Please, someone tell her to stop smiling all the way through every damn scene that she's in! Even in the "serious" moments, she's all smiles. Very, very annoying, and didn't do anything to make me like the real Christa at all.
Dave
Yessss!!!! Too much smiling! In real life, Christa didn't smile so much...Christa was much more emotional.
I was in high school at the time of the Challenger misfortune and I remember seeing a clip of her acceptance speech...the There'll be one body, but I'm taking ten souls with me... Christa was so overwhelmed with emotion, she was crying pretty hard.
So not to worry, Christa wasn't that smiley in real life.
I agree that the smile-iness made Karen Allen's portrayal of Christa irritating. I normally like Karen Allen, but this performance (which could very well have had to do with the writing and directing) was annoying.
Christa was nothing like that in real life; fear not. I watched the excellent documentary "Reach for the Stars" about Christa McAuliffe. In that, she comes across as a genuinely likable, real, imperfect person.
In hindsight, I wonder if Catherine Hicks would've been a better choice:
http://www.away-mission.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/c/h/chicks003.jpg
Christa you can argue, had a folksy, geeky charm while still coming across as highly intelligent and capable.
Interesting idea. I like Karen Allen but that fixed smile in this film is a bit wearing and if we have to have a fixed grin Catherine Hicks might have worn it better.
shareI've been reading and going across newspaper reviews of the Challenger movie back in 1990, and other critics (including Christa's mother) have pointed out Karen Allen's choice of playing Christa McAuliffe as a bit of a Pollyanna for lack of a better word.
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/25/arts/to-view-arrogance-in-the-name-of-liftoff.html
Yet, Mrs. McAuliff, played pluckily by Karen Allen with a yard-wide smile that suggests cheek cramps, is used as the film's key focus.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1990/02/25/the-challenger-disaster/c9036a31-0ad5-4d33-aaeb-2072bf57fc8f/
https://www.deseret.com/1990/2/25/18848680/challenger-controversy-engulfs-latest-docudrama
Karen Allen is perky and cute as McAuliffe - excessively so.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-24-ca-1077-story.html
Social studies teacher McAuliffe (whom Allen plays as so awed and wide-eyed that she walks around with an idiot smile frozen on her face) initially resists conducting science experiments in space.
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JCjcA1EdXw8J:https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1990-02-24-9002242959-story.html+&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
The central role of McAuliffe is played by Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark). "She came through as very immature, almost never without a childish grin," said Ellen Jarvis.
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1990/02/23/challenger-is-too-boosterish/
The show opens with a widely beaming McAuliffe, played by always grinning and giggling Karen Allen.
https://ew.com/article/1990/02/23/challenger/
Karen Allen as schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe smiles constantly to show us how ”up” she is; Barry Bostwick as spacecraft commander Dick Scobie growls tough-guy stuff like ”Sometimes you just gotta fly with your gut.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1990/02/25/tv-preview/ca133a57-79d6-47c2-99ae-a88a77ee3a23/
Allen's problems playing McAuliffe are symptomatic of the inertia afflicting the whole production. National memories of McAuliffe could hardly be more affectionate, so in order not to upset the audience, McAuliffe is portrayed as something of a plastic Pollyanna. And Allen plays the part with an ear-to-ear, wall-to-wall smile that is nearly as relentless as Jack Nicholson's Joker grin in "Batman."
Bonnie Bedelia is another alternative option that I recently thought of. If you look at photos of her around the time that she made Die Hard, she (at least in my eyes) does kind of resemble Christa McAuliffe.
https://www.google.com/search?q=bonnie+bedelia+&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiY0f-UsonuAhUHIa0KHRUHBRQQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=bonnie+bedelia+&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIECCMQJzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIAFCXTViQTmC1UWgAcAB4AIABkQGIAZACkgEDMC4ymAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=rsT2X5jCH4fCtAWVjpSgAQ&bih=757&biw=1600
https://www.google.com/search?q=christa+mcauliffe&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjL-rjisYnuAhULz6wKHcQ0BMwQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=chri&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgAMgQIIxAnMgQIIxAnMgQIABBDMgoIABCxAxCDARBDMgUIABCxAzIKCAAQsQMQgwEQQzIECAAQQzIFCAAQsQMyAggAMgIIADoHCCMQ6gIQJzoICAAQsQMQgwFQ7BBY5xVgmiNoAXAAeACAAbQCiAHQBpIBBzAuMi4xLjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ7ABCsABAQ&sclient=img&ei=RMT2X8vIHoueswXE6ZDgDA&bih=757&biw=1600
Somebody on YouTube made a comment saying that Karen Allen actually looks more like Barbara Morgan, who was Christa McAuliffe's backup, and shared my belief that Bonnie Bedelia (at least based on physical resemblance) should've played Christa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYWP8qsvTKg&lc=UgwGKSiKAZNx_uL7TF54AaABAg
Here's photos of Barbara Morgan in case you're wondering:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Barbara+Morgan&sxsrf=AOaemvLyqzgYySPRE09a2SuJpyymN6W53w:1633393493843&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjfgOr3gLLzAhVoRN8KHaxcBaUQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1600&bih=789&dpr=1
For the sake of comparison, here's the real Christa McAuliffe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XqlOxvkB2o (go to the 1:59 mark)
And here's Karen Allen as Christa:
http://123movies123.live/watch-movie-online/OGg4A9dR-challenger.html (go to the 0:11:30 mark)
I couldn't decide if that was funny or annoying. They must have really wanted the woman to look good by always having her portrayed as happy and upbeat, despite me questioning throughout the movie why this school teacher was even qualified to become an astronaut in the first place. It tends to come off like she's not taking it seriously.
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/
ITA. I love Karen Allen, but the constant smile plastered on her face in this film (even when not appropriate for the scene) really got to me. I assume the director was looking to have Christa's excitement and emotion over this once in a lifetime opportunity come through, but it was overkill to the point of distraction. Otherwise it was a pretty decent made for TV film.
share