February 14, 2009
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Should You Type-Cast Yourself?
When I was in high school, I somehow ended up in a high school drama class. I kind of wonder what I was thinking now. I must have had zero options; I have trouble beating your local JCPenney mannequin in the ability to show emotions consistent with an acting character. Mercifully, my acting teacher just type-cast me as much as possible. Type-casting means that you are called upon to play a character who resembles your real-life self. So if the play called for a tall, wooden, serious character, I was it!
But nowadays, I'm starting to think that type-casting is a good idea. It's easy for people to understand who you are if you fit a jock, nerd, or geek category easily, and I think it makes you more approachable. For someone like myself, who kind of is a mash-up of nerd, athlete, and Internet geek, I think it makes it harder for people to understand who I am and what my personality is. (Add to this the fact that I'm not quite an extrovert or introvert, and people further misunderstand my style). So maybe I should just focus on some of my passions intensely instead of spreading myself so thin. Instead of playing basketball once a week and going to one intellectual lecture a week, maybe play basketball twice a week so I can get to know the people there better.
What do you think? Oh, there are some great reasons not to type-cast yourself, and I'll let you tell me what they are. But on the other hand, I feel annoyed that I seem to be all over the place--it leaves me compartmentalized and somewhat misunderstood.
Comments (16)
Well, I think everyone needs a main thing that is them. It could be anything, art, sports, reading, travel, ect. Or it could be less physical than that...
And if you don't like what you are doing then a change, maybe just a minor twist, is needed.
It's okay to type-cast yourself...if you know what your type is. It seems like you're problem is that you don't have a type...you'd just be casting.
As annoyed as I get when I'm typecast, I can't really complain because I do at least have a job, you know? Every show I've done, I've been cast as an intimidating character, authority figure, or both. It's all because I'm an offensive lineman on the football team. My last few roles have been two cops, a monster, and a murderer.
It gets old, but I'd rather be cast.
no labeling. that's for other people to do... so, when they get to know you, they can "OH! i never knew you were like THAT."
eh.
you know, i've been type cast all my life(since elementary school) as the creepy stalker serial killer type, forget the fact that i have never stalked or killed anyone. so why would i want to type myself?
i think that makes you much more interesting though. i like mysterious people. its fun trying to figure them out
When I lived in a big city I used to enjoy the whole different persona thing now I live in a smaller place so I kind of just do the whole boring me thing. In fact I have got lazy and live in cargo pants and t-shirts which we call Slummies (the nick name for our city) uniform. YOu see this combination at the mall, theatre - wherever. For variety we wear board shorts to the beach
I don't care if people misunderstand me. No typecasting myself.
Type-casting ... has its advantages. I like being known as a nerd. I have a love-hate relationship with having the "Pastor's Kid" label... sometimes I enjoy living up to people's expectations, other times I deliberately defy it. But I think your ambiguity with multiple labels is the problem (if I'm understanding you correctly.) You fit them all to a degree, but not exclusively. Is that classified as "role confusion"? (Uh oh, you hit my psychobabble button.) I could go on ... but I understand what you mean in the multiple roles arena... it can be heaven... hell... or neither.
I actually think type-casting can be kind of neat, because you're always going to get that surprise with someone. For example, before I actually knew one of my friends, he was a great soccer player, always a jock-type, played Xbox a lot, and generally wasn't the brightest crayon in the box when it came to grades. However, at the beginning of my junior year, he popped up in my 2D art class. For a little while, we didn't talk(mainly because it was one of the first classes of the day, and nobody said much), but we started interacting and I got a surprise one day when I saw of of his drawing and thought, "He's actually a pretty good artist. I never would've pegged him as that kind of person." From there, we really started hanging out a lot more. I found out he sat right behind me in chorus, too. He found out that I could flick a Zippo like a pro. I learned he was a movie nerd. He learned that I could cook dinner and simultaneously play Halo 3 with him. I learned that when it came to conversation, he was actually pretty quick-witted.
So go ahead. Type-cast people. It just makes for awesome surprises later.
Type-casting can give us a frame of reference into understanding someone, but they're limiting. People at the gym either typecast me as "intellectual" because I have my Ph.D., or "hardcore" because I train hard for triathlons and other competitions. But most of them don't know that my spirituality means the most to me.
Therefore, typecasting scratches the surface, but it doesn't give us a full picture of a person.
that's food for thought. i deal with the same thing - nerd, musician, redheaded vixen - i think my perpetual singleness is related to the fact that i confuse men with my apparent diversity....yeah, no. i'm kidding. i don't know if i'd say you should typecast yourself, but i would say that focusing your passions is a good idea - at least for a season. i find that is i have several things i want to do at once, i either don't do any of them well or i burn out and do none of them. and making room for creating deeper bonds with people is always good.
Greek.
I'm neither for nor against others type-casting themselves. Honestly, if it makes them feel more secure in who they are then I'd certainly give my endorsement but in cases that type-casting is stiffling then I'd have to oppose it. What I do know is that I hate being type-cast because I'm diverse.
On a slightly different note, you mention your desire to become closer to a certain group of individuals and your curiousity as to whether you should do that or not. In relation to that inquiry, I wanted to give you the same advice that I gave my husband quite some time ago. If you want to be successful in any endeavor then you need to make sure that you're prioritizing and you're not wearing yourself too thin. (Amen to the "role conflict" comment.)
It's easy to understand your confusion as to what to do. That being said, anyone can give you their opinion but what you ultimately need to do is take all of the opinions presented and gain something (even if through rejecting ideas wholly) from each and every one of them, otherwise you've done nothing more than waste your time and that of the individual who wished to impart a bit of knowledge that they had somehow obtained. On that note, I'll be leaving but I hope that you have a wonderful day.
~fkm~
In my opinion, type-casting isn't bad. It can even be pretty fun! I'm such a nerd and I know it. Type-casting yourself can let you laugh at yourself (not in a bad way!). And don't feel bad about fitting into other categories-nobody fits into one perfectly! The more the merrier! And for those who take it far enough to be a "renaissance man"-well that's even better!
I think it depends. Do you love one thing so much more that you want to type-cast yourself into that category? I think I prefer to stick myself in the "eclectic" pile. Can I type-cast myself as one that can't be type-casted?
I'd say no one can be truly typecast, but I don't believe it. "Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this, that you are dreadfully like other people." - James Russell Lowell
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