I went to see Watchmen tonight with a bunch of friends, of whom I was the only one who hadn’t read the comic. Afterwards, one of the twenty-somethings commented on the casting and said, “They were all supposed to be in their forties but no one looked it.”
To which I replied, “As someone in their forties, I think they all looked my age. [1. Except Lorie, who looked sixteen] They just don’t look OLD.”
I wonder what image they have in their head for a person in their 40s.
I’ve been noticing, now that I’m approaching 50, how people in their 40s are portrayed in the movies, especially older movies. In any particular movie where you can make an educated guess about the lead characters’ ages, say when you are told they married young (before age 25) and had children right away, and then their oldest child is getting married (at around age 20), these purportedly-45-year-old people are protrayed as completely gray-haired and a bit tired and feeble (they move like their joints hurt, and slower than young people do). Usually their voices go all “granny” too. They are portrayed as if they were a generation older than they are! As if they were in their 60s instead of their 40s.
I don’t think forty has to look old, but I can see why people would say that about Watchmen. That said, I don’t think you look even close to forty, Mary. I don’t say that to flatter, but you’re just one of those people who’s lucky enough to have a ageless but youthful appearance.