Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson did not publicly rule out a presidential race. This is an understandable strategy for a man deeply aware of his popularity and the power to project the right image, which in Johnson’s case is a kind of poisoned people man.
He is the chosen family hero of our times for precisely that reason, with some version of himself available and accessible to everyone, whether through the franchise “The Fast and the Furious” or “Jumanji”, through his reality competition inspiring “The Titan Games” or Elizabeth Warren’s favorite show on HBO, “Ballers”.
Setting limits on possibilities is precisely the opposite of Johnson’s brand, which is why NBC’s “Young Rock”, by its very existence, can be the most astute commentary on the dangerous intersection of fame, personality and political power. It could be that or a harmless sitcom with big tent ambitions that takes a few episodes to organize its approach.
Or it could end up being something that media reporters look back on in 2032 with a certain distaste for themselves for not recognizing it as a 2015 replay, with NBC once again being tricked into providing free campaign advertising to a guy with a charm offensive. The difference is that this time the candidate in question is on the company’s payroll.
This is a lot of frowning paranoia to cover a harmless and moving family comedy by Johnson and co-hosts Nahnatchka Khan and Jeff Chiang, who worked together on “Fresh Off the Boat”.
I will also confess that part of this apprehension is for display only. Just as Johnson can sculpt and lubricate his powers of seduction with equivalent levels of care with which he treats his physique, it is only fair that writers at least show evidence of Johnson’s motivations here.
Perhaps “Young Rock” is simply “The Wonder Years” built for 2021 and offering universally relatable life lessons in prime time. The fact that it is also loosely based on the childhood of a real person with a giant fandom is also not original, as anyone who has seen “Everybody Hates Chris” can attest to.
However, Chris Rock has never been seen looking back at that preteen strangeness during the campaign stops in 2032, which is much closer than you can imagine.
This not-to-be-taken-literally-or-would-be-serious writing of Johnson’s future ventures shows him traveling across the nation in a bus emblazoned with a hologram of himself flashing and smiling at the people.
For at least two stops (episodes) in the future, Randall Park interviews him as part of a “full access” coverage agreement that Park’s program has with the Johnson campaign, and in his conversations, Johnson appears as a “man for all humanity “personal. he figures that, despite his obvious success, he is quick to point out that he is no better than anyone else. “Nobody is perfect and we all screwed up. It just so happened that I screwed up a little bit more than most.”
This, incidentally, probably would have been a smarter campaign slogan than the one on the side of your bus: “Wait a minute, I’m going”.
Depending on the level of PTSD your body is still holding after the past five years, this is all fun or it may seem a little early to make jokes happy. Johnson would be the highest-paid celebrity in Hollywood for two years in a row if a critical mass of Americans didn’t love him. Turn that around and you have another celebrity winning the presidency, and a real fighter this time, instead of an idiot pretending to be one.
Are we really ready for the Johnson: Part Deux Presidency? And what are the chances that this President Johnson will avoid impeachment? The latter failed.
The concept of the campaign narrative distracts from the lovely family relationships at the solid center of the show, that is, Johnson’s loving ties to his fighting father Rocky Johnson (Joseph Lee Anderson) and the close bond he shares with his mother Ata ( Stacey Leilua).
A much more problematic distraction presents itself in the pilot where Khan, who wrote the episode, tries to bring together the four timelines in which the series takes place in a cohesive unit. The result is a disorderly fight in the cage between four periods of Johnson’s life, each competing for dominance.
Taken separately, Young Rock’s three stages serve different purposes, each contributing to the overall charismatic appearance with which we connect (and which sells movie tickets) in today’s Johnson and the 2032 era.
First and at once, we met Dwayne in 1982 at the age of 10 (Adrian Groulx), where Rocky is a star fighter in a Hawaiian fighting suit directed by Ata’s mother, Lia (Ana Tuisila). Then we skipped those ropes in 1987, when the family is struggling to survive and teenager Dwayne (Bradley Constant) acquired his father’s habit of exaggerating his success with shoplifting.
Two episodes provided to critics focus exclusively on these timelines and these simplified hints that the series is finding its rhythm. Before he can establish himself at this rate, however, we also move into 1990, where Dwayne (Uli Latukefu) has a chance to remake his image at the University of Miami by making his way to the front ranks of the football team.
Nobody can deny that Johnson has an incredible history besides a family legacy that connects him to professional wrestling titans.
It is difficult to find many defects in his healthy nostalgia base, which receives a more complete display in the second episode, when Dwayne de Constant learns a lesson in respect and dignity, defending his unlucky father when he is reduced to providing live entertainment in the market. flea spot while Ata cleans houses.
People struggling to wrap their arms around the early episodes of “Young Rock” may find a reason to remain on the team of actors posing as 80s wrestling legends like Ric Flair and Iron Sheik. So far the show hits right away, and a sixth episode of adventure featuring a day with Andre the Giant (Matthew Willig) is especially charming. Willig channels the adorable tenderness of the imposing icon that a gentle joy capable of dispelling all doubts about this show.
In those moments, we see what “Young Rock” can still become. The plans that its creator has for the future remain unclear; he is a registered independent who supported Joe Biden in this election. He also appeared in style at the 2000 Republican convention. And part of the wisdom of the greeting cards he uses during his fantasy campaign to, like his devotion to valuing “unique people with totally different points of view”, sounds metallic these days post-insurrection. Like wrestling itself, there is nothing insincere of your devotion to it. But he may be working a little hard on the trick now.
“Young Rock” premieres Tuesday, February 16 at 8 pm on NBC.