What more can be said about Al? The prolific artist, American icon, and one of the greatest actors (if not the capital T) of our lives has become 82 years today. but the ScarfaceAnd the heat And A very hot summer afternoon The star shows no sign of leaving the cultural consciousness just yet – as if he really could. Although he doesn’t consistently appear in award-winning material (who is he?), he continued to work in films, television, and on stage fairly consistently throughout the 2000s. Now, he’s maintained that act early in his life into the ’80s, having recently starred as Aldo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s Gucci House Only last year, and in Martin Scorsese Irish And Quentin Tarantino Once upon a time…in Hollywood back in 2019.
It’s certainly admirable that someone who has been so accomplished and persistent for years like Pacino is still committed to his craft in his old age. Role as Jimmy Hoffa in Irish It proves that not only did the legendary artist get it, but that his fall years naturally gave him material assets that he could apply to his new performances. His raspy voice and stressful movements give him a wonderful physicality that made him ideal for the role of Hoffa, be it sympathetic or intimidating.
In fact, Pacino’s ability to “keep it up” (and he obviously does – he’s been dating a woman who’s been more than five decades younger than him) combined with that serious appearance seems to have sparked a certain personality type pushed into him by the general public. It’s less about the roles he plays himself than the way he’s interpreted outside of his acting career. You see, when a beloved celebrity reaches a certain age, there is a tendency to do something I would call “grandfather” for them. It happened with Betty White, and it happened regularly with David Lynch, but he’s freaking out when it comes to Al Pacino. Either because these characters are no longer traditionally beautiful, or because they are slowly getting closer to a grave awaiting us all and we need a mechanism to deal with them, there is an endemic instinct to turn older celebrities into sweet, innocent and flawless children. .
True, Pacino’s realistic actions are often charming. It’s hard not to find himself fascinated by the off-screen magnifiers, as he is often caught on camera engaging in what would be considered “fun” behavior. it was recently photographed On a leisurely stroll through Beverly Hills, he did what can only be described as “jamming” to the music on his iPhone through wired headphones. Last year, he was filmed frustratingly (and relatively speaking) untangling headphones from his face mask. He made headlines for him a partner A collage phone case spotted by eagle eyes fans in a group photo. In red carpet photos, clad in long robes and sunglasses swallowing his petite frame, the short king couldn’t have gotten more diminutive in his old age.
It’s tough, because 82-year-old Al Pacino is definitely cute. Like Betty White before him, he has aged gracefully to a naturally warm personality. It’s easy to impose on him the role of Grandfather of America, but it is unsettling that everyone’s collective instinct is to turn an adult into a children’s caricature of what we feel their elders should be. It’s a strange, thorny kind of age distinction that seems harmless on the surface; It seems that only the person in question is celebrated. But it celebrates an older personality by diminishing their status as an independent and fully aware human being in favor of something like watching a cute cat video on Twitter.
As often happens with celebrities in the age of social media, the public image of a celebrity is chosen as a meme, shaped and packaged into something easily digestible, accessible, and most importantly, Relatable for a wider audience. Being able to reach celebrities because of the internet is only a small part of what led to the movie star’s death. But it also allows fans to create malicious or reductive narratives about the people they want to act like their friends. Or, in the case of Pacino, like their grandfather.
Anyway, I hope that one day Al Pacino will be, in fact, a warm and loving grandfather (he wasn’t, in fact). Until then, I simply wish Mr. Pacino’s birthday, and some of you consider the timeless advice of being a little less grotesque regarding internet celebs.
Brianna Ziegler is an entertainment writer who lives in Massachusetts, which is in the middle of nowhere. Her work has appeared in Little White Lies, Film School Rejects, Thrillist, Bright Wall/Dark Room and more, and she writes a bimonthly newsletter called This Is Stranger. You can follow it Twitterwhere she loves to get involved in exciting discussions about movies like Movie 43, Clifford, and Watchmen.
