You know, none of us think twice about an aging Sean Conery as a lead in a film. We don’t blink at a 43 year old Russel Crowe, a 55 year old Samuel L. Jackon, a 58 year old Arnold Schwarzenegger, a 53 year old Liam Neeson, a 62 year old Robert De Niro, a 64 year old Al Pacino, a 68 year old Anthony Hopkins or even a 45 year old Sean Penn. Nor should we.
Actors get better with age. Same as with almost anything in life. Over years and years of practicing their craft, being in front of the camera, working with hundreds of other good actors… the good ones never stop improving.
But I was reading an interesting article today over at the United Press where actress Charlotte Rampling (who is currently at the Cannes Film Festival where the 59-year-old’s role in “Lemming” has made it a favorite to win a Palme d’Or) talked about the European film industry treats aging actresses much better then they do in Hollywood:
“Aging can be quite beautiful,” Rampling said of the wrinkles that come with time. “That’s no reason people should feel we should be put away. In Europe they have understood that, thank goodness.”
The actress who splits her time between London and Paris said Hollywood executives practice a form of racism when they sidestep veteran actresses for youthful leading ladies.
I looked at that and it struck me how true it is. Tons of films released today have leading men who are 45+. How many can you think of over the last 2 years had women leads over 45?
This sucks… forgive my language here…. but we (the movie going audience) are being deprived of the best actresses with the most experience who will give the best performances just because their tits aren’t as firm as they used to be?!?! That’s just stupid!
If all I want to see is a pretty face with a tight little body I can go download porn off the internet for free thank you very much. When I drop $13 bucks to see a film I want the best actresses for my money. Yes, sometimes that calls for younger ones… but the most interesting, influential and powerful women in the world are mostly over 45… so where are their stories? Why are non-age specific roles in films being given to 26 year old’s instead of 49 years olds when the MALE lead in the same movie is 54?
Take Julia Roberts for a moment. The lady has got a lot better as an actress over the last 6 or 7 years… she’s even got an Oscar. But guess what folks… in just over a year she’ll be 40. I guaran-damn-tee you that you will not see her in as many films in the next 5 years… and it won’t be because she has kids now. It’ll be because she’s over 40 and there are a new younger batch of Hollywood pretty faces producers and directors can choose from. How pathetic. We have to watch her in 100 movies when she’s just “OK” as an actress… but when she starts to get really good… BOOM… pack her up.
I know that this isn’t all the studios fault. The hungry marketing machine has 1 goal in mind… MAKE MONEY. unfortunately, Hollywood is only really responding to our (yes, that’s right… US) viewing habits. Hell, because of OUR demand Hollywood is putting Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton in movies while the great actresses (who would give us better performances and better movies) are getting the proverbial pat on the back and shipped of to Hollywood’s old age home.
We have been conditioned by the media to believe that unless a woman has a nice ass and a smooth face she has no value… and that shows in our movies these days. That’s really sad… and stupid.
Am I way off here? What can we do about this? Your thoughts?
