I’ve been bothered by something for years and years and years. (This will be short posting.) Why do movie covers (VHS, DVD, BluRay, movie posters on the internet… doesn’t matter, they all do it) consistently show the actors faces (when they do that) in a different left-right order than the names appear? Why are the faces not always the same actors named?
I’m looking at a copy of the Highwaymen with Woody Harrelson and Kevin Kostner, and they are both shown on the cover and they are both named above, and each name is precisely placed above the opposite actor. Why don’t the actors object? Why doesn’t the Screen Actors Guild object? Why don’t the lawyers object? Why don’t the agents and publicity folks object? Better yet, why don’t the Fans object?
The Highwaymen is by no means unique. Watch movie posters: over and over and over again you’ll see this happening. It’s one of those “once seen, can not be unseen” things, too.
I suspect (this is a guess) that there are at least two sets of conflicting “rules” here that end up causing this, but I don’t know. It’s just when something this silly happens consistently it’s usually a conflict in “rules” that causes it.
This is disrespectful to the actors
This is disrespectful to the movie
This is disrespectful to the production crew
This is disrespectful to the investors who funded the movie
This is disrespectful to the you, the movie goer
What is actually served here by doing this? For all my imaginative powers, I can’t think of anything that is gained by such silliness. It’s very disturbing to me having Woody Harrelson looking like Kevin Costner and Kevin Costner looking as rugged and mean as Woody does (in that picture, I mean). Maybe this is a remake of the movie Face Off? (Probably not… That was Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, and they actually ended up playing each other for most of the movie; quite good performances, disturbingly good.)
Oh well…
More silliness, and another Coffin Nail for unthinking Rules.