Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Eewww! Hollywood Comment
Hollywood can be so icky.Well, you gotta find chemistry,” says Bay, stroking his chin. “Someone who looks right, you know age. Ewan looks like he’s 32, so you gotta find a 20-year-old for him.” —Director Michael Bay from Entertainment Weekly Interview
So, I’m reading Entertainment Weekly, the print version, because I LOVE Entertainment Weekly. It satisfies by prurient need for random celebrity gossip and pop culture fixings, while still allowing me to stay away from the muckraking paparazzi rags. My subscription is set to expire in January 2009. Who knows, I might renew early again.
Anyway, so I’m interested in the upcoming movie, “The Island” with Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. I like Ewan. He captured my attention in Shallow Grave, but then went on to do a number of critically panned and praised films, that I just love like—A Life Less Ordinary with Cameron Diaz (panned, but you got to love their song and dance number); Velvet Goldmine (panned); Little Voice (scantly praised); Moulin Rouge (praised, with the wonderful Nicole Kidman, who’s just bloomed out from under the albatross of her former husband); and Down with Love (panned, but was smart and sassy).
You’ll note a theme. I can’t help it, I love musicals, or movies were characters randomly break out into song or dance. Yes, I’m also a big fan of Doris Day, Fred Astaire, Rodgers & Hammerstein and the like. And sure its underwhelming, but I’ve been enjoying Scarlett Johansson grow up on screen as well.
So why the ick factor. Honestly, it’s more of the comment from director Michael Bay, then the situation per say. The truth is, even I’m so use to Hollywood, that I wouldn’t have noticed or paid attention to the age difference between Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson without this comment from Michael Bay
Well, you gotta find chemistry,” says Bay, stroking his chin. “Someone who looks right, you know age. Ewan looks like he’s 32, so you gotta find a 20-year-old for him.” —Director Michael Bay from Entertainment Weekly Interview
Then afterwards, I’m just like eeww, ewww. The truth is that Hollywood does this type of thing all the time. It’s typical to pair a man with someone at least 10 years younger than him. So typical in fact, that since I didn’t know Johansson’s age before (she’s 21 this year), I would have never given it a second thought. It typically takes a much wider age range to capture my attention these days, like 1998’s pairing of Anne Heche with Harrison Ford for Six Days, Seven Nights. Heche is a year younger than me, and Harrison Ford is old enough to be my grand daddy. That was just sick.
The pairing between Johansson and McGregor isn’t sick, in todays world it seems almost natural. But really. Come on really. In a society so purportedly against pedophilia, you’d think the automatic acceptance that men should be dating women (girls) 10-20 years younger than them would come in question.
Think of it this way. Three years ago, Scarlett Johansson was a teenager. A teen. Merely 18 years old. Ewan McGregor was already in his 30s. Sure it’s just a movie; and whether or not McGregor would ever date someone that much younger than him is surely up for debate. But the “eewww” is not whether Ewan would or should, but that Hollywood expects him to. And eventually what’s expected in the movies, filters to real life expectation of our stars. Come on! In Bay’s world, which really isn’t that different from reality, Nicole Kidman is too old for Ewan McGregor. And let’s face it Nicole is like Diane Lane, they both just seem to get better looking and more interesting with age.
What makes it worse, is then I tried to think of thirty something actresses that could be easily paired with McGregor and could only come up with two— the just turned 30, mother of two, sexy as hell, Angelina Jolie and the 33 year old Cameron Diaz; and let’s face both of those stars are way brighter than McGregor (no offense Ewan).
So that’s my comment on society for today, “Eewww!!!”
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