Thora Thacker is a notable character in the large ensemble cast of Hail, Caesar! (2016) and she is identifiable as a reporter adding more work to the overworked studio manager Eddie Mannix. Set in the studio Capitol Pictures in the 1950s Hail, Caesar! (2016) follows Eddie as he deals with range of studio drama and scandals, and Thora typed as the stereotypical big-name Hollywood gossip columnist in Hail, Caesar! (2016) is not easily deterred from her story. Thora is always after the latest news but selective in what she prints, as Eddie talks her out of printing a piece on the star actor in the studio’s latest big picture in exchange for another more exclusive story. Her interactions with Eddie reveal how Eddie deals with the press and how the press might be missing the bigger scandal. At the end of Hail, Caesar! (2016) the audience sees Thora return to her original piece only with much more detail as she’s found a new source, except Eddie informs her the sources is a communist and therefore not credible. It is an insightful look into Thora’s character because while she cares about revealing the scandals in the studio she also cares about her reputation and credibility, as she maintains throughout Hail, Caesar! (2016) she’s not a gossip columnist but a reporter with a big readership. This scene near the end of Hail, Caesar! (2016) reveals that Thora’s credible reputation is more important to her than any scandal as she agrees not to print her column. On the screen of Hail, Caesar! (2016) Thora is transformed into the embodiment of the Hollywood gossip columnist, playing off the previous real and fictional reporters to draw on the cultural associations with her type character. Mathijs suggests that ostentation is display acting and in Hail, Caesar! (2016) it is done subtly with Thora’s character as her dramatic way of entering and exiting the scene and the proud way she carries herself in the film display her character. Moreover, her costume is yet another display of her character and reference to her type character as the reporter, presenting the audience with their expectations of the pushy reporter who is always looking for the latest bit of news and gossip to print. The choice of costume, diction, and action in Hail, Caesar! (2016) all play to characterize and present Thora to the audience as the gossip columnist type. Overall, Thora is another addition in Hail, Caesar! (2016)’s ensemble cast that highlights her character type through referential acting, ostentation, and characterization and adds an additional layer to Eddie’s job.
Works Cited
Ernest Mathijs, Referential acting and the ensemble cast, Screen, Volume 52, Issue 1, Spring 2011, Pages 89–96, https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/hjq063
Hail, Caesar!. Directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2016.
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