What joy that middle-aged women like me ruled the Oscars!
Hollywood has traditionally been mercilessly harsh to its older actresses.
As the years ticked by, even the best found the plum roles that had propelled them to stardom evaporated after the first wrinkle arrived — and parts portraying women beyond their prime became few and far between.
Excruciatingly, they could only watch as their male costars enjoyed lucrative longevity — continuing to be cast in sexy leading roles long after the lines and creaking joints had set in ( think Harrison Ford, 75, Richard Gere, 68, Tom Hanks, 61) — the best a Goldie Hawn or Susan Sarandon could hope for was a star turn as a dotty aunt or well- upholstered matriarch, or perhaps a carefully lit cameo alongside a much younger actress.
But as this year’s parade of stunning over-50s on the oscars red carpet proved, those days are long gone.
And in many ways it is a more telling sign of the way women are smashing through the glass ceiling in Hollywood than any of this year’s vacuous Me Too posturing — exemplified by Snowflake- in- chief Emma watson’s questionable decision to have ‘Times Up’ (yes, she missed off the apostrophe) tattooed on her arm, referring to her hope that the ‘time’s up’ for Hollywood’s sexists. BUT
for all that saccharine solidarity, the standout political statement of the evening came not from the ranks of twenty-something starlets; but from their older, wiser and more experienced sisters.
Because it’s one thing to succeed when you have youth and beauty on your side; quite another to remain a key player after those qualities have faded, and all you have left to rely on is your talent. From Jane Fonda, a fabulous 80, to Helen Mirren, 70, via Meryl Streep, 68, and Sandra Bullock (a mere stripling at 53), it’s clear that not only do older women in Hollywood now hold real power, they do so with their heads held high.
They didn’t just own the red carpet and the awards categories (Frances Mcdormand, 60, was up against Streep and Sally Hawkins, 41, for best actress), they dominated it.
For the first time, a midlife woman like me could watch the oscars and see females of her own age putting those decades younger to shame.
And while once their appearance might have been geared to the impossible challenge of competing against the invincible advantages of youth — excessive plastic surgery, punishing exercise regimes — now there is a pride and self-assurance in looking their age naturally, albeit in a wow-not-badfor-an-old-bird kind of a way.
of them all, Mirren is the undisputed champion of this, but then she always was. She has blazed a trail for the sexy older woman relentlessly over the past decade. And in many ways she exemplifies the allure: put her against any woman half her age, and she’s the one you want to sit next to at dinner.
There is an intelligence and understanding of the world that comes with being 72, and it is the way that lights up her face, combined with her still shapely figure and wondrous bone structure that makes her the goddess she is.
Sunday night saw her on the red carpet in the simplest of blue dresses (an exquisitely cut number by Reem Acra), offset with sapphires and diamonds — and there was no one to match her.
How does a woman of 72 — and others like her — manage to outshine the youthful beauties on the red carpet, where how a person looks is the only measure of success?
The answer, of course, is wisdom and experience. The kind of class Mirren has is not something the young are naturally blessed with. That kind of elegance comes with age.
As does that other crucial ingredient in the arsenal of the older woman: confidence, something Mirren has in spades. The woman doesn’t even dye her hair, for heaven’s sake!
A decade ago Mirren would have been seen as an anomaly, but women like her are increasingly the norm. Fonda looked majestic in a white floor-length gown, its cut showing her shape to her advantage without revealing any uncomfortable flesh. laura dern — at 51, a mere child by comparison — showcased enviably toned arms in another white gown.
Eva Marie Saint, 93 — who won Best Supporting Actress for her role in on The waterfront 64 years ago — practically stole the show in a classic black dress and pearl necklace, joking that she was older than the Awards themselves.
As for Meryl Streep, she showed the world a good décolletage has no age limit, provided you do it with a degree of elegance (and a dior dress).
In all of this there is none of the aggressive vulgarity of hardy perennials such as Madonna or liz Hurley, women who spend most of their time trying far too hard to hold onto their youth and generally making fools of themselves in outfits even my 15-year- old would think twice about wearing.
what they fail to understand is that there is a dignity to being an older woman, and that just because you can still wear the same dresses you could when you were 20, it doesn’t mean you necessarily should.
It’s the difference between being a grown-up beauty; and mutton dressed as lamb. It doesn’t mean you can no longer be sexy; just that you cannot be sexy in that way.
of course, none of this comes without a price. All these women work hard to look
the way they do, with diet, exercise and, of course, a little help from all that science has to offer in ever-more-subtle treatments.
Not forgetting the stylists and make-up artists who work their magic at occasions such as the Oscars.
But no stylist or surgeon can inject character into a woman, no matter how skilled they are.
And 50 is a pivotal age for this. It’s a time when you have to decide between slipping slowly into invisibility, or making concerted and often tiresome choices that will hold back the spectre of decrepitude — and ensure that what, for many, is the best time of their lives also becomes a time when they can look their best.
What a triumph for all middleaged women that they’re finally taking centre stage.