omgthatdress:

Why it means so much for Demi Moore to star in The Substance

I’ve heard people say that they didn’t like The Substance because they didn’t see how an actress as conventionally beautiful as Demi Moore is at 62 could ever feel old and ugly, and……. oooh boy, do we have a lot to unpack here.

Demi’s career has definitely had its ups and downs. She’s talked a lot about how she was rarely taken very seriously as an actress even though she’s definitely had roles where she’s proven her talent.

She was a prominent part of the Brat Pack in the 1980s, and was still a hot commodity in the 1990s. But she was generally known more for being beautiful than for being a talented actress. You Must Remember This did some excellent coverage of this in their episode about the film Indecent Proposal.

However, the 90s marched on and turned into the 2000s and her career hit kind of a slump. It’s something that happens- roles for women in their late 30s and early 40s are much rarer than roles for women in their 20s.

BUT THEN A MIRACLE HAPPENED.

Demi Moore showed up in a bikini in Charlie’s Angels at the age of 40, and she didn’t look like a dried up old crone, which women are supposed to turn into the moment they turn 40.

I cannot emphasize enough how much of a BIG FUCKING DEAL this was. People were in AWE that she could still look like that. It did the impossible, reviving her career, and bringing about a Hollywood comeback for the ages.

But, if it was an incredible miracle that she could still be beautiful at 40, how is she supposed to look at 50? What about at 60? Where would she be if, at the age of 40, she had let her ass droop and tits sag?

So yes, it’s incredibly fitting that Demi Moore be the actress to make a movie about Hollywood ageism and how women get treated once they’re no longer young. I love it. I love her. I want to see her continue to make great movies as a woman in her 60s!