Was Tumblr Right About Tom Hiddleston?
A glance at Tumblr itself reveals tens of thousands of posts tagged with the actor’s name. He’s part of a pantheon of the most popular Tumblr subjects, an actor who finds his image blogged and reblogged and turned into gifs and memes and romantic daydreams from the throngs of people who visit and use the site on a daily basis. It is a good time to be Mr. Tom Hiddleston.
Along with public adoration and creative flexibility afforded by the success of his role as Loki in three (and counting) Marvel movies, Hiddleston has lead roles in two keenly interesting movies coming out before the end of the year. Crimson Peak, a gothic chiller from Guillermo del Toro, and High-Rise, a class warfare allegory set in a state-of-the-art apartment community. While both films are dark, the roles are dissimilar and risky, and Hiddleston proves to be a mesmerizing leading man.
In Crimson Peak, he’s standing in the shadow of literary characters like Wuthering Heights’ Heathcliff - romantic, conflicted, and as antagonistic as he is sympathetic. Hiddleston is Sir Thomas Sharpe, an opportunist looking to fund costly machinery which would mine the red clay that his dilapidated estate sits upon. He sets his sights on Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, and Sharpe’s romantic intentions are immediately called into question. Their relationship provides the film with most of its central conflict - does Sharpe truly love Edith or is he toying with her, with the help of his noticeably sinister sister (played by Jessica Chastain), and to what end?
The film is advertised as a ghost story, and while there are some masterfully-designed spirits in the movie, the director himself warns that Crimson Peak isn’t a horror flick but instead a gothic romance. Formal reviews of the film, which screened early as part of Austin’s annual Fantastic Fest, are being kept under wraps until the week of release, but fans can rest assured that Hiddleston impresses as Sharpe. The man is simply designed to wear a tophat. Sharpe is a silver-tongued charmer but Hiddleston has to maintain the support of the audience for the character to work, especially as darker secrets from Sharpe’s past begin to come to light.
I suspect Hiddleston fans will find High-Rise less accessible than Crimson Peak, but he’s in top form as Dr. Robert Laing, a blonde-haired golden god who skirts the social scene of both the working class and the upper crust in their shared tower apartment building. Laing tries to keep his head down and know his role when the groups begin taking out their frustrations on each other with increasing violence, but he can only maintain his sanity for so long.
2015 proves Tumblr was ahead of the curve on the Hiddleston love. He’s got another go as Loki in Thor: Ragnarok soon, and that’s great -- but what’s really exciting is the potential of Tom Hiddleston as leading man. He picks interesting projects and he has his own appeal to bring to the table. Thank you, Tumblr. Now, will somebody please show us how to make High Rise gifs of Tom Hiddleston dancing?
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