robneville
Lady in Waiting
Posts: 321
Nov 19, 2006 11:53:44 GMT -4
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Post by robneville on Feb 21, 2012 21:04:34 GMT -4
Dear Hollywood: Maybe sometimes it would be a good idea to think a little out side the box when it comes to telling us what is and isn't attractive. Because of a number of things she's done over the past few years I've got a huge crush on Kristen schaal. I think she's beautiful and 20 shades of awesome. Last night I was flipping channels and saw the opening credits for some movie I'd never seen before with Liev Schreiber dressed in 18th century clothes but using a modern camera and being chased by Hugh Jackman and thought " OK, might be some time travel movie, I guess I'll watch this." As the credits continued and Jackman got into a particular outfit I realized it was that movie he made with Meg Ryan years ago called Kate and Leoplod. I kept watching and he goes down to a party where he's to pick a wife, he's been told to pick the richest girl there and when he touches her on the shoulder and she turns around the audience is supposed to find her comically homely and unappealing and Jackman will want to flee from this hideous creature and were all supposed to laugh because the Hero of the movie never gets stuck with someone so homely and always ends up with the beautiful babe. Yeah, well...Hollywood fucked up big time on this one because as I watched this for the first time ever I had the exact opposite reaction from the one they intended me to have. When the woman turns around my first reaction was "Hey! That's Kristen Schaal!" and then "Cool, Kristen Schaal is in this." and then "WTF..hold on...hold on..you're telling me I'm supposed to find this woman unattractive and unappealing and laugh when Hugh Jackman dodges a bullet and rejects this dog." Instead I'm supposed to root for Jackman to end up with Ryan who in this movie had what looks like greasy, stringy unwashed hair and creepy plastic surgery lips and I'm supposed to find her more appealing than Kristen Schaal? Nope, my reaction to watching this now was.. " Are you fucking crazy..that's Kristen Schaal!!...you're going to pass her up for bland ,boring Meg Ryan..pal, you so don't have a clue. I know this was early in her career and she was yet to do many of the things that have shown her to be so awesome but isn't one of the themes of many of these rom-coms about loving someone for who they are. I didn't watch the rest of the movie once it was clear Schaal only had that bit part as "HOMELY, UNATTRACTIVE WOMAN AUDIENCE WILL LAUGH AT." but I would have totally watched it had the roles been reversed and Meg Ryan with her stringy hair and creepy lips was the one who turned around and Kristen Schaal, (allowed to be her quirky, wonderful self ) was the one Jackman pursued. Amen to that. I haven't seen that movie but Kristen Schaal is perfectly cute. And to add to your rant why does an actress always have to be conventionally pretty unless her character is purposely ugly? Why are there no female equivalents to Steve Buscemi or Phillip Seymour Hoffman? Sure there are a few female character actresses but a) they are mostly not ugly, just not conventionally attractive b) they don't work as steadily as character actors and c) they would never get an opportunity to be the lead on a show /movie making out with men way way hotter than them. This photo from Vanity Fair of Hollywood's best character actors pretty much says it all. 12 men and Margo Martindale and Judy Greer. Greer incidentally another perfectly cute actress who only plays the homely girl or sidekick. Now I love all dudes in that picture but why aren't there more actresses like that? Yeah it's pretty damn insulting how little chance they are ever given. When Schaal turned around, I thought she looked adorable and would have gladly watched the entire movie had she been the lead. Another recent example comes from Downton Abbey. I watched both seasons and the Christmas special a few weeks ago and yes the actress who plays Sybil is very attractive but I also found the actress who plays Edith very attractive too and I know SNL was doing a parody of how Spike TV would look at the show but the part describing the daughters.." HOT!...WAY HOT!...AAAAAND THE OTHER ONE." and everyone laughs because... you know.. she's soooo ugly compared to her Angelina Jolie look-a-like sister and no one would ever be interested in her or give her the time of day so it's totally OK to laugh at her because she's so unattractive. And the joke works because EVERYBODY is so programed, conditioned and used to looking at movies and shows the way you described- either conventionally pretty or purposefully ugly. I'm sure in the real world if anyone who laughed at that SNL skit met the actress who plays Edith in person they'd probably think she's quite attractive but in movies or TV because she's not Angelina Jolie level hot she's some how homely and laughable...yeah right.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 5, 2024 0:25:06 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2012 22:03:16 GMT -4
Another recent example comes from Downton Abbey. I watched both seasons and the Christmas special a few weeks ago and yes the actress who plays Sybil is very attractive but I also found the actress who plays Edith very attractive too and I know SNL was doing a parody of how Spike TV would look at the show but the part describing the daughters.." HOT!...WAY HOT!...AAAAAND THE OTHER ONE." and everyone laughs because... you know.. she's soooo ugly compared to her Angelina Jolie look-a-like sister and no one would ever be interested in her or give her the time of day so it's totally OK to laugh at her because she's so unattractive. And the joke works because EVERYBODY is so programed, conditioned and used to looking at movies and shows the way you described- either conventionally pretty or purposefully ugly. I'm sure in the real world if anyone who laughed at that SNL skit met the actress who plays Edith in person they'd probably think she's quite attractive but in movies or TV because she's not Angelina Jolie level hot she's some how homely and laughable...yeah right. Yes I remember being baffled by that SNL skit. I'd only seen a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey, I just couldn't get into it, and I honestly could not remember which one was supposed to be the ugly one. I can see them being different levels of attractiveness because that's how people are. But I don't recall any of the sisters being ugly or even what I would call plain. Okay I found this photo of them from Vogue. Yeah she is real homely.
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Post by ratscabies on Feb 25, 2012 11:29:25 GMT -4
Like being told I'm supposed to pick Uma Thurman over Janeane Garafalo in "The Truth About Cats and Dogs"....
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Post by chonies on Feb 25, 2012 11:54:23 GMT -4
Another recent example comes from Downton Abbey. I watched both seasons and the Christmas special a few weeks ago and yes the actress who plays Sybil is very attractive but I also found the actress who plays Edith very attractive too and I know SNL was doing a parody of how Spike TV would look at the show but the part describing the daughters.." HOT!...WAY HOT!...AAAAAND THE OTHER ONE." and everyone laughs because... you know.. she's soooo ugly compared to her Angelina Jolie look-a-like sister and no one would ever be interested in her or give her the time of day so it's totally OK to laugh at her because she's so unattractive. And the joke works because EVERYBODY is so programed, conditioned and used to looking at movies and shows the way you described- either conventionally pretty or purposefully ugly. I'm sure in the real world if anyone who laughed at that SNL skit met the actress who plays Edith in person they'd probably think she's quite attractive but in movies or TV because she's not Angelina Jolie level hot she's some how homely and laughable...yeah right. Yes I remember being baffled by that SNL skit. I'd only seen a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey, I just couldn't get into it, and I honestly could not remember which one was supposed to be the ugly one. I can see them being different levels of attractiveness because that's how people are. But I don't recall any of the sisters being ugly or even what I would call plain. Okay I found this photo of them from Vogue. Yeah she is real homely. I know the joke was written the way it was because Laura Carmichael has a big nose and is dressed plainly, though all my friends who are obsessed with DA have noticed how the costuming enhances her bosom. And she has red hair in a family of brunettes, so that's a visual cue for all sorts of things, but her character is written as a prudish judgy stickybeak. I laughed at the joke because it worked for the character, who seems the least likely of the three to let some Spike watcher touch her boob. That said, I agree with the overall points discussed. I'm trying to think of a corollary for attractive/unattractive male characters written as beta males for hetero female audiences and all I can come up with is Ducky (which, eww--I love nerds as much as the next girl, but Ducky would have held Andie down like a pair of vintage cement shoes.), and variations on the Beauty and the Beast archetype. Knocked Up doesn't count because there's no foil, and Seth Rogan's character successfully weathers An Ordeal, and she was drunk anyway.
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Post by Sunnyhorse on Feb 25, 2012 13:11:37 GMT -4
Rogen is pretty good as a sexy (to me, anyway) nerd in Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
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robneville
Lady in Waiting
Posts: 321
Nov 19, 2006 11:53:44 GMT -4
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Post by robneville on Feb 25, 2012 16:39:44 GMT -4
Yes I remember being baffled by that SNL skit. I'd only seen a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey, I just couldn't get into it, and I honestly could not remember which one was supposed to be the ugly one. I can see them being different levels of attractiveness because that's how people are. But I don't recall any of the sisters being ugly or even what I would call plain. Okay I found this photo of them from Vogue. Yeah she is real homely. I know the joke was written the way it was because Laura Carmichael has a big nose and is dressed plainly, though all my friends who are obsessed with DA have noticed how the costuming enhances her bosom. And she has red hair in a family of brunettes, so that's a visual cue for all sorts of things, but her character is written as a prudish judgy stickybeak. I laughed at the joke because it worked for the character, who seems the least likely of the three to let some Spike watcher touch her boob. That said, I agree with the overall points discussed. I'm trying to think of a corollary for attractive/unattractive male characters written as beta males for hetero female audiences and all I can come up with is Ducky (which, eww--I love nerds as much as the next girl, but Ducky would have held Andie down like a pair of vintage cement shoes.), and variations on the Beauty and the Beast archetype. Knocked Up doesn't count because there's no foil, and Seth Rogan's character successfully weathers An Ordeal, and she was drunk anyway. Totally agree, I laughed at the whole sketch. Abbey makes it easy to parody with their fairly stock characters - NICE GUY, MEAN GUY, MOUSE GIRL and SUPERBITCH- is a very accurate description for those characters. And I laughed at the description of the sisters because not only did SNL nail what a typical male SPIKE viewer would think but the show has so far sort of designated Edith as the " sad, future spinster " whose parents don't seem to hold much hope for so it played right into what the the show itself is depicting. But it did also work because of how often in film and TV "super hot women are awesome and everyone else is a dog." And that mentality is glaringly on display in that recent blind item about a blockbuster movie director ( very probably Bay ) who is taking sick pleasure in mentally fucking an actress for daring to think she might be attractive enough to be in one of his movies.
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sueli
Lady in Waiting
Posts: 474
Mar 18, 2005 2:14:16 GMT -4
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Post by sueli on Feb 25, 2012 17:02:48 GMT -4
That said, I agree with the overall points discussed. I'm trying to think of a corollary for attractive/unattractive male characters written as beta males for hetero female audiences and all I can come up with is Ducky (which, eww--I love nerds as much as the next girl, but Ducky would have held Andie down like a pair of vintage cement shoes.), and variations on the Beauty and the Beast archetype. Knocked Up doesn't count because there's no foil, and Seth Rogan's character successfully weathers An Ordeal, and she was drunk anyway. "Legends of the Fall" we are supposed to think that Aiden Quinn is chopped liver compared to Brad Pitt.
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Post by Shanmac on Feb 26, 2012 5:52:48 GMT -4
Like being told I'm supposed to pick Uma Thurman over Janeane Garafalo in "The Truth About Cats and Dogs".... Hubby and I have always puzzled over this. I remember watching it with him years ago, and he was like, "Am I supposed to think Uma is cuter than Janeane? Because Janeane is way cuter." I was equally confused the first time I saw it. Ditto "Legends of the Fall." I'd have picked Aiden Quinn over Brad in a heartbeat.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 5, 2024 0:25:06 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2012 21:21:01 GMT -4
Ditto "Legends of the Fall." I'd have picked Aiden Quinn over Brad in a heartbeat. Me too! Every woman I know would have picked Aiden Quinn over Brad Pitt. Admittedly it's a very small sample size, but still...
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koshergrit
Blueblood
Posts: 1,159
Apr 11, 2007 21:19:52 GMT -4
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Post by koshergrit on Feb 26, 2012 21:33:47 GMT -4
Ditto "Legends of the Fall." I'd have picked Aiden Quinn over Brad in a heartbeat. Me too! Every woman I know would have picked Aiden Quinn over Brad Pitt. Admittedly it's a very small sample size, but still... Same here!
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