David Hasselhoff has been cast to play an aging porn star named Dondo in Season 4 of Sons of Anarchy. I just... I don't even know. The Hoff? It could be brilliant. Casting Stephen King as a cleaner last season was incredibly well done but The Hoff causes me to raise an eyebrow. Yes, Kurt Sutter has a deliciously sick sense of humor and I hope that The Hoff will be used as well as King was.
But the news also makes my brain hurt a little. I'm invested in the characters and their stories and while Sons of Anarchy has always had a certain (highly enjoyable) swagger to its sensibility, stunt casting The Hoff might just be a bridge too far. Would Mad Men or Breaking Bad cast someone like David Hasselhoff? Probably not. If this stunt casting is something viewers can expect for the run of the show, does it change how seriously we should regard the show? Does stunt casting fundamentally change what the show is--a family drama? Or does it cheapen it in some tangible way?
Unfortunately, I've got more questions than answers. My concern for the show is that peripheral things like casting The Hoff may serve as a distraction from the heart of an otherwise compelling, strong central story.
I can't decide what I think. I can totally see him playing that character but he bugs me so I'm not happy about it. I don't know if it's the stunt casting that bothers me or my own personal ick factor with Hoff.
ReplyDeleteBUT... Danny Fucking Trejo. That makes things soooo much better.
I'm of the same mind set, I can't see past Hoff-mans lake of actual talent, and then the video his daughter took of him - just imagine what his children went through before she decided to do that! I am a forgiving person and believe we all deserve 2nd, 3rd, 4th or however many chances to pull ourselves up straight, but can I see past his lack of concern for his family in order to accept him into the club we have all become such a big part of? I don't know but I hope Kurt (who is a genius )has thought about what a negative impact "The Hoff" could have on his fans! One thing you can say about this decision is that it has people talking(which I'm sure he did think of) people are curious (which will make them watch) and he is not really giving enough details on this subject (not that I have found anyway) to pump or squelch any speculation. I will watch, as I am sure we all will, to see how this addition plays out!
ReplyDeleteSee how it plays out...I'm willing to give it a shot.
ReplyDeleteand while I'm a fan of SOA, I wouldn't quite call it a family drama, unless you mean it's a drama about a family...
A drama about a family is exactly what I meant.
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