(no subject)

[fajrdrako]

I got this meme from kelex:

[01] List your top ten celebrity crushes
[02] Put all of them in ORDER of your lust for them
[03] Say which movie/show it was that hooked you
[04] Supply photos for the said stars
[05] Tag five people!

Well, I'm not going to do #5, and I don't think I can do #2. My first thought here is: I don't have any celebrity crushes. Okay, okay, you can stop laughing now. Part of the problem is: what is a celebrity? Everyone knows I fancy Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Aimery de Lusignan and Julius Caesar. And yes, I could come up with pictures of them. Mostly. Aimery didn't even make it into Kingdom of Heaven, mercifully, and I don't know of a medieval depiction of him - except on worn-down coins that give little sense of what he really looked like. And then there are the heroes I so love: Gambit, Daredevil, Batman, Nightwing, and Magneto.

But that doesn't seem to be in the spirit of the exercise.

Conversely, we also know I lust over the likes of Peter Wingfield, Michael Rosenbaum, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Jason Dohring - but do I? Not really. The beings I lust over are actually Methos, Lex Luthor, the Doctor, and Logan Eccles. Not the same at all. These are fictional beings. I don't even have much interest in the actors, comparatively. (This is true also for the female actors I adore: Nina Sosanya, Kirsten Bell, Ziyi Zhang and Gina Torres... It isn't them, really, it's their roles.)

And I've probably just named at least ten people. Okay, here's my current list. The order of the names reflects my current passions. I'll make the names links to their pictures.

Okay,

1. Methos. Played by Peter Wingfield in Highlander. Five thousand year old Immortal who'd rather hide than fight.

2. The Ninth Doctor on Doctor Who, played by Christopher Eccleston. Only nine hundred years old, he'd rather talk his way out of trouble than fight.

3. The Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who. Nine hundred and a bit, and not what's usually my type at all - so why do I love him do? I can't say, but I do.

4. Lex Luthor, played by Michael Rosenbaum on Smallville. Sexy, clever bad boy of Smallville business, who stares most charmingly into Clark Kent's eyes. It's Rosenbaum's acting style that gets me here. Vulnerable, tough, smart, and always the outcast.

5. Bodie, played by Lewis Collins in The Professionals. Ex-SAS, tough, smart-but-lazy, deeply honourable and fun to write about.

I'd go on to Logan Echolls here, but I think in the interest of gender-equality I'll talk about the girls. I don't feel the same urge to write about the characters they play, but I do love the following:

1. I suppose this is the closest to a real celebrity crust I've ever had: Cheryl Tiegs, who is not an actress but a model (though she acted in an episode of Moonlighting once). Found her in Glamour magazines of my teen years, and I still hae my collection of clippings.

2. Zoe in Firefly, played by Gina Torres.

3. Jen Yu played by Ziyi Zhang in Crouching tiger, Hidden Dragon.

4. Starbuck (Kara Thrace) played by Katee Sackhoff on Battlestar Galactica. Another case where I'd have said this person wasn't by type at all, but dammit, she must be, after all. She got under my skin.

5. Nina Sosanya, and I am using the actress's name here, not the character's, because I'm not sure whether to cite Trish on Doctor Who ("Fear Her") or Bellino in Casanova.

Comments

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I know the feeling. What is a "celebrity"? These days it seems to be anyone who appears on a reality TV show and then cashes in by selling every detail of his/her private life to the tabloids. Acclaim has been cheapened and de-coupled from real achievement and worth. I prefer my historical characters because they have done things that merit attention. And if someone is still getting attention after a few centuries, s/he is definitely worth celebrating.

[star-momma.livejournal.com]

You make a good point - when it comes to actors, I generally fall for their characters not the actors themselves. Indeed there are people like William Peterson (Gill Grissom on CSI) who I only find the least bit attractive in that one single role. There are rare occassions where I generally find the person themselves attractive for whatever reason - Ewan McGregor would be one of these cases - but by and large... it's the character. And I too have lusted after my share of men who don't even exist (Nightcrawler & Gambit high among these). I'll have to try and remember to try my hand at this one myself later :)

And definite props for the choice of Lex. Forget Clark. He may be pretty, but Lex is the reason I watch the show.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Good icon! Yes, there are certainly actors I have liked in only one role. Others - and Ewen McGregor is a good example - can bring their special attractiveness to any role, often in completely different ways.

As for Nightcrawler and Gambit - what good taste you show!

I look forward to seeing your answer for this meme.

And yes, Lex is the best reason to watch Smallville. I also love Chloe and Lionel, but Lex is the real attraction.

[star-momma.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did overlook Chloe there... she's quite fun and I hope she starts getting used a bit more effectively this season. The same goes for Lionel - he's so wonderfully slimy that the possibilities are endless. The actor even made it worth watching Law and Order: Criminal Intent last night despite the fact that I loathe Vincent D'Onfrio on it :)

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I agree also: with actors, it's the characters that appeal.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The net outcome either way is a sort of collaboration between actor, director and writer. A good actor with a bad script can't make much of his role - but he can make it a lot better than a bad actor can. Or an actor who just isn't suited to his material. I am reminded of Peter Donaldson in Much Ado About Nothing that I saw last month - he had the charm and the motions of Benedick, and of course the beautifully funny script that Shakespeare wrote, but just couldn't physically be the part. The result - I still love Benedick, but not necessarily that Benedick.

I would probably dislike Lex Luthor if he was played by anyone other than Michael Rosenbaum - I've certainly been unimpressed by other versions of the character, in movies and in comics. It was Rosenbaum who brought an interesting ambiguity and vulnerability to the role.

And just look what happens when they make Marton Csokas do a bad version of a Lusignan!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What, you mean I missed an appearance of John Glover? I'd have liked to have seen that!

Chloe is wonderful (and almost made it to my list of sexy women), but I liked her role in the fifth season less than in previous seasons, which has somewhat lessened my adoration. She seems to be missing some quality she used to have - warmth, perhaps?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Another thing about celebrities these days is that I haven't the faintest idea who they are. There are major stars whom I've only ever seen on the covers of magazines in the grocery store. I watched a bit of the pre-show show for the Emmy Awards this year (at a friend's place) and the only celebrities I recognized - or knew who they were - were Hugh Laurie and Sandra Oh. Even when we saw some of the women from Grey's Anatomy, where I've actually seen the show, I didn't recognize anyone.

And generally speaking, the thing that makes celebrities 'worth celebrating' is not their character, but their beauty. Beauty has its place - and we have already discussed how some of our 12th cnetury people have been remembered for their beauty, which was noticed in their time. But it doesn't distract us as it would their contemporaries, and it does distract us with the people of our time - we are seeing the image. In the case of an actor (or model), we are also seeing their life's work, and that factors into it all - whether they are attractive or not.

And this at some point comes down to interesting comparisons in personal taste, which I always find interesting to discuss. or instance, while other people in my flist are enthusing over how attractive Gale Harold is on "Vanished", I find him exceedingly unattractive in terms of looks, though I like the character he plays in everything but looks. I have similar negative reactions to, say, Paul Bettany, whom everyone else finds attractive.

I don't think there are conclusions to be drawn, but I do love seeing the... the fluidity and variety of human reactions to human aesthetics.

And of course, if I'm talking about comic book characters, a lot depends on the artists depicting them. But since the artists change all the time, what we have to go by is the character and his style - a sort of template of a person around which the comic's creators build an illusion.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

What I meant was, I'm generally not interested in the actors as themselves, it's seeing them in the roles where the appeal lies.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, agreed. It always depends primarily on the role. But not exclusively, since I am sure I am not going to like Paul Bettany in any role at all.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Beauty has its place - and we have already discussed how some of our 12th century people have been remembered for their beauty, which was noticed in their time. But it doesn't distract us as it would their contemporaries, and it does distract us with the people of our time - we are seeing the image.

Yes. There are a number of characters I've taken to without knowing what they look like. In one or 2 cases (18C) I've found portraits later, and because I already like the person, I take to his/her appearance.

Re: the contemporary celebrity æsthetic:
I find it deeply disturbing that the thinner a woman is, the more "celebrated" she becomes. And since thin women do not tend to have natural curves, they have implants & c, so, increasingly, the version of female 'beauty' peddled by the magazines is a distorted construct. In the past, distortions of form were done with clothing, not surgery. It seems to me that there is something deeply unhealthy about an aesthetic based on silicone, botox, collagen, fake tan and eating disorders. Some of these women were pleasant-looking to start with; they have since been 'styled' into something freakish the more 'famous' they have become.

[star-momma.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if what's missing falls entirely on the actress. Let's face it - she hasn't had anything to DO most of the season except have a few scattered conversations with Clark. Considering she's the only friend in the know about who he is, that seems more than a little weak. She should be able to be part of the action, get in there a little more... though, honestly, most of the season was a wash for me anyway, and I still think it would have been more interesting for the plot all around had they killed Lana instead of Jonathan. :shrug:

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if what's missing falls entirely on the actress.

Oh, no - she's done nothing but become more mature. No, the problem is with plots and scripts, and Chloe's role in the show has changed somewhat, especially with regard to Clark.

it would have been more interesting for the plot all around had they killed Lana instead of Jonathan.

My goodness, that is so true!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

OH, I agree completely. That's one reason I tend to find male actors more attractive/intersting than female actors - they look more natural. After cosmetic surgery, or with excessive body-sculpting for fashion, women tend to look unnatural and there less - to my eyes - attractive.

It also tends to make women on television look alike - whatever the fashionable look is in any given season - another reason I have trouble recognizing them ouside their roles.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

- Although I think now there's also a tendency for young men to be pressured to conform to a particular 'worked-out' look, too.
A lot of the young folk - of both sexes - are pretty much interchangeable and indistinguishable.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think that on the whole I gravitate to those with less fashionable looks. When I can find them!

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't know about celebrities. Dead historical people, yes.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

We should maybe do our own lists on the ten sexiest dead historical people. It would be fun - but difficult to stop at ten!

Maybe I should take this as a challenge.

Or pick the sexiest person per century for ten centuries.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

There you go!