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gloria-gilbert | unpetitgateau:

No one ever posts photos of older Anna, which I think is sad. In fact, I’ve seen a lot of nasty comments about her aging poorly, and it’s rare to see anyone post images of her after 1965-ish. It’s unfortunate that such a talented, accomplished woman has been reduced to little more than some kind of hipster fashion icon. Yeah, she was adorable, and yeah, she looks good smoking a cigarette, but she’s more than just a cute hairstyle and makeup.

So here she is in 1994. I think she’s still gorgeous and has the same lovely eyes. This is what women look like when they don’t get plastic surgery or have toxins injected into their faces, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. And really… who cares what the woman looks like with a resume like hers? She’s acted in dozens of films- several of which are amongst the most influential in cinema history, and several of which she received awards for. She’s written and directed 3 films, penned 3 novels, and recorded an album. She’s accomplished quite a bit and lived a fascinating life, but y’know… who cares if she’s not 20 years old anymore and doesn’t have cute eye makeup?

THIS CAPTION WINS THE INTERNET. So much truth in two simple paragraphs.

I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW HOW SHE LOOKED POST-GODARD ERA. She deserves more than what’s she is known in her shallow simplistic popularity.

to make up for all the alphaville spam from this morning, i have to balance it out with this photograph. personally, i have a really strange relationship with the few female movie stars i have ever adored (in chronological order: audrey hepburn, winona ryder, anna karina, louise brooks, louise brooks, louise brooks, lillian gish, greta garbo) and my own thoughts about karina are obviously skewed by my feelings for godard films. the way i felt about them when i saw them at 17, 18 are obviously different from the way i feel about them today (i HATED le mepris!) but the fact remains that alphaville is still up there for me as one of my favourite films, and vivre sa vie changed the way i watched film. anna karina’s face, more specifically her face in the mid 1960s, is one that is ingrained in my mind and my cultural imagination… perhaps moreso than the character she played, even.

anyway, all of this to say that i like most of what is being said here, but i feel like it doesn’t adequately emphasize the importance of hearing the voices of these icons themselves. speaking for them doesn’t do much. reading louise brooks’ journal and letters to guido crepax, and her biography did more for me and my understanding of her life than watching all of her films and looking at beautiful photographs of her ever could. it is incredible to see what these intelligent, critical women have to say about what kind of complicated relationship do these former movie stars have with their own looks, since they were idolized for their youth and beauty in a pretty cruel ageist industry.

and i must take issue with one statement in particular: the ”who cares what she looks like when you look at her resume” is a very privileged position to take. there are all kinds of factors that we have to take into consideration when asking these questions (about how/which women are valued, how older women are erased, appearance vs accomplishments). i’m all for celebrating women for their accomplishments, but especially for women like karina who was a star in the 1960s it is essential for us to put things in a historical context: she wouldn’t have been a movie star if she weren’t white, thin, etc. how women look, and what industries decide is the “right” look, serves a large part in deciding how their lives will be lived.

aaaaaaand completely off-topic: i own one of anna karina’s books, and couldn’t get through the first chapter (i have a hard time reading fiction in french in general… love non-fiction, but i don’t get the same joy reading fiction in french as i do in english) and it is supposedly autographed by her? i’m sure it’s a fake (there’s a little heart instead of a dot for the i) but i still kind of love it.

(Source: unpetitgateau, via girlytree)