So, why'd the guy have to be blind?
While taking a break from writing my masters thesis yesterday (God help me get it done!) I joined and perused Facebook for old high school and college friends. I found a few profiles of people I knew and I chuckled to myself about how different some of them looked now as middle-aged adults. That led to the sobering question of whether or not I dared put a current picture of myself on my profile. Thoughts of artistically, shadowy poses and Photoshop magic danced in my head. "Wow!", I wondered, "what would people say about me?" Of course, that is the kind of vanity I and many other folks my age are currently struggling with. Yep! I'm chewing on the concept of aging gracefully, but haven't swallowed and digested it yet.
I didn't think about the whole "looking older" thing until today when I was warming my tired brain in the shower. For some strange reason, I was reminded of a Betty Davis movie I watched last week. In the movie, Davis plays a sweet, but vapidly vain woman who marries a man for his money, lives on his dole while enjoying the affection of numerous paramours and then faces the realities of divorce and age (she's a whooping 48 years old). Despite a childish superficiality that grates on every female nerve, she is beloved by male friends for her charming egocentrism, fragile charisma and great beauty. However, after a bout with diphtheria, her youthful looks fade and she ends up looking "several years older than her actual age". Knowing she can no longer appeal to the younger men she had previously dated, she throws an elaborate party for all her old flames However, after one shocked glance at her now mildly wrinkled face, her gray haired beaus, who are quite a bit more wrinkled than she, gently rebuff her. Their wives giggle maliciously behind her back. Davis's character is stunned and, for a few weeks, wanders aimlessly around her mansion staring at her face in her many mirrors. She decides to go to a psychologist, but he flatly tells her to get a grip and go back to her old husband, stating only a husband could love a mug like hers. Finally, her cousin rounds up Davis' ex-husband. He has just gotten out of a Nazi prison camp, still loves her and, luck would have it, he's blind and can only remember her as she looked in her youth. Pretty corny.
I didn't think much about the above story until today when I burst out laughing in the shower. Why'd the guy have to be blind?
I tell you...our cultural bias about age and women really gets my goat...it's one of many cultural irritants I'm currently trying to get out of my system. If Davis' character had been a vain man, he probably would have ended up with some gorgeous, girlish, 20 something chicklette who was attracted to his ruggedly handsome older looks and appreciated his ability to take care of her financially. Sheesh!
Ahem...
Any blind guys out there?
I didn't think about the whole "looking older" thing until today when I was warming my tired brain in the shower. For some strange reason, I was reminded of a Betty Davis movie I watched last week. In the movie, Davis plays a sweet, but vapidly vain woman who marries a man for his money, lives on his dole while enjoying the affection of numerous paramours and then faces the realities of divorce and age (she's a whooping 48 years old). Despite a childish superficiality that grates on every female nerve, she is beloved by male friends for her charming egocentrism, fragile charisma and great beauty. However, after a bout with diphtheria, her youthful looks fade and she ends up looking "several years older than her actual age". Knowing she can no longer appeal to the younger men she had previously dated, she throws an elaborate party for all her old flames However, after one shocked glance at her now mildly wrinkled face, her gray haired beaus, who are quite a bit more wrinkled than she, gently rebuff her. Their wives giggle maliciously behind her back. Davis's character is stunned and, for a few weeks, wanders aimlessly around her mansion staring at her face in her many mirrors. She decides to go to a psychologist, but he flatly tells her to get a grip and go back to her old husband, stating only a husband could love a mug like hers. Finally, her cousin rounds up Davis' ex-husband. He has just gotten out of a Nazi prison camp, still loves her and, luck would have it, he's blind and can only remember her as she looked in her youth. Pretty corny.
I didn't think much about the above story until today when I burst out laughing in the shower. Why'd the guy have to be blind?
I tell you...our cultural bias about age and women really gets my goat...it's one of many cultural irritants I'm currently trying to get out of my system. If Davis' character had been a vain man, he probably would have ended up with some gorgeous, girlish, 20 something chicklette who was attracted to his ruggedly handsome older looks and appreciated his ability to take care of her financially. Sheesh!
Ahem...
Any blind guys out there?
posted by Michelle Coder | 4:22 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home