Confession: Sometime around 1990 I rented a video of a movie called The Coca Cola Kid. Must have been in the $1 shelf at the video store. Well bugger me. Filmed in 1985, it featured an utterly stunning young woman, with a magical face, and gorgeous body, by the name of Greta Scacchi. I defy any hetrosexual male to watch that film and not find her attractive - she played a Lolita-esque nymph to playful perfection...
23 years ago, Mountjoy was mesmerised by this face...
In the decade that followed, Ms.Scacchi appeared in a number of films, and a very "European" sensibility to nudity, apparently - having a penchant for getting her kit off in most of them. And then I guess she suffered the fate of most aging actresses, and the roles available became fewer and fewer, or she chose to slip into the shadows to raise a family.
Fast forward to this weekend, and it turns out Ms.Scacchi is coming to Perth to do some theatre. Her photo appeared in the Perth newspaper, and I was shocked. If I had not seen the caption, I'm sure I would not have recognised her.
...and in 2014, I may have walked straight past her without realising it.
The slight, of course, is totally on me. My horrible vanity, of admiring an attractive twenty-five year old almost 30 years ago, and in my minds eye, imagining that she would hold those looks forever. People don't. I certainly haven't. But you don't expect actors to age, I guess - the screen is so timeless.
So, yes, I am old. But my memory is young. I will forever be a 14, 15 or 16 year-old boy, trapped in the decaying body of a middle aged man. I am sure Ms.Scacchi is a wonderfully talented actress, and does not need her youthful looks to be a success any more than I do! But it's an interesting thought as to how those people who do trade on their looks must fare in their autumn years. It's a sad truth that men, especially, will always be ageist. And I confess that I am as guilty of that as anyone.
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