Mumsnet Talk

But the appearance of the male lead does not matter?

Film 4 - Journey to the centre of the Earth. Male lead not much to look at. But they have a women to guide them - and obviously she's young and attractive.

Look at any adventure film - there's a male team full of all types of men. Then the token women joins the team and she's very attractive.

Is it Hollywood law?

Sure. They want to make money and action/adventure movies appeal to men as a genre, so of course they'll put in a bit of eye candy.

Well, the Avengers had a whole cohort of very good looking men. Doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, though I don't think.

Of course. Who wants to pay good money to watch ugly people?

It would be quite nice to see some attractive men as part of the team.

I actually fancy Brendan Fraser. I think 90% of people in movies are attractive.

Less attractive men have more of a shot in Hollywood than less attractive women though.

I find attractive people in movies quite boring. They all look the same, especially the women. I want people with lived in interesting faces

Oh, it was the Brendan Fraser one. He's good looking. I would...

All in all, you have to be young and beautiful to get into films at all. More exceptions are made for men. Very few for women.

Yes. And frequently seven stone female sidekicks in action films have the fighting prowess of Chuck Norris and make punching and kicking sounds which make your ears ring! Amazing!

I think in most adventure films, the male lead has to be attractive too.
I loved the Indiana Jones films, Harrison Ford was gorgeous in them.
Also, all the Bond Films, the lead actor has always been chosen for their looks.

Attractiveness is down to opinion. Brendan fader is consider attractive in my book.

Most female (and male actors) are attractive.

I meant brendan fraser.

I said this on the Julie Burchill thread but i will say it here as well.
i dont believe we will ever see a woman above a size 10 and at a push 12 playing a romantic lead or an action lead or any type of lead.
And i mean on TV as well as cinema.
A good example of this was last years ITV drama Leaving.
They had a curvier woman playing the supportive friend. A lot of dramas/comedies/action/"chick lit" (i really hate the term chick lit) seem to follow this formula.
As a slightly heavier woman (size 18/20) i suppose i just notice it more.

Male lead not attractive?

Brendan Fraser is a God! Have you not seen him in The Mummy and George of the jungle? 6ft 4 of yummy.

Brendan Fraser is gorgeous! Much sexier than the usual run of the mill forgettable blandness that is a Hollywood star.

I have noticed in several films though that it is ok for the male lead to be a bit paunchy and less than perfect, but the lead women are all skinny with perky boobs.

I can't believe how many people on this thread think Brendan Fraser is very attractive, interesting...

But we see plenty of heavier men playing a romantic lead and/or having romances as part of an action drama.
Robbie Coltrane in Cracker.
Mark Benton in Waterloo Road/Clocking Off. Just 2 examples off the top of my head.

And my, uh, "favourite" trope Dark, 'heavy men with gorgeous skinny wives', yet you never see the vice versa...

I like the tv show Rosemary and Thyme. Very ordinary middle-aged women as the main characters.

And usually a bit of property porn thrown in as well

EXACTLY Solid EXACTLY.

And if you did i can certainly imagine what the TV critics in certain papers would be saying the next day.

I also find Ben Stiller incredibly sexy, so I may just have odd taste.

I've had a thing for Brendan for donkey's years, The Passion of Darkly Noon sparked my interest, despite him playing a religiously repressed psychopath who kills people. He was at his peak in The Mummy though, my god with his floppy hair , white shirt and gun belt, I so would.

Ben Stiller looks like a chimp!

Anyway, I've noticed that there are a lot of "ugly hot" men. I mean, men that aren't conventionally handsome but are still hot. They're the hottest of them all, in my opinion.

Few women are "ugly hot" however. Women are expected to be pretty.

There are even categories for the ugly hot men...

Wrinkly hot - George Clooney
Grey hot - Also George Clooney
Druggie hot - Robert Downey Jnr
Stupid hair hot - that Spanish bloke, what's his name?
Funny hot - Brendan Fraser when he hasn't been working out

Can you think of any more?

Sigourney (sp?) Weaver with shaved head and space-combats in Aliens?, Its a bit sad that she could have paved the way for strong female action leads but it never quite happened.

Sigourney (sp?) Weaver with shaved head and space-combats in Aliens?, Its a bit sad that she could have paved the way for strong female action leads but it never quite happened.