Sunday, July 7, 2013
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Life
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It's not my desire to post mean-spirited remarks on this blog, but I am watching Barry Manilow on television right now, and he is a sorry spectacle. He is performing as part of the Fourth of July celebrations in Washington, DC.
Manilow is now 70 years old. He is as slender as he ever was, but he came on stage moving stiffly, and the immediate impression is that of a walking mannequin. The curious thing is that he moves more stiffly and awkwardly than most of the 70-year-olds that I know -- but then, they aren't trying to dance or be entertaining. His gestures are awkward and studied. Of course, Manilow always looked stiff, even when he was young.
At 70, he has the face and hair of a 30-year-old, though they don't look at all natural. He almost looks like his young self, but not quite. He has avoided the plastic-surgery mistakes that, say, Joan Rivers has made (who doesn't look like her old self at all). He still looks like Barry Manilow, but just not the same.
His voice still sounds youthful, but his singing is off-key much of the time, and he can't hit any of the high notes or sustain any of the long notes. He compensates by "sliding" his notes so that they sound more spoken than sung, in the same way that Ed McMahon used to slide "Here's" when introducing Johnny Carson: "He-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!"
Years ago I watched an elderly Frankie Valli (the lead singer of the Four Seasons) giving a performance in which he looked very shaky and also couldn't hit all the notes, and I had the same reaction: Time to retire.
But it's not up to me, is it? If Manilow still wants to perform, and if his fans still want to see him, he has every right to be out there performing the best that he can. What I object to is that he has turned himself into a parody of his younger self. His haircut is actually more boyish than the haircut he had at 30 (his hair is now dyed, of course), and his skin is unnaturally smooth. Instead of jumping around the stage trying to look youthful and energetic (and failing), he could move with a little more dignity.
I never liked Frank Sinatra, but I appreciate that Sinatra didn't spend his old age imitating his younger self. He matured for all the world to see, and he was still a good entertainer at 60 -- but you got the 60-year-old Sinatra, not an imitation of the 30-year-old Sinatra.
Actually, compared to Joan Rivers, Manilow has some integrity. Unlike Rivers, he isn't trying to look better than he did at 30; he's just trying to look the same as he did at 30. Joan Rivers' plastic surgery has given her sexy, supple lips and cheeks which she never had in her youth. (Of course, a man wouldn't tell his surgeon to give him such features.)
I'm not entirely unsympathetic with Manilow. I can see how it happened. He is a rich entertainer; and as he started to age, it must have been a natural step for him to start seeing various professionals to maintain his image. But not every entertainer does that. Some just let the years overtake them. They do what all of us do: They try to keep their weight down, and they take care of themselves and dress well. I much prefer that to what Manilow is doing.
I was just about to praise Judy Collins as an entertainer who has aged gracefully; but after looking at images of her on the internet, I'm not so sure. It looks like she might have had skin peals to smooth her face. Also, her eyebrows look plucked, and her makeup is heavy (but then, Collins always wore makeup). I guess that when you're in the public eye, you feel like you have to do something to maintain the youthful image.
Joan Baez, on the other hand, has done nothing artificial to keep herself looking young, and I think she's a handsome woman. She is the last person who would get plastic surgery. I don't even think she wears makeup. Baez was the first entertainer that I loved as a child, and I still love her.
Joni Mitchell is another artist who is aging naturally. That actually surprises me a little because she was vain (or perhaps insecure) about her looks when she was young. Like Baez, she has gone from pretty to handsome -- and now she somehow looks kinder (perhaps because she looks like someone's cool mother). I love the fact that she still has her signature flowing straight hair.
Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell were both very beautiful when they were young. They had that special mixture of youthful perfection combined with character and integrity that is so appealing. I remember watching Joan Baez on one of Hugh Hefner's ridiculous shows (either PlayBoy's Penthouse or Playboy After Dark). Both shows depicted a party at the Playboy Mansion populated by Playboy bunnies. Baez was the most beautiful woman in the room, far more beautiful than any of the silly-looking bunnies.
It's a shame what aging does to us. When I reincarnate, I want to live in a universe where there is no aging, where each individual develops and improves and gains perfection as time passes, both physically and mentally. This business of "peaking" in our mid-years and then sliding downhill is for the birds. In my next life, I want to remember my past lives so that I don't feel so tied to my present circumstances. Death then would be more like graduating from college than dying: In such a universe, we would know that death was just a transition to something new, and it wouldn't be so frightening. Actually, death doesn't frighten me much. What frightens me is the deterioration that precedes it.
Railing against reality does no good, so I'll stop writing now.
Manilow is now 70 years old. He is as slender as he ever was, but he came on stage moving stiffly, and the immediate impression is that of a walking mannequin. The curious thing is that he moves more stiffly and awkwardly than most of the 70-year-olds that I know -- but then, they aren't trying to dance or be entertaining. His gestures are awkward and studied. Of course, Manilow always looked stiff, even when he was young.
At 70, he has the face and hair of a 30-year-old, though they don't look at all natural. He almost looks like his young self, but not quite. He has avoided the plastic-surgery mistakes that, say, Joan Rivers has made (who doesn't look like her old self at all). He still looks like Barry Manilow, but just not the same.
His voice still sounds youthful, but his singing is off-key much of the time, and he can't hit any of the high notes or sustain any of the long notes. He compensates by "sliding" his notes so that they sound more spoken than sung, in the same way that Ed McMahon used to slide "Here's" when introducing Johnny Carson: "He-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!"
Years ago I watched an elderly Frankie Valli (the lead singer of the Four Seasons) giving a performance in which he looked very shaky and also couldn't hit all the notes, and I had the same reaction: Time to retire.
But it's not up to me, is it? If Manilow still wants to perform, and if his fans still want to see him, he has every right to be out there performing the best that he can. What I object to is that he has turned himself into a parody of his younger self. His haircut is actually more boyish than the haircut he had at 30 (his hair is now dyed, of course), and his skin is unnaturally smooth. Instead of jumping around the stage trying to look youthful and energetic (and failing), he could move with a little more dignity.
I never liked Frank Sinatra, but I appreciate that Sinatra didn't spend his old age imitating his younger self. He matured for all the world to see, and he was still a good entertainer at 60 -- but you got the 60-year-old Sinatra, not an imitation of the 30-year-old Sinatra.
Actually, compared to Joan Rivers, Manilow has some integrity. Unlike Rivers, he isn't trying to look better than he did at 30; he's just trying to look the same as he did at 30. Joan Rivers' plastic surgery has given her sexy, supple lips and cheeks which she never had in her youth. (Of course, a man wouldn't tell his surgeon to give him such features.)
I'm not entirely unsympathetic with Manilow. I can see how it happened. He is a rich entertainer; and as he started to age, it must have been a natural step for him to start seeing various professionals to maintain his image. But not every entertainer does that. Some just let the years overtake them. They do what all of us do: They try to keep their weight down, and they take care of themselves and dress well. I much prefer that to what Manilow is doing.
I was just about to praise Judy Collins as an entertainer who has aged gracefully; but after looking at images of her on the internet, I'm not so sure. It looks like she might have had skin peals to smooth her face. Also, her eyebrows look plucked, and her makeup is heavy (but then, Collins always wore makeup). I guess that when you're in the public eye, you feel like you have to do something to maintain the youthful image.
Joan Baez, on the other hand, has done nothing artificial to keep herself looking young, and I think she's a handsome woman. She is the last person who would get plastic surgery. I don't even think she wears makeup. Baez was the first entertainer that I loved as a child, and I still love her.
Joni Mitchell is another artist who is aging naturally. That actually surprises me a little because she was vain (or perhaps insecure) about her looks when she was young. Like Baez, she has gone from pretty to handsome -- and now she somehow looks kinder (perhaps because she looks like someone's cool mother). I love the fact that she still has her signature flowing straight hair.
Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell were both very beautiful when they were young. They had that special mixture of youthful perfection combined with character and integrity that is so appealing. I remember watching Joan Baez on one of Hugh Hefner's ridiculous shows (either PlayBoy's Penthouse or Playboy After Dark). Both shows depicted a party at the Playboy Mansion populated by Playboy bunnies. Baez was the most beautiful woman in the room, far more beautiful than any of the silly-looking bunnies.
It's a shame what aging does to us. When I reincarnate, I want to live in a universe where there is no aging, where each individual develops and improves and gains perfection as time passes, both physically and mentally. This business of "peaking" in our mid-years and then sliding downhill is for the birds. In my next life, I want to remember my past lives so that I don't feel so tied to my present circumstances. Death then would be more like graduating from college than dying: In such a universe, we would know that death was just a transition to something new, and it wouldn't be so frightening. Actually, death doesn't frighten me much. What frightens me is the deterioration that precedes it.
Railing against reality does no good, so I'll stop writing now.
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