TV Tuesday: Is That Still You?

[yourlibrarian]

There have been discussions about how natural actors do and don't look and how there are different standards across countries in terms of appearance. Do you see this as a problem, in that older people are particularly affected, or is it part of the fantasy of fiction that people in stories be unusually attractive?

Comments

[shadowkat]

I just finished watching The White Lotus S3 - which commented a lot on looks and whether folks looked natural - as part of the satire, and was struck with how natural Carrie Coon's Laurie looked in contrast to her two friends, the actress Jackie (who has had one face lift too many) and Jane (Leslie Bib ) who's face is almost too tight.

I have issues with a lot of the shows with pretty young twenty-somethings - in that they all look alike. I can't tell the difference between them. A lot of American television on Netflix has this problem. Everyone looks the same.

I prefer shows where people are more varied in looks, and aren't all pretty, or thin. White Lotus surprised me by how varied it was in places. As was The Bear. The more "realistic" the series or hyper-realistic, the more varied the cast. The more fantastical or romantic, the less varies - supernatural soap operas tend to have pretty actors, who look a lot a like as do romances. There are exceptions? Buffy's cast did not look a like, nor does the cast of Bridgerton. The better quality series tend, I think, to have a more diversified cast?

[executrix]

Even if the show insists on having only thin, pretty actors, they should make sure that they look different enough that viewers can tell them apart, so you can tell the short, thin, pretty brunette from the tall, thin, pretty blonde!

[shadowkat]

Exactly, it should be at least as distinctive as hair color. 20th Century shows were better at this for some reason. Now I feel like a lot of television shows cast from Young Models Inc.

[yourlibrarian]

That's an interesting point about the show genres affecting the casting. Of course, when news shows started following this model it seemed that there was no hope for any normal looking people. Perhaps they were following the Margot Robbie theory.

[shadowkat]

It really depends on the genre and quality of the series. Broadcast news has always hired people who look like they steppe off of a fashion magazine cover. Although they don't look like that in reality - makeup, airbrushing, etc are involved.

[starfleetbrat]

I like when people look natural and "real" as apposed to always looking like hollywood models. I often feel its more relatable and makes a character seem more real.

I sometimes get surprised when I watch things made outside the US (and often outside my own country Australia) and see how different characters look. Different body shapes and hairstyles (in so many US shows women have the same hairstyle). Other countries tend to have more older people cast too.

Even sometimes with US shows I get surprised when they do something different, like when Criminal Minds Evolution started and I saw Emily has grey hair, and I was like, OMGYAY! because finally there was a woman my age with grey hair on tv lol Its like women are not allowed to get old in some shows.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, in fact that's so true that sometimes there are no women rather than have older women. I took a look at the Showtime movie The Comeback Trail which focuses on three older men -- De Niro, Freeman, and Tommy Lee Jones. A few younger men but not a woman in the main cast.

[caramarie]

I watch a lot with my mother, and she is always commenting on people's too perfect teeth!

I remember being really struck when I watched Civil War (the Alex Garner film) by how ordinary Kirsten Dunst looked in it. Like obviously she's an attractive woman, but she wasn't done up and she looked her age. Which felt quite unusual, and I actually really appreciated it.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, people really don't look their age for the most part. I know that Jon Stewart is always commenting when people are his age and look nothing like him.

[starwatcher]

I've complained about this for many years. (I live alone, so the complaints are only to myself, but I sometimes rail aloud to the TV.)

I think it's considerably more a problem for female actors than male actors, and more noticeable in American TV than British TV. (The few British shows I watch seem to have more real-looking people in the cast.) I don't watch C-dramas or K-dramas, but from the few cast-pictures I've seen, it seems like all the actors -- men and women -- are impossibly (unrealistically) pretty.

I prefer that actors look old enough to have the experience that canon says they have. Too often, they look barely old enough to have five years' experience, let alone fifteen or whatever. Like, I enjoyed the remake of MacGyver, but Lucas Till didn't look old enough to have his history. The actor may well have been of an appropriate age, but maybe the makeup "youthened" him too much. I never could not notice that he looked just - too - damn - young!

For women -- if she's past the "dewy-eyed fresh" age, TPTB seem to want her aged up to be the "older woman" of a man who's within 5 years of her age. Seems like women are allowed to be 25, or over 40, but nothing in between exists in the TV world. It's just... tiring to always be presented with "looks" goals that the average Joe or Jane can't hope to achieve.

Eh, I'm painting with too broad a brush. Things are changing, even if slowly, but it seems that TPTB prefer to push beauty-beauty-beauty on both the male and female sides of the spectrum. I'd like to see the "realistic people" change happen faster, but I have no expectations that it'll happen.

[yourlibrarian]

Agreed about British casting, and yes otherwise they often don't look old enough for their parts especially because so many of them are playing parents of teenagers or even 20 somethings! Tellingly many such pairs have only 13 years or so between them.

[mllesatine]

I just watched the first few minutes of "Hunting Wives" and the show heavily hints at (spoilers??) an affair between the main female character and her son's friend. The problem is that the actor looks 27 and the actress looks 35. Why would I have a problem with that age gap? I guess he is supposed to be a lot younger (maybe even high school age) but the actor simply doesn't look it. That is a grown man. He shouldn't be in high school.

It really works against the themes of some shows.

[yourlibrarian]

A good example, alright. I suspect they wanted to cast idealized versions of both characters rather than a young looking boy and a woman in her mid 40s or later.

[starwatcher]

I've never seen the show, but yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about. Theater makeup is a thing; it's easy to make someone look older or younger. (Well, within reason; hard to make a 30-year-old look 17.) There's no reason at all not to [a] cast a younger male and [b] use makeup to age an older female. Or, y'know, cast actors who are actually 18-20 and 40-45.

I think too often the studios want to cast "names" instead of giving newer actors a chance. But every "name" was once a new actor, and was given a chance to show what they could do. Other new actors need the same opportunities.

[krakendelsur]

Like shadowkat said, my main issue is that all of the characters look alike and I can't tell them apart. I remember watching a rom-com once and being completely confused about one girl's storyline- but it turned out there were four main characters the whole time, not three! 😅

The only other time that I really care about a character's appearance is when the story actually revolves around the character's appearance and how other characters treat them differently because of it. Like, for example, it's extremely confusing when the story involves some conventionally attractive person being persecuted for being too ugly, too fat, etc.

[yourlibrarian]

Ha, I remember how when I watched L.A. Confidential with my partner the story made no sense to him -- because he thought Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey were the same person!

Oh yes, it's so ridiculous how often a supposedly unattractive person is either actually attractive or just normal looking. Though I confess I have sometimes watched shows where I'm clearly supposed to think someone is attractive and it doesn't work for me at all because I can't see their appeal.

[krakendelsur]

..."he thought Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey were the same person!"

hahaha, it happens! 🤣


"Though I confess I have sometimes watched shows where I'm clearly supposed to think someone is attractive and it doesn't work for me at all because I can't see their appeal."

Yes! Another example of the story revolving around their looks, but their looks don't match the action happening.

[feurioo]

The discussions around Aimee Lou Wood's teeth were amusing to me in that I found Walton Goggins' veneers a lot more distracting. However, I generally like looking at people's natural teeth. For example, I always thought that Patricia Arquette's crooked teeth were super cute.

Somebody Somewhere always reminded me that there are simply not enough fat characters on television, especially not fat characters who are styled in conventionally attractive or fashionable ways to sort of "make up" for their weight.

I also wish more female characters were simply allowed to look strong. I still remember some people moaning about Bobbie in The Expanse being "chubby" (???) when all I thought about her was that she looked so badass (and hot).

[yourlibrarian]

Right? Bobbie was my favorite character, followed by Chrisjen. More strong and older women! I just saw Chrisjen's actress in Penguin and she had such a small role, it was frustrating. We know she can do so much more.

[feurioo]

I just saw Chrisjen's actress in Penguin and she had such a small role, it was frustrating.

It was especially weird to see her cast as "The Wife". What a waste.

[tinny]

I find it sad that actors (and actresses in particular) have to have surgery to look younger or they won't get any more roles. That is just messed up, and I wish it was different.

Of course there are much more and varied problems with the whole beauty cult, like fat shaming, and the entertainment industry is a large part of perpetuating these problems.

To a certain extent, of course people will want to see beauty on screen, and that's okay with me. But the consequences are bad.

Do I see it as a problem? Yes, absolutely. Do I have a solution? No.

[yourlibrarian]

Oh yes, the whole obsession with beauty is itself a big issue. There was an episode this season where John Oliver looked at MedSpas (a term that should be banned). The horrific things people are doing to themselves in pursuit of I don't even know what. So dangerous!

The thing about beauty is the sameness of it all, something people have been noting above. Plus, a century before there was all this complicated and risky stuff to slow signs of aging and enhance looks people were still considered attractive! It's not like there's an actual shortage.