A NY Times op-ed (registration required) by Gary Giddins caught my eye this morning. In it, Giddins briefly chronicles the history of "lip-syncing" in the aftermath of Ashlee Simpson's ill-fated appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Giddins points out that lip-syncing (or even "feet dubbing" in the case of dancing) is nothing new, going back to Al Jolson's "performance" in the first talkie, The Jazz Singer. Bing, Beyonce, Britney, Broadway...even Big Luciano. Happens all the time. No big deal.
But, a question that appears in the print, but not online, version of the article is what really stopped me: "Why should we be scandalized by lip-syncing?"
Why, indeed?
After all, we willingly turn ourselves over to entertaining illusions every day. Nobody objects to dwarves talking or even singing for that matter. Wookies? Fine, no problem. Even guffawing things that we can't really completely identify work.
How come we can accept all that and get peeved with Ashlee on SNL?
Well, one clue is the word, "Live." The show's supposed to be LIVE. It's prided itself on presenting LIVE music to its audience for almost 30 years. Fans like me have seen all manner of extraordinary live performances on the show, from Meat Loaf to Kate Bush. All LIVE.
See, SNL has always presented itself as Real Real. That means, it is what it says it is. If something tries to pass itself off as real but isn't, then it's "fake real." If it's not real, but it doesn't try to make believe it is (like Goofy), then it's a "real fake."
Real fakes are fine...they're fun, they're cool, we like them, we buy them. Want a phony Louis Vuitton bag? How much fun is that?? In fact, let's be even cooler and paint "FAKE" on it!! Fake Rolex? "Hey, look what I got for $10!!"
But try to pass the Vuitton or Rolex off as real, then you've got problems.
And it's the same thing with people. If you say you're something, but you're really not, but you give us a nod and a wink, we get it. But tell us you really are something, and it turns out you're really not, we're not gonna be amused.
See, we're getting hip to this stuff, and it's starting to get more and more clear. And there's a lot more of us out here watching, just makin' sure you're being straight with us.
It really doesn't matter anymore if you're good enough not to have your lips move. So do us a favor, will ya? If you're the ventriloquist, or if you're the dummy, just please let us know, OK?
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