Revisiting Weinberg's third article, the second half of the article focuses on identity. Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign believed that the more television exposure she got, the more voters would turn out for her. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. The more Clinton was on the air the more her poll numbers went down. Because Clinton was not comfortable on television her identity/personality came off as cold and rigid. Weinberg goes on to discuss how identity can work against actors. He uses the example of Mary Tyler Moore being one of the most beloved TV characters for over a decade. Because the public identified her solely as her character on the show it was hard for her to have an identity outside of the character. This sparked me to think of other actors that have had problems losing a character identity.
The popular 90's family television show Full House ran for 8 seasons. The show was known for it's family values and lessons that each episode taught or instilled. Actor Bob Saget played the uptight, clean freak father on the show named Danny Tanner. After almost 200 episodes of playing this character America saw Saget as his character. It was difficult for him to get more hard hitting roles after the show as much as he tried to distance himself from the role. As possibly an act to gain his own identity back, Saget became an stand up concept known for trying to push the limits on blue-collar standup. As Weinberg says however it's not just celebrities that have a problem with identity. With technology we never know when a camera will be around or what may end up on the Internet.
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