Althouse: "Suddenly, male actors who make other kinds of movies are ageing into mid-career obsolescence as quickly as female actors once did."

May 22, 2017

"Suddenly, male actors who make other kinds of movies are ageing into mid-career obsolescence as quickly as female actors once did."

"The idea that ageism has caught up with their tiresome rock-star behaviour is almost as satisfying as watching Meryl Streep cruise nobly into her late 60s with a full dance card of upcoming productions."

34 comments:

Gahrie said...: There is a name for people who take pleasure in other people's misfortune.

(and no..I don't mean Democrat); 5/22/17, 2:49 PM
n.n said...: Female chauvinism before principles. So damn selective.; 5/22/17, 2:54 PM
Fen said...: Yah I still remember that bed scene where they put Harrison Ford shirtless with some young actress. He looked eldetly.

I think all studios should draw the line at 25. I also think they should ignore fire codes and add Polonium Spritzers in every dressing room.; 5/22/17, 2:56 PM
Fen said...: Except for Cersei Lannister. Cersei rocks.; 5/22/17, 2:59 PM
Thorley Winston said...: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
- “Citizenship in a Republic” by Theodore Roosevelt; 5/22/17, 2:59 PM
bleh said...: Nobly? Huh?; 5/22/17, 2:59 PM
Rick said...: Given how few movie roles for older actors it seems more likely it was always true but feminists were only concerned with the impact on women.; 5/22/17, 3:02 PM
Lawrence Person said...: This is part of that classic journalism staple, "I Have An Axe to Grind So Three Cherry-Picked Data Points Make a Trend."

Both Pitt and Depp tend to alternate big budget blockbusters with smaller, more interesting films. Depp got good buzz for playing Whitey Bulger in Black Mass and the latest Pirates movie will make a kajillion dollars. Pitt had supporting roles in two critically acclaimed money-makers (The Big Short and 12 Years a Slave). I'm pretty sure neither will have trouble finding work.

Meannwhile, Meryl Strep's career is emblematic of no one but Meryl Strep. Most of her films are Oscar bait that either loses money or break even. She doesn't headline blockbusters and she's getting pretty much the same sorts of roles she's always gotten.; 5/22/17, 3:02 PM
tcrosse said...: For my money, Meryl Streep can go make movies in Argentina.; 5/22/17, 3:06 PM
Nonapod said...: I have little sympathy for the likes of Pitt, Affleck, and Depp since these sorts tend to enjoy preaching about all the great sins we plebeians have committed against the Earth and what-not all while flying about in private jets and generally living lifestyles that leave Godzilla sized carbon footprints.; 5/22/17, 3:12 PM
Brando said...: "Full dance card"? Sounds as quaint as a "box social."; 5/22/17, 3:20 PM
eric said...: Isn't Tom Cruz like 80 years old now?

Who reads this stuff and believes it?

There is a difference in the sexes and it pisses some people off. Men age better than women. Not because the effects of time treat men different than women. Instead, it's because men are more visual. Or shallow. An older woman doesn't sexually appeal to a man. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact she won't be having his babies.

Older men can still procreate and women for a myriad of reasons still find them attractive.; 5/22/17, 3:23 PM
bleh said...: I don't understand Meryl Streep's reputation as a generational talent. Does she usually do a good job? Yes. Is she sometimes bad and hammy? Yes. Have I ever thought to myself, "I really want to see that Meryl Streep movie"? No.

There are so many actors and actresses out there who make a movie much more appealing to watch simply because of their involvement in it. Whether it's their looks or their personalities, that's what the movies are all about - this isn't the theater. What is acting talent in the context of movies, really?; 5/22/17, 3:27 PM
MadisonMan said...: It seems premature to claim a career is dead before the actor is.

One good role and they come back.; 5/22/17, 3:34 PM
Saint Croix said...: Female chauvinism before principles. So damn selective.

I'm embarrassed for him.

You figure somebody who hates men that much would be a woman.

He is denigrating men and cheering women, because of their gender.

And note how their liberal politics do not save them.

Depp and Pitt are "liberal" guys. Or at least they are certainly not Republicans.

I stop reading so quickly because the venom is so obvious, and the bias is so weird.

He hates himself, and doesn't see it. So he's decided to hate all the people who look like him.

Seriously, feminism has reached such an unhealthy stage that it's doing mental damage to people.; 5/22/17, 3:47 PM
John said...: "The man allegedly spent $30,000 per month on wine alone (was he filling his swimming pools with it?). Now his creditors surround him like a ring of angry fire ants, seeking the yacht, the houses, the many, many toys and million-dollar knick-knacks."

Late-Capitalism?; 5/22/17, 3:51 PM
khesanh0802 said...: Just proves that, eventually, talent will out. None of the guys he picks on seem to have any particular talent and that finally caught up with them. Grant, Hepburn etc. - even Streep I admit - had/have talent.; 5/22/17, 4:07 PM
Big Mike said...: I'd put Brad Pitt ina different category from Affleck and Cage. After the scenery chewing in "Inglorious Basterds" I wasn't looking for much from "Fury," but Pitt was really good. His tiny supporting role in "The Big Short" was something you don't see even Streep doing -- a small role where he so immersed himself that days later you say "Wait, that was Brad Pitt?"; 5/22/17, 4:18 PM
n.n said...: Saint Croix:

For me, it's equal and complementary, a reconciliation of ideas, things, and people that matter.

PC, progressive confusion, is the stuff of cognitive dissonance, and, apparently, late-term social abortions.; 5/22/17, 5:18 PM
Rick.T. said...: Highest paid actors in 2016 per Forbes:

https://www.forbes.com/actors/#46f30fb540fe

#1 Dwayne Johnson, $64.5 M
#2 Jackie Chan, $61 M
#3 Matt Damon, $55 M
#4 Tom Cruise, $53 M
#5 Johnny Depp, $48 M
#6 Jennifer Lawrence, $46 M
#7 Ben Affleck, $43 M
#8 Vin Diesel, $35 M

From another source, Meryl Streep is at $7 M

PS - Johnny Depp must be taking it in the shorts. He was building an estate a couple miles from me. There doesn't seem to have been anyone working there since last fall.; 5/22/17, 5:27 PM
Rick.T. said...: Big Mike said...

"I'd put Brad Pitt in a different category..."

I agree with you. My favorite role of his in a small movie was Mickey in "Snatch."

https://youtu.be/tGDO-9hfaiI; 5/22/17, 5:35 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I don't go to the movies. I rarely watch any movie hollywood crapped out of its collective crap hole.

Meryl Street can kiss my ass.; 5/22/17, 6:01 PM
Jaq said...: I think Hollywood likes Streep better than moviegoers do.; 5/22/17, 6:03 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: The problem isn't age - the problem is the lame re-tread blockbuster that is all CGI and no story.

Aren't people sick of pirates of the Caribbean or Johhny Depp playing the role of a quirky weirdo, again?; 5/22/17, 6:04 PM
readering said...: There's Meryl Streep and then there's everyone else.; 5/22/17, 6:20 PM
eddie willers said...: That gum we like came back in style last night.

Twin Peaks made a marvelous return...if you really got a hankering to see old actors doing damn fine work.; 5/22/17, 6:23 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I've never watched the original Twin Peaks.
Thanks for the reminder.; 5/22/17, 6:34 PM
Gahrie said...: a small role where he so immersed himself that days later you say "Wait, that was Brad Pitt?"

Same thing in 12 Years a Slave. I've actually come to have a small smidgen of respect for Pitt.; 5/22/17, 6:53 PM
Fen said...: Really, our actors are not great artists anymore. We could ship the current lot to the basement of a Somali brothel and no one would notice.

They would easily be replaced by fresh faces and we could ship that lot off too in 3-5 years.

And start over again. No one would notice because none of them are irreplaceable.

Our art in general is the same. Remember the port at Obama's inauguration? I do simply because I was astonished it was so horrible. Our artists need to suffer more.; 5/22/17, 6:58 PM
Fen said...: Poet not port. The port was fine.; 5/22/17, 7:00 PM
Drago said...: What's all this about "male" and "female" stuff? Just a bunch of social constructs that have gone the way of the dodo bird.; 5/22/17, 7:38 PM
Robert Cook said...: Pitt was also good in an overlooked, excellent little film called Killing Them Softly.; 5/22/17, 8:10 PM
Zach said...: I'm not sure where she's going with this. Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp are 53 years old and still work steadily.

Brad Pitt's first big role was in Thelma and Louise, in 1991. His female costars were Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis. Both good actresses, but his career has outlasted both by decades.

Johnny Depp's first big role was A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984. Female costars Ronee Blakeley, Heather Langenkamp, and Amanda Wyss. Not great actresses, but his career has outlasted all three by decades.

Meryl Streep's first big role was The Deer Hunter in 1978. Male costars Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, and John Cazale. She outlasted Cazale, but that's because he died the same year. (Not before building an amazing resume, though -- The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter)

She's trying to make a point about male actors not aging well by pointing to two male actors who have aged incredibly well. Streep has aged well, too, but ironically not much better than her male costars.; 5/22/17, 10:03 PM
bagoh20 said...: So it's pretty much complete bullshit which many people will buy and the writer got paid anyway. What a country!; 5/23/17, 7:24 AM