Ashley Judd Points To Misogyny for Speculation About Her "Puffy" Face

petite

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There's video here, but I don't think it's all of it.

Ashley Judd Follows Her Kickass Feminist Essay with Kickass Feminist TV Appearances

It's been pointed out before that female actors seem to get a lot of accolades for their acting talent when they 'uglify' themselves for a role. Remember all the hoopla about Charlize Theron and Halle Berry looking less than polished? Suddenly they became "brave" and "dedicated" and "compelling" when they look like they've been dragged backwards over gravel.

That bothers me. I almost mentioned this point in my last post. It isn't as if Halle Berry or Charlize Theron only possess talent when they don't look attractive.
 

nudeyorker

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That bothers me. I almost mentioned this point in my last post. It isn't as if Halle Berry or Charlize Theron only possess talent when they don't look attractive.

No but critics in Hollywood will give accolades when an actress moves outside of her comfort zone and is willing to tackle a role where she is perceived differently than how she was first marketed. No one took Farrah Fawcett seriously as an actress until The Burning Bed and Extremities. If you look at the early careers of Ms Theron and Ms Berry they were playing the young pretty ingenue and then shifted gears when the opportunity presented itself.

I wish I could find the Catherine Deneuve interview; one of the points she made was... "If all an actress has is youth and beauty she has nothing to pave the way in the next phase of her career when parts demand sophistication, depth and maturity."

+ Sweeps is close (26 April – 23 May 2012) so ... I always take anyone or anything that is (particularly if they are on a network show) highly publicized with a grain of salt since most networks have an agenda right about Now....
Nielsen ratings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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Daisy

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I knew when I read that article that she'd get slammed and accused of being a faded beauty queen who is now bitching about people not fawning all over her. It's not that simple. She raises very good points about how men AND women tear down women so easily and with so much pleasure it's really perverse. I had to do a little reality check myself, as I know I've been guilty of buying into the hype. We are so quick to say that actresses look like shit once they gain a few pounds or get a few wrinkles because it makes us feel better to knock them down a notch to what we perceive as our level.
 
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petite

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No but critics in Hollywood will give accolades when an actress moves outside of her comfort zone and is willing to tackle a role where she is perceived differently than how she was first marketed.

I agree. I think actors of both sexes should be commended when they take roles that demonstrate the breadth of their abilities or are particularly difficult. My intention was not to criticize those actresses for choosing gritty roles because I think it's wonderful when they do. I meant that it bothers me that it seems common in our culture to not be able to recognize the talents of beautiful women, which I meant as a commentary on the perception of female beauty by our culture at large and the effects of it, not a commentary upon the choices of any particular actress. I look at how few people recognize either Marilyn Monroe's talent or intelligence, for example, because she was so very beautiful, or reading the comments under Ashley Judd's essay in the Huffington Post which would seem to indicate that readers believe that all actresses in Hollywood have careers based solely upon how pretty they are, as if none of them have talent, too. Then the moment an actress reveals herself in a role where she doesn't look pretty, that's when people say, "I didn't know she could act." When people say things like that, it sounds like they were blinded to any other aspect of that woman because of her pretty face. That's what bothers me.
 

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I don't know. There have been recent films where George Clooney fattened up and it made news about how good he was in those roles. Then there's the Benjamin Buttoning of Brad Pitt. Maybe it happens more often to actresses, but it seems to happen to actors plenty. Particularly to good looking actors, but also it seems to bad looking ones (like Zach Galafianakis or Jonah Hill) who almost always have to start out in comedy to "make it".
 

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I don't know. There have been recent films where George Clooney fattened up and it made news about how good he was in those roles. Then there's the Benjamin Buttoning of Brad Pitt. Maybe it happens more often to actresses, but it seems to happen to actors plenty. Particularly to good looking actors, but also it seems to bad looking ones (like Zach Galafianakis or Jonah Hill) who almost always have to start out in comedy to "make it".

I believe both those actors were respected before they got fat for a role. Brad Pitt got a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination in 1995 for 12 Monkeys. Clooney has been nominated for and won so many awards, there's too many to list. Pointing out that occasionally an attractive male actor presents himself as unattractive on screen sort of misses the point I made, doesn't it? Especially since Clooney plays lead roles even though he's over the age of 50.

Clooney himself spoke out about it.

George Clooney has never been one to shy away from the microphone, but politics are usually his forte. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the "Descendants" star took to sexism in the movie industry with as much zeal, saying it's nearly impossible for women to lead in blockbusters these days, and that it's only gotten worse in the last few decades.

Clooney told EW, "There's this strange thing that's happened over the last 25 or 30 years where there's this decision being made that women aren't able to carry the box office ... It's much harder to get a film with a woman lead made. When a man hits 40 is when roles just begin to happen. And for women it doesn't happen. I find that to be a very concerning issue."

Since you brought up how male comedians who are not attractive must take comedic roles, where are the unattractive comedic female leads?
 
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D_Dan_T_Zinferno

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It's been pointed out before that female actors seem to get a lot of accolades for their acting talent when they 'uglify' themselves for a role. Remember all the hoopla about Charlize Theron and Halle Berry looking less than polished? Suddenly they became "brave" and "dedicated" and "compelling" when they look like they've been dragged backwards over gravel.

I would tend to agree that it isn't fair but in every instance of I've seen for myself, the accolades were justified by the acting, even if the initial buzz was about the change in their appearance. Charlize Theron was amazing in Monster. I would never have guessed from her early work that she had that in her. I don't think many performers, regardless of their appearance, level of fame or people's perceptions of their abilities could have gone where she went so successfully in that role.
 

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Since you brought up how male comedians who are not attractive must take comedic roles, where are the unattractive comedic female leads?

I'm looking forward to the premiere of HBO's Girls on Sunday night, but I am sure Lena Dunham is going to draw snark from some quarters for not being "hot" enough.
 

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I believe both those actors were respected before they got fat for a role. Brad Pitt got a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination in 1995 for 12 Monkeys. Clooney has been nominated for and won so many awards, there's too many to list. Pointing out that occasionally an attractive male actor presents himself as unattractive on screen sort of misses the point I made, doesn't it? Especially since Clooney plays lead roles even though he's over the age of 50.

Clooney himself spoke out about it.



Since you brought up how male comedians who are not attractive must take comedic roles, where are the unattractive comedic female leads?

How does it miss your point? I even said it may happen to actresses more often. Part of my point was that it's not exclusive to women.

And I think another part of my point was missed. Maybe I was unclear. The point I was making is that there are very good looking actors who are praised excessively when they do a movie where they don't look good even though they're really not doing much better a job than usual.

Pretty much every "fat Clooney" movie that comes out, he's praised as amazing in even though he doesn't really do an exceptional job (exceptional meaning above what he usually does, which you pointed out is often pretty damn good).

I didn't mention Brad Pitt in a vacuum, either. I said the Benjamin Buttoning of Brad Pitt. How was what he did in that film as good or better than what he does in the vast majority of movies he's in? It wasn't. It's just because for a large part of it he was made up to be old looking, really.

I think you misunderstood me. I'm not at all saying there's no sexism in film. To the contrary, it's rampant. But on the point of "beautiful" actresses receiving acclaim when they "break the mold" and play "ugly" characters, I see the same thing happening to a lot of actors. The difference being that there is a tacit assumption that the actresses can't act to begin with, whereas the actors are often assumed to be great and in these roles are considered outstanding.