Monday, January 01, 2007

O! Whatever Should We Do Without Men?

What a fat lot of lazing around I've been doing here at The Dept. and it's given me time to do one of my favorite things: go on long stretches of just meandering through my thoughts via the remote control. "Sitting and flipping" is what I like to call it. I don't really watch anything on the television; instead, I use it as a catalyst for thinking about things I haven't really given consideration or time to in a long while. Oh, lucky you!


My first thought arose when I watched Richard Engel, The Baghdad Dish, on MSNBC. Unlike a great deal of attractive men, he is incredibly articulate and intelligent. It has been my experience that most goodlooking men should just shut up and stand in the corner, looking good. That really is all that we require of them. But Richard Engel--he can, and should, keep talking. Do you not know of him? Here he is, in all his straight-teethed, lovely-haired glory:

(photo courtesy of msnbc.com)

But, lest you think I am completely shallow, I can also appreciate the slightly imperfectly handsome man, such as Jake Weber, who plays the husband on the television show Medium starring Patricia Arquette. He has an endearing British accent which the show has not in any way felt necessary to explain; he plays a math-geeky engineer who is a terrific father of three blondie daughters; he is incredibly patient and loving and helpful-strong, not "I'll just take over because I'm the man and you obviously are having a meltdown"-strong; and there are times during the show that he absolutely melts me. Have you seen the show? I now watch it only for him. Here he is:



Not my type at all, but as I said, sometimes it is not the look, it's the guy. Which is still something that many, many men just do not get. Which reminds me of a great quote from the book Bridget Jones's Diary. I will paraphrase it to get to the most germane part here: some "men--are so catastrophically unevolved that soon they will just be kept by women as pets for sex...outside in kennels"(Fielding 67). I might add here that, except for the "outside in kennels" part, many, many, many men would be just fine with this.


But, I digress. There's one more man I thought about and want to discuss.

Inexplicably, I join the legions of women who find themselves drawn to a most unlikely paramour. What is it about him? It's not the conventional handsomeness of the Baghdad Dish, nor the cuddly security of Mr. Medium. This guy...there's just something about him. He's charismatic, he's enigmatic, he's got an attractiveness all his own. And he's a brain, too. I'd love him in real life as well. He's even more of a character there:

Hugh Laurie, also known as Dr. Gregory House, has captivated almost every female I know. We alerted each other when he was going to be on "Inside the Actor's Studio." We fought to stay awake to watch him host "Saturday Night Live" (and those of us who couldn't do it and are too pathetic to record on our VCRs--ahem!--were thrilled when it was rerun so soon!). We Hugh Laurie fans congratulate ourselves on having such a smart, unusual idol. And, like many Brits, he isn't constantly in the news doing something horrifically embarrassing or stupid. Seems like the American celebs have the monopoly on that. And, though it pains me to say it, so do the women.

Which brings me to another one of my points, and yes, I have made one or two already.

Really intensely, insanely, heartrendingly handsome men should just do that and nothing else. Be goodlooking, be beautiful, and shut the hell up. Oh, okay...go ahead and do a little acting if you must. But face the fact (literally)--you are gorgeous and that is your thing. If you open your mouth and try to sound relevant or political, or even like you know where there are starving children, you will sound like an idiot. Besides, no one will be listening anyway. She/he will be watching how your mouth moves when you say your Ws or the way your eyes crinkle at the corners when you get all sincere. Or try to.

Sigh. It is your cross to bear.

10 comments:

  1. Maybe with Laurie it's the cockiness of his character on the show that makes him attractive? That and knowing he has a British accent in real life. That can be enough for me...

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  2. danielle, welcome back to the comments! missed you. I do think much of it has to do with his character, and yes, the British accent in real life can sell me every time, but there is also something about his physicality; he is so very comfortable with himself and his movements are so deliberate without being studied. Sigh. I think it's because he has done a lot of comedy, much of it physical. (As you can tell, I've made quite a study of him and other men I fancy.)

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  3. Anonymous10:25 PM

    Hi, I saw your comment over at V-grrrl and just popped over to do some sight-seeing. Interesting comments on these men. I watch House all the time. Your explanation of his appeal is spot on. Your description of men as pure sex objects is also so true, which is something else men don't get... that some of them are just for drooling over, and, yeah, we can do that, too!

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  4. Are you suggesting I shut my mouth ;-)

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  5. I love the show "Medium" and have watched it from day one. Jake Weber is such a cutie! Such a nice photo of him. Nice eye candy for 2007!

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  6. Yes I have not commented in awhile. Haven't been on the computer much either. After work I like to sleep for a few hours. And now that I don't have to wait around for people who want to buy cameras at 11 o'clock at night, here I am! Might I suggest another show (unfortunately on reruns until next fall) that may appeal to you? Nip/Tuck. Julian McMahon with his yummy accent and Dylan Walsh and his gorgeous eyes will keep me when the storyline may falter. (it really doesn't, though)

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  7. Ortizzle--welcome to the Dept., also to the ranks of House-Keepers! I'm headed over to your place to poke around now.

    ih--LOL; sure, go ahead and keep that trap shut. You've become sleek and aerodynamic as of late; I'm sure plenty of admirers are noticin'!

    anali--didn't you love the episode when alison was worried he was going to have the affair and imagined him with the other woman? he was so wounded.

    danielle--sigh. now i have to do google image searches for THOSE men, and i've already done so many for this and my next blogpost. i think my blogreaders should take advantage of my new email feature at the end of all the feed buttons and email me pix of New Men To Look At. LOL.

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  8. Anonymous8:29 PM

    Nance: Thanks for stopping over at my place. I left you a long-ish comment over there. :-)

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  9. All your cute boy talk inspired me to stay up way too long last night looking for good pics. A cute boy post of my own in brewing...
    (Why not, since my own cute boy is away!)

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  10. j--I'm all for improving the Blogosphere Landscape with Cute Boy Posts. I look forward to it.
    And I'll try and get some time to drop E a line. Although it is HIS turn.

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