# Does a preponderance of hot chicks & studly men ever take you out of the story? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671 "2012-09-04T19:33:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/1 "2012-09-04T19:33:36Z")
I’m a fan of several shows that air on USA. My favorites are probably _Burn Notice_ (which is admittedly past its best days) and _Royal Pains_ (just approaching its own). But though I generally prefer the latter, one thing about it always bothers me a little. Virtually _every_ woman Hank Lawson treats is absurdly beautiful. Oh, every once in while they’ll throw in an older woman as a matron, but even they are generally MILFS. I’m not sure why this bothers me. There’s a lot more exposed skin on _Burn Notice_, but it never takes me out of the story the way the [parade](http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/royal-pains/photos/297342/544447) [of](http://static.tvguide.com/MediaBin/Galleries/Shows/M_R/Ri_Rp/Royal_Pains/season4/royal-pains-232.jpg) [prettily](http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMzQwNjM4NDM4NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjk1Njg0Nw%40%40._V1._SX600_SY399_.jpg)-[ailing](http://static.tvfanatic.com/images/gallery/julie-benz-on-royal-pains.jpg) [hot](http://static.tvguide.com/MediaBin/Galleries/Shows/M_R/Ri_Rp/Royal_Pains/season3/royal-pains-158.jpg) chicks does on RP. I enjoy looking at them; I understand they’re there as eye candy, as RP is anything but a realistic medical show. But looking at them in aggregate, I just can’t help a :dubious:. But that’s just me. Anybody else ever have a similar reaction to movies & shows populated entirely by the hot? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/2 "2012-09-04T19:35:02Z")
Yes it does. I may be biased, but this is one of the reasons I like British telly better; it seems to me they use more “ordinary-looking” people, and when an ugly person is called for, they get an actual ugly person and not someone who’s been made a bit frumpy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/3 "2012-09-04T19:37:49Z")
Dude, hot chicks **are** the story. The rest is just plot. ---
**Author:** ![Deegeea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Deegeea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deegeea)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/4 "2012-09-04T20:05:08Z")
It does, and often in books when they’re just being -described- as hot and/or studly. Mostly when I’m reading a book that sells itself as something other than that kind of fantasy, then veers into that format vertiginously without regard to the reader’s expectation. Same with TV. It used to bother me more in tv/movies, but I think I’ve become less sensitive to appearance as I got older, as now whether or not the actors are too pretty doesn’t tend to mess with my suspension of disbelief as much as it used to. I had trouble following movies over this issue when I was a young teen and in my 20s, I vividly remember it happening, but I can’t recall the last time I did and I know it hasn’t happened recently. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/5 "2012-09-04T20:21:07Z")
Yes, it sometimes does, especially when the young, hot folk are in jobs like orthopaedic surgeon, police detective, judge, physicist, college professor or similar jobs in which the vast majority of people are middle aged. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/6 "2012-09-04T20:28:48Z")
Sometimes. What really bugged me was the movie _Dog Fight_, in which US Marines have a contest to see who can pick up the ugliest girl. And one of the ugliest girls in it is played by freakin’ [Lily Taylor](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000666/). ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/7 "2012-09-04T20:29:58Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Yes, it sometimes does, especially when the young, hot folk are in jobs like orthopaedic surgeon, police detective, judge, physicist, college professor or similar jobs in which the vast majority of people are middle aged. Oh yes. The “young hot scientist” meme just makes me annoyed now. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/8 "2012-09-04T20:32:43Z")
If it’s Serious Art then I appreciate the attention. If it’s Popcorn Fodder then I enjoy eyecandy. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/9 "2012-09-04T20:34:10Z")
Yep. But I’m not a fan of romatic subplots in general. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/10 "2012-09-04T20:35:10Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’m not sure why this bothers me. There’s a lot more exposed skin on _Burn Notice_, but it never takes me out of the story the way the [parade](http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/royal-pains/photos/297342/544447) [of](http://static.tvguide.com/MediaBin/Galleries/Shows/M_R/Ri_Rp/Royal_Pains/season4/royal-pains-232.jpg) [prettily](http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMzQwNjM4NDM4NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjk1Njg0Nw%40%40._V1._SX600_SY399_.jpg)-[ailing](http://static.tvfanatic.com/images/gallery/julie-benz-on-royal-pains.jpg) [hot](http://static.tvguide.com/MediaBin/Galleries/Shows/M_R/Ri_Rp/Royal_Pains/season3/royal-pains-158.jpg) chicks does on RP. I enjoy looking at them; I understand they’re there as eye candy, as RP is anything but a realistic medical show. But looking at them in aggregate, I just can’t help a :dubious:. Probably just good word-of-mouth recommendations among the ADAs within the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/11 "2012-09-04T20:36:01Z")
No problem with hot chicks. Haven’t noticed any hot guys. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/12 "2012-09-04T20:40:19Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Oh yes. The “young hot scientist” meme just makes me annoyed now. As much as I love Alicia Witt, and as much as I loved the quirkiness of _Ally McBeal_, I just couldn’t buy her as one of the top lawyer consultants in Boston, at age 25 going on 12. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/13 "2012-09-04T20:40:31Z")
Oh yea, I wish there were more unconventional looking actors around to balance shit out. One movie that would have been ruined by hunky casting was Carpenter’s The Thing, not that any of the actors are ugly but the everyman vibe sells the movie as authentic. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/14 "2012-09-04T20:46:09Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Probably just good word-of-mouth recommendations among the ADAs within the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Assuming we’re talking about the original, even that didn’t bother me that much, as there was a common element (Jack McCoy being a perv) to explain it. And not everyone woman in the L&O-verse was absurdly hot. > [@tdn](#): > > As much as I love Alicia Witt, and as much as I loved the quirkiness of _Ally McBeal_, I just couldn’t buy her as one of the top lawyer consultants in Boston, at age 25 going on 12. Though Alicia Witt is indeed lovely, you are thinking of Calista Flockhart. > [@Anaamika](#): > > Oh yes. The “young hot scientist” meme just makes me annoyed now. Honestly, in that case it’s the _young_ that bothers me as much as the _hot_. I can believe that there’s an occasional Nobel-prize winning prodigy in her twenties – one or two per world – but not as a rule. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/15 "2012-09-04T20:53:24Z")
It doesn’t bother me unless they make a point of the hot lady being “homely” or whatever. It’s just one of the conventions you have to accept in American movies and television: Everyone’s beautiful. Of course, there are still quite a few examples where a gorgeous woman is supposed to be ugly, so I still have plenty to be annoyed at. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/16 "2012-09-04T20:58:39Z")
It’s never particularly bothered me, but I don’t tend to take most TV or movies seriously. Law and Order and CSI have tons of hot lawyers and forensics experts, and I’ve read plenty of bitching about that. Then there was that Bond films that had Denise Richards as an atomical science lady. I didn’t buy it for a nanosecond, but hell I think it was a Roger Moore Bond film so she kinda fit in. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/17 "2012-09-04T21:01:00Z")
Yeah, Janeane Garofolo as homely in The Truth About Cats and Dogs, especially with the bony-faced Uma Thurman as the hottie. I’d throw Thurman out of bed to invite Garofolo in, in a heartbeat. The movie made no sense, as the homely girl/hottie relationship was a central plot point. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/18 "2012-09-04T21:05:46Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Honestly, in that case it’s the _young_ that bothers me as much as the _hot_. I can believe that there’s an occasional Nobel-prize winning prodigy in her twenties – one or two per world – but not as a rule. And here we go: [Five Things TV Writers Apparently Belive About Smart People](http://www.cracked.com/article_18960_5-things-tv-writers-apparently-believe-about-smart-people.html): > [@](#): > > **#5. Only Know Six Languages By Age 30? You’re A Failure.** > The first lesson TV supergeniuses have drilled into audiences is that it’s possible to acquire absolute mastery in multiple fields while still young enough to be attractive to the 18-35 demographic. > > … > > … the rest of these shows give us people who must have graduated high school at age six. It’s a universe of Doogie Howsers. > > … > > The Problem: > > Yes, it’s just TV fantasy, and yes, our entertainment will always involve action heroes who are impossibly strong or wise guys who are impossibly witty. What bugs us about this is the implication that if you are born with these supernatural smart people genes, time and effort become meaningless concepts. > … > So it’s annoying because these characters are kind of an insult to everyone who’s ever actually become a genius in a field through 30 years of laborious study. They create the impression that a talented person can soak up perfect knowledge of ancient Chinese literature in six months or so, allowing them to move right on to molecular physics or Jiu Jitsu. No big deal – in the shows they honestly don’t seem to work any harder than the average Joe. > > And nothing else in their life suffers – they had time to keep themselves attractive and toned, plenty of time and energy to spare for working out, eating right and learning good fashion sense. … ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/19 "2012-09-04T21:09:17Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > And here we go: [Five Things TV Writers Apparently Belive About Smart People](http://www.cracked.com/article_18960_5-things-tv-writers-apparently-believe-about-smart-people.html): Your link reminds me of a ridiculous bit on _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ when 16-year-old, high-school student Dawn Summers somehow became fluent in ancient Sumerian. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671/20 "2012-09-04T21:15:19Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Assuming we’re talking about the original, even that didn’t bother me that much, as there was a common element (Jack McCoy being a perv) to explain it. And not everyone woman in the L&O-verse was absurdly hot. Well, it applies to original recipe and SVU, and probably the short-lived “[Trial by Jury](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TBJ_Cast.jpg)”. Don’t know about CI. And wouldn’t the hiring in a large, governmental office like that go through HR? I doubt McCoy would have had the authority to pick and choose. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-preponderance-of-hot-chicks-studly-men-ever-take-you-out-of-the-story/633671.md?page=2)