A couple of weeks ago, Madonna took a tumble onstage during her performance at the Brit Awards. It was a massive hoohah, with Giorgio Armani weighing in and calling her 'difficult' after she explained that her cape (designed by Armani) hadn't come undone as it was supposed to. Now before we go any further; let me preface this by stating for the record that I'm not a Madonna fan. However, I do respect her - she's had a long and successful career in the music business.
But that's not what I'm basing this post about. To me it highlighted a massive undercurrent in today's society. Twitter was on fire with tweets about the fall moments after it happened and I saw lots of jokes in the same kind of style - some joking that some of her dancers would get fired for example - but there were a lot of people mentioning hip replacements. That got me thinking.
Madonna is 58 years of age. She is not old by any stretch of the imagination and has the fitness of a much younger woman. It annoyed me that instantly everyone was painting her as a geriatric. There seems to be a massive disconnect between older male celebrities and older female celebrities. Sean Connery is 84 years of age but most women would tell you he still has it. His last major movie role was Entrapment in 1999, where he starred opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones. He was 69. She was 30.
Let's look at another actor (just for comparison). Harrison Ford has recently been filming the latest instalment of the Star Wars franchise. He is still a fixture in Hollywood, appearing in Paranoia (2013) and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (also 2013). At the time of writing, Mr Ford is 72 years of age.
Let's contrast this with how Hollywood regards older actresses. Kristin Scott-Thomas did an interesting BBC interview recently where she talked about the lack of roles for "50-something women". Off the top of my head I can only name three older women who frequently still appear on television and in movies; Dame Judi Dench (80 years old), Dame Helen Mirren (69 years old) and Dame Maggie Smith (also 80 years old). All three of them are British.
This is a sad thing. Have you noticed this too? Or do you disagree with me? I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments.
Have a great Wednesday and I will see you again on Thursday xoxo
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