slow motion as a major plot point in the grand tapestry of Hollywood. I suppose this was people’s first exposure to Isaac and I understand the appeal but if you need to take the edge off go watch Ex Machina. He disco dances in it and he’s very good at it.
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exciting way to get to craig ferguson!