For as long as I can remember there’s been a double standard on television and in movies. Older, gray haired men paired with young, sexy women. Sean Connery and George Clooney co-star opposite women 20 or more years their juniors. Fred Astaire and Gene Kelley would star with women 30 years or younger in classic films like Funny Face or Singin’ in the Rain.
Don’t get me wrong. I think older men are sexy. I just think there are plenty of sexy older women, too…and I wonder at the logic behind ignoring women for romantic roles as they get older.
Michelle Pfeiffer recently starred in a movie called I could never be your woman about a relationship between a 40-year-old woman and a 20-something man. Not surprisingly it went straight to DVD. After all, with sixteen-year-olds Mylie Cyrus and Jamie Lynn Spears in the news–what could be interesting about someone in their 40′s?
Turns out “Woman” got good reviews. Apparently even with a few years on her, Pfeiffer is still a better actress than both Jamie Lynn and Mylie. Go figure. The movie itself challenges the ridiculous prejudices about women not being sexy in their middle years…and it provides both Pfeiffer and her co-star Paul Rudd a chance to tell a story that doesn’t often get told.
