Demi Moore for W Magazine

So...Demi Moore. We have opinions.

Balmain Spring 2010 Collection

Model: Anja Rubik

Armani Privé Fall 2009 Couture/Givenchy Spring 2010 Collection
Models: Daiane Conterato/Bianca Balti

W Magazine December 2009
Photographed by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
Styled by Alex White

Some tidbits:

“The frustrating part is that the type of roles I’d be interested in are not really coming to me. I hate to say it’s a function of my age—but yes, I think in some ways it is. The majority of [female] roles are geared between 25 and 35.”

“I’m certainly not the first person to be in a relationship with a younger man, but somehow I was plucked out as a bit of a poster girl. I don’t know why that is. But I just kind of step back sometimes and say, ‘There is some reason, and what is it that I have to share in a positive way?’”

“[About being called a cougar] I’d prefer to be called a puma. I'm going to get T-shirts that say puma power.’”

“[Posting on Twitter] You post something and get your finger on the pulse. You know what people are interested in. I can’t impress enough the difference in how people are perceiving me. They’re getting to see who I am.”

You can read the entire article here.

Now. About those pictures.

Is it us or are they a little disturbing? She looks like she's starving. It's not just the alarmingly skinny arms, tiny waist, and child-sized legs, it's the wide-eyed look. She LITERALLY looks like she's starving.

You know, we don't deny that there is sexism in the entertainment industry and rarely does the industry have any place for women over 40. But we look at these pictures and think "You know, you might be up for more roles if you didn't look like, oh, say... a CRAZY STARVING PERSON?" It's the same thing with Nicole Kidman. There's a certain class of Hollywood women who have dieted and surgically altered themselves to the point where they really don't look like people. Not healthy people, anyway. There's a reason that the leading actresses in the over-45 category are women like Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren. Because they smartly realized a long time ago that the ingenue parts were gone forever and there was no use going after something they were never going to get again.

Of course, the fact that Demi never could act to save her life probably has something to do with her lack of roles, but still. We just want to grab people like this, shake them, and say, "Despite what your insular little industry has told you, it's okay to look like a human being." Seriously. We look at her and all we can do, despite her fame and fortune, is feel a little sorry for her. Imagine what she sees when she looks in the mirror. Imagine the kind of stress and self-image that causes you to go to the extremes required to look like that.

We realize there's no small amount of photoshopping involved here, so who knows what her real body looks like, but we're talking less about her waist size and more about her face, which looks pinched and sharp and undernourished.

No, there aren't a lot of roles for actresses over forty. That's true and that's not cool. But there are even less roles for actresses trying desperately to look 20 years younger than their age. "Desperation" is a terrible quality for a movie star to project.

[Photos: Wmagazine.com/Style.com]


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