It's a shame that Hollywood results in women ruining their looks whilst the men carry on regardless (Wicked)

we're supposed to swallow the idea that at 60 it's perfectly normal to have a shiny smooth wrinkle free face. At about 10 years younger I'm incensed at the notion that any sign of female ageing is unacceptable

The message is very clear: Looking unnatural to the point that you no longer resemble yourself and are widely subjected to ridicule is still better than showing signs of aging. It's the ultimate gaslighting: "Doesn't she look great for her age"?

And of course actresses in their 50's and 60's are expected to go to these extremes just so they can play grandmother roles in Hollywood. Sends quite the message to women in general, doesn't it?

Lemonadeand · Today 07:45

MarvelJesus · Yesterday 21:24
It seems to be the way that as female actors age they turn to extreme thinness to try to appear youthful. It’s a pattern you can see with the majority, sadly.

Which is weird because I think it’s actually quite ageing

I agree. I think it was Joan Collins who said that there comes a point where a woman has to choose between her face and her arse. She was right. If I reach a point, at 60, where my arse is tiny, my face looks skeletal and haggard. I’d rather have a plump arse and not look weird.

They look like they have a very strange codependent relationship. When you see them in together in interviews its really weird. They’ve got matching tattoos, and are either giggling or crying about something. It’s like they’ve developed a weird bond which also involves encouraging under-eating. I bet they constantly tell each other they look great or discourage each other from eating.

Ariana looks better/healthier (on this picture you posted from 2020) than she does now. But she still looks completely different to when she was 17-22 (when she was in 'Victorious' and 'Cat and Sam.') As a pp said, her eyes and her jaw look different, and she has had breast implants. Along with totally different hair, nose, teeth, and lips. (and of course she is looking much thinner these days too!)
.

It's not just her weight, she's completely changed her face. Nose job is very obvious. Her nose now looks unnatural and disproportionate to her other features. She's not attractive at all. She's completely ruined her face.

That's true. Though Helen Mirren in particular is a success in Hollywood these days as much as in the UK.

There are still people like Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Kathy Bates. Even Michelle Pfifer is much more natural looking.

I suspect lots of these women have had some work, but not the over the top stuff you see in a few others.

There are men who do this too, George Cloony is looking a lot more "altered" lately, Alec Baldwin, Liam Payne, Matt Rifes, Kenny Rogers looked pretty weird toward the end of his life. Brad Pitt.

If we count hair transplants the list would go through the roof.

This is AG in 2020, so not when she was a teen or adolescent, not all that long ago and she looks significantly different.

I do think a lot of celebrities have ED

Well, no, the roles open to men and women are not exactly the same.

But I think you are falling pry to some very serious confirmation bias here, and only thinking of films that fit into the idea you already have.

People like Tom Cruise or Liam Neeson are not getting the same kinds of roles young men in their 20s are getting, and even though they don't do superhero movies they are not guys with jiggly bodies - they are exercising and watching their diets.

Guys like Russel Crow, who is now very jiggly, are not playing roles where they are being presented as hot romantic leads, and he's sure as heck not taking his shirt off. He's able to get great roles because he's a great character actor even if he's no longer a heartthrob.

Young actors and the few older ones who are still doing superhero stuff are busting their asses staying fit in a way that's not all that healthy, and which in an older man takes a huge amount of time, and watching their diets. Hugh Jackman is not treating his body all that well and is likely to be feeling the effects of that.

And actresses who are older do actually have some very good roles now. Particularly on television which at the moment has a lot more for actors in general than film, and not just the ones who have managed to look like they are 30 - because mostly they haven't. They look like attractive women who are older. Some do transition into more character roles particularly if they've put on weight.

I think there are significantly more roles now for older women, and often more interesting ones than younger women get.

The actresses you've listed are all British. And Britain tends to not be quite so perfection oriented as America.

Just over 9stone and just into the overweight BMI. I carry all my weight on my waist (size 14) despite size 10 hips. I look 6 months pregnant.

There will be some truth in that their weight will have naturally dropped due to the film being so physical and demanding- a good example is when Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman did Black Swan, they said in an interview that they initially felt pressure to ‘get down’ to the size and shape of a prima ballerina but found that the dance and general training for the role was so intense they found they dropped a lot of weight quickly without really adjusting their diets much at all. In fact they both said they enjoyed eating more as there was such a calorie deficit with all the exercise.

However, I think AG is using both a punishing physical regime coupled WITH restricted eating. I too can see the signs and to me there looks to be early signs of muscle loss as she’s lost every ounce of fat she had.

..,,,plus the ramifications of being very low weight BMI carry on after weight is restored, the heart is a muscle and when muscle is lost through extreme dietary restriction the heart muscle itself is damaged.

This is what killed Karen Carpenter. She was 32, a year older than AG is mow.

@CharlieMagenta I hear you, I was 'tiny' as a youngster and also affected by exercise like walking, just naturally very small. The health risks of low BMI still exist whether you are doing it deliberately or not which is why rapid weight loss or very low BMI needs to be reversed or treated by a doctor. If you are seven stone and 5ft you are still (just) in the healthy category anyway and that's not where I believe AG would be at all.

But at 9stone and 5ft you are still in the healthy category.

@gannett there is another thread running on the movie Wicked itself and the talents of the stars, which most have concluded are pretty amazing, vocally, but this one is about the worrying appearance of one of them and wider reflections on the quantity and health risk of that type of cosmetic work and weight-loss in the industry. My concern is genuine- I have a daughter recovering from an eating disorder, and AG is giving me those 'signs' which are not just about body weight as it happens, it also shows in the face and is not just about being an angular or a low weight body person naturally, it's also about muscle distribution on arms etc. I can see it because I recognise it and of course I'm concerned that this is being played to millions of young women on large screens without comment, because I also know how toxic the TikTok and Insta cultures are, again, not the eating disorder ones, but the ones about 'snacks' and 'clean eating' and trying on clothes- there is a huge move towards fragile and stick thin bodies which might be natural for a tiny proportion of people but not for most- plus the ramifications of being very low weight BMI carry on after weight is restored, the heart is a muscle and when muscle is lost through extreme dietary restriction the heart muscle itself is damaged.

It is really scary being a parent to teenagers these days. There has always been the thin models and celebrities, but not to this degree. How do young girls learn to accept themselves when this is what their role models are doing to themselves.

I saw a photo of Kate Beckinsale recently. I still don't believe it is her as there is no resemblance to how she used to look.

There is also a very vacant look in their eyes so much now. What is that all about?

I’ve been as thin as AG currently is twice in my life. My healthy weight is just over 8stone. I’m 5ft tall so people call me “tiny” even though I’m currently overweight for my height at 9stone and a size 12. First time I looked emaciated was when I worked in a school that was a 30 min walk uphill from my home. That was enough exercise to drop my weight to 7stone, despite my diet not changing at all, but probably because I was already small. AG was also already small, so an increase in physical activity could easily have caused her to drop a stone.
The second time I looked this thin was after having a baby and breastfeeding. I went from size 10 pre preg to size 6. I did have hyperemesis through my pregnancy so that may also have been a factor. I didn’t put on much weight until 2 years later and then piled on the pounds during lockdown.
Just saying, it’s not necessarily an ED when a small person looks very thin. Clearly it can also be, but none of us know, in this case.

I agree with you- I always thought Madonna could have led the way in being a woman in the public eye who allowed herself to age.

I haven’t seen Wicked yet but I have seen the Swarkovski ads with AG in and she looks like a child- this is not healthy.

I work in a mental health trust and our children’s wards have many patients with EDs, now I don’t work with patients but in my role I hear about how devastating it is for the staff working with these children and how poorly they are. I wish people would understand that this Hollywood look is not something to attain for - it’s deadly.

I’ve noticed that older male actors seem to have dyed hair more than they used to. Or
maybe they always have and I’ve only just noticed 😊

@Salacia He is huge in that film, I agree

Since when ?? Whenever he's spoken about his jaw he said it's because he broke it and the muscles in his face kept growing

Her eyes and jaw are a completely different shape.

Oh thin is VERY much back in

Seen Victoria beckham lately? Always been very very slim but now looks frail and extremely unwell.

Also quite a good example of the toxic body standard for men in Hollywood - no way he wasn’t abusing steroids for the Iron Claw.

Zac Efron was in a serious car crash so had to undergo facial surgery.