Youthanized

There are actors who are older than I am.

Courtney Cox is older than I am; Springsteen released Dancing in the Dark when I was 13.  Courtney Cox, dancing with Bruce in the video, was presumably not 13. That's because she's older than I am. 7 years older.

Her character on Cougar Town showed her driver's license in season two - she's still older than I am, but only two years older.

Her character has shaved five years from her age.  She's been youthanized.

Matthew Perry did this in Go On.  He is older than I am; his character, Ryan King, given college context clues, was younger.

Tina Fey did this in Admission; Tina Fey is older than I am - but her character had a baby in college three years after I graduated.

I don't begrudge actors their plastic surgery, but when you combine the ability to freeze their appearance in time with playing characters who shift their ages downward; someone has to call bullshit.

Because they're not just making them younger - as a consequence, they're making me older.

What was the biggest sin in the little person acting community according to Seinfeld (Jerry, you're also older than I am; just saying)?  Wearing lifts in your shoes.  It was heightening.

This is Youthanizing.  When an actor plays a character younger than the real age.  They're getting Youthanized.

Early Admission

On a recent episode of Todd Berry's podcast, Janeane Garafolo said the best day of her stint on Criminal Minds was the episode when they killed off her character.  She didn't like the show, for all the reasons that you shouldn't like those procedural shows that fill up the CBS primetime schedule.

I liked the idea of that - moments where the actor's interest and the character's interest are diametrically opposed.

Like what - like Dwight getting the Michael chair running the Scranton branch as The Office closed its run...because Rainn Wilson's spinoff wasn't picked up.  Good for character.  Bad for actor.

I'm calling this Early Admission; Glee dealt with Britney's graduating by failing her junior year (bad for the character...good for the actor) and when Heather Morris then got pregnant, she was "written out" (Matthew Morrison's own words, on Watch What Happens Live) by getting "early admission to MIT"

Early Admission; when the interests of actor/character are opposed.

Hope to Disabled Pensioners

My current favorite cultural trope is "my work gives hope to those less fortunate."

Athletes, singers, reality show contestants - you don't need to look to hard to find some type of voice for the voiceless sentiment.

On the 10th season of the UK series Celebrity Big Brother, a longtime British soap actress, Julie Goodyear, said in a diary room session that her time in the house was "giving hope to disabled pensioners."

If I ever do a podcast, Disabled Pensioners is the clubhouse leader for a title.

So - the next time you see this play out, any "I'm doing it for all the blank out there who sit at home and wish they could blank" - that's this; they're giving hope to disabled pensioners.