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New York, 3:38 AM
Thu Nov 26
64 posts in the last 24 hours
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02/22/09
02/22/09
I think that women are narrowing their scope by trying to hold on to their youth. And as much as the machine tries to keep them in that position, women do have a choice.
For instance, a lot of women produce things, but it often seems to be something that is popular to their genre, for instance Drew Barrymore's production company has done a lot of romantic comedies, but she did something different from "40 Dates," and also produced Donnie Darko.
It seems to me that women (especially powerful women) in Hollywood are marginalizing themselves by trying to "stay cute," as opposed to "being creative."
I mean, Mary Pickford helped found United Artists in 1919! I guess my point is, why aren't women more in charge of their collective destinies? If I had Jennifer Aniston's money, I wouldn't be starring in "He's Just Not That Into You," I would be searching for the best fucking independent movie I could find. I would be searching writing websites for good scripts.
I guess my question is...don't women have a choice as to how they stay relevant in Hollywood?
02/22/09
Also, older women have to look like young women to stay in the game. Demi Moore and Jennifer Aniston are not allowed to stop having work done and dieting and exercising like olympians. Aging men who look aged(like Jack Nicholson and George Clooney) still get cast as romantic leads.
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02/23/09
Yes, and women who wait to get cast alongside of them are buying into studio bullshit. Take the power you have and change the system.
02/23/09
(Unless you were being ironic, and saying that it's difficult for women to become the boss. In that case I disagree, we always have the capability to be "the boss.")
02/23/09
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02/22/09
That about sums it up, I think.
02/22/09
Maybe it's because many popular female actresses can't act. Think about our culture before killing me...the actresses who can act succeed after 40 (See: helen mirren, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Kyra Sedgwick, Meryl, etc). But many famous actresses are propped up becuase they are attractive rather than that they can act (see: Jessica
Alba...pretty much everyone who graces the celebrity rags come to think of it). So obviously when they get old and "unattractive" they aren't going to have a career because their career was based on hotness and sexy bods which, let's face it, in American Culture are not really there once someone hits 40 (which I DO NOT agree with, but unfotunately I don't dictate the tastes of America).
So maybe women don't have careers later because the ones we hear the most about are the ones who are sex symbols and sex symbols without talent are, for better or worse, destined to flame out when they lose that status. And this is true for a lot of men who were attractive and lost it as well (think every celebrity you had hanging on your wall from the pages of teen bop when you were 12), but it is easier to get into the business as an unattractive man than as an unattractive woman, hence the statistics are skewed.
Anyone?
I don't know why I'm all over this post...I really don't wan to clean my apt i guess
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02/22/09
13 sounds really good.
02/22/09
Helen Mirren is an actress who I first remember on stage and on screen in the 1980s. I was so entranced by her theatrical role as Moll Cutpurse in the 1980s I saw the production a dozen times. I must have seen her in Excalibur at least a dozen times as well. At first, to most Americans she was probably best known as Director Taylor Hackford's partner. She used to speak wryly how people would all but push her out of the way at Hollywood parties to get to him. After the huge success of her television roles in recent years and of course her oscar winning performance, Helen's film career has never been brighter.
I think women can make a comeback in their film career, as long as they are actresses who can genuinely act rather than simply film stars. An ageing starlet, whose career was based solely on her youthful looks, is not going to have much luck making a comeback after those looks have faded.
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Someone like Winona Ryder, I would argue doesnt seem to WANT it. You have to want to comeback to actually get there. Rourke took a role that was originally for Nicolas Cage (yeah, The Wrestler would have been HORRIFIC with Cage) and he took a chance. You have to put it all out there to reap the rewards.
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Also Hugh Grant came back from a fairly major PR nightmare.
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02/22/09
guys over 40 turn into wizards... i.e. - gandalf.
RESEARCH before you write this stuff, ok Jezzies.
/sarcasm
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02/22/09
The actresses who do well after Oscars are those who bounce between starring and supporting roles, like Meryl, Judi and Cate.