WHOM let this happen? Well, first, let me call back to my previous macro-blog post. I alluded to casting a commissioner. Jeffrey Wright is playing Commissioner Gordon in the upcoming The Batman. Now that that is out of the way . . .
WHOM let Jeffrey Wright get new glasses? The screenshot above comes from this Dell ad. I don't have cable, but I discovered this while watching RHOC reruns at home for the holidays. What a way to receive bad news.
Up til now, Wright had master the art of accessorizing the eyes. Like Michael Kane, glasses always improved Wright's performances. Glasses aren't the key ingredient to a successful Kane performance, but it sure helps. I'll just say Kane isn't wearing the Wayfarer pair in The Swarm.
Same goes for Wright. Wright was always fiddling with his in Westworld, throwing them on and off. He performed with his eyewear the way Rodney Dangerfield performed with his collar. Or how Clint Eastwood wields a .44 Magnum.
According to his Twitter, Wright has worn bifocals from "eyebobs." If "eyebobs" gave Wright these spectacles (pictured above), he should move on to Warby Parker. These look like accessories from a "hot secretary" Halloween costume.
They look too small to fiddle with. How is Wright suppose to throw those off in frustration? Or place back onto his face in slow-mo, after a big reveal? And they narrow the eyes, accentuating the chrome dome.
These are the glasses Wright would wear if he were playing Lex Luthor. But I don't want to be too negative. As is precedent, I want to macro-blog some eyewear highlights from Wright's career. Consider this an in memorium:
From Westworld, this is the pinnacle. The off-black, resting on the bridge of the nose. The stern look of consternation, glaring over the frame's top. I would attach a gif of the aforementioned gesticulating if I knew how to.
Hunger Games foreshadowed the look in Westworld. The obvious differences are the rounder frames, the goatee instead of beard. Wright is playing a tech-wiz, a rationalist in the late-Rome days of Panem. Over the gaudy green, the classic style symbolizes his belief in the pre-Panem old ways.
Source Code is a deeper Wright cut, and he doesn't have glasses on the whole movie. I don't remember the film well, but I think Wright was playing older. If so, the half-frame is a solid choice, lending itself to reading dim screens. All it needs is a chain if Wright were to play a librarian.
Here's a bonus from Only Lovers Left Alive, which I haven't seen. I need to put it on the list because it combines two faves: vampires and Jim Jarmusch.
Let's all hope Wright makes better choices in costuming his Commissioner Gordon. But I'm still excited for The Batman. I was also excited for Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, but he ended up being in like two scenes. But speaking of questionable fashion choices . . .