She was of the same famed era/ilk as Catherine Deneuve (the only celluloid heart-throb I ever had) and Moreau was probably the better actress.Actress Jeanne Moreau, one of French cinema's biggest stars of the last 60 years, has died at the age of 89.Moreau is probably best known for her role in Francois Truffaut's 1962 new wave film Jules et Jim.
But aside from anything else, who could not mourn a sultry woman who once declared,
Physical beauty is a disgrace.
"Physical beauty is a disgrace." I can only wonder what she meant by that. Enhancement may be a choice, but fortunate birth is not. Usage may be a choice, but the response by others is not. Who is disgraced? and how? I can only wonder.
ReplyDeleteOlcharlie, my guess, from observation of how people act around very good-looking friends (I am far from magazine cover material to experience it directly) and from reflection, based on the assumption that everything in life has an upside and a downside...
ReplyDeleteJust as physical beauty may provide some advantages in social circles, it may also attract undesirable attentions. Jealousy, competition or even the more common sexual harassment. Some people may actually treat you badly for your good looks, while others can be overly nice.
You may get the attention you want, but - on the other hand - you also get more unwanted attention and it's more difficult to escape it. A bit like with celebrities... Easier to get the boy/girl/job/party you want, but it's more difficult to deal with all the extra unwanted attention.
Privacy is more often invaded. Someone at a restaurant may serve you nicer because of your looks, but may also become intrusive and may even go as far as doing it in front of a date, leaving you in very awkward and embarrasing situations. You also become more "objectified". People may not have the least interest in who you are or what you have to say, they're interested in your packaging, not the contents. They may even underestimate your intelligence.
Sure, a lot of these things happen to most of us, one moment or another, but very good looking people may have to deal with it more often and intensely. Saying physical beauty is a disgrace probably results from an overdose of those downside situations while understating the positive effects in your life, but - depending on your ability to deal with the extra attention and more sensitive situations -, I can easily see and have seen how it can be a bit of a sour gift at times.
All in all, it's probably quite good to be good-looking, just not quite as good as it looks...