Do you remember The Golden Girls? Of course you do. It was a blur of sex and menopause jokes, wrapped in pastel polyester and propped up by shoulder pads. It started in 1985, and the actresses were, at the time:
Bea Arthur (Dorothy): 63
Betty White (Rose): 63
Estelle Getty (Sophia): 62
Rue McClanahan (Blanche): 51. FIFTY ONE!!
Here are people who could do a revival, based on these ages:
Meryl Streep (she's 65)
Goldie Hawn (69!)
Susan Sarandon (68)
Sheryl Crow (52)
And there's more... These lovely women are also in the Golden Girls demographic:
Lisa Kudrow is 51. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is 54! Courteney Cox is FIFTY, y'all.
Sharon Stone is 56.
Annette Bening 56
Juliane Moore 54
Kirstie Alley 64
Jane Seymour 64
I mean, COME ON! Women in their 50s and 60s look completely different than they did just a generation ago. I'm sure some older women in the 80s were stylin', but the TV versions were pretty out there. Even Joan Collins, who was in her 50s at the time, looked, let's say, not young. There are several reasons for this.
First off, the hair. My God, the hair. That "set" hair that could withstand hurricane force winds, or having a Sears catalogue set on top of it, does not make a lady look young. No one under 80 rocks this look anymore. Picture Meryl Streep with Betty White's 80s hair. Her Margaret Thatcher look could have been achieved simply with the wig, if you ask me.
Then there's exercise. The original GGs were buried under so many layers of cheap taffeta and other unnatural fibres that you really couldn't tell if they were all that fit or not, but I doubt they spent much time pumping iron or splayed out on a Pilates machine. Hardcore exercise is obviously a part of what is keeping women (and men) looking great after 40.
Which brings me to the atrocious clothes. The 80s were sartorially rough on everyone, but middle-aged ladies bore the brunt. They wore what would have been called "age appropriate" clothes, I guess. I was a teenager at the time, and trust me that as stupid as I looked with big hair and shoulder pads, 60 year olds, looked worse.
Aside from all this, you know, Golden Girls reruns are hokey, but actually pretty funny. I guess it was revolutionary at the time for women in their 60s to talk about sex, and if you think about it, there's no equivalent on TV now. Unless you count Cougar Town, a show I love, by the way :)
Bea Arthur (Dorothy): 63
Betty White (Rose): 63
Estelle Getty (Sophia): 62
Rue McClanahan (Blanche): 51. FIFTY ONE!!
Here are people who could do a revival, based on these ages:
Meryl Streep (she's 65)
Goldie Hawn (69!)
Susan Sarandon (68)
Sheryl Crow (52)
 |
| This woman is 52. The bar is high, ladies. |
Lisa Kudrow is 51. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is 54! Courteney Cox is FIFTY, y'all.
Sharon Stone is 56.
Annette Bening 56
Juliane Moore 54
Kirstie Alley 64
Jane Seymour 64
I mean, COME ON! Women in their 50s and 60s look completely different than they did just a generation ago. I'm sure some older women in the 80s were stylin', but the TV versions were pretty out there. Even Joan Collins, who was in her 50s at the time, looked, let's say, not young. There are several reasons for this.
First off, the hair. My God, the hair. That "set" hair that could withstand hurricane force winds, or having a Sears catalogue set on top of it, does not make a lady look young. No one under 80 rocks this look anymore. Picture Meryl Streep with Betty White's 80s hair. Her Margaret Thatcher look could have been achieved simply with the wig, if you ask me.
Then there's exercise. The original GGs were buried under so many layers of cheap taffeta and other unnatural fibres that you really couldn't tell if they were all that fit or not, but I doubt they spent much time pumping iron or splayed out on a Pilates machine. Hardcore exercise is obviously a part of what is keeping women (and men) looking great after 40.
Which brings me to the atrocious clothes. The 80s were sartorially rough on everyone, but middle-aged ladies bore the brunt. They wore what would have been called "age appropriate" clothes, I guess. I was a teenager at the time, and trust me that as stupid as I looked with big hair and shoulder pads, 60 year olds, looked worse.
Aside from all this, you know, Golden Girls reruns are hokey, but actually pretty funny. I guess it was revolutionary at the time for women in their 60s to talk about sex, and if you think about it, there's no equivalent on TV now. Unless you count Cougar Town, a show I love, by the way :)
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