Thinking Gillian Anderson doesn't look like Scully any more = sexism?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Maybe GD, I dunno. I mainly want opinions, so…

I had a Facebook conversation with an ex-friend, who I have completely disconnected from because of their hyper-liberal attitude on this subject. The topic was that Gillian Anderson was initially offered less money than David Duchovny for the new X-Files series. I said I agreed with that offering because I felt Anderson didn’t look like Scully any more, but David looked like Mulder still. For this daring opinion of the specific appearance of two actors, I get shouted down as being sexist. No matter how many times I say that it’s specifically about those two actors and not about people in general, they just come back and say that I’m being subconsciously influenced by the pervasive nature of sexism. I tell them it has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with those specific actors, and am told things like:

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It’s prima facie sexism, dude. Insisting that it’s your opinion doesn’t magically make it less sexist. “I think that woman doesn’t look how I want her to look so she deserves less for doing the same job as a man.” Dress that turd however you like, but it still stinks.

You are using a specious, ridiculous argument to back up a horrifically sexist decision that other people made. In so doing, you are helping to prop up sexism.

In arguing that she deserves less money than he does because of how she looks, you’re backing up Hollywood’s sexism. And a lot of other sexism, for that matter. You are choosing to be part of the problem.

Your opinion on what Gillian Anderson should look like is offensive on a base level because you are telling a woman what she should look like to please your sensibilities. You don’t see any problem with this at all?

Except that gender isn’t separable from all of this. We are far less likely to be as forgiving to a woman for her looks as she ages than we are to be forgiving to a man–that’s the society we live in. And, anyway, saying ANYTHING to support the travesty of underpaying a female actor compared to her male costar is inherently sexist.

[Y]our opinion is the dumbest thing I’ve encountered on the internet. Sexist, superficial, and not following any logical path as far as I can determine.

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Does anyone else agree that my specific feeling that Gillian Anderson deserved less money for the precise reason that she looked less like Scully than David Duchovny does Mulder is sexist? I don’t see anything sexist about it at all. I’m stating one particular opinion about two specific actors, and if their sexes were reversed I’d say the reverse. I don’t get where these people are coming from. From my perspective, these people look to be the kind of people that conservatives use in their straw man arguments as what those stupid liberals think. They don’t have an open mind at all, and are absolutely convinced that anything that disparages one particular woman over a man must absolutely be sexist when that was absolutely the most furthest thing from my mind!

2

Yeah I’ll have to agree with your ex friend here. Both Moulder and Scully make what the Xfiles the Xfiles and should be equally compensated. Your assertion that Gillian Anderson looks “less than” Scully comparison is the most ridiculous thing I’ve read in a long while.

3

Dunno about sexist if you are consistent in the application of your notion in a gender-neutral way.

I do think it is a foolish notion, though :). People age - if they are playing the same characters only older, why does how they aged have anything to do with anything? Maybe Mulder aged better than Scully in their little fictional universe, but they’re still Mulder and Scully. Anderson and Duchovny should absolutely get the same pay if they are co-protagonists.

4

Considering she IS, and always has been, Scully, how the hell can she look less like HERSELF?

Sexist, man, sorry.

5

Wonder if Marlon Brando would’ve been paid less just because he gained weight and no longer looked like his old self? No? That’s because it didn’t happen. Actually, the reverse. But then, maybe it’s because the craft should be paramount.

ETA: And before anyone pounces and says it’s because of the quality of his acting, the same could be said for Adam Sandler.

Now I feel dirty.

6

You feel that monetary value should be reduced for her for no other reason than her looks. She is playing the same character, years later, and you argue that because she aged differently from your expectation; she depressed less money than her co-start. How she looks now is a perfectly accurate representation of the actual years between then and now. She is still Scully. She is an older Scully - so cut her pay?

7

I don’t know about sexist, but that’s some powerful stupid you got going for you there. I mean, it’s been what, fifteen years since the series ended? What’s Scully supposed to look like fifteen years later? And how is that different from what Gillian Anderson looks like, fifteen years later? Also, why should that have an impact on how much Anderson gets paid? Lastly, you appear to actually be blind if you think that doesn’t look like Dana Scully.

Frankly, you should just go with “sexist.” You actually come off better that way.

8

/\This

While it is (?)accurate(?) to say that Gillian Anderson looks older, what is even more important is that actors like Marlon Brando and Robert Deniro can keep acting and making $$$$$$$ after their 40’s but women (usually) do not get the same opportunity.

9

Yeah, they both look older (of course) but I think she has aged better than he has.

10

The fact is that Duchovny looks just as different from Mulder as Anderson does from Scully. You just don’t think so because you want the female lead to look younger, but don’t have the same expectations for the male lead.

You know, it doesn’t matter what was on your mind. Your intentions are not the issue here. I’m sure you’ve had the best intentions all along. But it’s not about you, and maybe that’s what you have trouble seeing. Sexism is not about your personal intentions. It’s beyond you.

11

Yeah, if it’s not sexist, it’s a powerful stupid thing to say. When it comes to remaining true to the physical features of Dana Scully they have literally cast the best possible person they could have.

12

Beat me to it. How can someone stop looking like themselves?

Sexist as shit. Aside from that leap of illogic above, asserting that she should be compensated for her LOOKS and not for her SKILL AND TALENT is sexist in itself. As for these two specific actors, there IS no X-Files without Scully. It Would Not Fly with the fans and the studio knows it. She brings that value – that will directly impact their bottom line – so why shouldn’t she be compensated for that?

You did your friend a favor and I’m sure they are very grateful.

13

Definitely sexist. Men are never allowed to consider a woman’s looks in any way shape or form. Only women are allowed to do that. It would be totally different if you were a woman criticizing a man for looking old, that’s not sexist at all. As a matter of fact nothing a woman can do is sexist. So next time just remember that all men are sexist.

14

lol, some truth to that…

15

“horrifically sexist”, “travesty”, “Your opinion is the dumbest thing I’ve encountered on the internet.”

Jesus Christ, what a bunch of fucking divas. I don’t care about anyone’s opinion on Anderson/Scully one way or the other, but I think you made the right move getting some new friends. What a load of sanctimonious pricks.

16

I’ve seen Brent Spiner guesting on Big Bang Theory and I think he no longer looks anything like Data, if that helps the argument at all.

LeVar Burton doesn’t look a lot like LaForge, either. As for Wil Wheaton… but what would you expect?

An actor or actress most certainly looks like himself or herself - that’s a tautology. Whether they look like the character any more is a little more debatable. (Scotty was barely recognisable as the same character when they made the movies. The rest of the bridge crew fared better, on the whole.)

Also, what Tithonus said. (But he’s the go-to guy when it comes to discussions about people getting older.)

17

That’s not a fair assessment without knowing what the OP said in response. He conveniently left out his side of the conversation, just paraphrasing it. I’m sure we could take stuff you’ve said before and make the same case. Hell, just calling someone a “bunch of fucking divas” could be enough.

18

AS for the OP, I’m not sure what you want here. Your friend told you all the reasons it was sexist. You have given no actual refutation of their posts, and instead ridiculed them as being a hyper liberal parody. They said nothing that isn’t true, except maybe the exaggeration about it being the most sexist thing they’ve read. But I’m willing to bet that you pushed them really far.

It doesn’t matter that it’s just about these two people. You decided to evaluate a woman’s value as an actor because of how she looks. You said she looks nothing like her old character, when she looks exactly as her male counterpart. You decided to weigh in on a sexism issue–that of a woman of similar experience and skill being paid less for the same job–and came down on the sexist side without a decent explanation.

In the movies, Leonard Nimoy looked nothing like he did as Spock in the original series. No one paid him less for it. Shatner looked even less like Kirk. He wasn’t paid less. Sure, James Doohan was paid less than the main guys, but that was always the case.

Would you then say that Nichelle Nichols should have been paid less for not looking like Uhura?

19

Fair point.

20

Data is not human–not a biological being at all–so it can be reasonable to say that Brent Spiner has aged out of playing him. For every other example mentioned, the idea is absurd. Humans do age and change, so of course human characters should. There is nothing wrong with how Gillian Anderson has. By a long shot.