Some instant reader feedback to my post, and responses:
Jonah,
I loved your post on beautiful actors playing roles meant for ugly people.
My favorite thing is when the director tries to compensate by having the Smoking Hot Woman wear glasses. This always leads to the big reveal, halfway through the movie, when the glasses come off and we realize that — WHOA! — that frumpy-looking librarian played by Jennifer Aniston is surprisingly hot!
Yes, this is a particularly acute problem in that I think attractive women are more attractive in glasses. Maybe I have a naughty librarian fetish. By the way, Not Another Teen Movie has a whole riff on the glasses-as-camo thing. In fairness, Clark Kent started it.
From another reader:
Jonah-
Loved your note on Hollywood’s idea of the sort of people who have trouble finding dates, etc.
The movie “Waitress” (don’t bother renting it) was another perfect example of this phenomenon. It stars Keri Russell as a pie-baking waitress in an unhappy marriage who has an affair with a doctor. In one scene, the doctor tells her he thinks she is pretty. She seems almost startled, and, with eyes welling up, responds that “nobody has ever told me that.”
Seriously? Keri Russell is so pretty she is almost hard to look at, but not only did she have to “settle” in her marriage, nobody has ever even told her she is pretty?
You nailed it, but you probably didn’t even need help from the Couch on this one.
Tim
PS Extra credit if you got the reference in my subject line…
Re: The PS: Mad TV. Scoop of Chocolate, Scoop of Vanilla.
Last, several readers object to my line about Fillipino midgets. They point me to this guy: