On Not Being the Voice of God

Christopher Hitchens the famous atheist essayist died yesterday. I'm not here to talk about God, but rather his voice. Or, really The Voice of God (VOG) as it is called in the wacky VO biz. When I first started in voice over, I thought that's what voice over is: The Voice Over, the detached Lofty Perspective presenting the script from On High. I wanted to be a messenger of The Voice of God, or play that role. But really, the role isn't of God. It's of an arrogant jerk. It's annoying, insulting to the intelligence of the listener. It's emotionally restricted and not creative. It's monotone, gravely, and nasal, and the boominess is fake. It's sexist, as women aren't allowed to play it (how many female Movie Trailer voices do you hear)? The Voice Of God is from an era where Men Told People What to Think. It's from the age of dinosaurs. It's irrelevant. People need to cut it out. Do real voices, and hire real voices and write real scripts for real speech. You can have the voice of an Action Trailer without sounding like a haughty congested putz. It's fun to do VOG gigs, but honestly, whenever a client requests it I think it's just stupid and sloppy and lazy creative. Rant over. Have a nice day, and Keep the Faith for quality voice overs that make a meaningful connection to the audience. :)