Wahlberg should reinvent self image
October 21, 2008
Mark Wahlberg isn’t funny.
In the last 20 years, he’s gone from rapping about “Good Vibrations” in his tighty-whities to earning an Oscar nomination. However, there has been one constant throughout the diverse career of Mr. Marky Mark: he manages to avoid humor at all costs.
On a recent episode of “Saturday Night Live,” the Boston-born actor was spoofed by Andy Samberg in a sketch called “Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals.”
In the skit, the faux Wahlberg meandered around a barnyard, conversing with animals and wishing all of them to say hello to their mother for him.
The skit immediately became a viral video phenomenon. Since this was the week before the release of the actor’s big film “Max Payne,” he had every medium at his beck and call in order to comment on the sketch.
In a conference call with the Northern Star, Wahlberg remarked on how he wasn’t amused by the sketch and didn’t even watch “SNL” anymore because it wasn’t funny.
On Saturday night, the actor surprisingly appeared on a skit on “SNL,” scolding Samberg for his impression while (gasp!) Wahlberg poked fun at himself by actually talking to animals.
Such an attempt is noble, but it backfired simply because Wahlberg is about as funny as the letter “G” volume of an encyclopedia.
It’s evident that the meathead is one of those guys who doesn’t have a lot of humor in his life.
Come on, the guy almost got killed by a fern in his last movie. It’s not like after Tina Fey impersonated Sarah Palin that Palin was going around talking about how she was going to crack Fey’s head open.
Isn’t imitation the most sincere form of flattery?
To keep up with his macho tough-guy image that was all the rage back in ’91, Marky Mark consistently needs to show how much of an ultimate badass he is.
He’s been a rockstar, a firefighter, a cop and a football player in the past, but Wahlberg has always succeeded in the role of his life: being Hollywood’s biggest tool.
With a string of box office failures (“The Happening,” “We Own The Night,” “Shooter”) and a negative view in the public eye, Wahlberg must make drastic career changes.
Mark my advice; drop the tough-guy act and find roles that are better suited to you.
If I’m supposed to believe that you can play an intelligent science teacher, then think about what Vin Diesel could do in the U.N.
If you don’t get your career back on its tracks, you may just have to stop screening those phone calls from The Funky Bunch and slip on some Calvin Klein briefs.
Oh, and say hello to your mother for me.