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Dear Michael Rosenbaum,
Well, first of all, happy birthday, as I gather that's just past. And you seem like a good egg, so I hope you had lovely celebrations.
I just watched "Lexmas," and here's the thing. I think you do an excellent job playing Lex, I really do. You've given the character layers of complexity that the SV writers can't even dream of; you've taken what could have been a cartoon villain and made him into someone very human and believable and sympathetic even when he's being evil; you are always, always compelling to watch. You improve the performances of everyone around you and you consistently raise the level of the material you're given. As silly as your show is, I have tremendous respect for the work you do in it.
But it's been well established that Lex Luthor is both brilliant and well educated. So when you mispronounce a common word like "contemplative" (and for future reference, the stress belongs on the second syllable, not the first), you kind of ruin the illusion for me. I can manage to overlook it when you insist, time and again, on pausing *after* the word "but" instead of before (again, just for reference, standard written English places the comma *before* a clause beginning with "but," hence that's also where the pause belongs when speaking aloud). It bugs me, but okay (see how I just did that? Where I put the comma?), it's a quirk of yours and I've gotten used to it, if grudgingly. Your mispronunciation, though, is a problem. I'm also more than a little horrified that not a single person involved in the production of "Lexmas" -- from the director, writers, and crewfolk who were presumably on the set with you, to the producers and editors who put together the final cut of the episode -- caught this mistake, or bothered to correct it. Maybe they figured that nobody watching the show would care (or know), or maybe they just didn't care/know themselves. Either way, they surely have to share the blame here.
Look, I know I'm a big ol' geek, but the thing is (hey, look, I just did it again. Try it; it's easy!), I love your performances and I want so badly to be cheering you on all the way through. Please, please, if there's a big word in the script that you're not sure of how to say (which I doubt happens often), check with somebody before you shoot the scene. Heck, feel free to call me for this sort of thing; I'd be happy to help. I mean that.
And in the meantime, best of luck with season 6. I'm sure you'll be awesome in it.
Sincerely,
svlurker.
ETA: Okay, I concede: CONtemplative, with the stress on the first syllable, is an accepted alternate pronunciation, and is apparently standard in Australia and Canada. It's not the norm in the States, and I still think that an upper-crust American kid who's been educated at elite prep schools and (according to some versions) Ivy League colleges would be unlikely to say it this way. But the show *is* filmed in Canada, and it's clear that I spoke out of turn when I said this pronunciation was flat-out wrong. Michael, I owe you an apology.
I'm still right about the buts, though.
Well, first of all, happy birthday, as I gather that's just past. And you seem like a good egg, so I hope you had lovely celebrations.
I just watched "Lexmas," and here's the thing. I think you do an excellent job playing Lex, I really do. You've given the character layers of complexity that the SV writers can't even dream of; you've taken what could have been a cartoon villain and made him into someone very human and believable and sympathetic even when he's being evil; you are always, always compelling to watch. You improve the performances of everyone around you and you consistently raise the level of the material you're given. As silly as your show is, I have tremendous respect for the work you do in it.
But it's been well established that Lex Luthor is both brilliant and well educated. So when you mispronounce a common word like "contemplative" (and for future reference, the stress belongs on the second syllable, not the first), you kind of ruin the illusion for me. I can manage to overlook it when you insist, time and again, on pausing *after* the word "but" instead of before (again, just for reference, standard written English places the comma *before* a clause beginning with "but," hence that's also where the pause belongs when speaking aloud). It bugs me, but okay (see how I just did that? Where I put the comma?), it's a quirk of yours and I've gotten used to it, if grudgingly. Your mispronunciation, though, is a problem. I'm also more than a little horrified that not a single person involved in the production of "Lexmas" -- from the director, writers, and crewfolk who were presumably on the set with you, to the producers and editors who put together the final cut of the episode -- caught this mistake, or bothered to correct it. Maybe they figured that nobody watching the show would care (or know), or maybe they just didn't care/know themselves. Either way, they surely have to share the blame here.
Look, I know I'm a big ol' geek, but the thing is (hey, look, I just did it again. Try it; it's easy!), I love your performances and I want so badly to be cheering you on all the way through. Please, please, if there's a big word in the script that you're not sure of how to say (which I doubt happens often), check with somebody before you shoot the scene. Heck, feel free to call me for this sort of thing; I'd be happy to help. I mean that.
And in the meantime, best of luck with season 6. I'm sure you'll be awesome in it.
Sincerely,
svlurker.
ETA: Okay, I concede: CONtemplative, with the stress on the first syllable, is an accepted alternate pronunciation, and is apparently standard in Australia and Canada. It's not the norm in the States, and I still think that an upper-crust American kid who's been educated at elite prep schools and (according to some versions) Ivy League colleges would be unlikely to say it this way. But the show *is* filmed in Canada, and it's clear that I spoke out of turn when I said this pronunciation was flat-out wrong. Michael, I owe you an apology.
I'm still right about the buts, though.
