The American Experience is, basically, Chekhovâs gun in vivo.
Too meta? Or maybe, recursiveâŚ
Films are âaboutâ youth and beauty? Is this sweeping statement a steaming pile or did I miss the point?
I thought it was spelled âagingâ? Or are both spellings acceptable for World English? And no mention of Clark Gable, who was definitely and action hero; true, he died at age 60, but I think itâs fair to say even if heâd lived only five more years, he probably wouldâve still been a top box-office draw.
Is it the last desperate gasp of old men who canât give up their celebrity, or is it a challenge to the fetishization of youth and beauty in that world?
Well, itâs probably a little of both, but until Tom Cruiseâs Love Interest (or any other female character) is a person also in her 50âs, Iâm inclined to think that itâs mostly the former.
Well, think about itâŚimplicitly they are, although just as often explicitlyâŚI mean, how often really are films made with romantic themes involving people with wrinkles and plenty of life-experience; or perhaps itâs just how theyâre marketed? The film worldâs always been that way, but thereâs been lots of exceptions. Aging just ainât as fun as being young and beautiful for the most part - Iâm 50, which IMNSHO isnât exactly young (I live with my 89-year-old mom, so I know what agingâs about, trust me!) - so I think I kinda know about it. So itâs a steaming pile for sure - but a true steaming pile. Unfortunately.
Yez. Hollywoodâs senior MEN also wonât put down the much younger women.
Ooops, itâs from the GuardianâŚâageingâ is fineâŚcarry on, LOL!
I believe that picture of Bronson is from âDeath Wish XII: The Rebloodening.â
Not all films have romantic themes at all, and many of them are about something other than âyouth and beauty,â particularly the cop movies the article is mostly about. Come to think of it, although I am very much in favor of youth, beauty and romance, I havenât seen a movie about them in some time.
Isnât a gun a logical choice for an aging action hero? Sure, your hand doesnât get any steadier, or your eyes sharper, with age; but the ability to operate a firearm likely degrades much less rapidly than the ability to jump out of an explosion, land only cosmetically begrimed, and then defeat like three mooks in hand to hand combat.
Now, as to the question of whether we should make more realistic movies about old people; or just turn them into soylent grey and replace them with new actors; well, thatâs a different matterâŚ
Older Hollywood stars cost more money than young actors. So why pay more? Here are two reasons, but certainly not the only ones:
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Hollywood is an incredibly conservative and risk-averse industry. Cruise, Stallone, Neeson, Ford, etc. are proven money-makers for the studios and rather than take risks on unproven talent.
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The most lucrative demographic for Hollywood is the aging Baby Boomer population. Boomers still go to movie theatres, buy DVDs, etc. Hollywood is in the money-making business and Boomers want to see themselves on the screen, âprovingâ that theyâre just as young and capable as young people. Boomers as consumers are driving this trend.
For anyone curious, thatâs a .44 magnum Automag Bronson has in the pic.
I know what youâre thinking. âDoes that hand have six fingers or only five?â Well, to tell you the truth, at this age I kind of lost track myself.
They arenât about youth and beauty, but these days you seem to have to have both to be cast in anything. That is why I like BBC TV and foreign films, they cast wonderful actors that look like real people.
If being old didnât suck itâd be easier to be old.
