They say that the handsome are not graceful and the funny are not graceful, but, like so many other beliefs in our society, it is sovereign nonsense. One of the many living proofs of this is seen once again on the billboard, and it is none other than Chris Hemsworth. Although, who would have thought back in the first Thor that this 1.91 tall Australian would become a perfect mix between action hero and comic relief, between sex idol and performance clown? Of course, we have had a decade full of evidence that proves it, and whoever has not seen it is because he did not want to. Or because he was too clueless counting his abs. Each one with the conscience of him.
With Men in Black: International, confirms what we already knew: that he is an actor with great comedic skills. The saga, of yesteryear (AKA the 90s) starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, continues its course reinventing itself (well, not that much) with a fourth installment that encounters problems both inside and outside the Men in Black organization itself, which , as we know, are dedicated to controlling the arrival of aliens on Earth. Whereas in the first film we see “tough veteran meets cool rookie and they save the world”, here it is more of a “fading hero meets probationary rookie”, that rookie being a wonderful Tessa Thompson who seems being born to wear a suit with a tie. Her and Hemsworth (which gives him the perfect counterpoint as her mentor/partner/ crush ??) are probably the couple with the most sex appeal in cinema in 2019.
But here we have come to talk about my book on charisma, and there the Hemsworth case is very interesting. The comic asset of the actor always resides in the same element: that it is for dipping bread. Establishing this as an incontestable fact, Hemsworth uses it (or so do the scripts he agrees to embody) to laugh at himself and make his body an infallible comedic weapon. And it is that we laugh to pleasure of him in Thor for being a wardrobe with legs come from a far distant galaxy to ask the clerk of a pet store if he has a horse, or in Holidays for showing off in his underpants before a stunned couple, or in The Cabin in the Woodsfor embodying the perfect prototype of a slasher football player who always tries to be the hero and always ends up losing his life in the most ridiculous way possible.
In all of them, he has used his well-known sex symbol quality to be more than good firefighter calendar material. He has been so clever as to use his appearance as a Norse god to make fun of himself. He not only demonstrates comedic vis, but also the ability to laugh at himself. Another great example is Ghostbusters , where his work goes one step further: he lends himself to inverting the archetype of the dumb and pretty secretary, and gives a small feminist twist to a character that fits like a glove. Perhaps unintentionally, the actor is reflecting with his career, with the roles he chooses, about the importance of physique and beauty in an environment like Hollywood.
For example, the second time he presented the program Saturday Night Live , we saw him in this delirious scene, in which he disguises himself as a woman to infiltrate a group of friends and discover whether or not he is the most handsome in the industry.
This mockery of the obsession of the stars to be the most handsome in the place, and the psychological damage that entails ceasing to be so to make way for someone younger, is not nonsense in the day-to-day life of Hollywood. This gag begins to question what we will later see radically in Avengers: Endgame . Yes, we are talking about the fat Thor, one of the most impressive elements of the Marvel movie, and who saw how the Asgardian changed his chocolate bar for a beer belly of enormous dimensions. Also how he parked the hammer to dedicate himself to playing Fornite and threatening teenagers from a distance.
Seeing Chris Hemsworth become The Note from The Big Lebowski is the epitome of what the actor seems to be telling us about beauty. I mean, it doesn’t matter in the slightest. The Russo brothers came up with this joke (which many fans have not found funny at all) because the character’s shirtless shots are iconic in the series, and juxtaposing them with this distorted view of what his body was sculpted by angels is undoubtedly fun.
Of course, before reaching the fat Thor we experienced the reinvention of the character in Thor: Ragnarok , where the character’s comedy was exploited more than ever. Also in the hilarious Team Thor short , which explains where he was during the events of Captain America: Civil War . Spoiler alert: he returned to Australia to share a flat with a normal guy and interact with the day-to-day life of mortals. And from the sexy hippie character of his in Bad Times at the El Royale , one of his most recent movies and yet another showing how he exploits his body to make fun of himself, we inevitably land in Men in Black 4 . The sequel that no one had asked for and yet, here we have it.
The film, battered by critics, is a fun and unpretentious adventure that leaves the freshness of the original far away, and where the actor redounds in his favorite role: the funny handsome. As a disgraced hero who has to find redemption for himself with the world and especially with himself, his character (H) has the bravado, physical might, humor and surprising vulnerability enjoyed by many of the men played by him.
