Yes, Yes, Yeoh!
One is never too young — or too old — to be in his or her prime.
Worldwide, more pressure is put on women to keep up appearances— literally. When someone says “too old” — it is usually directed toward females.
When women were younger, we were usually told, “You’re too young for this or that.” Too young for makeup. Too young to aspire to be the head of a corporation. Too young to be President.
In fact Sen. Loren Legarda once told me that when a woman aspires for the presidency especially while still in middle age, she is criticized as “too ambitious” or “too much in a hurry.” But not so with men, who are praised when they reach for the summit of their political dreams even when still relatively young.
And then the hands of time race, and though many have aged gracefully even before the harsh glare of the klieg lights — Demi Moore is 60, Paulina Porizkova is 57, Cindy Crawford is 57, and Nicole Kidman is 55 — many still believe in the adage, “Youth is beauty.”
But there are several ways, whether natural, cosmetic, spiritual or surgical, to defy time. But then again, why insist on defying time? You can still be the bomb despite its passing — or even more because of its passing.
“Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you, you are ever past your prime. Never give up,” the Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh said during her acceptance speech after winning the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Indeed, Michelle, a former Bond girl, doesn’t have the same smorgasbord of choices she once had. But one of the choices that landed on her table won her the Oscar!
After moving to the United States, Yeoh gained recognition for starring in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and in Ang Lee’s martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. For her role as an overwhelmed mother navigating the multiverse in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first Asian and the second woman of color to win the award, and the first Malaysian to win an Academy Award in any category.
Yeoh’s other works include Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Sunshine (2007), and Crazy Rich Asians (2018).
But after supporting mother roles like the one she portrayed in Crazy Rich Asians, who would have thought Michelle would make world cinema history and break glass ceilings for stereotypes at age 60?
Jamie Lee Curtis is 65. Not really hot copy anymore. Not really a sought-after actress, whether lead, supporting or character. I mean, how many can be as fortunate as Meryl Streep? But Jamie Lee, the daughter of two Hollywood A-Listers, is this year’s Oscar awardee for best supporting actress.
According to harpersbazaar.com, “From Demi Moore launching her new swimwear line at 60, to Hannah Waddingham taking on Eurovision presenter duties at 49 alongside starring in the award-winning Ted Lasso, we are finally seeing an army of women — previously deemed out-of-date in the money-driven world of entertainment — stepping confidently into a new cultural relevance.
It feels so modern seeing these 40-plus women owning their success because, up until recently, they were missing in action: on screen, in books, in the boardroom or in creative pursuits. Indeed, many were simply invisible to society in general.”
*** It was a good year for so-called “minorities,” like Asians, who are at the receiving end of hate crimes in the United States.
“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that, dream big, and that dreams do come true,” Michelle also said in her speech.
Yeoh’s co-star, Vietnamese-American Ke Huy Quan, who played her husband Waywond in the film, also won as Best Supporting Actor.
Everything, Everywhere All at Once, which scored seven wins out of 11 nominations, also won Best Picture, and Best Director for Daniel Kwan.
And as pointed out in a post by Austin Hudson making the rounds of social media, it was the great comeback of the so-called has-beens.
“Brendan Fraser was told his looks were fading as a Hollywood hunk. He was a medical liability on-set. He was just a late ‘90s matinee idol. A fluff performer with a handsome face and little skill. Tonight he took home Best Actor.
“Ke Huy Quan was a child actor. As he fell further into puberty, his roles dried up. He was the little Asian dork from those ‘80s movies, not a serious actor. He went 20 years without being cast because nobody thought he had talent. Tonight he took home Best Supporting Actor.
“Sarah Polley was a high school drop-out who was living on her own at the age of 15. She worked as an actress and writer during the day, and an activist by night. She was dropped by Disney for wearing an anti-war pin to an awards show, and a few years later, had her two front teeth smashed out by a riot cop during a protest over the Canadian conservative government. She wrote tonight’s Best Adapted Screenplay.”
Indeed, never give up! Yes, yes Yeoh!