- 11 months ago
From uneven blame games to age gaps in on-screen romances, Hollywood's hypocrisy runs deep! Join us as we examine the glaring double standards that plague Tinseltown. Our discussion includes gender bias in action films, LGBTQIA representation, ageism affecting actresses, unrealistic beauty standards, and ethnic stereotyping in casting.
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00:00he's not your type you're overlooking one of the great things about me i don't have a type
00:06she's over 30. welcome to watchmojo and today we're discussing some of the most egregious
00:11examples of the tinseltown double standard but what about men like who who tells men when it's
00:16their last day the blame game it's become almost like this perverse waiting game the anticipation
00:25that occurs with any film that has incurred any sort of online controversy i at least have to try
00:30even if it is just a wish we collectively scan the reviews and online chatter about whether or not a
00:37movie with a ballooning budget flops or if a flick that's perceived by some as woke underperforms at
00:43the box office i was thinking the same thing however at which point do productions need to
00:48take responsibility for their poor scripts or substandard execution and when is it a case of
00:53review bombers ruining a perfectly serviceable effort for the silver screen sometimes it's about
00:58historical double standards regarding gender specifically how certain styles of movies are
01:03marketed who are you then just a fly in the ointment hans the monkey in the wrench the pain in the ass
01:10the era of the 80s action movie was great but we also no longer live in a commercial space where those
01:16kinds of hyper masculine and occasionally jingoistic films get produced on the regular so if a female
01:22fronted action movie like furiosa or the marvels fails is it because the movie wasn't up to snuff or
01:27do audiences genuinely not wish to see women be their action heroes there she is the annihilator has
01:35her it's over darben no not yet it's important to note here that older generations also had plenty
01:42of iconic women who played the action game alongside their male counterparts
01:51actors and martial artists like cynthia rothrock in the 80s or etzuko shihomi in the 70s these women
01:57and more prove that there is a market for female-led action movies as long as the movies themselves are
02:03entertaining and engaging then again neither rothrock nor shihomi were forced to battle online
02:07harassment or community-led tirades on review sites back in the day either
02:22fans from both sides love to point fingers at the end of the day whenever a movie they decided to
02:27champion that week succeeded or failed this sort of toxic behavior doesn't do any good and instead
02:33poisons what's already a very tribalistic cinephile community lgbtqia plus roles and casting we live in
02:40a much more inclusive world today than we did when actors from the lgbtqia plus communities first began
02:45making their voices heard in hollywood totally that's fine okay i'm just making sure before this
02:53it wasn't exactly uncommon for actors from outside of these spaces to win awards or accolades for portraying
02:58lgbtqia plus characters movies such as milk from 2008 saw sean penn portraying the first openly gay
03:05man to serve in california's public office elsewhere both heath ledger and jake gyllenhaal's work on
03:10brokeback mountain was the subject of both critical praise as well as humorous jabs from comedians
03:15what are we gonna do now
03:21there's nothing we can do do actors from the other side of things receive the same opportunities however
03:27or are lgbtqia plus actors typecast and hamstrung into playing roles that lean into stereotypes
03:33you want to come over for dinner tonight uh i wish but my dad wants to have like a capital f
03:39capital b family dinner which is weird because it's literally just me and him eating dinner together
03:44like every single night it's a valid question that's getting asked more every day but also
03:48one that we might not need to ask forever 2023's evil dead rise for example included morgan
03:54davies within its cast a trans actor who took on the role of danny yet neither gender nor sexuality
04:00are mentioned within the film's actual story normalizing the casting decision while also
04:04allowing for davis's performance to speak for itself i don't like this dan you need to put it back
04:09right now mom's not letting any of us out the front door again tonight first thing in the morning then
04:16promise me this is a far cry from films such as partners from 1982 which leaned heavily into gay
04:22stereotypes within its odd couple buddy cop dynamic still although we may no longer be living during
04:28a time when this sort of screenplay would be considered a good idea it's also important to
04:32note how the fight for continued and equal on-screen representation remains ongoing and valid what time
04:38you get off i beg your pardon i said what time you get off work one o'clock i'll be waiting for you
04:44outside at one okay okay roles for aging actors it's one of the oldest pitfalls for actors from
04:52every generation but it falls particularly hard on female actors what nothing you stick out like
04:58a sore thumb around here me what about you i fit in better than you at least i'm wearing cowboy boots
05:06oh yeah you blend specifically how a performer might graduate from earning ingenue roles to girlfriend
05:12roles before finally enjoying those golden years portraying moms and grandmothers this sort of career
05:17arc doesn't happen to every actor of course but there is a legitimate conversation to be had about
05:22ageism in hollywood and how thankless many roles are for actors that reach a certain age look around you
05:28this is what we do we help people this is what's best for them trust me comedian amy schumer lampooned
05:37this idea brilliantly on her comedy central show inside amy schumer alongside some famous friends hi are you
05:44lost um i'm i'm sorry i just i love all of you i can't i can't believe you're here you're like
05:52literally my heroes the sight of schumer tina fey patricia arquette and julia louis dreyfus on this
05:58tolkien-esque journey to the land where they're no longer seen as sexually desirable speaks to the
06:02battles many female actors are required to fight as they age sure we all may know that there are no
06:08small parts but we also know that hollywood loves to cast hot people while they're at their hottest well is
06:13there anything you can do to delay it yeah i mean you can try but only makes it worse like those real
06:19housewives they try to look young but then they end up looking like a purse that melted in a car
06:23accident yeah they're also not required to cast them when that steam heat dissipates and floats away
06:29there have been some actors who have managed to maintain relevance while continuing to deliver
06:33quality performances within their craft we're sorry ma'am
06:41so am i
06:46harry had discovered me
06:51he was gonna put me in a movie he was making in hong kong jessica lang for example was cast as
06:56the gorgeous young starlet dwan in the 1976 king kong but she was never defined by this role
07:02taylioni's career has certainly contained meatier roles than the one she had in michael bay's bad
07:07boys and there's absolutely nobody who's going to argue against meryl streep as one of the all-time
07:11acting goats yet the latter had actually auditioned for the aforementioned king kong role that
07:16eventually went to jessica lang the reason why streep didn't get that part she was told that she was
07:21quote too ugly i walked in and and his son was sitting there very excited that he brought in this
07:28new actress and the father said to his son in italian because i understand italian he said
07:36you know why do you bring me this ugly thing
07:39yeah very sobering
07:44beauty standards versus botox celebrities can usually be relied upon to say a lot of encouraging things to
07:49their fans or to emphasize well-intentioned sentiments concerning individualism we aren't born
07:56with these insecurities we are told to be insecure about certain things be yourself love who you are
08:04these are all great ideas but it's easier said than done for most people additionally not everybody wants
08:09to hear these sorts of sentiments from picture perfect hollywood stars those who just might have
08:14access to plenty of beauty regimens personal trainers and yes botox it's a lot easier to take care of
08:20oneself when you have the financial means to do so right it's important to protect your skin to be
08:27clear we realize that for most celebrity doesn't occur overnight there's usually some sort of journey
08:33from the bottom to the top and it's also painfully obvious when a certain actor has undergone some sort
08:38of procedure to alter their appearance fixing one's teeth is usually one of the first steps taken to
08:43this end as an actor's life rises from minor parts to major roles your smile is everything it's the
08:49first thing people see when when they talk to you it gets you that better job it gets you that better
08:54date get better acting jobs we also perhaps unfortunately no longer live in the climate inhabited by
09:00former hollywood a-listers actors such as charles bronson could still be considered major movie stars
09:05despite possessing real looking faces that appeared carved out of granite elsewhere many normal
09:11looking performers are relegated to character status with true leading roles never really winding up
09:16in the cards so why should we hold our beauty standards to the inherent artifice of hollywood
09:21maybe we'd be better off ignoring their beauty tips and actually treat being oneself as a true
09:26mantra rather than mere lip service what a gorgeous little angel roll stereotyping
09:35it's an ongoing and fluid struggle as hollywood's landscape of diversity and inclusion continues
09:40to adapt against criticism that's evidence of racial discrimination did you notice that our
09:45waitress was black and black women don't think in stereotypes roles in the modern day are now being
09:50made available to a wider net of potential actors than ever before in hollywood's history yet at the
09:55same time a growing clamor remains prevalent within certain corners of the internet and it's getting
10:00increasingly loud all the time if an actor from a certain ethnic group takes on a certain role
10:05is that actor then required to lean into cultural stereotypes or should they course correct how
10:10are they different they're chinese i'm chinese i'm so chinese i'm an economics professor with lactose
10:17intolerance yeah but you grew up here what about if a stereotypical performance actually makes sense for
10:32the hypothetical actor in question would it then be disingenuous it's the opinions from these affected
10:37groups that ultimately bring up questions of outrage or acceptance should an asian actor portraying a
10:43jedi in the star wars universe for example lean into those well-worn stereotypes of wise and sage teachers
10:49connect to the force have faith think of diving into a great ocean give yourselves over to its weight
11:01its stillness its uncertainty or should latin american actors give into their temptations to give
11:08passionate fiery performances even at the risk of alienating those who might see such performances as
11:14reductive or culturally insensitive we realize that we're asking a lot of questions here and there
11:19truly isn't a place where the answers come easy are you okay yeah no i don't know there's a lot of
11:28pushback sometimes with regards to the validity of criticism in these spaces particularly if said critic
11:33doesn't happen to come from a similar ethnic or socio-economic background it might all depend
11:38upon how seriously one takes cinema as an art form and how much time that same person is willing to
11:43spend discussing the pros and cons of role stereotyping since when is ocd a black thing
11:49hey please don't say a thing like that before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring
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12:05on-screen age gaps for couples this hollywood double standard is perhaps the most obvious one discussed
12:12here today it isn't solely the product of yesteryear either since many modern movies still feature this
12:17confusing trope within their cast darren aronofsky's mother for example starred jennifer lawrence alongside
12:23javier bardem as a married couple perfect you didn't need to do all of this i wanted to this was despite
12:30an over 20 year age gap between the actors the on-screen age gap for couples is one that usually
12:36but not always occurs in favor of the male actor within the production this double standard could very
12:41easily be seen as a product of the male gaze of a certain beauty standard being offered up as a
12:46counterpoint or even a prize to a film's leading man does it get easier no yes it gets easier oh yeah
13:00it's nothing new either since this idea of an aging man becoming distinguished while an aging woman
13:06simply becoming old has been with us as a society for decades these age gaps are also not always
13:12mentioned within the film's creative narrative at least when it comes to the men i have absolutely
13:17no reason to believe a word you've told me but you want to granted the image of a skirt chasing lothario
13:23does exist one that definitely points out certain on-screen age gaps in a comedic way or in a manner
13:28that shows the male protagonist as being emotionally immature but the sight of a may-december hollywood
13:33couple existing in the opposite direction is noticeably rarer and is usually done to depict the
13:38female characters as retaining some kind of boy toy i hung out at dave and buster's near the dance
13:44dance revolution game how did it go great i met toshiro a 19 year old from the island of japan
13:53how's that going he's smart very focused in bed and unfortunately looks better in my skinny jeans
13:58than i do fictional hollywood couples of today enjoy a much wider array of creative options for
14:03their characters but it's important to remember how so many of these double standards are still very
14:08much in our recent rear view and how we can hopefully learn from them making the necessary
14:13changes in the future it just so happens my dear that women of a certain age don't date me
14:19do you think of it that way no it's always me what are some other double standards you see in
14:25either casting or creative storytelling let us know in the comments i know that this situation isn't ideal
14:30but it is actually nice having people on board again
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