Jessica Alba Doesn't Dress For Men Anymore
In case you were wondering how Jessica Alba felt about her early movie career, she felt objectified by men. Yeah, appearing in a bikini in every movie will do that to you.
Jessica - But, it's a movie about 20 funerals.
Director- Yeah, I know. I think you showing up in a bikini at each one will make the movie more surreal. Don't worry I will shoot it artistically. Don't even worry about the hose spraying water in you.
In an interview with Marie Claire, Jessica says that from the time of Dark Angel she was made a sex object and she didn't like it. I'm not saying she wasn't, but I'm also saying that she could have turned down the role of Dark Angel. She also said that at red carpet events she felt like she was being objectified. I don't get that part. She chose the outfits. She chose how to pose. How did that make her feel objectified? Aren't all people who walk red carpets objects? What about posing in Marie Claire? Not objectified?
Now she says she dresses for herself and that she feels sexy after having two kids and she never felt sexy before. I think that is great and it sounds like she is really growing up and realizing all shapes and sizes and ages are sexy. Now if she could do something about the acting.
I can imagine that producers pushed her to look a certain way on the red carpet. It might not have been completely her decision.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we keep talking about how all of these young girls are used/victimized/allow themselves to be used. This may not necessarily be that different. She kept up the status quo to further her career.
I know James Cameron made her loose a lot of weight from her already thin frame for Dark Angel, anyway she seems to be a good attentive mother...
ReplyDeleteBut her choice of husbands is questionable.
Boo-freaking-hoo. Alba certainly took the money she was offered for the projects in question. For her to be crying now over having felt "objectified" sounds to me like nothing more than an exercise in self-pity.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to like her.
ReplyDelete^me, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but to a certain degree being objectified is a huge part of being an actress or an actor. I know she was young when she began, but if I know this, surely Alba did, too. Also, the worse an actress is, the more the "sexy" factor has to be amplified. Alba is not a good actress. If she wants to keep cashing paychecks for movies and/or tv, she better hope that the "objectification" continues. I'd bet that most of us would be willing to be thought of as a "sex object" for a few years for the very generous compensation that she has received for her work. If she didn't like it, she could have quit acting and found another profession. She needs to quit whining.
ReplyDeleteits sad that all women in hollywood are pushed to be thin and pretty, with big boobs of course. men don't have nearly the kind of pressure that women do to conform to a physical norm.
ReplyDeleteher choice would have been as follows: either do as I say, or we'll get another actress.
that's hardly a choice.
so I'm glad she's speaking out. and maybe she sucks as an actress, but most movies suck, so whats the difference. its not like she's trying to do shakespeare.
gosh Jessica, I make $80 an hour working from home! On my computer! Just go to this website so you too can....
ReplyDeleteOh fuck off, Jessica Alba. Everything makes this chick miserable. Except child-rearing and starting a website selling ridiculos, expensive things, all designed to make you feel like you're not doing enough for your children.
ReplyDeleteYou took the jobs. I remember watching an interview with her on Canada AM. The interviewer asked her about her new movie and how it required a lot of her physically. She turned total bitch, rolled her eyes and said, "oh what, because of my body." Ever the professional (Seamus O'Regan), the interviewer said, "no, I meant you did a lot of your own stunts." Then she went back to smily. Ugh.
What was the movie where she was in a bikini for most of it (don't feel like checking IMDB)? Did she read the script? What did she think she'd wear? Mormon vestments?
And I would argue men have it bad too, they just don't talk about it. Some actors have ridiculously sculpted muscles that can't be easy to maintain.
I applaud anyone who is speaking out now, especially Himmmmmmmm. I hope this encourages more actors and actresses to speak up and speak out. It's the only way to change things. All the perpetrators depend on the secrets being kept.
ReplyDeleteAlba does seem to be a good mom. And maybe her choice of husband is better than we think too.
@anita_mark, I think actors have it pretty bad now, too. Historically, they've had it easier, but in the last 10 or 12 years that has drastically changed. The superhero movies require them to have insanely sculpted bodies. They may actually have it worse than women. They can't have plastic surgery to get those muscles. True, actresses feel like they have to starve themselves, but actors have to follow strict diets AND lift weights for hours a day.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Kitsch was on Ellen yesterday, and every time they showed a shot of him where his muscles looked ripped, he kept saying it was CGI. So while actors do work out, not all those ripped muscles you see in super hero movies are real, they enhance them.
DeleteIn the picture above the story it looks like she's holding her severed head in her right hand. And as far as the objectified claim, the reason stars are called romantic leads in the industry is because people in the audience want to have sex with them. It has always been that way. If the audience doesn't want to imagine sleeping with you, you get to be a character actor or actress. Complaining about people finding you attractive in a field where being attractive is a major part of the selection of who gets the lead roles is disingenuous.
ReplyDeleteI do not like her. Never have, never will. That's all.
ReplyDeleteIf you cannot act, don't be an actress. If you insist on being an actress when you cannot act, you have to be willing to be objectified (see: Megan Fox). I know that girls are exploited, but they also use their looks and body to get opportunities they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. If Jessica Alba thought she was going to make it as an actress using her acting talent alone, she's delusional. She's a terrible actress. Just awful.
ReplyDeleteAgree with anita and RJ - men are unnaturally ripped now. And it wasn't like that even ten years ago. I have to explain to my boys that real dudes don't walk around looking like that. They'll comment on it, which struck me as kind of weird at first.
ReplyDeleteSo, I dodged one body image bullet by having only boys, but then Hollywood goes and creates unrealistic body images for men - awesome!
And Char, never thought about muscles being CGI'ed. Thanks - I'll throw than in when my kids bring it up!
I don't care for her at all and her "acting" is flat at best. I will say though that she does seem like a good mother, at least by hollywood standards. I don't see her always having a nanny (I'm looking at you January) and I believe that her kids aren't a means of publicity (looking at you and your surrogate Beyonce). Plus at least she is smart enough, or being advised, to know that she won't be an actress forever and started her brand of products for babies and their moms.
ReplyDeleteJessica seems to have a big chip on her shoulder over her looks that comes through loud and clear in her interviews in an off putting way. I can't blame her for being unhappy and angry about it, I just wish she'd be more diplomatic about it. I'm sure she's have to put up with a lot of shit that's caused a lot of resentment.
ReplyDeleteI don't think men will ever have it worse than women in Hollywood, that becomes even more obvious when I visit various web sites. There's always tons of criticism over a certain actress/model is pretty enough, has the right clothes, but the male next to her isn't scrutinized to the same degree.
Hey Jessica. If you could act, your looks would not be your number one asset. Look at Charlize. She is one of the most beautiful women on the planet. But guess what? She gets mad respect. Why? Because she can act. Take some fucking lessons.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't the first time Alba has whined. She's complained about not being taken seriously as an actress before too.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, she has the money, power and connections to pick-up any indie script, or commission one, and act her heart out on any subject she chooses.
But she doesn't. So... objectify away folks, she deserves it.
Everytime this girl opens her mouth I wanna stick MY foot in it.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, she doesn't bother me. She started out in the business at a young age and is probably embarrassed by a few of the roles that she took or was advised to take. I'm embarrassed by a few of my life choices in my early 20's, too.
ReplyDeleteBasically, I think she is trying to be taken seriously, she just doesn't know how.
Many of ya'll have already summed it up rather nicely, so I'll only add that there seems to be this odd trend where celebs come out after having a baby saying they've never felt more sexy or more like a woman.
ReplyDeleteAnd I really really hate that statement.
It sounds nice but it underneath it really emphasizes that once you procreate only then are you most likely to feel feminine and female.
It's secretly sexist and a type of neo-traditional way to maintain the expectations and pressures around what being an acceptable women means.
And if you think I'm wrong go back and see how many times women (but never men) say that once they became a parent only then do they feel sexy or fully embraced in their gender.
ReplyDeleteWhen was the last time a new dad said he had never felt so male or sexy as he did after having kids?
Aunt Jess you made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteJessica does seem to have a chip on her shoulder. Trust me Jessica, when you are no longer as pretty as you are now you will wish to be objectified.
First off...I've never ever ever found her attractive. I never understood the whole "Jessica is hot" thing. I find many many many more actresses way prettier and sexier than her. Angie Jolie (when she was younger), CZJ when she was younger, Megan Fox, Salma Hyack, Charlize Theron....I could go on and on. Jessica was always so plain and ordinary looking. She doesn't have curves or anything that screams sexy or unique. I just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteSecond...she is a horrible actress. It's painful watching her (and Jessica Biel) trying to act. If it weren't for Jessica Alba's so called "sex" appeal and posing in bikinis, she would never have made it in the business.
RJ, so true.
ReplyDeleteJasmine that's soooo true!By the way Jessica Alba never has anything to say.She's a Hollywood cliche who will never be a good actress because she is completely shallow and devoid of self-awareness.
ReplyDeleteOh sure, make millions by being willing to not wear and do anything on camera (pole-dancing in Sin City comes to mind) and then, when you're established and have plunked out young'uns, suddenly go all "I'm not a sex object" and pose for fancy pictures next to your marble fireplace.
ReplyDeleteThis is just the stretch marks talking.
I enjoyed her in "Never Been Kissed." She is definitely not a great actress, but I think she is absolutely beautiful and she seems like she is a really good mom.
ReplyDeleteWhat woman in Hollywood isn't objectified? Isn't that what you sign up for when you are an actress?
Jasmine asked: When was the last time a new dad said he had never felt so male or sexy as he did after having kids?
ReplyDeleteThey don't word it like that. What the do say, which makes it worse, is that they feel more of a man when they have a SON.
When women speak of their own experience of feeling most "woman" in motherhood, I am not offended. They know how they feel about their own experience. When women speak of their own experience as general truth, I am offended, for exactly the reasons you said.
WUWT?
ReplyDeleteWell put~