On the problem of overlooking not-beautiful women
Katie van Schaijik | Jul 9, 2013 | 1 cmt
Actor Dustin Hoffman offers a beautiful, personalist insight from his experience of working on the movie Tootsie. Watch it.
How many women have suffered because they are habitually treated (especially by men) not as persons, not as unique individuals, but only as more or less beautiful specimens of the female type. It's so moving to see that he here realizes not only what a suffering that must be for women, but what a loss it is for men. "How many interesting women I never got to know."
Comments (1)
Rhett Segall
Jul 9, 2013 7:16pm
Hoffman is very good here. In my experience knowing a person radically alters my perception of their beauty. I'm talking here about the classic sense of beauty as "that which when seen pleases". If a woman, or man for that matter, has classic Hollowwood beauty but has egotistical and arrogant attitudes, I find that their physical beauty in no way attracts me. In fact, I tend to be "turned of" by the contradiction between their exterior and interior. On the other hand I have known people who were not physically attractive but have beautiful attitudes and it tends to transform their physical appearance; suddenly their smile or voice or some gesture opens up a truly lovely countenance.
I loved Tootsie. I particularly loved the ending where Jessica Lange tells Dustin that she "missed Tootsie". I see Tootsie as a Christ figure in as much as "she" enabled people to find their personal dignity and not allow themselves to be taken advantage of. Tootsie enabled them to be free. This is what Christ does for us.