Is The Rock’s career as solid as it seems? Or is there cracks?
By: Jack Yatsko
An ad for the new Black Adam movie featuring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson popped up on TikTok. It was only a few seconds of some action shots and then Black Adam diving on screen towards something until the title card hits. I remember the memes on the Internet begging for The Rock to be Black Adam even before he was cast. Maybe it was for his acting history, or maybe it was because he physically fits the role. But the real reason was, people wanted to see The Rock kick some ass. Since then, I have seen countless ads every single day about this movie. It is never advertised as “Black Adam featuring The Rock.” It is always “Dwyane Johnson IS Black Adam.” My interpretation is that he’s the main selling point rather than just the lead actor. His job is to pull in tickets.
Credit: FOX 5 Atlanta
When you watch a movie with The Rock in it. For example, let’s say Disney’s Jungle Cruise. What do you see when you look at The Rock’s character? Well, that would be his character Frank Wolff, a physically strong male lead who takes his problems into his own hands. How about in one of his older series in Fast and Furious? In that he plays Luke Hobbs, a physically strong male lead who takes problems into his own hands. But that sounds similar to the description of his other character right? And it’s the same with his other movies too. In Moana as Maui, in Jumanji as Spencer, and many other examples. They all formula found within The Rock’s style of character, that style being himself.
Credit: Tenor GIFS
The Rock falls into a problem of not playing the character he is cast for, but playing himself. Where he is cast less for the role of the character in a movie. But rather for The Rock being, well, The Rock. While this strategy clearly works, as The Profile’s Polina Pompliano said, “Johnson is the highest-paid actor in the world, making more than $20 million per movie, thanks to a string of box office hits. His films have grossed over $10.5 billion worldwide, which makes him one of the highest-grossing movie stars of all time.” But it feels detached, like I’m watching a behind the scenes reading of the movie from The Rock. While every other actor in the movie is actually acting. It takes away from the action, and takes away from my enjoyment of the movie. I’d rather be drawn to a movie for its story, not its main actor. In fact, I don’t get what the hype about him is all about. Really, what is so good about an actor, whose main draw is that he just plays himself?
During his days as a WWE wrestler, The Rock’s brand was being better than everyone else. Not only did he show this in the ring, but in interviews and trash talking as well. The Rock called himself better than you, and he wanted you to know. So, in the move into acting, that attitude transition was essentially seamless. He carried that “better than you, larger than life” personality from the big ring to the big screen. Most of the character’s he plays seem to be written for The Rock to play, rather than The Rock auditioning to play that character. Where in the case of Black Adam it makes sense. Not only do the character’s physically resemble each other. But also mentally in a sense, where Black Adam is also a character who believes himself to be better than the other people around him. But to give The Rock credit, he earned his status through years or hardwork and dedication. Whereas Black Adam was granted power from literal gods. To quote The Rock, “Blood, sweat, and respect. First two you give, last one you earn." But this attitude is not just on the big screen, and his social media posts reflected that.
Looking through The Rock’s social media pages can be a sight sometimes. Whether he is posting a wealth of photos and videos of him working out. Or just him flexing on The Great Wall of China. The Rock seems to be one with himself, and it comes off as pretty self-centered. There is a stereotype when it comes to celebrities that they are very full of themselves. That they are not one with their fans and detached from reality. While The Rock may promote against that stereotype verbally, where Bustle’s Olivia Truffant-Wong said, “The Rock embraces all aspects of his career with a bright smile and a chuckle, a grateful attitude that tells audiences that he isn't so full of himself that he thinks he's better than the projects they like him for.” But his posts argue against those claims. I do not know about you, but I can not name many celebrities that have several posts of them standing in a gym. Covered head to toe in heavy metal chains. Go on, I’ll wait.
Credit: Daily Mail
With all of this information stacked against him, I still can’t understand why people love The Rock so much. I mean, what is there to love about a guy who is larger than his life. Who is a multi-billion dollar actor, starring in tons of iconic franchises? And that's when it hit me, that is the exact reason why people love him. They love him because he is larger than life. They love him because he plays the physically strong male lead, which is himself. And that is what people want to watch. People love The Rock for the reason I hate The Rock, he is himself in everything. Writer for Bleacher Report Chris Mueller said it best in his article about The Rock. “Whether he is flashing his pearly whites, flexing his muscles, speaking intensely or in a humorous way or even just being himself, people want to watch him.” While this quote primarily focused on his wrestling career, it still applies for his fans even now. “There is nothing more distasteful than a star who dismisses the work that made him or her famous, and The Rock actively fights against cultivating that impression.”
The Rock even goes above and beyond for his fans. On multiple occasions, Dwayne Johnson has done a lot for his fans. On his social media, especially his Instagram, he posts pictures with his fans and of his fans. Just as much as he posts pictures of him working out. “His feed is littered with posts of the star meeting with fans, recounting how they waited outside of his gym or on the outskirts of a movie set for hours just to meet him,” said Wong for Bustle. He does a lot to include his fans, and does his best to go out of his way for them. In the same article from Wong, “Another post from January 2018 details how a woman accidentally walked into a shot on the set of his HBO series Ballers, and she felt so bad that Johnson personally made sure to say hi to her afterwards.”
Not only that, he has his own charity as well. The Dwayne Johnson ROCK Foundation is The Rock’s personal charity that allows children with medical disabilities to be able to empower them and their self-esteem. He does the most to see his fans smile, using as much power and status as he has to make sure that happens. The Rock is an interesting character, in and out of his movies. But regardless of where you see him, he is extremely loved by his fans. Where his fans love him for his insane workout physique, predictable and similar characters, and interesting Internet memes. I find that I dislike him for those reasons, but not because I hate The Rock. Because I was under the impression that he was just another stereotypical actor. Using his fame and fan interactions to set himself a good image. When in reality, it is nothing more than a PR stunt to keep his rating up and money rolling in. I have a whole new outlook on The Rock, even though I still think his acting is something that needs work. I still reserved a seat for Black Adam, to see both the movie and The Rock in it.