# not attractive, but sexy?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 30, 1999, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472 "1999-12-30T19:47:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/1 "1999-12-30T19:47:00Z")
Who are they?
The people who if you just saw a photograph of, you would dismiss as unatractive. But after seeing them move, talk, act, sing, whatever…they make ya feel kinda ‘special’?
I have a couple people in mind that fit this category, Sandra Bernhardt (sp?) and PJ Harvey.
---
### Author:  [@Lucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/2 "1999-12-30T19:54:00Z")
Christopher Walken (Walkin?). I know, but he just does it for me somehow.
Also David Bowie and that guy that played the computer geek in Independence Day and was also in Jurrasic Park. Jeff Goldbloom, is it?
As for the women, Uma Thurman.
* * *
“I should not take bribes and Minister Bal Bahadur KC should not do so either. But if clerks take a bribe of Rs 50-60 after a hard day’s work, it is not an issue.” ----Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Current Prime Minister of Nepal
---
### Author:  [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/3 "1999-12-30T20:01:00Z")
Jenna Elfman!
---
### Author:  [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/4 "1999-12-30T20:04:00Z")
Lili Taylor.
* * *
“It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather
---
### Author:  [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/5 "1999-12-30T20:08:00Z")
Jeaneane Garofalo
---
### Author:  [@Peter\_North](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_North)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/6 "1999-12-30T20:13:00Z")
Sigourney Weaver
---
### Author:  [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/7 "1999-12-30T20:18:00Z")
**Tom Jones!**
* * *
so you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts. what’s so amazing about really deep thoughts? Tori Amos
---
### Author:  [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/8 "1999-12-30T20:58:00Z")
I’m confused, few of those people are what I would consider unattractive. So Jeaneane Garofalo doesn’t look like Malibu Barbie™ but I do _ **not** _ consider that to be a drawback, she’s a major cutie pie. I wonder if she has an older sister that isn’t quite so angst-filled.
* * *
They don’t call me the colonel because I’m some dumb ass army guy.
---
### Author:  [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/9 "1999-12-30T21:12:00Z")
You’re right, of course, **Padeye** , but this discussion is apparently about famous people, and I think you gotta admit that Jeaneane, while cute by normal people standards, is no, shall we say, Jenna Elfman. I chose to interpret the question as: “What famous person do you find sexually attractive based on a quality other than his/ her looks.” And I could listen to J.G. talk for hours.
---
### Author:  [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/10 "1999-12-30T21:23:00Z")
And I say Uma Thurman is **Beee-autiful!** So there!
* * *
“Teaching without words and work without doing are understood by very few.”
-Tao Te Ching
---
### Author:  [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/11 "1999-12-30T21:41:00Z")
Stoli, of _course_ I’m right. 😉 But do you mean to tell me that you’ve been brainwashed into thinking “normal” people are less attractive than celebreties? I think J.G. is a babe specifically because she is not a Barbie™ doll. For someone so cynical she has a smile that is pure sunshine. When I saw _The Truth About Cats and Dogs_ I thought I was the only one who preferred her to Umma Thurman. yes, Umma is pretty but doesn’t really do much for me.
The original post specified people who are _unattractive_ physically. Free your mind from Madison Avenue’s influence.
Enough rant, I’ll leave you with this. “Pretty women are for men with no imagination.” (I think, paraphrasing) Marcel Proust (I think)
* * *
They don’t call me the colonel because I’m some dumb ass army guy.
---
### Author:  [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/12 "1999-12-30T21:50:00Z")
I’m almost to my 200th post so I have to rant a little more.
Democritus, I’m not huge Umma fan but I’ll agree with you because of the Venus on the half-shell scene in _The Adventures of Baron Munchausen_. I just generally associate her with the needle in the heart scene from _Pulp Fiction_.
---
### Author:  [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/13 "1999-12-30T22:06:00Z")
**Padeye** , in a word, yes.
I don’t know if I’d characterize it as brainwashing, but my sense of what is attractive seems to jibe with public demand, for better or worse.
However, there’s definitely a “too much” category, including Pamela Lee and her ilk, that would not be my idea of beauty.
Seems to me that most famous women are attractive because they wouldn’t become famous if they weren’t. I can think of a lot of respected male celebrities who are uglier than all-get-out. Especially in the arena of character actors and musicians. But it seems just to get a shot as a woman, you have to have a pretty face. But who am I to rant, if I’m gleefuly gobbling up what they serve me?
Regarding Jeaneane, I do think she’s cute, but if she would just poof up her hair once in a while, you know, like a halo? THE MAN APPRECIATES THE EFFORT, you know?
---
### Author:  [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/14 "1999-12-30T22:41:00Z")
Mick Jagger. I always thought he was the homliest guy ever, then I saw the _Steel Wheels_ tour several years ago. All through the show, all I could think was “Well. Now I know what a hot babe like Jerry Hall sees in this guy.” Sex appeal just oozing out of every pore.
---
### Author:  [@ChrisCTP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisCTP)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/15 "1999-12-30T22:47:00Z")
My “not-conventionally-cute-but-still-damn-yummy” men are:
Jeff Goldblum
Mike Myers
Kevin Spacey
I dunno, there’s just something about actual talent and substance that makes a girl go all mushy inside.
As far as women go, there are three women whom I absolutely adore, I think because they remind me of me and my two best friends. These would be the women who would have to play us if ever such a movie was made. Janeane Garofolo, as me. Angelina Jolie, as Catte. Courtney Love, as Robin. It’s an attitude connection more than physical resemblance, although Robin and Courtney Love do look a helluva lot alike.
* * *
“Wednesday the 15th - Chris made one of her rare good points today.”
_Guanolad_
---
### Author:  [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/16 "1999-12-30T22:53:00Z")
ChrisCTP–are you sure you aren’t my girlfriend IRL and neither of us know the other posts to this board???
---
### Author:  [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)
#### Post date: [December 30, 1999, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/17 "1999-12-30T23:47:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> but I’ll agree with you because of the Venus on the half-shell scene in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
::drooling:: Venuuuussssss…Yummy!
* * *
“Teaching without words and work without doing are understood by very few.”
-Tao Te Ching
---
### Author:  [@Catrandom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catrandom)
#### Post date: [December 31, 1999, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/18 "1999-12-31T00:11:00Z")
I find John Goodman incredibly attractive; he just radiates intelligence. And that’s sexy.
Catrandom
---
### Author:  [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)
#### Post date: [December 31, 1999, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/19 "1999-12-31T00:48:00Z")
Definitely Jeff Goldblum; intelligence and hidden depths. I loved him in Buckaroo, The Fly, and even Big Chill.
Anyone else remember his _great_ tv show, Tenspeed and Brownshoe? He was a sweet, naive guy trying to be a detective straight out of Chandler, etc. He partnered with a (I think) Ben Vereen, a bright, savvy realist who actually solved things but couldn’t quite find the heart to destroy Goldblum’s dreams.
Sorry. Sidetrack there. I’ll go away now.
Veb
---
### Author:  [@fuzzy-wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzy-wuzzy)
#### Post date: [December 31, 1999, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472/20 "1999-12-31T00:54:00Z")
I think that two of the men that have sex appeal…but just are not “handsome” by movie standards…especially because of their ages now…are Michael Douglas and Clint Eastwood…
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-attractive-but-sexy/12472.md?page=2)