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Chéri Is Not About Cougars
Marisa Tomei Takes It All Off; Gina Gershon Hangs At The Brothel

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Mireille is German for the Bart, the.
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
What is with the comparison/enforced-competition between older and younger actresses? France produces fewer films than the US and yet Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Sophie Marceau and Marion Cotillard all get roles. US movie makers (and possibly audiences) are stuck in a perpetual adolescence... sex, sex, violence, violence, youth, youth, dumb, dumb. If I want screen exploding excitement, yeah, I watch American films. If I want thoughtful explorations of character and relationships, I have to go foreign 90% of the time. Sad.
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argle-bargle? or fou-ferraw?
06/26/09

@Mireille ate an apple, so step off doctor!: you don't have to go foreign necessarily, but you do have to go independent.

mainstream cinema really blows.
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vixenatrix
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
This societal prejudice that people need to pair off w/partners their own age... I dunno, my father was 20+ years older than my mother (and I had a 40 y/o BF @ 23), so the relatioships in Cheri and the Woody Allen movie look pretty normal to me.

Also, some of my older (40+) male friends have been pairing off w/younger women, and it's been all-around great.
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Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni!
06/26/09

@vixenatrix: Yes, but what about the reverse and how such an older woman/younger man dynamic is treated as weird and unnatural? Which is what the post is really about.
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euterpe35
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
Rupert Friend is so lovely. simply beautiful. If you haven't seen "Mrs. Palfrey at The Claremont", do so. (it's availble for streaming on Netflix)

I wonder sometimes if beautiful young women like Megan Fox will be able to compare to Michelle Pfeiffer's beauty when they, too, reach "a certain age".
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♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
06/26/09

@euterpe35: Mr Wickham! he's GAWJUS!
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SylvanSylph
06/26/09

@euterpe35: I'm not sure anyone will be able to compare to Michelle Pfeiffer's beauty ever at any age.
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SomeAuthorGirl
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
Even if I wasn't already pre-disposed to seeing any sweeping epic of a costume drama, and pre-disposed to seeing any adaptation of classic literature, I would see Cheri anyway. To be spiteful. So nyah, USA Today, most of your readers don't even know what "folderol" is.
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Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni!
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
I abhor the double standard. A "celebrity news" reporter declared that Rachael Hunter should have been wary of the "boytoys," and the glaring age difference is why she and her ex-fiance called off the wedding.

The epic, utterly insurmountable age gap? 13 years [en.wikipedia.org] Which probably wouldn't have been mentioned if the sexes were reversed.
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sequined
06/26/09

@Fridge Hussy : You Do The Meth!: I think harping about age gaps in the entertainment industry is especially silly because the normal "experience markers" we use in the so-called real world are (in many cases) mostly lacking.

Sure, I'd find it weird if a high school student was dating a college graduate, even if the actual age difference was only four years, because those are major differences in experience. Same with finding a career, settling down, whatever. (And those are only indicators of compatibility/success, not definite potential-relationship killers.) But for people who have been in the "biz" for a dozen years, I think that tends to be a lot more equal.

But what do I know.
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NerD: Blattella
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
Funny, I don't find anything interesting about either situations.

If we need a name for what to call older women who date younger men, lets just crib what we call older men who date younger women.

Dirty Old Women.

Done and Done.
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Scout
06/26/09

@NerD!!! - R.O.A.C.H.: I've called myself a "Dirty Old Woman" for years now, es parfait!

now where DID I leave that 21 year old......??
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LadyFabulous
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
I have yet to meet a guy, no matter how old or young who doesn't find Michelle Pfeiffer sexy at 50. She looks faaaaabulous.
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clochette
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
I have to say, while the film was sumptuous (such beautiful lead actors! The amazing art nouveau sets and clothes!) I have to agree with the critics who say that it's a pretty vapid piece of film making. I know that a book and a film are separate works of art and should be judged independently of each other, but still, it's an very fluffy adaptation of what should be an extremely subversive, controversial work of literature. As wealthy and beautiful as this world of courtesans was, it was essentially an underworld, held in distain by the rest of society, and the film doesn't convey that fully enough IMO.

I personally see the book as deliberately scandalous and provocative precisely BECAUSE it depicts a generally taboo relationship - that between an older woman and a younger man. I think that's an extremely important and deliberate element, to me, of the work, and so in a way for me it IS about 'cougars'. The fact that we still can't get our heads round this kind of relationship so many years after Chéri was written is pretty sad. That's what makes it all the more important!
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amowls
06/26/09

@clochette: I think if the film portrayed an older woman with a younger man as subversive, it will continue to be thought of as such. I haven't seen it, but I like that its fluffy.

Like Clueless portrays being into your step brother as totally normal and in Cruel Intentions it's seedy and depraved. Unfortunately, people take a lot of cues from pop culture, so if someone wants to bone their step brother they say "Well, Cher does it in Clueless!" and it's automatically more normal.
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rocknrollunicorn
06/26/09

@amowls: But you can present it in a way that acknowledges it is taboo, but recognizes the relationship itself isn't morally despicable and shouldn't be taboo. I mean, clochette has a point, it seems pretty "ahaha, old whores and young men! Fun, painless sex romps!"

I haven't read Cherie but sounds like the book was a bit deeper.

Not that I won't see this :)
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sympathyforthebasementcat
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
Cute English guy? check. Michelle Pfeiffer? check. Kathy Bates? quadruple check.

I don't care if it's about cougars, canines or canaries. I'm there.
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Tequila Mockingbird
06/26/09

@sympathyforthebasementcat: what about carnies?
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Ailatan
06/26/09

@sympathyforthebasementcat: what about cavities?
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sympathyforthebasementcat
06/26/09

@IrockIroll: Extra points if carnies are involved (excluding the Wilson variety).

@Ailatan Hearts BabyJane: Cavities are a risk I'm willing to take.
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Mary McCarthyite
06/26/09

@sympathyforthebasementcat: Ditto. I read the book; can't wait to see the film.
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BrutallyHonestBabes (aka Mrs. Sarah.of.a.Lesser.Hobbit)
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
There is nothing about this movie that doesn't appeal to me.
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amowls
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
But all the panelists agreed that while people struggle to describe or label 50-year-old Michelle Pfeiffer on screen in a love scene with 27-year-old Rupert Friend, the reverse situation - older man with younger woman? Is called "life."

Personally, I call it "creepy."
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Dodai
06/26/09

@amowls: Or "Whatever Works" by Woody Allen.
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greengrey
06/26/09

@amowls: 23 year age difference? Feh, I've seen worse.
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amowls
06/26/09

@greengrey (raidersofthelostSTAR): Honestly, the thought of dating someone 5 years older than me creeps me out. I'm an easy scare.
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SylvanSylph
06/26/09

@amowls: Me too. My boyfriend is 3 years older than me and I had to wait a couple of years to date him because I thought it was too much. My little bro is 4 years younger than me- I don't think I could date his contemporaries. They'll always be babies!

@greengrey (raidersofthelostSTAR): Eeek, that's the difference between me and my mom! To each her own, but I can't imagine how that would be an equitable relationship of the sort that I would want.
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whynotshesaid
06/27/09

@amowls: My husband and I would make your skin crawl, then.
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sybann
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
Frears Merchant Ivory? I love costume drama.
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Ailatan
06/26/09

@sybann: me too, I have been sallivating over this one for a while.
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morninggloria
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
If the roles were reversed and the film were about an old guy doing it with a barely legal hottie with legs for days, it would be called Every Single Movie In Which Harrison Ford Has Ever Starred.
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deeemer
06/26/09

@morninggloria: And Jack Nicolson.
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Mary McCarthyite
06/26/09

@deeemer: True. But I think JN is sexy regardless!
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deeemer
06/26/09

@Mary McCarthyite: Okay. And there are no sexy women over the age of 30 that could star opposite him in movies? As Good As It Gets was ridiculous, and I never understood why people loved that movie so much. Well, aside from the "noodle salad" dialogue, which was fabulous.
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Mary McCarthyite
06/26/09

@deeemer: There are plenty! Think Witxhes of Eastwick. Wasn't Susan Sarandon in her forties in that movie? Cher was in it, too...and Pfeiffer!
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electriklights
06/26/09

@morninggloria:

Hahaha. So true.
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porto-hottie
06/26/09

In reply to Chéri Is Not About Cougars
I would see this if only for the setting and scenery. Hooray!
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Sputnik_Sweetheart
06/26/09

@porto-hottie: And if by setting and scenery, you mean Rupert Friend, then I couldn't agree more.
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Dodai
06/26/09

@porto-hottie: THE COSTUMES AND SCENERY ARE GORGEOUS!
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