Typecasting

For some reason I've been thinking a lot about typecasting, how we see someone do one thing and forever label them.

I guess it started when I was reading about Margaret Hamilton. Don't feel bad, I didn't know who that was at first. She played the wicked witch in "The Wizard Of Oz" (actually she played both of them, quite a feat). So after laughing about her name in the movie being Elmira Gulch (name your kid that) they were talking about how she wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. The problem was, every kid recognized her as the wicked witch and were scared of her. Even when she was quite old people would still ask her was she was so mean to Dorothy...

It wasn't real. She didn't do it. She was acting. And now forever people associate her with that one role. So do we ever do that to people? They acted a certain way once and forever they're black-listed? I know someone who is like that with restaurants. If they eat at one that's bad, the entire chain is out forever (our list of places to eat is growing thin).

Okay, one more. Jamie Walters (again, don't feel bad, I had to look him up). He was on Beverly Hills 90210, the original, not the dorky whatever-it-is remake they're doing. He was Donna's boyfriend who was abusive to her. Played the part well. Here's the problem, forever he was labeled as an abuser. He's a musician and people would come up to him after a concert and ask how he could be so mean to Donna. He was acting. I'm sure she survived, but even years later people still see him on the street and bug him about it.

It's so easy. Lorie's sitting next to me and asked about the people in constipation commercials or adult diaper commercials...

T