The next time someone tries to convince me that Pitt is ‘a really great actor, actually’ I’ll just throw my eyes around the room in a casually-but-profoundly dramatic fashion before fixing them on the Fight Club fanboy – and it always is a Fight Club fanboy – and saying: “THERE… Read More »It’s Not a Journey: The Endless Trend of Male Vanity
By Mark Simpson (Independent on Sunday 31 March 2002) Guys! Do you worry that your body isn’t sufficiently lean and muscular? Do you frequently compare your muscles with other men’s? If you see a man who is clearly more muscular than you, do you think about it and feel envious… Read More »Muscle: Hollywood’s Biggest Special Effect
Achilles, Alexander, Jason, Odysseus – the fabulous scrapping, rutting warriors of the Ancient World fulfil every boy’s own fantasy. Now, says Mark Simpson, Oliver Stone’s Alexander and the recent crop of ‘epics’ confirms that Hollywood has abolished heroes – past and present. (Originally appeared Independent on Sunday, 19 December 2004)… Read More »Epic Illusions and Metrowarriors