Dirty, dirty boys
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who asked me if I'd be going to see the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I admitted that, yes, I would be, but I was going to hate myself the whole time. He seemed surprised, then asked why. So, I explained about a very harsh truth I have discovered about myself.
It doesn't matter how filthy Johnny Depp appears on screen, I will still be attracted to him. It just feels wrong to see that gross, dreadlocked hair, the smears of dirt, the scraggly beard and still find yourself saying "Yup. Still hot." It actually put me off my popcorn a bit (and that's been notoriously hard to do for quite some time).
He's not the only one, though. There are some men who just need to be a bit dirtied up to be really attractive. Terence Hill is one of those guys (see They call me Trinity, Trinity is Still my Name, and My Name is Nobody) and so is Viggo Mortensen. The minute that you clean them up, give them a shave, and put them in nice clothes you ruin it. Immediately. They should always be a bit grubbied up, really.
Not all men can carry the scruffy/grubby look though. It has to be convincing. I never did understand the attraction to Brad Pitt. Part of the reason was because around the time "Legends of the Fall" was released, there was a picture of Pitt with his hair all matted up on one side of his head. This was back when the grunge look was king (and I never was a real fan of that whole thing, either. Music was okay, the clothes and general look that went with it, not so much. Actually, I've started to appreciate grunge music more and more now that the perpetrators of popular music seem to have forgotten what pants are and the purpose that they serve, anyway, I better stop the digression) and the minute I saw that picture, all I wanted to do was throw up. I have never really gotten past that photo, either. It was disgusting and while I like the roles that he's chosen and own several of his movies, I just don't really find him attractive.
Ryan Reynolds is another one of those guys who needs to stay cleaned up and close shaven. Stubble just looks weird on him. Jensen Ackles does scruffy well, except when the stubble ventures into beard territory. Jared Padalecki-he's adorable, like an enormous puppy, but when the man tries to grow a beard it looks like someone glued an anemic hedgehog to his chin. It just doesn't work. At all.
One of my favorite actors is Michael Wincott. He can pull off scruffy arguably well (check out the way he looked in "Count of Monte Christo") but I tend to like him better when he's more well-groomed. And, honestly, I have to say that when it comes to him, it's mostly all about The Voice. His voice is dirty, it's rough and gravelly and deep and it-gives me-ideas. Let's just leave it at that, okay? Ideas. Yeah.
Then, of course, there's Mark C. Collier. I do like him with shaggier hair and some stubble. It's better on him than a lot of other actors, but he also looks very good clean-shaven.
I've never gotten to see Jordan Woolley scruffy, so I can't judge if he fits in the "dirty boy" side or the clean-cut side.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, though, is probably my top pick for favorite actor. To quote a friend of mine (when talking about her favorite actor), I'd pay to watch the man read a phone book. He's definitely on the "dirty boy" side of the spectrum. He cleans up nice, looks great in a suit, but when he's got stubble or a beard going and his hair's a little mussed the attractiveness quotient goes up exponentially.
This whole thing makes me wish that I was a better photographer or a better artist, so that I could pitch a coffee table book idea and get to take pictures. I've really got to get my publishing imprint up and running, I seiously do. I have all kinds of great ideas. I'm sure that they'd sell.
I just have to get it all together...
It doesn't matter how filthy Johnny Depp appears on screen, I will still be attracted to him. It just feels wrong to see that gross, dreadlocked hair, the smears of dirt, the scraggly beard and still find yourself saying "Yup. Still hot." It actually put me off my popcorn a bit (and that's been notoriously hard to do for quite some time).
He's not the only one, though. There are some men who just need to be a bit dirtied up to be really attractive. Terence Hill is one of those guys (see They call me Trinity, Trinity is Still my Name, and My Name is Nobody) and so is Viggo Mortensen. The minute that you clean them up, give them a shave, and put them in nice clothes you ruin it. Immediately. They should always be a bit grubbied up, really.
Not all men can carry the scruffy/grubby look though. It has to be convincing. I never did understand the attraction to Brad Pitt. Part of the reason was because around the time "Legends of the Fall" was released, there was a picture of Pitt with his hair all matted up on one side of his head. This was back when the grunge look was king (and I never was a real fan of that whole thing, either. Music was okay, the clothes and general look that went with it, not so much. Actually, I've started to appreciate grunge music more and more now that the perpetrators of popular music seem to have forgotten what pants are and the purpose that they serve, anyway, I better stop the digression) and the minute I saw that picture, all I wanted to do was throw up. I have never really gotten past that photo, either. It was disgusting and while I like the roles that he's chosen and own several of his movies, I just don't really find him attractive.
Ryan Reynolds is another one of those guys who needs to stay cleaned up and close shaven. Stubble just looks weird on him. Jensen Ackles does scruffy well, except when the stubble ventures into beard territory. Jared Padalecki-he's adorable, like an enormous puppy, but when the man tries to grow a beard it looks like someone glued an anemic hedgehog to his chin. It just doesn't work. At all.
One of my favorite actors is Michael Wincott. He can pull off scruffy arguably well (check out the way he looked in "Count of Monte Christo") but I tend to like him better when he's more well-groomed. And, honestly, I have to say that when it comes to him, it's mostly all about The Voice. His voice is dirty, it's rough and gravelly and deep and it-gives me-ideas. Let's just leave it at that, okay? Ideas. Yeah.
Then, of course, there's Mark C. Collier. I do like him with shaggier hair and some stubble. It's better on him than a lot of other actors, but he also looks very good clean-shaven.
I've never gotten to see Jordan Woolley scruffy, so I can't judge if he fits in the "dirty boy" side or the clean-cut side.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, though, is probably my top pick for favorite actor. To quote a friend of mine (when talking about her favorite actor), I'd pay to watch the man read a phone book. He's definitely on the "dirty boy" side of the spectrum. He cleans up nice, looks great in a suit, but when he's got stubble or a beard going and his hair's a little mussed the attractiveness quotient goes up exponentially.
This whole thing makes me wish that I was a better photographer or a better artist, so that I could pitch a coffee table book idea and get to take pictures. I've really got to get my publishing imprint up and running, I seiously do. I have all kinds of great ideas. I'm sure that they'd sell.
I just have to get it all together...