CONFESSIONS OF A 50-YEAR OLD MOVIE LOVER
---------------------------------------------------“Along with most of America, I love going to the movies: it’s my favorite form of escape. I’ve been watching movies for quite some time since I recently turned 50 and have been watching movies for almost as many years. Recently, I have found myself drawn more and more to French films and repelled more and more by Hollywood offerings because of the way women are portrayed.
Kathy Bates in “About Schmidt” comes to mind as the female image of women over 50 as seen by Hollywood. Charlotte Rampling in “Sous le sable “ (Under the Sand) or Nathalie Baye in “Une Liaison pornographique” are the French version of what it is to be 50 . Both women are intelligent, complex, trim and sexually desirable. Catherine Deneuve and Fanny Ardant are two other actresses who have been in films for over 20 years and are still playing attractive, strong female leads.
In most of the Hollywood films I’ve seen, the men my age are paired up with women 25 years younger. It’s as though a somewhat lined face would send Hollywood executives screaming for cover. I’m pleased that the French don’t feel the same way and that they continue to produce intelligent films with intelligent women of all ages.”
-Denise La Barre, 50
High School French Teacher