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[Poor GRIMES]

So I was recently browsing one of the Beauty and the Beast threads here the other day and a lot of posters were recommending Anne Hathaway in the role of Belle rather than Emma Watson. I could definitely see why they would how that view, considering that Anne Hathaway looks the part, acts better, and sings better than Emma Watson.

However, a lot of posters disagreed with their suggestions, telling them that Anne Hathaway is simply "too old" to be playing the part of Belle. However, after looking into it a little bit more, I found that both actors cast in the roles of Gaston and Beast, two of the men pining for Belle in the film, are several years older than Emma Watson.

Emma Watson (Belle) is 26 years old.
Dan Stevens (Beast) is 34 years old.
Luke Evans (Gaston) is 37 years old.

Conversely, Anne Hathaway is 34 years old. So, why are male actors allowed to be a little bit older in comparison to their female counterparts? If Anne Hathaway was indeed cast as Belle, then her age wouldn't be as much of an issue considering Dan Stevens and Luke Evans' ages.

Conducting further research, I found that this view that actresses can only play certain roles within a certain age range is commonly held in Hollywood: https://www.theguardian.com/film/sh...ing-decisions-witches-to-impossible-mums-imdb

So why is it that female actresses are more limited to the roles they can pursue compared to male actors?

 

[Sunster]

dat gender inequality. it'll git yuh.

 

[Jaeger]

Humans can be disgusting.

 

[Weapxn]

Welcome to Hollywood?

dat gender inequality. it'll git yuh.

 

[Zackat]

Anne Hathaway as Belle would have been amazing.


I have not seen the new Beauty and the Beast though

 

[Damon Bennet]

Also: belle is a young naïve bookworm. While there is a problem regarding actresses age and casting, I think Anne Hathaway wouldn't be fitting for a girl like belle.

 

[Veidt]

It's a horrible situation.
Hollywood also makes the men older. So you can get ridiculous shit of 34 year old men playing 'teenagers'.

 

[mnz]

Pretty much every Hollywood movie is like that. Gosling is 8 years older than Emma Stone in La La Land. Chris Pratt is 11 years older than Jennifer Lawrence in Passengers etc etc

edit: Oh yeah, Oblivion...20 years between Tom Cruise and his love interest. Pretty much the same in all his movies.

 

[Divius]

I found that both actors cast in the roles of Gaston and Beast, two of the men pining for Belle in the film, are several years older than Emma Watson.

Emma Watson (Belle) is 26 years old.
Dan Stevens (Beast) is 34 years old.
Luke Evans (Gaston) is 37 years old.

Also see: Leading Men Age, But Their Love Interests Don’t.

 

[Jenov]

-___________-

 

[Zackat]

Also see: Leading Men Age, But Their Love Interests Don’t.

yes this was the article I remember reading about this. I didn't want to add anything else until I read it again.

 

[Bruce Springsteen]

-___________-

Sean Connery's sex appeal >>>>>

 

[daffy]

So why is it that female actresses are more limited to the roles they can pursue compared to male actors?

The societal standard of beauty is much lower for women compared to men.

 

[eLGee]

Also see: Leading Men Age, But Their Love Interests Don’t.

That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age. Alright, alright, alright.

 

[Stinkles]

Because male and female ideals of beauty are driven by culture and simple genetic imperatives.

I suspect that culture has more influence than instinct or genetics, but cutlure itself may be driven by baser imperatives.

So at a super dumb, reductive, wholly unscientific level - young, nubile (that word literlly means ready or prepared for marriage) and healthy women are perceived both by (most) cultures and possibly by simple animal instincts, as more suitable for safe and successive childbirtth than older women.


Since a male of this species can continue to breed safely well into middle and even old age, the genetic imperatives are probably different too. So an older man who's healthy and fit can be perceived as a suitable breeder. And if he's wealthy to boot, then a good provider. And we see that in society too - older men with wealth and power get to define ideals by reinforcing qualities, or messaging that those qualities are desirable, they themselves possess.

But the above is ONLY meaningful if you think of attractiveness and beauty as mere genetic achievements. I think it's much more complicated than that, and in this culture, with this level of medicine and stability, you're already seeing ideals for beauty in women moving in the right (and sometimes wrong) directions - not just age, but other aesthetic aspects - weight, height, skin color, etc etc etc.

One super ugly aspect of cultural definitions of beauty is that the western fashion industry has developed a bit of a monopoly on beauty ideals, and so you're literally seeing a small group of (unfortunately usually men, but women - Anna Wintour, tons of designers too) people defining a frightening and unhelathy ideal based largely on ridiculous silhouettes that clothes look good on, and an unhealthy drive for youth above all else.

And of course we see evolutions of this in art. No coincidence that reinnaissance ideals of beauty define a kind of robust healthy look above other aspects. They still skew young though, whichgoes back to my original premise.

Kind of a cheat, since the movie was ABOUT that in some ways and leaned into it.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Very common in Hollywood. Disgusting double standard.

Also: belle is a young naïve bookworm. While there is a problem regarding actresses age and casting, I think Anne Hathaway wouldn't be fitting for a girl like belle.

Actresses can't... act?

 

[lightskintwin]

Culturally speaking, people believe Men age like Fine Wine, Women age like Bread.

 

[Septimus Prime]

Not that I don't agree that this is a problem, but didn't Anne Hathaway specifically try to distance herself from Disney stuff by doing Havoc and movies like that?

 

[Smellycat]

It is a Hollywood thing. Once you go over a certain age, you are basically blacklisted if you are a woman.

-___________-

Not the best example...she is married to a guy who is 25 years older than her

 

[shadowkat]

This has gone on for years in Hollywood. YEARS. It's horribly unfair.

 

[Even]

So why is it that female actresses are more limited to the roles they can pursue compared to male actors?

We live in a disgusting, sexist world. Besides this, women are stupid and keep accepting this kind of hummiliation instead of treating those old geezers as they deserve.

 

[Lucumo]

Conversely, Anne Hathaway is 34 years old. So, why are male actors allowed to be a little bit older in comparison to their female counterparts? If Anne Hathaway was indeed cast as Belle, then her age wouldn't be as much of an issue considering Dan Stevens and Luke Evans' ages.

According to the story, it's highly likely that the prince is at least 10 years older, so I don't really see the problem.

 

[Jenov]

It is a Hollywood thing. Once you go over a certain age, you are basically blacklisted if you are a woman.




Not the best example...she is married to a guy who is 25 years older than her

Well, Sean Connery was almost 40 years older than her in that movie, lol. And it doesn't matter that she married Douglas, the point is that Hollywood would never have a movie with those ages reversed unless it was part of the plot of the film. Double standard, sexism, etc.

 

[Anung]

The gender age gap has always been skewed heavily in one direction. Like George Clooneys married to your Kristen Stewart aged people. It's really weird especially when you have some amazing "older actresses".

 

[BajiBoxer]

Yeah, it's a problem in general, though in this particular movie it makes more sense. Bell is a young naive bookworm, as stated earlier. A type of role I think Anne Hathaway has tried to distance herself from. As for the men, Beast has been holed up in his castle for a number of years as an adult. Gaston is a drunken jackass, but it could go either way. Trying to force himself into the love life of a pretty young woman does sound like something an older bar trolling narcissist would do.

 

[kingkaiser]

Cause men age like good wine, deal with it ;-)

 

[statham]

In "The Age of Adaline" the main female star is supposed to be 102, and her boyfriend was 30.

 

[demon]

It's not always that weird considering age gaps tend to skew towards older men in real relationships. Plus it's no mystery when younger actresses are cast in movies vs older women. But yeah sometimes it's just absurd, like movies with 20-30 year age differences between.

I was watching a bit of the movie The Perfect Murder the other day, from 1998, which I've already seen a few times years back. It was the first time it occurred to me that it's a 55 year old Michael Douglas married to a 25 year old Gwyneth Paltrow. Like......what?

 

[WrenchNinja]

Edge of Tomorrow was weird to me cause Tom Cruise is like 50 but Emily Blunt was only 30.

 

[demon]

Edge of Tomorrow was weird to me cause Tom Cruise is like 50 but Emily Blunt was only 30.

But....they're not a couple in the movie. And honestly it's more unusual that a 50 year old man is a lead in an action movie. Tom Cruise is kind of an anomaly here. He'll be making action movies long after we're all dead.

 

[broncobuster]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/44/c3/b5/44c3b51462af7b36a675915a9f890af2.jpg[/IMG

-___________-[/QUOTE]

[quote="Smellycat, post: 232323936"]It is a Hollywood thing. Once you go over a certain age, you are basically blacklisted if you are a woman.




Not the best example...she is married to a guy who is 25 years older than her

[IMG]http://img.wennermedia.com/480-width/501810558_catherine-zeta-jones-michael-douglas-zoom-83ef2f3b-bd44-43a1-93b3-e721c3929e35.jpg[/IMG[/QUOTE]

Funny thing is Catherine Zeta-Jones did this one movie, blanking on the name, where she's dating the younger guy from National Treasure and that's the whole movie. As in, it's all about an older woman dating a younger guy being so weird. Trying to come up with examples of older women with younger men that's not seen as unusual, two involve Amy Adams. The list isn't very long.

The RDJ Sherlock Holmes has him paired with the something like 15 year younger Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, and the characters are implied to have a long history. And it just is.

 

[Seesaw15]

This is a well documented complaint but when it comes to these live action Disney adaptions the female leads are always going to skew younger because all the heroines are between 14-19 years old. In a re-imagining of Beauty and the Beast I could see Anne Hathaway killing it but in a frame for frame remake it wouldn't work.

As far as casting younger female actresses with older male actors (8-20 years older) I don't mind it too much because I see it reflected in reality pretty often. Speaking of Dan Stevens (34) in Legion his love interest Rachel Keller is only 24.

 

[Zepp Twofist]

Beauty and the Beast would have been better with Emmy Rossum if anyone.

 

[Sheroking]

Beauty and the Beast is a bad example because the only character whose age is more or less fixed is Belle, who is meant to be a teenager.

Not that this isn't a "thing" elsewhere, although I would say that older men/younger woman relationships are seemingly far more common in life than the inverse, so it probably isn't all a hollywood thing.

It's a horrible situation.
Hollywood also makes the men older. So you can get ridiculous shit of 34 year old men playing 'teenagers'.

I consume a lot of media. The only time I can remember a 30 year old being cast as a teenager in recent-ish history was a woman: Gabrielle Carteris on the original 90210.

Casting adults as teenagers in TV shows is actually probably not so gender based. The reason they do it is because casting actual minors is a giant pain in the ass, and sometimes the actor that is best in the role is a few older than you'd like.

 

[eot]

Emma Watson is only 26?

 

[Count Dookkake]

Even though its a fantasy movie, there has to be some plausibility.

Old guys don't go above 30 unless we have to.

 

[lightskintwin]

But....they're not a couple in the movie. And honestly it's more unusual that a 50 year old man is a lead in an action movie. Tom Cruise is kind of an anomaly here. He'll be making action movies long after we're all dead.

Taken, The Equalizer, John Wick?

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

I always thought that Belle was like 18 or 19 because the story took place in France in the 1700s and that was generally when young ladies got married and it wasn't uncommon for them to marry older men.

 

[old manatee]

Hollywood casts women up to their late 20's as high schoolers, then the next movie you see them in all of a sudden Marky Mark Wahlberg is rubbing his old face all over them. RIP Brie Larson 1989-2014

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I think Emmy Rossum would've been a better fit.

 

[Manmademan]

-___________-

an even better example USING ANNE HATHAWAY

I love this one because Hathaway was 26. Carrell was 46. The excuse was that hathaway was a 40ish year old agent that got plastic surgery.

fucking shameless

 

[gabbo]

I consume a lot of media. The only time I can remember a 30 year old being cast as a teenager in recent-ish history was a woman: Gabrielle Carteris on the original 90210.

Casting adults as teenagers in TV shows is actually probably not so gender based. The reason they do it is because casting actual minors is a giant pain in the ass, and sometimes the actor that is best in the role is a few older than you'd like.

Doesn't it have to do with them actually shwoing signs of aging a lot quicker than a show can usually accommodate? A 25 year isnt likely to hit a growth spurt playing a 16 year old, but an 16 year old could grow a foot and have a beard between seasons of a tv show (hypothetically speaking). Not to mention laws regarding minors and working in media

 

[Manmademan]

whoa brie Larson is only 27? For some reason I thought she was like in her 30s

27 is 55 in actress years. time to put them out to pasture

 

[Dreadnought]

Hathaway would have been amazing in Beauty and the Beast. Loved her in Interstellar

 

[DiscoJer]

-___________-

Of course, she also married Mike Douglas who is 25 years older. Maybe not quite in Sean Connery's range, but not that far from it, he's 40 years older.

 

[Keri]

Since a male of this species can continue to breed safely well into middle and even old age, the genetic imperatives are probably different too. So an older man who's healthy and fit can be perceived as a suitable breeder.

I mean, I understand what you're saying and it's definitely true that the process of having a child is more dangerous for older women than older men, but older men are also significantly more likely to father children with birth defects. I think you're absolutely right about the perception, but older men aren't the best candidates for "breeding" either.

 

[kswiston]

I consume a lot of media. The only time I can remember a 30 year old being cast as a teenager in recent-ish history was a woman: Gabrielle Carteris on the original 90210

For an extreme example, the actress who played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films was 40 when Chamber of Secrets was released

but older men are also significantly more likely to father children with birth defects. I think you're absolutely right about the perception, but older men aren't the best candidates for "breeding" either.

While the the risks of birth defects do increase with paternal age, the risk factors remain pretty low, and start later in life than is the case with mothers. A 45 year old mother has close to a 1 in 30 chance of conceiving a child with down syndrome, compared to 1 in 1400 in their early 20s. There's no equivalent ramp up for old males. Women already contain every egg follicle they will ever produce when they are born. Men generate millions of new sperm every day.

 

[Any Questions]

-___________-

At least the collars as cuffs are matching

Spoiler

brows and tash

 

[ryutaro's mama]

According to the story, it's highly likely that the prince is at least 10 years older, so I don't really see the problem.

The problem is, in the original, the prince had until his 21st birthday to convinced someone to willingly love him.

So is Belle supposed to be 11 in that movie by your logic? In this movie, they aged him up for some unknown reason.

 

[kswiston]

The problem is, in the original, the prince had until his 21st birthday to convinced someone to willingly love him.

So is Belle supposed to be 11 in that movie by your logic? In this movie, they aged him up for some unknown reason.

Belle was around 17 in the cartoon. Is she still supposed to be that age in the film?