Sometimes Hollywood will just compensate by having multiple female love interests whose cumulative ages approximate that of the male lead.
Lionel Barrymore first played my grandfather, later my father, and finally, he played my husband. If heâd lived, Iâm sure Iâd have played his mother. Thatâs the way it is in Hollywood. The men get younger and the women get older.
- Lilian Gish
Well, thereâs a movie I probably wonât see⌠not because of this absurd misogyny but because I absolutely adore Ms. Gyllenhall and her excellent range as an actor. I go out of my way to see any movies she deems worthy of her attention in the same way I do comparable male talents.
Of course, if weâre discussing âlove interests,â and hence sex/attractiveness, I find her unrivaled in Hollywood. Her combination of intelligence, political leanings, quick-wit, and physical appearance will likely* continue to be sexy until she drops dead.
*I say âlikelyâ because sometimes people go all Dennis Miller after 9/11 on you.
A+, Agreed, I adore her to bits. She is a delight.
Maggie could have the job if sheâd just become younger. Easy! All the ads say so. And ads donât lie.
All the more reason (as if we needed more reasons!) for the talent to leave Hollywood. They wouldnât know what to do with talent even if it could be bought and sold. Remember, dozens of movies come out every month, and most of them are not from Hollywood. Donât leave production and distribution to those out-of-touch dinosaurs.
letâs see here
For your Eyes only (1981)
Roger Moore (Bond): 54
Carole Bouquet (Melina): 24
Lynn Holly Johnson: (Bibi Dahl): 23
It would be nice to see something different in a female love interest. For example, Iâve had trouble watching âThe Last Man on Earthâ because the main character always wants to ditch Kristen Schaalâs character in favor of January Jones, who is an utterly generic hot blonde. To me, women with interesting features and a unique personality are far interesting than the standardized version of what an attractive woman is supposed to look like.
Schaal was my favorite character on Mad Men:
No. Stop. Just stop. No.
Also pictured: Stephanie Courtney (aka Flo).
Bad logic. They donât cast a love interest for the actor in the movie, they cast the love interest for the audience theyâre aiming for. Iâm not saying itâs right, Iâm not saying itâs fair. Itâs just what is happening.
From the article:
âGyllenhaal declined to specify the project on which she was considered too old, but weâre wide open to suggestions. Whatâs casting out there with a 55-year-old leading man?â
The trouble is that their expectations of what the audiences want may be skewed. Take science fiction, for example. They tell themselves that women donât like science fiction, so they make science fiction that skews heavily towards male interests, and, as a consequence, women donât go to see those movies. If they produced something more balanced, on the other hand, they might attract a much wider audience.
A lot of shows/films succeed because they present characters and situations that are underrepresented elsewhere. Harold and Maud, for example, wasnât one of the most successful films of all time, but it has developed a pretty substantial cult following.
The article doesnât mention what age the character she was interested in was supposed to be though. Maybe it was 20-something? Of course maybe the character was supposed to be in their early 30s, in which case she could easily pull it off, she looks great. Or is the problem sheâs talking about just that too many movies have older men hooking up with younger women? Iâm guessing that is true, and even though that happens often enough in real life too, I wouldnât be surprised if itâs far more likely to happen on screen, presumably film executives would justify it to themselves (and their bottom line) as being aspirational.
I sure hope that females 18-35 were turned on by the âpower of loveâ in Interstellar, because I thought it was out of place in a movie about rocketships.
Val Kilmer?
Heh. James Spader is 55. Gyllenhaalâs already played his âloveâ interest once before.
Hugo Weaving?
Kevin Spacey?
Hugh Laurie?
Rupert Everett?
Mark Rylance?
Ken Watanabe?
Okay, Iâm bored now.
Havenât seen that. Iâm thinking more in terms of something like Firefly, where the cast is balanced and the female characters are more than love interests.
