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HEPBURN
April 5, 2019
January 15, 2022
On reddit's /r/kdrama, there was someone
complaining about the pairing of a
young woman with in an older man, as in GOBLIN_AGE
the popular Korean Drama "The Goblin".
I was saying something like "You know, the
strong objections to things like this in the Mores change now and then, but
US are a fairly new phenomena, developing in *some* areas, we like to
over the last 50 years or so. Think about forget that the change has
all those Audrey Hepburn movies." happened, and pretend
it's always been that way.
The woman I was talking to-- clearly much
younger than I-- responded with a shot like:
"Not sure why you're bringing up Audrey Hepburn,
she was in movies like 'Breakfest with Tiffany's'
with problematic anti-asian stereotypes."
I had to let the subject drop at that point,
there was simply too much to say. And so, the subject has
been stuck in my brain
for years, and it's a
perfect candidate for
First off all, I take the main point I think the clearence rack.
she was trying to make: I was talking like 50
year ago is just yesterday but really that's an CLEARENCE
awkward, ambiguous time-interval-- less than a
century, but longer than a generation. Fifty
years ago the major US universities were only
just abandoning gender segregation, and the
Civil Rights Act had only just passed...
But the clearly, the main reason she wasn't
sure why I was referring to Audrey Hepburn is
that she hasn't seen a single one of her
movies. She has however, read some
politically correct blog posts circa the WHITEGHOST
ScarJo "Ghost in the Shell" controversy.
These referred to a very minor, very small part
of the movie "Breakfest at Tiffany's", which
isn't actually one of the movies I was In "Breakfest at
thinking of. (And had very little relevance Tiffany's" from 1961,
to the "Ghost in the Shell".) they have Mickey Rooney
playing a Japanese
Doing a quick run through landlord living in New
Hepburn's acting career, The film version York, and he plays it
lets start the story on of Gigi was according to the old
Broadway, with Hepburn in with Leslie Caron, stereotype of thick
the lead role of "Gigi", in not Hepburn, of glasses and buck-teeth...
which she plays an angel of course.
lost innocence opposite an This was a pretty weird
older male who remembers her No one can thing to do-- the
as a child. forget Maurice stereotype itself was
Chevalier doing already out-of-date,
the classic from the WWII era.
Then we get into her first "Thank heaven,
major film, "Roman Holiday" for little It was also a very tiny
(1953) where she keeps going girls..." comedic bit, a single,
as the Younger Woman, though very faint data-point
with the sexual tension off in an extreme
oddly muted, and the movie direction.
concludes with an unusually My theory is
delicate, unromantic, having a weak For more significant,
finish. actor like and more ambiguous,
Gregory Peck would be the Charlie
in the lead Chan movies.
This movie sticks in role helped
people's heads: I've to kill any WHITE_CHILD_SPEAKS
seen it referred to in chemistry.
*two* asian dramas in An odd case
recent years, one where less
Korean, one Japanese: turned out
to be more.
"Touch Your Heart"
(2019), with Yoo
In-Na and Gong Yoo; From wikipedia:
"Sing My Life"
(2016), with Mikako "Wyler first offered the role
Tabe. to Hollywood favorite Cary
Grant. Grant declined,
"Oh, Master" (2021) has believing he was too old to
Nana's character doing a play Hepburn's love interest,
perfume ad where she's though he played opposite her
clearly mimicing the ten years later in Charade."
Audrey Hepburn of
"Tiffany's". They threw
in a few stolen notes
from "Moonriver" into
the music.
Then, in the next year with Sabrina (1954) we
have young Hepburn playing up to the old in
spades, with a choice between William Holden Bogart was born in 1899.
and-- a big age-gap to leap across by anyone's He was 65 at that point.
standards-- Humphrey Bogart.
But then, as wikipedia
Sabrina is another excellent has it: "Forty-four
movie, with Hepburn nailing it as year old Bogart and
a spritely, innocent-but-knowing 19 year old Lauren
Cinderella. And the apparent age Bacall fell in love
gaps will make complaints about when they filmed 'To
the Goblin seem ridiculous. Have and Have Not' (1944)."
Having the young woman *know what
she's doing* is key for putting
these over: these are not old wolves
taking down passive targets.
A few years later,
in 1956, Hepburn
played Natasha in
the Hollywood version
of "War and Peace", Strangely, I've never seen this one,
another young vs despite being a fan both of the novel
old role. and of Hepburn. I see Audrey Hepburn
got top billing over Henry Fonda...
In 1957 there's yet another on the
old young-and-old theme, the
decidedly *not* recommended "Funny
Face". Here they have Audrey
Hepburn playing opposite the aging
Fred Astaire (and really he was born I've a theory that the poster
looking like he was forty...). They for this movie, with Hepburn
must've figured she could pull off dancing in black tights, was
anything, but having Astaire singing one of her biggest fashion
about *Audrey Hepburn* having a influences: this may be the
*funny face* is so ridiculous it's point of creation of the
hard to get what they were thinking. female beatnik sterotype.
BEATNIK_59
Also in 1957 (ye gods, they could work
fast back then) Hepburn was in another
excellent entry on our grand theme:
"Love in the Afternoon" where she
plays a teenager playing up to the
aging Gary Cooper.
She did several other movies at that point
that I'm unfamiliar with (a gap in my
education to rectify), before the 1961
film "Breakfast at Tiffany's", which is
decidely not on theme. Here she takes on a
man her own age for once... there are however
a number of geezers around who are strongly
interested in her welfare-- one
interpretation of this story is that she's
been getting by as a call girl.
And in 1963, we get to "Charade", where I
will stop the parade (though Hepburn
certainly didn't stop there)-- here she
plays a young, recently widowed woman
who comes on to the graying Cary Grant-- Cary Grant was one of
those guys who was
The story goes that Grant insisted on feeling pressure to
a re-write so that Hepburn's character play romantic leads
would be taking the initiative, to until he died, but he
take the edge off any charges of wasn't going there.
cradle-robbing.
He did one more
younger woman movie
("Father Goose")
with Leslie Caron
So, there's a rather long and in 1964 and then
extensive catalog of American wrapped it up with
movies along these lines, one final movie in
this is *just* a quick 1966 where he has
survey of one actresses work. a matchmaker role,
nudging the young
I could start over again tracing male and female
Cary Grant's career, just as leads together.
an example, and come up with a
number of other examples, like (It's funny to
"To Catch a Thief" (1955). note Leslie Caron
played opposite
him in "Father
Goose": a decent
actress, but
doomed to be
overshadowed by
And what I was trying to get at, Hepburn. She
the main point I was making seemed always like
(which was as usual not taken) is the substitute for
that if these Age Difference when Hepburn
Comedies are so despicable, it's wasn't available--
interesting how *popular* they e.g. that film
are, and by no means are they version of
just popular with the men in the "Gigi".)
audience...
Though it's not like most men object to them:
DREAM_OF_RENEWAL
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