«IT'S CALLED GOSSIP AND OF COURSE IT'S AN OBSESSION OF MINE»

The Era of the Buffed Actor is upon us, which means no significant male leading role is exempted from the expectation that he have rippling biceps and six-pack abs. That’s Hollywood.Whether it be Matt Damon in the “Bourne” films, Jake Gyllenhaal in “Prince of Persia,” Russell Crowe in “Robin Hood,” Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner in the “Twilight” series, Robert Downey Jr. in the “Iron Man” pictures, or many others, flab is clearly not fab. Actors in action or physically demanding roles are defined these days by their definition.“There’s been a fitness craze in this country for the past decade, and we have come to define fitness by its most visible feature — the hardened body, even though it could just as easily be cholesterol count, blood pressure, etc.,” said Susan Jeffords, professor and pop culture expert at the University of Washington-Bothell and author of the book, “Hard Bodies: Hollywood Masculinity in the Reagan Era.”

MSNBC
June 21 2010