So Arnie has been filming a new movie the last couple of months in which he plays a member of a team of ATF agents. Here is a pic of him looking suitably badass and with a suitably conservative looking haircut.
Here’s another shot of the haircut as he’s off duty and getting in his car.
As I asked before, what the hell is up with that? Do ATF agents really wear their hair like that, cut on top like a 1960s FBI agent and on bottom like someone put a bowl over their head and sheared them down to the skin?
And what possible purpose does it serve if so?
I’m flummoxed!
You’ve got to give the guy credit for balls though. He’s been out and around L.A. for a couple of months now, going shopping and to restaurants and bicycling and otherwise living his life all while sporting that hideous do and the tats that go with it. I can’t help but note however that his usual retinue of buddies and children who often accompany him on these forays seem to be suspiciously missing from sight these days.
Gee - do you think there was any hair coloring used?
'Cause of course, most guys his age most certainly do have jet black hair, darker than any hair in South America or Africa…
I’ve seen old guys with a mushroom haircut like that. It’s definitely not flattering, though!
There’s also an old Chinese guy who works in my building whose hair is very similar, although it’s obvious in his case that the top bit is a toupee (jet black, which doesn’t match the grey stubble on the back of his neck…).
Arnie never cut his hair for all those blockbusters in the 80’s and 90’s. He always had basically the same hair in every movie.
Either he’s more dedicated as an actor, or his star power isn’t what it used to be. He really made himself butt ugly for this new role. I bet it was a requirement to get the part. Arnie can’t force the issue like he could have in 1990.
I don’t know, Arnold seems to be in pretty heavy demand. I think he did something like four movies in the first year he was out of office.
He’s is not quite the prima donna some people might imagine. (I’ve always been a fan and so have probably followed him more closely than the average bear.) He’s always taken advantage of the way his body responds to diet and training to alter his physique to suit the roles he’s playing, and he’s on record saying of directors that they can scream at him and make him work sixteen-hour days or whatever it takes, as long as what ends up on screen is perfect. He’s also said he feels that once a director has been chosen it’s best to go with that director’s vision even if he personally disagrees with it.
But I digress. Schwarzenegger has changed his hair at least three times for his recent movies (actually, the directors have probably been more responsible for that than Arnold). To wit:
So I think he’s just out there having fun and working his butt off and going with whatever look the director has determined is appropriate for the role. I’m just mystified as to why the director or makeup person or whoever would think this particular haircut is appropriate for this role. I’ve just never seen it on anyone anywhere and can’t imagine what purpose it serves.
It’s a bad haircut, but I can imagine it being character appropriate.
It’s the kind of style that older conservative* fashion-challenged men choose.
(*small “c” conservative as in “older guy stuck in his ways”, no implication of political leaning)
You have older men who don’t want to fuss with their hair. They don’t want the feel of it on their ears or neck, and they don’t want to need a haircut every week, so they instruct “shave off the sides and the neck”. It is possible for a skilled hairstylist to shave the top of the neck and above the ears and then provide a stylish gradual progression to the fuller head of hair on top- but this would require fuss.
These guys don’t go to hip hairstylists in New York or L.A., they go to small town barbers- barbers who are as old as they are, barbers who have for decades coiffed conservative men who don’t want any “fuss”. These old small town barbers have built their reputation upon providing a service of function, not form. The hair just needs to be cut. Anything more attentive would be fruity.
Or worse . . . instead of going to one of these old small town barbers, these men instead get their hair cut in their own kitchens sheared by the good lady wife.
And this is the hairstyle they end up with.
It actually can look “not too bad” under precise circumstances. Sitting in the chair at the conclusion of the haircut, with the hair damp from a bit of whatever old barbers put on the hair of old men, it will look fine. Once it gets mussed though, or once it starts to grow out a little, the longer hair lifts away from the head a bit and you get that comical effect that the OP draws attention to in the third pic.
I credit a professional film hair stylist for allowing a bad haircut when it is character appropriate. There must be great temptation, especially working with a star and especially working on a big budget Hollywood movie, to make all the actors look good. It takes a true professional to own the fact that the character would maybe not style himself with any great skill.
Interesting post, thanks. Maybe that’s it. I’ve never seen old guys with a haircut like that but apparently a couple of you guys have. Talk about putting comfort ahead of looks, that’s just…wow, I can’t even imagine not giving that much of a shit!
I guess some do though.
And now I guess I’m going to have to go watch that movie just to find out why he’s wearing his hair like that.
I’m not usually too big on over-the-top action movies but for some reason I’m drawn to The Last Stand. I’m actually looking forward to its release next month. Probably because it seems to have quite a bit of humor:
Deputy holds up [what I think is Conan’s] sword as bad guys head to town: “You never know…”
I don’t think there’s anything that requires ATF agents or old men to wear their hair that way, but I’ve seen similar bad results. It looks like a cross between a 50’s FBI agent on top and a military buzz around the ears and neck. Not blended.
