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Saint_Genet | 3 years ago

It’s also the age of 35 year old women playing the mothers of 25 year old men

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dredmorbius|3 years ago

The Graduate (1967) featured Dustin Hoffman (aged 30) playing Ben, hooking up with Anne Bancroft, mother of Ben's girlfriend.

Bancroft was 36 at the time of release.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Graduate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Hoffman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bancroft

rasz|3 years ago

In the last 20 years more and more movies started delivering appropriate casting for f->m age gaps, mainly because of pr0n revolution and popularity of MILF trope.

American Pie 1999. Jennifer Coolidge -> Eddie Thomas = 19.

Don Jon 2013. Julianne Moore -> Joseph Gordon-Levitt = 21.

Mother Lover 2009 SNL skit is a classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0DeIqJm4vM. Patricia Clarkson -> Andy Samberg = 19. Susan Sarandon -> Justin Timberlake = 35.

The French Dispatch 2021. Frances McDormand -> Timothée Chalamet = 38.

Comare that to My Tutor 1983 where 8 year difference was still seen risque.

ChuckNorris89|3 years ago

>It’s also the age of 35 year old women playing the mothers of 25 year old men

Its my gripe with the latest Dune adaptation. No way that actress was old enough to be Paul's mom unless she had him when she was 6 years old. She looked more like his siter than his mother.

It bugs me when they don't have age apropriate family members with such obviously wide age gaps.

beezlebroxxxxxx|3 years ago

I understand your complaint in the larger context of popular culture. But in the context of Dune, which takes place 1000s of years in the future, and in which there exist a genetically manipulating pseudo-cult group of witches/spies who are desperately seeking the ascendancy of humankind to a higher plane of existence, it is slightly more reasonable that Jessica Atreides looks the way she does, as a hyper attractive concubine that was intended (you might say "designed") to eventually develop the bloodline of a pseudo-god. But that also only really makes sense if you're invested in the narrative.

The real kicker is that Paul probably should have looked younger. In the novel, he arrives on Arrakis when he is 15.

samatman|3 years ago

This is the basic problem with adapting Dune. It has absolute loads of worldbuilding, and tells a reasonably complex plot at the same time. It doesn't matter how many times it's adapted, the viewer is just going to have a better time if they have read the book.

Jessica is a Bene Gesserit, they are explicitly noted to stay youthful in appearance and live a long time. This is one of many hundreds of details that just have to be shown, there's no time to explain them.

antisthenes|3 years ago

> No way that actress was old enough to be Paul's mom unless she had him when she was 6 years old.

If you know anything about Dune's lore, you would know why this is the case. The movie absolutely does not go into enough detail about this or explain the abilities of Bene Gesserit.

In fact, I don't think it does it at all.

saiya-jin|3 years ago

Well there is only 12 years age difference between actors, but Chalamet looks 15-17 all the time. Maybe creators wanted to emphasize strict gene selection happening behind curtains, and people in year 10,191 have better healthcare/skincare on position of queen.

Never met 40+ woman who looked as if she just finished university? Smooth skin, no moles or wrinkles, energetic. Genes + upkeep + generally healthy lifestyle + good sleep. And probably no kids.

Its not outrageous to have 15 year old son and looking very fine, plenty of world even in 2022 start having kids before/at 20. Look at all the photos of young moms from Ukraine escaping, often almost teenagers around young mom, in age that here where I live local women start thinking about having a child.

Saint_Genet|3 years ago

This is vey much what I had in mind, I think Rebecca Ferguson is like 12 years older than Timothée Chalamet

goto11|3 years ago

This is not a new trend though. In Lawrence Oliviers Hamlet from 1948, Hamlets mother is played by an actress which is 10 years younger than Olivier.

The article shows a graph of the age gap between leads, and it shows it slightly narrowing, while both men an women stars are getting older on average.

WalterBright|3 years ago

That's nothing new.

Saint_Genet|3 years ago

But neither is older actors. People like Cary Grant, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford played hunks well into their 50s

ajsnigrutin|3 years ago

Yep, and the reverse also... 35+yo people playing highscoolers was the norm.

I mean, i guess it's kinda hard to film scenes not-in-chronological-order with a teenager who visibly changes during the filming, but it's not an impossible thing to do.

hawski|3 years ago

That reminds me about Laila Lockhart Kraner from Netflix's "Gabby's Dollhouse" is presumably in her early 20s. She plays an 11 year old.

MisterBastahrd|3 years ago

Now do the actors of Beverly Hills 90210. When the show started, Ian Ziering was 26. Jason Priestly was 21. Lukey Perry was 24. Gabrielle Carteris was 29. Shannon Doherty was 23.

BurningFrog|3 years ago

Tried to look it up, but she's kept her age secret.

I'm surprised that works in 2022!

mgkimsal|3 years ago

Google showing she's 26 or 27?

rasz|3 years ago

also 55 mothers of 45 year olds (The Northman)