November 17, 2005
Puffy Old Men
It is frustrating for most of us women that men are considered
“distinguished” as they age while women don’t get the same respect. But
lately I’ve been noticing some male actors in movies that hit a certain
point where they are no longer “distinguished,” they just look bad.
Steve Martin in Shopgirl is one. He looks puffy. Or as my companion said, “like he’s been floating in water for a few weeks.” Another is Richard Gere in Bee Season
(a terrible, terrible movie by the way–just read the book instead). He
also looked puffy and flabby. It’s not fatness–neither of them are
overweight–it’s just a sort of loose flabbiness. I guess these are men
who have forsaken plastic surgery, maybe that’s why it’s noticeable.
And now, unfortunately, I must say that the super-sexy Jean Reno has
hit that puffy point. I am watching the (terrible) French film Crimson Rivers right now, and he has the Martin-Gere middle-aged puffiness that even his supersexy voice can’t make up for. Sad.
Filed by cynthia rockwell at 6:11 pm under Just Movies
9 Comments
Have you seen Harrison Ford lately? There’s some puffiness that’s no longer distinguished. He seems to have gone a little crazy, too. He did with Letterman promoting “Hollywood Homicide” and it was almost like he didn’t understand a word Dave said. Maybe he was just embarrassed about working with Josh Hartnett…
argh…I should be a little better about proofreading. That should be “He did an interview with Letterman…”
The ultimate Puffyman, of course, is William Shatner.
It’s a shame that in this sexist, ageist society a male actor who refuses to disfigure himself with plastic surgery is dismissed as “puffy” and “flabby” Meanwhile, actresses well into their seventies are cavorting with with boytoys young enough to be their great grandsons and no one thinks anything of it.
i haven’t seen harrison ford lately, i’ll have to check him out in his decline. and yeah william shatner–though he is in fact on the heavy side, so part of his puffiness comes from that.
hey baby, that’s life. you better be eyeing your own plastic surgery options before too long.
Yeah, but how atractive was Shatner really, even at his peak? Harrison Ford was one of the most attractive men in Hollywood for a long time, even as he aged. It just seems that he turned a corner down puffy street.
Which actresses in their 70’s are cavorting with boytoys? Demi Moore isn’t that old yet, is she?
well i gotta admit that as a pre-teen i was quite besotted with captain kirk in his early days, which i saw in reruns every day after school. ok maybe i was a weird kid.
Oh sure, Joan Collins can marry a man in his 30s and Linda Evans can marry Yanni and the world shrugs. But Michael Douglas gets a little harmless lipo and a some eye lifts and we all smirk? I am sick of this sexism.