Interesting article and comment about Julia Roberts being too old

[MatureDJ]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/187934

The theme of the article is:

Or, perhaps more accurately, has time passed her by? It's not just that she's Hollywood ancient (she's 41).

The first comment is:

Oh, the sexist unfairness of it all! Clive Owen is 44 (soon to be 45) and yet nobody's calling him a has-been who's too old. Heck, he's just getting started.

Women of this age hate their contemporary men.

 

[wait_out]

Women of this age hate their contemporary men.

When your social value, ego affirmation, and opportunity all come from being attractive, it's got to be a hard blow when you realize it's all leaving you. Hollywood actresses are beautiful, and they have a finite lifespan. Good actresses perhaps can take on older roles but bottom line is that pretty faces and T&A sell movie tickets. It can't last forever.

We've a very beauty and looks dominated culture, and many, many women are reaping the benefits. So it's a bit facetious when people gripe about men's lack of personal loyalty as women age, when those girls drew all their qualities from being young & attractive and no longer are.

Women can blame men to feel better, but it's their own fault for not cultivating something more enduring in their lives, or at least being too stupid to see the inevitable coming.

Aging :: women = Winter :: grasshopper.

 

[STR8UP]

Women of this age hate their contemporary men.

The funny thing is, when they are 21 years old with perky t!ts and a firm ass, you don't hear any of them b!tching.

That's why when I see all of these 26-28 year old guys asking how young they can date I have to laugh. You think any of these 40 something actors have a problem pulling hot young tail? Hell no.

It's great to be a man.

Edit- I just clicked on the link and realized the movie they are talking about. I saw the trailers for that flick a couple of weeks ago and thought to myself "Now why would I pay good money to go watch something like that?" And a lot of it has to do with the fact that I really don't care for Julia Roberts. She seems like a b!tch and she's not that hot anyway, even ten years ago.

 

[DJDamage]

What I hate the most is watching women defending other women looks and each one parroting one another:

"oh look at her she looks so gorgeous"

In actuality that hollywood actress looks have already faded away but you got they whole "The Emperor's New Clothes" facade happening here to try to convince others she is still got it and that she never looked better! Then they often point to the fact that this old hag has got herself a younger man so apperently she still "Got it!".

No plastic surgery is going to make a woman escape from herself getting older and eventually losing all her power to younger women. Keep on partying in your 20's women with no care in the world, lets see if you can act like this in your 30's.

 

[GQ_Confidence_1]

It's a funny thing about Hollywood and the entertainment business.

There's a million people trying to become stars.....and then once you do become a star....many of them run right back in the other direction to escape stardom and that environment (i.e. johnny depp in france, demi moore in idaho, jlo, etc taking breaks).

I think the only reason she's considered "old" is because she's a redhead, and fairly light skin. They simply dont age well.

Relative to someone like jennifer lopez (will be 40 this year), or other women, mid 30's who aren't considered "old". I think Julia has a perception problem.

But what a sad business...especially if you wash up.

-I also agree she represented the 90's, of optimism, happiness, etc. Not to be found in 00's. Her movies worked in a different era for a different audience.

 

[Scaramouche]

Dear Mature DJ,
Just come back from viewing "Duplicity"what a rotten film and yes Julia Roberts just fails to impress....Frankly I wouldn't be seen Dead with a woman whose hair looks like a rats nest.

 

[mrRuckus]

boohoohoo i'm a bazilloinaire with a dream life and now that i'm all of 40 all i can do is go home to my mansion and watch tv from my hot tub in between ski vacations.


Women are poor judges of other women's looks. How many times have you heard "she's cute" or "she's beautiful" and the woman is nothing of the sort. The weird part is when girls say another girl is "sexy." (usually a lie) WTF? How do you know? Just look at myspace comments of fat chicks! "hot" "sexy" Stop abusing those words!

Do any of you like short hair? I hate it with a passion. You can be a 9 but if you cut your hair short you'd become a 5 or 6 to me. Why do women insist on doing this? "It's cute." No, for some reason it's cute to almost only exclusively other women. I'm seeing a girl now who has lots of old pictures of herself having short hair for a very long time and now that she's growing it long actually notices that people treat her differently now.

 

[Mr. Me]

The romantic-comedy genre where Julia thrives ("Notting Hill," "Runaway Bride," etc.) is practically on life support

Maybe there is a God?

Another comment there reads: "The man [Clive Owen, her co-star] at 44 is not "over with", but the woman who pulled in godzillions of dollars is."

Of course, that woman, Julia Roberts, who pulled in 'godzillions of dollars' could do so in her prime as the lead, drawing on box office appeal as the "Star" at the time, whereas Owens is a character actor more then a leading man, and character actors get more work because they can play many essential parts.

This kind of mind set that women aren't deemed useful because of faded looks after a certain age in the film industry belies the fact that there are quite a number of women who have aged and/or whose looks have faded (if they were ever attractive to begin with) and still are seen performing because they have talent. Dame Evans, Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Maggie Smith, Diane Ladd, Emma Thompson, and others, all fine actresses.

Then there's those actresses who still do look great as they're aging: Jennifer Anniston, Marisa Tomei and Halle Berry are in their 40's and looking just fine, no?

So what are these articles about but this one slice of life where an actress picks unsuccessful projects, or does a hack job at acting and who's time in the limelight has come and gone, as nothing lasts forever, and certainly being the world's biggest star can't last forever, who no longer pulls an audience like she used to, so they jump to her age being the factor in her career dip. Yeah, well, can Barry Manilow still sell out Madison Square Garden? Do women still flock to see Mel Gibson? Does Kevin Costner still make women wet?

 

[Jeffst1980]

Of course, that woman, Julia Roberts, who pulled in 'godzillions of dollars' could do so in her prime as the lead, drawing on box office appeal as the "Star" at the time, whereas Owens is a character actor more then a leading man, and character actors get more work because they can play many essential parts.

This kind of mind set that women aren't deemed useful because of faded looks after a certain age in the film industry belies the fact that there are quite a number of women who have aged and/or whose looks have faded (if they were ever attractive to begin with) and still are seen performing because they have talent. Dame Evans, Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Maggie Smith, Diane Ladd, Emma Thompson, and others, all fine actresses.

Then there's those actresses who still do look great as they're aging: Jennifer Anniston, Marisa Tomei and Halle Berry are in their 40's and looking just fine, no?

So what are these articles about but this one slice of life where an actress picks unsuccessful projects, or does a hack job at acting and who's time in the limelight has come and gone, as nothing lasts forever, and certainly being the world's biggest star can't last forever, who no longer pulls an audience like she used to, so they jump to her age being the factor in her career dip. Yeah, well, can Barry Manilow still sell out Madison Square Garden? Do women still flock to see Mel Gibson? Does Kevin Costner still make women wet?

Bingo. There's other factors at play here. An actress like Julia Roberts is going to inevitably reach a crossroads where she can either adapt and settle into an 'elder statewoman' role in the industry ala Streep, or she can try in vain to cling to increasingly farfetched leading lady roles. It's not the first such crossroads for her, either--except that it is infinitely easier to make the switch from ingenue to leading lady.

For guys, the typical leading man roles don't start to open up until you reach your mid thirties or so. The window comes about 5 years later than for their female counterparts; rest assured, though, that when Clive Owen is 50, he won't have anywhere near the same box office draw unless he, too, adapts to a new role. Otherwise, he'll go the route of Costner and other actors that were simply too vain to acknowledge that such leading man roles are only relevant for a short period of time.

ALL of those men, however, will be able to pull CHICKS right up until old age, however. Hollywood gender norms don't really apply to the real world.

 

[Hooligan Harry]

Ironically, its women themselves who are turning their backs on Julia. While the article is doing its utmost to suggest there is a double standard imposed on them, it holds little to no weight at all.

Romantic comedies are generally movies aimed at women. Men get dragged to them. They not lining up to see them. They not buying the DVD box sets. Women wanted to go watch a Julia Roberts romantic comedy, not men. They market these movies to women. She is past her sell buy date because unlike

Dame Evans, Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Maggie Smith, Diane Ladd, Emma Thompson, and others, all fine actresses.

she really is not that much of an actress.

Amazing that they will look to cast the blame outward when the very consumers of this product, WOMEN, are the ones who drive the demand in the first place.

 

[Mr. Me]

Thinking on this article further, I'll bet it's that the writer figured to use the "age bias" thing as the slant to make it "newsworthy".

I mean, how much less newsworthy would it have been to write a piece saying "Julia Roberts doesn't have much talent".