Just a Face and a Caption: Classically Trained Extra

I see two problems with the current page image here:

The first is that it's classic JAFAAC.

The second is that it isn't even an illustration of the trope. The trope is "a highly trained actor bemoans or resents the fact that they are stuck doing work they consider beneath them" not just "an actor has classical training". The caption reinforces this error.

I suggest this as the replacement, from Freefall:

(Yes, I know it's artifacted. I'm not sure what happened when I cropped it out of the whole strip.)

edited 4th Mar '17 11:24:50 AM by Madrugada

What does the image add to the text?

I don't think current is JAFAAC. The character's over-the-top facial expression bespeaks his theatrical background where large ham acting is the norm.

I agree that the current is JAFAAC. The character is making that facial expression, not the "actor playing the character". We have no reason to believe the image is taken from behind-the-scenes footage.

I think OP's suggestion works. Part of this trope is the character disliking the situation, and capturing that (and it coming off as the actor rather than the character) will be difficult without text. And that classic "woe is me" pose helps.

Duck: The facial expression and arm position of the robot underline his anger/frustration at the situation.

Also, please note that I said there were two problems with the current; JAFAAC is only one of them. The current does not illustrate the trope at all; it's not enough to say that "one of these actors played Hamlet four times" (That's a different trope: "Shakespearean Actors".) For it to be this trope, he has to be resentful that he's working on "Batman" because he considers it beneath him.

edited 5th Mar '17 12:08:15 AM by Madrugada

That doesn't add anything that's not already present in the text, though.

I am not familiar with any of that actor's work, but I understood the image, so I don't think it's just a face and a caption.

I can buy that a guy who played Hamlet might resent being on a show alongside silly costumes. Super weak, but couldn't find anything better among the examples I know.

Is the problem that possibly one of the other two people might be the distinguished actor? Maybe the caption should be more specific, changed to "The guy on the right..." or something.

edited 5th Mar '17 2:05:53 AM by rodneyAnonymous

I'm not very fond of the current, but I think the suggestion is worse by a long shot. Freefall is a serial offender for providing images that are nothing but page quotes and talking heads. I agree with Duck's point above that what little body language there is seems superfluous; three quarters of the image being text or empty space doesn't help either.

edited 5th Mar '17 6:51:28 AM by Morgenthaler

Maybe that scene from Inside Out where the clown bemoans about wasting 6 years of drama school only to get stuck as a birthday clown? Not sure if the visuals makes that clear though. [1]◊

I think the current needs to go for the OP's stated reasons. Could the middle panel of this work?

^ That could work.

10 works, yes.

I like 10.

10

I still prefer the current image, and don't really understand that suggestion.

I'm not sure how 10 is better than the OP suggestion. They're both as text-y.

I find that both of them are essentially a picture of Jesus for Kung-Fu Jesus, only with the text in bubbles rather than in a caption. The image adds "angry".

Even as a brony:

10 relies to much on the audience knowing who Derpy is to get the joke. I like the Freefall one better.

Crowner's hooked.

Put in my vote for Freefall.

Even without context his dialog makes the trope clear (and it's also a funny parody of it for flavor)

Votes bump; only one in the green right now.

This one will be at a week tomorrow and I don't think the votes have shifted since the bump, so I'm calling it. The new pic's up and tagged; caption?

Old pic:

"Oh, now, that's just cruel."

Why put a caption to even more text?