yyaldrin
in je ogen waait de wind
but he only got bald, that's it?There's something about the physical decline of Spader that goes to the heart of our existence. It says something profound and poignant about time. It's existential.
but he only got bald, that's it?There's something about the physical decline of Spader that goes to the heart of our existence. It says something profound and poignant about time. It's existential.
also fat, don't forgetbut he only got bald, that's it?
but he only got bald, that's it?
Young Spader is a lot prettier than Tilda Swinton.
I'd like to see that film again, there is really something quite dark and strange about it - although on the face of it it's a straight up glammy cops and robbers thing. It's weird - I'm sure you're right - but that undercurrent was so strong that I have it in my head that Dafoe's character was actually gay.there's a kind of interesting resolution of the Johnson-Spader dialectic of 80s white yuppie male virility
that being Willem Dafoe and William Petersen in To Live and Die in L.A.
which is general kind of a darker, more adult (i.e. not 80s network TV) take on Miami Vice
William Petersen is basically doing a darker, more adult version of Don Johnson shoulder pads etc rugged masculinity
and Defoe has that evil preppie thing going on, but because he's Dafoe and not Spader, the vibe is full-on weirdo rather than sensuous or louche
and tho they're both coded as hetero - especially Petersen - there's definitely a sexual undercurrent to their cop chasing master criminal relationship
i.e.
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I actually agree that there is a sense in which he's not that classically good looking. Or it's almost the opposite, he is classically good looking but that's different from the paradigm that has been the dominant one in Hollywood for decades. But seemingly enough vestiges of it remain for it to be instantly recognisable to some and to have a powerful effect on those who see it.He's not especially pretty actually. He's pudgy and dopey looking. But you relate to him cos of his nice hair which reminds you of your own. And his costumes
I'd like to see that film again, there is really something quite dark and strange about it - although on the face of it it's a straight up glammy cops and robbers thing. It's weird - I'm sure you're right - but that undercurrent was so strong that I have it in my head that Dafoe's character was actually gay.
But it's this. Not just the loss of his looks but the loss of his youth. Which sounds stupid cos everyone (who doesn't die young) loses their youth, but something about him was so youthful. He was the essence of youth which makes it so powerful to see it destroyed - especially cos, with me, I lost track of him for some time and so for me he went straight from the one to the other.There's something about the physical decline of Spader that goes to the heart of our existence. It says something profound and poignant about time. It's existential.
It wasn't a criticism, it's always good to see something you were trying to get at grasped and neatly packaged for you by someone else.Well, I was only following your lead, because you said he was there in Secretary and then disappeared from view, only to come back horrifically transformed. I had the same reaction. It was a physical and psychological shock to be confronted with Old Spader. That's why I did my little bit of desktop research this morning to piece together that decline: it mostly seems to have happened during his mid-40s, the Boston Legal years, a show we obviously never watched, so we did not see it happening.
But this could be the story of our next decade, Rich. Or maybe we will be lucky and retain our gorgeous good looks, our lithe figures and our luxurious hair.