Why is Blake Lively so overrated?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I tend to think it's normal for them to drift in and out of character during scenes where they know the audio will be replaced by music in the final cut. Lively wanted to talk because she thought it would look more romantic onscreen and the audience would wonder what they were saying. That's fine. Also fine to do it the other way. Adding kissing and touching to a slow dancing is also within the realm of appropriate ways to stage the scene, even if the script originally didn't include those things.

As someone who had supported Lively in the past, it's just hard to argue she's not being completely disingenuous here. In fact if it were reversed (with him arguing that talking was more romantic and saying he and his wife would stay up talking for hours, and it's more than cute, and talking about Blake's nose) I'm pretty sure she would categorize those things in her complaint as inappropriate harassment.

She'd better hope this was his strongest evidence and the rest is less compelling.

I dont think she wanted to talk because she thought it was more romantic, she was using that as an excuse to try to get him to stop kissing her and nuzzling her neck and whatnot. To instead look like they were talking….so he would be occupied differently and back off the intimacy that was making her uncomfortable.

No, that’s not right. She was clearly trying to direct the scene from the beginning. She wanted them to talk and he thought that this would be a non-verbal scene since they weren’t going to have audio and it was going to be slow dancing.

He allowed it to be an open question. If you listen to them talking during the first of the three takes, she's advocating for them to be talking and he's not shutting her down. He doesn't say "I don't want them talking" or "I want to do the take without talking." In fact he kind of nods like he's listening to her and encouraging her (or maybe he's just doing that in character, but that's still encouragement because if he doesn't want the characters talking then why would he have his character acting engaged in the conversation). She says something about how of course they'd be talking because it would be weird to just stare into someone's eyes for minutes at a time. And then he kind of says that he and his wife do that, and she's like "really??"

But at no point does he say, as the director of the movie, "No my vision for this scene is that they aren't talking, just looking at each other and dancing." As a result I don't think she's "trying to direct" the scene. I think she's having a conversation with her costar about what their characters would be doing at this moment in the story. Baldoni isn't directing the scene either. No one is.

Well according to him that Heath guy was there giving direction. You can hear people saying things like, "now lean your heads together."

It is not Jamie Heath. He is cofounder of the production company. It is clearly an assistant director as stated in the transcript.

Sorry! I’m on my phone and didn’t want to go back and look. I feel like heath was brought up at some point in this scene.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:At this point, the only question I have is who is behind Blake’s absolutely horrible response to the released footage. Perhaps settlement discussions are ongoing and his team is releasing footage as leverage? She needs to put this behind her as quickly as possible and then have Ryan produce/direct a film for her and hope people forget this ever happened.

Her and her husband are uneducated bozos drunk on power. They thought he would fold. They didn’t expect him to fight back and come with receipts. Now they are scrambling because this is totally backfiring into their faces.

Her and her husband? hmm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point, the only question I have is who is behind Blake’s absolutely horrible response to the released footage. Perhaps settlement discussions are ongoing and his team is releasing footage as leverage? She needs to put this behind her as quickly as possible and then have Ryan produce/direct a film for her and hope people forget this ever happened.

Her and her husband are uneducated bozos drunk on power. They thought he would fold. They didn’t expect him to fight back and come with receipts. Now they are scrambling because this is totally backfiring into their faces.

This is the answer. Hubris clouded their judgment and they thought that they could bully him into submission due to their power and influence. What I don’t understand is why their team isn’t more competent? They can afford to pay for the best.

[Anonymous]

Also, I think that based on Baldoni’s obsequiousness during the filming (He rolled over for her during the filming to avoid antagonizing her), Blake thought he would cower under threats and she would come out on top. Just because someone is deferential at the workplace in order to achieve their aims, does not mean they are fools who won’t fight back when you have them in a corner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, I think that based on Baldoni’s obsequiousness during the filming (He rolled over for her during the filming to avoid antagonizing her), Blake thought he would cower under threats and she would come out on top. Just because someone is deferential at the workplace in order to achieve their aims, does not mean they are fools who won’t fight back when you have them in a corner.

I think this is the right take.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I always thought she was a fake fraud because she’s a Jewish girl from California who had a ton of surgeries to try to look Nordic or something and then got married and tried to brand herself like some New England WASP mom. Everything about her is fake. Look at how she looked in her teens to now. Her face is totally different. It’s startling.

Isn't this a lot of actors though? I assume most of them have had plastic surgery. Also having procedures like that in your teens... how much of that is her doing what she wants, versus her parents/agents/industry people telling her what to do in order to get jobs?

Not saying she's a total innocent -- I've never really liked her and find her arrogant and annoying. But I have trouble working up anger about her plastic surgery when it's so common and was probably necessary for having a career.

Don't forget the Southern / Antebellum phase. That's why she comes across as so fake.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought she was a fake fraud because she’s a Jewish girl from California who had a ton of surgeries to try to look Nordic or something and then got married and tried to brand herself like some New England WASP mom. Everything about her is fake. Look at how she looked in her teens to now. Her face is totally different. It’s startling.

Isn't this a lot of actors though? I assume most of them have had plastic surgery. Also having procedures like that in your teens... how much of that is her doing what she wants, versus her parents/agents/industry people telling her what to do in order to get jobs?

Not saying she's a total innocent -- I've never really liked her and find her arrogant and annoying. But I have trouble working up anger about her plastic surgery when it's so common and was probably necessary for having a career.

Don't forget the Southern / Antebellum phase. That's why she comes across as so fake.

Isn't her family legitimately from the South? I know she grew up in California. My dad is from Texas and even though I grew up elsewhere, that's part of my identity because half of my family lives there and I spent a lot of time there as a kid. I have a Texan accent that only comes out when I'm with that side of my family or with a friend from Texas. A lot of my favorite recipes were taught to me by an aunt I stayed with in the summers sometimes. I don't think any of that is "fake" -- it's just part of who I am.

I think her mom is from Georgia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, I think that based on Baldoni’s obsequiousness during the filming (He rolled over for her during the filming to avoid antagonizing her), Blake thought he would cower under threats and she would come out on top. Just because someone is deferential at the workplace in order to achieve their aims, does not mean they are fools who won’t fight back when you have them in a corner.

Isn't it a problem that he "rolled over" for her during filming though? It seems like he really mishandled his position during filming and that goes to her allegation that the set was unprofessionally run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I think that based on Baldoni’s obsequiousness during the filming (He rolled over for her during the filming to avoid antagonizing her), Blake thought he would cower under threats and she would come out on top. Just because someone is deferential at the workplace in order to achieve their aims, does not mean they are fools who won’t fight back when you have them in a corner.

I think this is the right take.

+1. They thought he was a patsy who would rollover, which he pretty much did throughout filming. Blake sounded like a nightmare to manage. But then they started smearing his character and he was not going to have his livelihood and reputation ruined and rightly, fought back. I don't think Blake or Ryan expected that, but their lawyers and PR people should have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I think that based on Baldoni’s obsequiousness during the filming (He rolled over for her during the filming to avoid antagonizing her), Blake thought he would cower under threats and she would come out on top. Just because someone is deferential at the workplace in order to achieve their aims, does not mean they are fools who won’t fight back when you have them in a corner.

Isn't it a problem that he "rolled over" for her during filming though? It seems like he really mishandled his position during filming and that goes to her allegation that the set was unprofessionally run.

He was too deferential to her and should have asserted his authority, but I think it’s valid to argue that she would have called him abducted and controlling. But her claim, and the reason this whole thread and social media frenzy exists, is sexual harassment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I think that based on Baldoni’s obsequiousness during the filming (He rolled over for her during the filming to avoid antagonizing her), Blake thought he would cower under threats and she would come out on top. Just because someone is deferential at the workplace in order to achieve their aims, does not mean they are fools who won’t fight back when you have them in a corner.

Isn't it a problem that he "rolled over" for her during filming though? It seems like he really mishandled his position during filming and that goes to her allegation that the set was unprofessionally run.

Being unprofessional isn't illegal and if he was unprofessional by showing too much deference, that hurts her claims overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I think that based on Baldoni’s obsequiousness during the filming (He rolled over for her during the filming to avoid antagonizing her), Blake thought he would cower under threats and she would come out on top. Just because someone is deferential at the workplace in order to achieve their aims, does not mean they are fools who won’t fight back when you have them in a corner.

I think this is the right take.

+1. They thought he was a patsy who would rollover, which he pretty much did throughout filming. Blake sounded like a nightmare to manage. But then they started smearing his character and he was not going to have his livelihood and reputation ruined and rightly, fought back. I don't think Blake or Ryan expected that, but their lawyers and PR people should have.

Right, and my question is why their team didn’t anticipate that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I think that based on Baldoni’s obsequiousness during the filming (He rolled over for her during the filming to avoid antagonizing her), Blake thought he would cower under threats and she would come out on top. Just because someone is deferential at the workplace in order to achieve their aims, does not mean they are fools who won’t fight back when you have them in a corner.

Isn't it a problem that he "rolled over" for her during filming though? It seems like he really mishandled his position during filming and that goes to her allegation that the set was unprofessionally run.

Being unprofessional isn't illegal and if he was unprofessional by showing too much deference, that hurts her claims overall.

Yeah, I don’t get how he was too accommodating and differential and also sexually harassed her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I think that based on Baldoni’s obsequiousness during the filming (He rolled over for her during the filming to avoid antagonizing her), Blake thought he would cower under threats and she would come out on top. Just because someone is deferential at the workplace in order to achieve their aims, does not mean they are fools who won’t fight back when you have them in a corner.

I think this is the right take.

+1. They thought he was a patsy who would rollover, which he pretty much did throughout filming. Blake sounded like a nightmare to manage. But then they started smearing his character and he was not going to have his livelihood and reputation ruined and rightly, fought back. I don't think Blake or Ryan expected that, but their lawyers and PR people should have.

Right, and my question is why their team didn’t anticipate that?

Because they surround themselves with Yes Men/Women.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I think you could argue that when the director is one of the actors involved in a scene with intimacy, they should have an IC on set because it creates a weird dynamic. Especially in a situation like this where the director is playing a guy who turns out to be abusive.

I think, watching this, that the lines between Baldoni the director, Baldoni the actor, and Ryle the character, are getting crossed in ways that could be confusing or upsetting for his costar.

That doesn't mean I think he's a harasser. I don't. But I think the situation could have been handled better by the studio and by Baldoni himself, as they were in charge of the production.

The issue here is they are supposed to be acting a scene as characters in love and she doesn't want to stay in character by either staying silent as instructed, or just improvising some light in character dialogue. The talking muddled the boundaries so now instead of Lily and Ryle touching it's Blake and Justin touching. It's awkward.

We never see Baldoni say "let's do this in character" or "I want to improvise in character even though we aren't doing audio" though. He says he "was told" by others that he needed to get her to stop talking. Why doesn't he just say "Blake, we need a take without us talking, let's just act it out without words"? I see the part at the beginning where she's talking about how she likes the idea of them talking during this scene because that's how she and her husband fell in love, but Baldoni is passive about it. He just kind of ignores her and is like touching her face and nuzzling her. Why isn't he more direct about it?

His approach to directing in that scene was annoying to me. He won't just say "this is what I want" and he also doesn't try to find a diplomatic solution ("we'll do one take talking and one without, so we have both options"). Instead he's kind of passive aggressive, not giving Lively specific direction but just kind of trying to override her by playing the scene totally differently than what she's suggesting. It *is* awkward but I feel like the awkwardness is on Baldoni, who is the director and could have taken more control of the scene and done a better job communicating to his costar.

What? They are filming a scene, why would he have to say, “let’s do this in character”? They are supposed to be in character! Anytime he is kissing her, they are in character. He does give direction. Doesn’t he say something like “let’s do this” before she lifts her hair and he kisses her neck? And don’t they talk about almost kissing before they start to kiss and then pull away?

They are in and out of character. Not in character the whole time. He says in his complaint he was trying to get her to stop talking. Why didn't he just say, "I want to do a take without talking"? Or suggest they do a take where they are in character the whole time (in which case he would also not break character) including talking in character as Lily and Ryle? He complains that she was trying to control the scene but I don't see him trying to control it. I see him being passive aggressive about it, getting annoyed that she's not doing what he wants even though he is not being clear about it.

I just see them being on two totally different wavelengths and as the director, it was within his power to fix that. Instead he just kind of acts annoyed the whole time (also not in character! Ryle is not annoyed with Lily in that scene) but never comes out and says "Thank you for your input but I want to do this so that we can get this specific shot." Which would be within his right to say as the director.

I think Baldoni was intimidated by Lively and handled it by being passive-aggressive, which annoyed her and sometimes came off as him being inappropriate.

Why are you still here with your crazy takes? You told us you were leaving in a huff just a few pages ago, claiming we were all women haters. And don’t try to say that wasn’t you, it clearly was. Your writing style and “take” give you away.

That wasn't me, there is more than one poster who disagrees with you.

If you don't believe me, go ask Jeff. It is weird that anytime someone posts something you disagree with, you assume it's the same person.

It is the fact that your posts are genuinely and completely out of touch with reality, and your writing style is very distinctive. I don’t need to ask Jeff, it’s completely obvious.

Just to defend PP one of the lone voices in the thread speaking up for Lively, *I* am the PP — one of the OTHER voices in this thread speaking up for Lively — who said on page 244 that they were leaving the thread, and I haven’t posted here since then at page 244. So weirdo poster saying PP’s posting style is so distinctive and PP is crazy HAS THEMSELVES COMPLETELY LOST TOUCH WITH REALITY. Good luck, babe.

(I sometimes post from my phone or laptop depending on where I’m reading from, but haven’t posted from ANYWHERE since I said I was leaving back on page whatever. Enjoy being wrong.)