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Post by politicidal on Dec 26, 2020 0:39:12 GMT
In Hollywood films, calling it "utterly unbalanced" in comparison with pairing older actresses with younger actors.
TEXT:
Emma Thompson is criticizing what is commonplace in Hollywood — older male actors paired on-screen with women half their age. “It’s completely acceptable for George Clooney – who is delightful – to have someone who is 40 years younger than him or 30 years younger than him,” she said on the podcast CultureBlast. “If I have someone playing opposite me in a romantic way, they have to exhume someone, because I’m 61 now. Do you see what I mean? It’s completely and utterly unbalanced.” Thompson turns that notion on its head in her upcoming film Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, in which she plays a 55-year-old widow who hires a sex worker in his early 20s.
“It’s very interesting with this woman I’m about to play,” she continued. “This young man says, ‘You’re perfectly attractive, why can’t you find another chap?’ And she says, ‘Because the only people willing to sleep with me are people my age, and I want to sleep with someone younger than me.’
Directed by Sophie Hyde (Animals), the film follows Nancy Stokes (Thompson), a 55-year-old widow “who is yearning for some adventure, some human connection, and some sex. Good sex. For the first time in her life. Whilst her husband Robert provided a home, a family, something resembling a life, good sex was never on offer. But he’s gone now, and Nancy has a plan. As she says, ‘there are nuns with more sexual experience than me’. So, being the reasonable, practical woman she is, and as an ex-teacher she likes to be organized, she does some thorough research and hires the services of Leo Grande, a sex worker (or ‘sex therapist’ as he prefers it) in his early twenties for a night of bliss.”
“If Leo Grande, the film that we make, speaks to people and people aren’t averse to seeing someone who’s 61 largely naked with a very much younger person, it’s going to be very interesting.,” she added. “We’ve got to keep being brave about that.”
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Post by ck100 on Dec 26, 2020 0:45:50 GMT
As much as we want things to be equal, there will always be a double standard when it comes to relationships in movies.
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Post by Vits on Dec 26, 2020 1:06:04 GMT
She's right. And I'm glad that she's looking at it from an equality point of view as opposed to saying age gaps in general are gross (yes, some people do that).
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Post by louise on Dec 26, 2020 8:33:23 GMT
It’s biology. Women generally become infertile a lot sooner than men do. The biological instinct is to seek out someone who you can breed successfully with (this has nothing to do with whether you actually want children). There is always going to be an imbalance for this reason. I would hazard a guess that more young women fancy George Clooney than young men fancy Emma Thompson. Not all mature parts have to be romantic ones, it was easier for older women to get good parts when cinema audiences were more diverse, impossible for instance to imagine someone like Marie Dressler being the top box office star today, as she was in the early 30s.
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Post by ck100 on Dec 26, 2020 9:03:20 GMT
Shouldn't there also be criticisms of pairings in terms of things like race and weight?
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Post by Marv on Dec 26, 2020 14:32:18 GMT
Is there an example of George Clooney having an on screen romantic partner 40 years younger than him? Clooney is 59.
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Post by Vits on Dec 26, 2020 16:31:37 GMT
Is there an example of George Clooney having an on screen romantic partner 40 years younger than him? Clooney is 59. It was clearly a hyperbole. As in, it hasn't happened to him in particular just yet, but it has happened. For example, Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones in ENTRAPMENT.
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Post by Prime etc. on Dec 26, 2020 16:48:23 GMT
Clint Eastwood IN THE LINE OF FIRE.
That one felt sooo forced.
But they had some good lines.
Frank Horrigan: Well, the secretaries get prettier and prettier.
Lilly Raines: And the field agents get older and older.
Sam Campagna: Lilly's an agent, Frank.
Frank Horrigan: I knew that. I just wanted to see if she had a sense of humor.
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Post by Spitfire926f on Dec 26, 2020 17:00:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2020 17:50:04 GMT
 One of my favorite films.
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on Dec 26, 2020 18:23:09 GMT
Part of the "problem" is that it's more realistic. There's plenty of young women attached to old rich white guys.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Dec 26, 2020 20:03:17 GMT
I mean i get her point, but its just a fact that many young women do go after old rich men.
Sure it does happen that a young man will go after an older rich woman, but its far more normal that young women go after rich old men than young men go after rich old women.
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Post by Vits on Dec 26, 2020 20:07:07 GMT
Part of the "problem" is that it's more realistic. There's plenty of young women attached to old rich white guys. I mean i get her point, but its just a fact that many young women do go after old rich men. Sure it does happen that a young man will go after an older rich woman, but its far more normal that young women go after rich old men than young men go after rich old women. Who said anything about rich or poor?
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on Dec 26, 2020 20:12:08 GMT
Part of the "problem" is that it's more realistic. There's plenty of young women attached to old rich white guys. I mean i get her point, but its just a fact that many young women do go after old rich men. Sure it does happen that a young man will go after an older rich woman, but its far more normal that young women go after rich old men than young men go after rich old women. Who said anything about rich or poor? Well that is often the scenario in a movie. There’s occasionally a movie about some sad sacks falling in love and there’s an age difference but movie characters are often well to do in order to explain the premise and the setting. That’s not to say the women are money grubbing. They may just be more attracted to older guys. Basically it doesn’t even look that unusual in a film and I also assume that the guy is playing a younger character. Tom Cruise is not playing a sixty year old in his films and he may actually be dating his costar Hayley Atwell who is about twenty years younger. |
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Post by mstreepsucks on Dec 26, 2020 20:28:41 GMT
Alright now we know, not the brightest person around.
Well, she isn't the brightest person around really. I like her acting...
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Post by Vits on Dec 26, 2020 20:49:45 GMT
Well that is often the scenario in a movie. There’s occasionally a movie about some sad sacks falling in love and there’s an age difference but movie characters are often well to do in order to explain the premise and the setting. That’s not to say the women are money grubbing. They may just be more attracted to older guys. Basically it doesn’t even look that unusual in a film and I also assume that the guy is playing a younger character. Tom Cruise is not playing a sixty year old in his films and he may actually be dating his costar Hayley Atwell who is about twenty years younger. You pretty much just explained why Emma is making a good case. Most of the time, the characters don't acknowledge the gap. However, it's not done to make it seem more normal and therefore convey a message to the audience about love being more important than age. It's done to pretend that the male lead is younger than what he really is. Tom has done this a bunch of times, including in THE MUMMY. Not only was he paired up with Annabelle Wallis (20 years younger than him), but Russell Crowe referred to him as a younger man, even though Tom is 2 years older than him in real life. Now, you might say that "Acting is about pretending, and if the actor can pass off as someone younger, why shouldn't he play such a character?" As I said in a previous post, it's about equality. Among the movies that show an older woman and a younger man, I can't think of any where it wasn't treated in the same way. It seems to always be acknowledged by the characters, even when the actress looks good enough to theoretically play a younger character. Other actresses have complained in interviews about this form of casting. It's not that they're grossed out with having to kiss an older man or anything like that. According to them, they had to wait until the male lead was cast, because the studio/the producers needed to make sure they were following this formula. If they hire an actor the same age as the actress who's waiting, they give the role to someone younger. I haven't found any interviews where a male actor talks about being treated this way.
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Post by CoolJGS☺ on Dec 26, 2020 21:19:37 GMT
Well that is often the scenario in a movie. There’s occasionally a movie about some sad sacks falling in love and there’s an age difference but movie characters are often well to do in order to explain the premise and the setting. That’s not to say the women are money grubbing. They may just be more attracted to older guys. Basically it doesn’t even look that unusual in a film and I also assume that the guy is playing a younger character. Tom Cruise is not playing a sixty year old in his films and he may actually be dating his costar Hayley Atwell who is about twenty years younger. You pretty much just explained why Emma is making a good case. Most of the time, the characters don't acknowledge the gap. However, it's not done to make it seem more normal and therefore convey a message to the audience about love being more important than age. It's done to pretend that the male lead is younger than what he really is. Tom has done this a bunch of times, including in THE MUMMY. Not only was he paired up with Annabelle Wallis (20 years younger than him), but Russell Crowe referred to him as a younger man, even though Tom is 2 years older than him in real life. Now, you might say that "Acting is about pretending, and if the actor can pass off as someone younger, why shouldn't he play such a character?" As I said in a previous post, it's about equality. Among the movies that show an older woman and a younger man, I can't think of any where it wasn't treated in the same way. It seems to always be acknowledged by the characters, even when the actress looks good enough to theoretically play a younger character. Other actresses have complained in interviews about this form of casting. It's not that they're grossed out with having to kiss an older man or anything like that. According to them, they had to wait until the male lead was cast, because the studio/the producers needed to make sure they were following this formula. If they hire an actor the same age as the actress who's waiting, they give the role to someone younger. I haven't found any interviews where a male actor talks about being treated this way. im not sure how much real life couples acknowledge the gap when in a relationship since the attraction overcomes it. That is happening in real life as well. Women are more attracted to George Clooney and Tom Cruise than guys are to Emma Thompson as a sixty year old. So the reason why make actors don’t discuss this is because it isn’t a thing. It’s not a gender neutral issue. Granted I’m all for the paradigm shifting but it has to make a big shift in real life as well |
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Post by lowtacks86 on Dec 26, 2020 21:36:17 GMT
Is there an example of George Clooney having an on screen romantic partner 40 years younger than him? Clooney is 59. Dunno about that, but the movie "Harold and Maude" features and 80 year old woman paired with a 19 year old man
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Post by Vits on Dec 27, 2020 2:05:35 GMT
im not sure how much real life couples acknowledge the gap when in a relationship since the attraction overcomes it. Well, acknowledging can mean simply pointing it out without treating it like something that will ruin the relationship. Also, even if the couple don't do it, their acquaintances most likely will. That is happening in real life as well. Women are more attracted to George Clooney and Tom Cruise than guys are to Emma Thompson as a sixty year old. Emma simply used George as an example. This isn't limited to sex symbols. Nicolas Cage immediately comes to mind. Not only has he had plenty of younger love interests, but he has also worn unconvincing wigs in order to highlight this "image." Also, while Emma doesn't fit that traditional beauty standard, there are actress her age that do. Plenty of younger guys would kill to be with them, yet it's not reflected in movies. So the reason why make actors don’t discuss this is because it isn’t a thing. It’s not a gender neutral issue. As I said, it's a little more about job opportunities. Granted I’m all for the paradigm shifting but it has to make a big shift in real life as well Again, it doesn't seem like this happens in movies in order to reflect real life or to convince viewers that it's OK, but rather to sell an illusion about the male lead not actually being that old.
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Post by Vits on Dec 27, 2020 2:15:01 GMT
I forgot to mention that, it's become such a problem that, in 2007, the EDA Awards created a category called Most Egregious Age Difference. So far, only 1 movie with an older woman and a younger man has been nominated (THE LIFEGUARD in 2013). Oh, and also 1 movie with a lesbian couple (FREEHELD in 2015).
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