McConaugheMay Day 31: The McConnaissance

Edited to add: Since the writing of this review, “The McConaissance” has been removed from Letterboxd as a piece of McConaughey’s filmography.

Embarrassingly straightforward Cliffs Notes version of Greenlights interspersed with the most obvious, first-draft film clips to pair with them. This “short film” (and I call this that as sarcastically as I possibly can) that can be found on YouTube is utterly worthless as either a narrative or an engaging look at the star’s career. Granted, I am now a McConaughexpert at this point, but this is so bluntly hagiographic and lacking any sort of unique perspective on the man or his career. It feels like it was funded by McConaughey himself, except that he is far more canny to have released something so obviously sycophantic and blunt. Sorry, but trash.

Here's an easy layup that one could use for an interesting video essay: In Greenlights, McConaughey says he invented "the McConaissance" as a term in an interview by pretending that another interviewer (unnamed) had coined it just prior. Is that true? Let's pretend it is: What does that tell us about the man? I think there's some very interesting angles to explore here, about his awareness of his own narrative and image, knowing what it requires in order to shift it, when to put his thumb on the scale and when to let Hollywood be Hollywood without his intervention. I think that, or any angle(!), would be more engaging and useful to a person than a complete uncritical summation of Greenlights and whatever little trivia you might have half-remembered from iMDB.

62 days of watching this man's movies. Jesus wandered the desert for 40, I added another three weeks on top of it. What have I learned? I've learned that Matthew has a shadow self he does not share with the world, a private perspective that he's been able to keep through the decades despite the paparazzi, the fans, the lovers, the awards, the haters. Like Eddie Zarno in Surfer, Dude (styled to look like an evil, pastier Steve Addington!), there is another McConaughey deeply aware of his own narrative and willing to do anything to control it. Despite what the popular narrative might be, stars are not made accidentally or born. They are delivered through staggering and frightening amounts of willpower and narcissism (is that why he appeared in Welcome to Hollywood???). To make it in Hollywood, you have to know that you deserve it, even if you don’t. Like being the president, how can any one person believe that so sincerely?

I respect this man, having spent so much time with him. To keep a piece of your soul sealed off from the world when making your fortune in Hollywood is nearly impossible. To do it without most people even realizing it is jaw-dropping. I fear this man, having spent so much time with him.

Last year felt like this, this year felt like this

I probably won't do this again, but I definitely will do something stupid next year, I’m sure.

For a special treat, read the first letter of each of my reviews in chronological order to discover a secret message!