Showing posts with label Lupita Nyong'o. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lupita Nyong'o. Show all posts

Sunday, September 17, 2017

"A Mark, a Yen, a Buck, or a Pound; Money Makes the World Go Round"


Whether selling an obligatory straight image, an "it's not you, it's me" onliness, or an upcoming film project dropped just in time for an awards season consideration, Jake Gyllenhaal and the concept of subtly have never quite been the most compatible of companions. The most recent example of this assertion being the obvious juxtaposition of Jake with a surprising number of newfound African American pals, kindred spirits who are apparently nearby every time Jake gets near a camera.

The curious phenomenon actually began with Jake and an out of the sky date night affiliation with Jay  Z and Beyonce back in 2014.  The photo op ready moment was captured in a meme-inducing high profile appearance, the cozy  three occupying courtside seats at a Miami Heat-Brooklyn Nets NBA basketball game. That's some nice bookended symmetry from Sasha Fierce and the original Queen Bee, don't you think?  Or, was that self-proclaimed moniker from 2010, Pampered Princess, Jake?  Oh, and what a nice choreographed touch with Mr. Carter's hands clasped together as if he's a mere third wheel in this "girl talk" rap session. Camera? What camera? 

In this instance, Jake gets a two for one, without much effort. Selling his "I live in New York" narrative,  and his cool chumminess with the African American demographic. Jake didn't have a movie to promote at the time. But, the date gives away another reason for the stunt appearance. May 10, 2014. That fateful "The Day After Tomorrow" audition meeting between Jake and Paul Wesley's fake new "boyfriend" Austin Nichols! 



                                                           Just exchanging some tips on skin care products? 



Of course when The Daily Beast's Marlow Stern produced the photo for a Vanity Fair article on the actor, Gyllenhaal “lets out a hearty laugh,”and plays it coy.


Writes Stern:  “Right, right,” he says, losing his composure for the first (and only) time all interview. “I have no idea what’s going on there! I have no idea, man. We’re definitely in the midst of something, that’s for sure.”     

source:  "Jake Gyllenhaal Opens Up About His Meme-Inspiring Photo With Beyonce and JayZ" - Vanity Fair


Later on when the "Rihanna photo" appeared, the fertile soil bred yet another viral round of  "low-key" memes and robot tweets which were a little like...

via GIPHY 

This time, however, the high-profile photo op with Rihanna occurred during the promo for Southpaw, at Jay Z's "Roc Nation Sports Throne Boxing Event" on January 10, 2015.  A movie heavily marketed to the black community so cha-ching definitely comes to mind here.


Several more Gyllenhaal movies have come and gone since that Roc the house encounter with RiRi:  Everest, Demolition, Nocturnal Animals, Life, and Okja to be specific.  Yet somehow no further promotional attempts to associate himself with African American celebrities took place. Well, that is until now.

Using his newfound New York stunt vehicle of the fashion show, Jake was suddenly seen after the Labor Day holiday with Lupita Nyong'o, Mahershala Ali and Trevor Noah at the Calvin Klein Collection event. Just after jump-starting his latest marketing efforts for Stronger, the biographical story of Jeff Bauman, a civilian who became an amputee as a result of a terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon in 2013. This cozy gathering of fashionistas seemed impeccably quaint and "fortuitous" don't you think?  *wink* 

 


 


  

 Then came the inevitable robot:



Another robot:

By the time Jake posed with Nikki Minaj backstage at Jimmy Fallon's Tonight show, the train was humming along on the tracks:


 






Then amusingly, there were tweets like these:





Suffice it to say, Jake's people have never grasped what it means to practice a less cynical, and slothful approach to selling their closeted client's professional wares. All they know is that movie attendance for Whites and Hispanics has actually declined in the last several years, while tracking data from 2013, specifically points to African Americans going out to movies 4.2 times more than the latter, paler demographic which clocked in at only 3.4 times.  Who cares if Jake looks Machiavellian and unbelievably conspicuous in his desperate search for black "friends," when he needs them. Although he doesn't seem to mind as he proudly smirks at the camera, and poses for yet another "candid" moment. Say, "Cheese, Everyone!" Or, is it fleece? In any event, black exploitation in films certainly has a whole new meaning in this contrived context, doesn't it?  

Hey, Jake! Isn't that Blac Chyna over there? An entrepreneur and a model. And, she's in the news a lot lately, with that Kardashian association. You might even be able to work her into one of those revealing interviews you love to give and talk all about how she used to be a stripper.  Let's face it, you can only be shipped as Jeff Bauman's boyfriend for so long before people start talking. Next!




Collaborated by: Methodical Muser and Prairie Girl
pic sources:  Gawker, popsugar, Giphy
Our Playlist: Dire Straits, "Money for Nothing"
                     Eric Clapton, "Pretending"
                     O'Jays, "For the Love of Money"
                     Green Day, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

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