Acting and Performance in Film

Acting and Performance in Film: Character Analysis

For every movie to penetrate the market and deliver its intended message, the actors involved in the cast must always outstandingly perform their roles. However, an actor’s performance is deeply rooted in their skills of craft acting when it comes to depicting a certain role. This means that a character in a movie cannot just be played by anyone but requires someone who has the skills and talent to consummately fit that particular role and scene (Olivieri 20). This requirement largely influences the cast of a movie and draws the need to analyze various actors and their skills that made it possible to play their roles properly. The Florida Project is one of the movies that entails great character portrayal. Willem Dafoe, playing Booby Hicks, is one of the actors who portray his acting skills very well with some of the acting craft being great personalization, imagery, character secrets, and inner monologue.

Booby Hicks is a manager of the beautiful Magic Castle Motel. The actor performing this role shows great personalization thought the movie in every scene that he is involved in. At the very beginning, it is not clear how we should view Bobby, but as the film unfolds, we get to know his real character. He is depicted as a kind man who shows great concern to his customers, especially Moonee. While Moonee’s mother is a careless woman who displays less care for her children, Booby rather takes care of Moonee as his child. He holds her in his arms and talks to her nicely despite her mother’s complicated character (The Florida Project). Bobby is therefore able to maintain the writer’s intention by always staying calm and presenting himself as a kind person. He does not allow situations or words to change his character but instead, overcomes the circumstances and maintains personalization. It is compelling to watch him trying to navigate through events, conflicts, decisions, and even crises, while still displaying his attractive character.

Dafoe also applies personalization when playing the protective nature of his hero. Even though he is first presented as someone strict, further we get to see his skills in portraying the same aspect of being kind by unleashing a protective mannerism. When the children try to pull mischievous pranks on him, Bobby stays calm and tries to organize them as a father would do to his children. He is ever caring and protective of his son Jack and makes sure that he is comfortable. He does not deny his parental roles like Moonee’s mother. His protective nature reveals not just in the way he treats people but also in the manner he conducts his business (Hamad 7). Bobby works hard every day to make the ends meet at his hotel. He is proud of the hotel and makes sure that it is always clean and properly painted. Unlike most of the motel swimming pools in a similar kind of story, Bobby’s swimming pool is properly filled, operational, and welcoming. Thus, Willem Dafoe managed to perform the role of Bobby Hicks well and successfully demonstrated the skill of personalization.

Another acting skill applied by the actor is imagery. Generally, imagery in the movie implies the use of figurative or metaphorical language to evoke thoughts in the minds of those who are watching the movie (Caine 40). In his role of Bobby Hicks, Dafoe demonstrates this skill in a very clear manner. In one of the scenes, while painting his hotel, Bobby sees an old man walking toward the children. He quickly thinks that the old man would disturb the comfort of these kids, and he even accidentally drops the paint down as he gets drooled by this scene. He, therefore, runs to this man and begins to address him with many words. As they draw away from the children, Bobby asks the old man “you like sodas?” and when the old man answers that he surely does, Bobby tells him that he once read in a magazine that sodas are not very good for quenching the thirst but tea is perfect for this purpose. This ignites thoughts in the mind of the audience as to why tea is a better form of quenching thirst than soda. In fact, in this dialogue, Bobby is trying to describe a metaphorical relationship between the soda and the children: he is probably trying to tell the old man to pursue the relationship with adults and not with children. Soda usually symbolizes the drinks that children like while tea is the one that is more popular among adults. Thus, Dafoe shows a very successful usage of imagery here while also adding a taste to the movie as the audience thinks through it.

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Another acting tool that the actor continuously displays is the ongoing physical life. As it is always the nature and the character of the people who are known to be hardworking and protective, Bobby is always engaged in physical activities. He is constantly working hard to provide for himself and those that are around him (Myers 3). At the very beginning of the film, Bobby discovers that his tenants have no lights. He immediately goes to check what could be wrong and sees that the switch is simply not turned on. He switches the lights on and feels very proud after seeing them back. Bobby belongs to a kind of people who are proud of making their lives easy by being engaged physically. In a different scene, he invites his son to help him to move an ice insurer box within the baking room. His son seems uninterested and does it just to assist his father, and he pushes it angrily towards the exit door. At the same time, Bobby is doing his job wholeheartedly and is proud of being engaged in such secondary activities. We also see Bobby in a different scene actively involved in painting the hotel. As the hotel owner, we do not expect him to be doing such kind of task. Bobby could have hired some people to paint the hotel and would get some free time watching others do the job. However, he gives the audience the real image of someone who is always willingly involved in physical activities to ensure that everything falls in its rightful place.

The emotional nature of Bobby is another acting feature that requires deep analysis. Bobby appears as someone who is really composed throughout the whole film and rarely loses his temper or gets overexcited about things. When he invites his son to help move things inside the bakery, the latter is full of words and criticizes his father for painting the motel with bad colors. While we expect Bobby to jump in and start defending his choice of paint, he does not respond to this criticism. Instead, he remains calm and gets his job done while his son is mad at him and pushes the ice insurer angrily. Furthermore, while Moonee’s mother, Halley, is less caring and pays her rent very late, Bobby is kind enough to show the little Moonie love and care. He does not reciprocate the mother’s actions on this little child but rather treats her with kindness and becomes a really good friend to her. Nevertheless, some scenes within the film also show that Bobby can lose his temper and hurt someone in case the need arises. When Moonee is taking ice cream inside Bobby’s house, she accidentally drops some of it on the floor. Bobby responds by saying that he is not going to accept such activities in his house and requests the two children to leave the room. When he uses figurative language to address the old man who is trying to interrupt the little children in their playful mood, he ends up giving him a bottle of soda and later snatches it away. He then addresses the man hurtfully, which makes the latter runaway. In such a way, the audience sees Bobby as someone who can control his emotional life but like any other human being, can at times be too excited or angry about something.

The intricate use of subtext is also evident in the role played by Willem Dafoe. A number of his actions are not explicitly announced by his words but can easily be identified by the audience. His motives in different scenes are covered inside. For instance, it is quite clear that the reason why Bobby is engaging the old man in a conversation is wholly to keep him away from the children (Bradshaw 4). He does not let the old man know that he is against him interacting with the kinds but still involves him in a metaphorical dialogue which implies that intention. It is the nature of children to be involved in various activities without caring about anything else taking place around them. They are not aware that Bobby is protecting them and keeping an eye on them, but his caring and protective nature is clear to the eyes of the audience. Another appearance of subtext usage is where Halley thinks that she lives in her world and no one keeps track of her life. However, Bobby is always watching her and notices how she carries her business. Bobby is not happy with how Halley neglects her responsibilities and the way she performs her daily activities. In one scene, he goes to her room and lets her know that everything is not alright and she should take her responsibilities seriously. Hence, the character of Bobby incorporates the usage of subtext in different parts of the film.

Apart from the above-mentioned, the character of Bobby Hicks also distinctively displays the skill of keeping secrets. In a story like this, where you have to keep some people happy, it is definite that some things will only have to remain secret. Bobby is a compassionate man who knows a lot of what takes place around him but only keeps it to himself. He does not go telling everyone how he takes care of Moonee and the other children that surround him. Instead, he does it quietly and in a kind manner so that the spectators are moved by his loving nature. He also knows that Halley is practicing some escorting activities but also keeps this a secret to himself and does not let anyone know. When his son asks him why he chose to paint the motel in purple color, he does not disclose his intentions to him and just continues performing his duties. Sometimes when you disclose the truth, there is a possibility of hurting someone and denying them the joy of life, which may be the reason why Bobby does not reveal the truth about her mother to the little Moonee. Even when Halley is struggling to pay her rent, he does not let anyone else know but only engages the woman herself. Bobby is upset with some of his tenants, who do not take their responsibilities seriously, but he does not show his worries and lets them know that he loves them. Therefore, the character of Booby Hicks demonstrates the ability to keep secrets very well throughout the entire film.

In conclusion, the personality of Bobby Hicks in the Florida Project film is very significant. He has given the film a taste of charisma. The reason behind this is that the actor performing this role managed to use his skills in various scenes to depict personalization. His personal life remains the same in different scenes within the film. He applied imagery, emotional life depiction, subtext, and ongoing physical activity to drive a clear message to the audience. Imagery is apparent when Bobby describes to the old man the kind of drink that is good for quenching thirst. He is a composed man who successfully controls his emotions to make sure that he accommodates everyone and only loses his temper a few times. Although he is a rich man who owns a motel and several rental houses, he is continuously engaged in daily physical activities. Instead of getting someone to paint his motel, he does this work himself as he keeps an eye on the children who are playing in the compound. Due to his feature of personality, the audience has been able to see the character of a charitable and protective man. Additionally, he uses his ability to keep secrets to ensure that Moonee and the other children enjoy life. His compassionate nature also allows him to accommodate Halley, who is careless and disorganized.

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