MovieChat Forums > Histoire de Marie et Julien (2003) Discussion > Beautiful woman - ugly man, what is up?

Beautiful woman - ugly man, what is up?


What is up with the French that they always have these incredibly beautiful women hooked up with these dog-faced, old farts? Give me a break! Young women want a young man, not some dusty old fart. Believe me, it would be nice to buy into that fable, as I am now 43 and still attracted to young, beautiful women, but it is a fantasy.

I realize that some young women like older men, for the security, or maturity or simply because they are attracted to older men, but the percentage (I'm sure) is very small, especially when compared to the number found in French movies.

It is a conceit and a fantasy that is not uncommon in Hollywood either, with movies such as Shopgirl and Entrapment. And maybe young women are attracted to *certain* older men, but it isn't because they are older, but rather because they are Sean Connery or Al Pacino, attractive at any age.

It would be like saying that I was attracted to Natalie Wood (when I was a teenager) because I was attracted to older women, when instead I was attracted to her because she was beautiful, and always had been.

I've seen most of Emmanuelle Beart's movies and it is astonishing how many older guys she has been with. If it were all real, I would assume that she had some kind of hang-up, like her father was killed when she was young or she had a sneaky uncle.

It makes me feel very embarrassed to be a 43-year-old man, as if we need this conceit to made us feel validated; a very puerile fantasy to our own aging masculinity. It is also very insulting to women our age, still very beautiful at that age (maybe more so) and deserving of the attention.

It just seems very juvenile and lecherous and it sends a message that we are vain beyond all comprehension.

"...nothing is left of me, each time I see her..." - Catullus

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Beart was 40 when that film was made! She has aged very well. As far as the guy being ugly, she actually, in reality, went out with Daniel Auteuil for years (he is also 13 years older than her).

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I'm 28, I'm female, and I don't think Jerzy Radziwilowicz is ugly at all--very much on the contrary!
But then again, maybe that's because I saw him in his prime in Andrzej Wajda's "Man of Marble".

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