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

[ByCoolWriter]

I've been looking at videos of the lovely Cynthia from the Wicked movie a few years ago. She looked wonderful and healthy. Now her face is all sharp angles. The same for Ariana who looks dangerously thin. I've heard many say that it's the gruelling film schedules etc but I don't see the male members looking like a lettuce leaf would fill them up.
Isn't it sad that actresses still feel this need to look a certain way whilst men don't

It's not so much questioning their talents as just... not mentioning them. Six pages and not a single mention of either Cynthia or Ariana's voice or acting ability.

I do too, but it stops the natural wrinkles showing so much, and avoids sagging at the jawline and on the body, which is presumably their primary concern. Awful for them.

@gannett but the thread isn’t about their talents is it? I think they are both very talented but that’s a pretty universal thought. I’m not sure what relevance it has either?

I wouldn’t think to reply to a post concerned about her weight with “but she’s a great singer”.

Why not? Of course ideally none of us would be influenced by patriarchal pressure to remain youthful and thin. But falling victim to it doesn't mean you can't speak on it.

But neither of those things are question. We know they are talented. We know they are not naturally meant to look skeletal.

you can have an eating disorder and be supremely talented.

I feel terrible for her. It’s pretty well documented that her director on her tv shows as a child was very very interested in her (google dan Schneider). My friend who was groomed as a 7 year old went through years and years of anorexia.

Joaquin phoenix has lost a dangerous amount of weight for joker twice but afterwards he goes back to his dad bod self.

It's Madonna that makes me sad - she's the one who I thought would lead the way and buck the trend, show us the way to age and not give a shit what anyone else thought instead of succumbing to the surgeon. If you weren't around in the 80s you can't understand what an influence she was (like or her not).

7 pages of women picking apart other women’s looks while trying to come across as high and mighty.

Have you got a specific example as I’m not getting that from this thread at all.

I was directly responding to OP’s statement “Isn't it sad that actresses still feel this need to look a certain way whilst men don't”. She was talking in absolutes and assuming how men feel. We don’t actually know how they feel and what pressures they feel to look a certain way. Unless there is some statistical data somewhere on actor population vs gen pop, I don’t think we can quite generalise the particular demands of the profession on the population at large.
My partner is not particularly concerned about his looks but my best friend who is a male actor (and is very conventionally attractive) has major hung ups and body dysmorphia. These are occupational hazards which male actors are not exempt from and it would be dangerous to assume otherwise.
The conversation here really shouldn’t be about how women look but how the industry as a whole affects the health of its workers.

Because its not about their talent? The topic of conversation is everything about ariane or Cynthia, its about the pressure female actresses are under to look a certain way, and essentially how that can result in ED

The industry as a whole is dog eat dog. They groom children into the characters they want them to be as adult actors. How many child stars have actually come out the other side unharmed.

Ag whole thing was is this tiny little cute girl. She’s been so tanned and sculpted people thought she was at some points black then so light and blonde, her tv characters where always the tiny ditzy stupid hehe haha poor little girl types. Sam and cat and victorious. Her poor co star in Sam and cat did put out quite a bit about it. And yes she’s always been small But again not skeletal but the industry will of made her that way.

It preys on talented yet vulnerable people.

People did show concern for joaquian phoenix, but again this was for a role. That isn't what is happening here. It's not weight loss or appearance change for a role

It's particularly galling when the guy who plays Fiyero looks older than his age and older than both of them.

There is clearly pressure on men too but building a six pack is a healthy thing to do and you can’t starve yourself to do that.

To have a visible six pack you have to have a very low body fat %- so they do have to starve themselves to shred

Given the characters are supposed to be early 20s/late teens for the majority of the film (all when they are at university) they are all too old. Which adds to the pressure to have a “youthful” appearance- which for some translates to extreme thinness.

The film was always going to be massive - so they could have got some up and coming stars of the right age to play the roles. Less pressure on the actresses than for 30 year olds to look like teenagers.

Same with Bridget Jones, get an actress who is a size 14 to play the role - not a much smaller actress who yo-yo-ed in and out of the part.

I disagree that women have to stay perfect to do well in Hollywood - just look at Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson. But there is a massive reduction in available roles for women generally, and middle aged ones in particular.

She will have seen pictures of her anyway

”ruining their looks” “doing it to look younger but actually it’s ageing”
You don’t think that’s picking apart someone’s looks?

I'm not sure she will have tbh or certainly not seen any of the promotional interviews and photos. We are fairly tight about things like that. No phone. No Internet access etc. I work with kids her age and I see what all that does. We talk about things and why they are right or wrong etc.

And it's historical tragically. Judy Garland and then the mess that is her daughter...handed down issues and lack of confidence in what a real woman is

The point is that there isn't a six-page thread and counting about their talent, which should be the most interesting thing about both women.

The message I'm getting from this thread is that, even to women, the number one point of discussion about two women in the public eye is what they look like, not what they do.

Like... none of you are interested in Ariana Grande's vocal range or timbre, or how she's transitioned from singing to acting, or from the pop/R&B genre to the musical genre. All of that is the actual craft she's spent her life working on.

I'm not in the public eye but if I got a big new professional role, I wouldn't be impressed if the responses to my work focused on my weight.

This is pretty gross , is there any need for the “real woman” comment?

You’ve literally stated a thread being nasty about women “ruining their looks” and then at the same time chastise women for being insecure??