Former fashion model, Channing Bryan Isaac Tatum, has made a controversial impression on moviegoers today. Born on April 26, 1980 in Cullman, Alabama, 30-year old Tatum is the oldest of eight siblings. He attended military school and received a college football scholarship, only to drop out soon after. He accepted various jobs as a construction worker and a cologne salesman. His cast in Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” music video launched his modeling career for agencies such as Abercrombie and Armani. In 2004, Tatum began his acting career on the set of C.S.I: Miami as well as in numerous commercials ads. Nonetheless, his acting over the years entails emptiness, while being emphasized through his cold body language and indifferent face expressions. His monotonous acting is regurgitated in every one of his films as he plays particularly similar roles as a misfit bad ass. However, Hollywood’s encouragement towards actors such as Tatum keep the vicious cycle spinning in a feeble and terrifying direction.
Channing Tatum is always playing the same tough guy in either a drama or romantically categorized film. He played Jason Lyle in “Coach Carter” (2005), a wanna-be gangster with a jail-bound father. He is too cool for everybody, walking around with his shirt off, backpack over one shoulder, and his hands in his pockets. Likewise, he plays Antonio in “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” (2006). The film takes place in Queens, New York where Antonio’s natural instinct on the streets is fighting after his abusive father goes to prison. He walks around like a hot shot with unbuttoned shirts, big muscles, and anger issues. Playing Tyler Gage in “Step Up” (2006) was also nothing new for Tatum. Troubled and defiant, Tyler struts around in baggy pants, hooded sweatshirts, and wife beaters stealing cars for money until he finds a better outlet—dancing. His character in “Stop Loss” (2008), Steve Shriver, was a hard-core military fighter whose rough and hostile nature led him through a successful armed forces career. “Dear John” (2010) also portrayed Tatum in a bad boy and mysterious light as John Tyree who maintains a strained relationship with his father. His distressed and guarded nature was all too familiar. He is always the afflicted and burdened character who seems mad at the world given his horrible upbringing. His rigid nature is over the top and redundant in all of his films, making him a very inauthentic actor. Interestingly, Tatum is usually in strong movies with a strong cast but even in his small supporting roles, he fails to live up to basic expectations. It wasn’t until recent years that Tatum was cast playing main roles such as in “Step Up” and “Dear John”. Nevertheless, Tatum’s lack of versatility reinforces his surface-level acting, as he never branches out nor tests new ranges.
Channing Tatum is a one-dimensional actor. His face expressions are tight and unemotional making him extremely uncaptivating. He offers very little eye contact with other actors making him distant to his own character and his audience. His insecure body language confirms his awareness of the camera and uneasiness of it. He is generally standing un-square to the camera, looking at others in the corner of his eye over his shoulder (if he is looking at them at all). This impersonal demeanor makes him a very unconvincing character. This is especially clear in his role as John Tyree in “Dear John” (2010). A classic romantic film is known to thrive off of connections between characters as well as deep emotions. But instead, Tatum seems bored and distracted seeming interested in everything but his co-star, Amanda Seyfried. This naturally causes a lack of chemistry between the two lovers and ultimately causes a fake relational bond, easily spotted by audiences. Tatum’s few face expressions in a movie are usually centered on a very focused and serious one. If he ever looks slightly happier than usual, modifying what Tatum thinks is a charming a half-smile, it often comes across as awkward and out-of-place. Most commonly though, Tatum adopts an angry and intense attitude throughout his films. He often seems in deep thought with mean eyebrows, his chin turned up, teeth grinding, with his head held back, dazing. But don’t let him fool you into thinking he is multifaceted when in fact he stares so intently out of limited talent and fake confidence. He appears to be looking through people rather than actually looking at them. This blank and frozen face is a clear example of him trying too hard, eventually coming across as ingenuine and un-relatable. It seems that everyone except Tatum understands that “in the end, it can’t look like acting”, because with him it almost always does.
As Tatum seems to use one overarching face expression for numerous types of emotions, so is the case when he speaks. He embodies a monotone voice for all types of emotions—whether it is two extremes such as excitement and depression. It is obvious that he doesn’t believe what he is saying because his words and expressions don’t coincide. He has never proven an effective actor that maintains a hold over his audience as Tatum has no ability to convey human emotion. Between both body language and words Tatum verifies himself a fool of acting.
However, his re-appearances in films is not entirely his fault when Hollywood endorses such poor performance. What has Hollywood come to today? Do consumers really value good looks over good acting? With Tatum, this seems to be the case. In her interview with Francis Davis, Pauline Kael comments that “what you see is a movie industry in decay, and the decay gets worse and worse”. Consumers seem to use Hollywood films for their own self-indulgent purposes, living in a dream world. Unfortunately, Hollywood is becoming less and less authentic and more and more superficial, offering jobs to unqualified actors such as Tatum. Thus, his muscles, smooth skin, and defined jaw line are actually paying off. In fact, it took author of “The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer”, Phil Carlo, to recognize Tatum’s lack of fit for his casting as the main character of the film. Carlo called for the production to be cancelled. He explained “I had to turn him down. I really hated the idea of Channing Tatum. I told [producer] di Bonaventura that this is not the guy to play one of the most feared killers of the 20th century”. Fortunately, someone stalled Hollywood and Tatum’s circus show, even if just for a short while.
Therefore, Tatum is one perfect example of Hollywood’s weak and pompous system. His actions and words say nothing and everything about his acting career—that he makes a better model than he ever will an actor. Not only is Tatum ignorant for not acknowledging his own lack of talent, but Hollywood also proves ignorant of recognizing skill. Then again, looks can be deceiving. Nonetheless, audiences everywhere are just a few Tatum movies away from seeing Hollywood’s downward spiral themselves if they haven’t already. And the actors will eventually fall down with it.
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