"Any Face Can Play Any Personality": A Rant
"Any face can play any personality" is a common rebuke said by the rph community when someone asks for a FC who looks ____. And yes, rebuke is intentional, because more often than not, I’ve seen it said in a way that really just sounds condescending.
First, concessions: I will agree, any FC can play any personality. I will also agree vehemently that helpers are not in any way obligated to give help they are not interested in giving for whatever reason, or no reason at all.
That said, when used as an admonishment against people who do ask for a faceclaim who looks _____, it does rub me the wrong way.
Let’s say I’m a hypothetical roleplayer who, for whatever reason, is looking for FC help. I want a FC who looks cocky.
Yes, I know that even non-cocky-looking people can play a cocky character, if I use my imagination, but I want the FC to look it. I care about this more than I care about the character’s hair color, eye color, height, facial shape, or even, potentially, their ethnicity at this point in time (although, certainly at some point in character creation the character’s ethnicity will be an important factor in shaping the character). And, to support my desire, here’s the thing:
Cocky people look different than people who aren’t cocky. They have different body language. They will make different facial expressions when having a conversation. If I roleplay with gifs, this is kind of important, since the whole point of gifs if that there’s a visual framework for the character’s facial expression and body language. Since most FCs are actors, it may not be necessary to choose a FC who is cocky, maybe just one who has played enough cocky characters to be of use.
For example, I chose (with much zeal) the fabulous Daniel Henney for my cocky character, primarily because there are gifs where his face does this:
And knowing my character has a faceclaim who does that is extremely satisfying to me.
I know this stock response probably comes a lot from trying to avoid typecasting, but frankly, there’s a lot of faces out there who are good at acting and have a range of personalities to choose from in their varied career, so it is possible to answer these questions without typecasting at all.
Also, since we do indeed “cast” faceclaims, let me pose you a question: if an actor walks into a role, and isn’t capable of embodying the personality of the character in the script, is the casting director really going to say, “it’s okay, any actor can play any personality!” (Actually, the answer to this is “yes” if the actor in question is attractive enough, but the point is that it’s not an unreasonable request to want a character who can “do the cocky face” so the roleplayer and their partners don’t simply have to imagine them “doing the cocky face,” particularly when gifs are involved.)
Basically, not saying anyone needs to offer this sort of help if they don’t want to, or feel like they can’t for whatever reason.
Nor am I saying that people have to play FCs who match their character’s personalities. If that’s not that important to you, that’s totally fine!
But can we also acknowledge that body language and facial expressions exist, and if someone feels like that’s an important factor in choosing their faceclaim, it’s totally valid and they don’t deserve to be talked down to for it?
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