On Showbiz’s Rebirth of the ‘Silver Vixen’
If you’ve ever been fond of the occasional period drama, you’ll know that the shelf life of a woman in her prime was a short one back in the day. Even though I'm not 27 yet, already I’ve got no money and no prospects. I truly hope I’m not a burden to my parents but regardless, I’m definitely frightened. For centuries, once a woman had past her peak, she might as well keel over then and there, and the Hollywood canon has made little effort to change this. Sexism in the industry has never been a mystery and aligns itself with ageism: It comes as no surprise that while Brad Pitt is able to get gigs that still pass him off as a heart throb, even after last year’s allegations of abuse, on-screen legends like Geena Davis haven’t seen a leading role since the 90s.
That said, this year’s cocktail of distinguished talent leans so much more to the older woman, it’s almost nostalgic. I’m going feral for the Jennifer Coolidge renaissance; Jamie Lee Curtis is finally getting her dues and Angela Bassett did the thing. UP THE (OLDER) WOMEN, we seem to be chanting from our keyboards, long live the Silver Vixen!
The figurehead for this obsession with actresses over thirty could not be anyone else other than the legendary Miss Coolidge. Dubbed the role to kick off her second career, her time as the comically tragic Tanya in both seasons of The White Lotus is kitschy and garish, toying with the stereotypes assigned to women over a certain age. She’s sexy, of course, and starched in emotional depth, but also made ridiculous with Coolidge’s calling card style - all the ditz and too much glamour. The key to keeping your power when you’re considered “past it” lies in what comes naturally to Coolidge: Being as fab, glitzy and camp as possible.
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But let’s turn a look to the cult villains of recent horror flicks - Barbarian (2022), It Follows (2018) and X (2021) - the withered old woman. Doddering about all bones, wispy hair and usually naked (for some reason), the picture of decay that is the drooping Grandmother is somehow still the thing that male directors fear the most. She does not slay - at least not metaphorically. She does not enhance herself and she does not play up to the part of the ‘older woman’ for the cameras - for whatever reason, her suffering is seen to make her scary.
By the gummy slick pages of hairdresser magazines, we’re still being told that ‘50 is the new 40’/’40 is the new 30.’ What we’re being packaged is an illusion of celebrating age that in actuality is just the lingering implication that power still lives only in youth. Kate Winslet in 2020 may have told Lancôme to keep her wrinkles in her advert, but what she was still promoting was their Youth Activating Serum. What is the point of flogging anti-aging products, whilst pedalling that women shouldn’t actually need it? I’m sure the average 40-something would love to look like Kate, but brand deals don’t exist for the every woman and the Cost of Living doesn’t really account for overpriced skincare. Surely this idea that the 21st century middle-aged woman should still look like a millennial feels almost like a copout?
To be a trending older woman, it seems you’re expected to be living this extra slither of shelf life to its fullest; to be enjoying life in spite of the associated misery of being an ageing woman. To be bitter, angry or resentful of this treatment will get you cut out of the club, and in the space of just one awards show, it seems Angela Basset has found herself to be the newest Ex-Member. Unresponsive in her Oscar thumbnail to Jamie Lee Curtis’ Supporting Actress win, Basset’s cold reaction has been pulled up online and slammed for its lack of alignment with women-supporting-women. But aren’t hard working women allowed to be a little miffed when their efforts go unrecognised?
Basset’s criticism comes alongside Paul Mescal’s similar unresponsive look to losing Best Actor, but we aren’t seeing him being dragged as a bad sport. Instead, his face later took over Twitter for its awkward gurn over Avatar’s prematurely cut-off winning speech— he may have been showing what we were all thinking but to have this reaction filmed and come off scot-free really rubs off from his privilege as an actor; as a man. Sitting forefront in this clip was the gleam of Michelle Yeoh, who instead takes to the cringe with a fittingly graceful sigh, (the reaction “expected” of an established, figurehead actress) and the disparate expectations between two people supposedly being accoladed at the same awards ceremony really puts it all in perspective.
“Loved more so in concept than reality, what will it take to break the conflict between body positivity and this societal repel towards ageing? “
They are either empowering yasss queen slay icons or sour old trouts: The middle aged actress can never seem to win. Loved more so in concept than reality, what will it take to break the conflict between body positivity and this societal repel towards ageing? Somebody get Helen Mirren— we need her to read out an Oscar naked.
Words: Mia Roe
