Last nIght when I first mentioned it, I was saying solely based on Toni's movements, mannerisms and faces that she was acting like Norma Desmond (from Sunset Boulevard). It just screamed Norma to me!
I didn't even catch this part last night, but I saw it today and now I know wirh 100% certainly that I was right in thinking that way.
At one point in the match, Toni said to the camera, "I'm ready for my close up, Mr. Khan." That is an exact quote from Sunset Boulevard!
And the "Timeless" thing must be a play on Norma saying the stars are "Ageless" 🖤
This makes sense honestly.
Sure, she's got hair more like Marilyn Monroe or other young blonde stars of old Hollywood. But Norma's character is a bit "washed up" and no longer getting treated like a star. Nobody wants her in their movies anymore. She's a "has been" who can't seem to let go of the past and accept the truth. And she is absolutely NUTS! Toni is going through a similar transformation with her character, since losing her championship. Honestly, she is a danged genius for using this for her character arc and still making it her own! Not everyone will understand what she's doing (let's be real, most are too young or just don't watch old b&w Hollywood films). But those that do get this, will surely love it! 👏🏻
Noirvember ‘22: Me as Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond as Charlie Chaplin in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
When you’re trying to put on a little revue for your kept screenwriter beau…
but then your butler interrupts you, even though he knows you’re not to be interrupted…
but the interruption is a call from Paramount, and you just KNEW Mr. DeMille would jump at your pitch…
but it isn’t Mr. DeMille on the phone but some studio so-and-so!
This was actually my costume for the day of Halloween this year (and so the photos were taken in some haste). The cane was made with newspaper, PVA glue, masking tape, and a can-do attitude.
What costume could have been spookier for Halloween 2022 than an out-of-touch rich person who really wants to convince you that they’re funny?
Reference photos for my Sunset Boulevard cosplay
Anyway, consider this my official segue into Noirvember posting, because I have a handful planned!
If you’re curious: here is the list of movies I’m planning on watching/rewatching this year for Noirvember. Let me know what you’re watching, assuming you also commemorate the seamiest, underbelly-est time of the year!