DVDizzy Forum

Amanda Bynes, 24: I've Retired From Acting
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/2 ... 18619.html
(via time.com)

It's not like she needs the money, I'm sure, so if it isn't enjoyable for her anymore, it might be better to get out now...

Let's hope this sets a precent to other actresses of her age, especially women a lot less unique and likable than she is. Unfortunately, it's usually the ones who have what it takes to be a better actress who usually call it quits or die and the boring ones become today's Glenn Close's and Anjelica Huston's.

Lazario wrote:Let's hope this sets a precent to other actresses of her age, especially women a lot less unique and likable than she is. Unfortunately, it's usually the ones who have what it takes to be a better actress who usually call it quits or die and the boring ones become today's Glenn Close's and Anjelica Huston's.

Huh? I thought Glen Close and Anjelica Houston were decent actresses. Or are you being ironic?

I think he means that if Amanda Bynes retires now, someone of a lesser acting calibre will one day, years from now, be considered the Glenn Close/Anjelica Huston of her generation.

albert

The problem is, there's very few good roles for women in movies these days. This is the ultimate failing of modern day Hollywood. Movies are almost exclusively made for 15-30 year old males.

There's a quick test you can do: think of any "big" movie over the past five years or so and ask these questions:

1. How many female characters get over 20 minutes of screen time?
2. Of those who do get 20 or more minutes, how many are considerably younger than the male lead(s)?
2. Of those 20 or more minutes, how many progress the plot, rather than just talking about the male characters or agreeing with the male characters?
3. How many actually have to be rescued by the male characters?
and finally:
4. If the woman is strong, independent and progresses the plot, how likely is it that she will be portrayed as "evil" - a greedy seductress, home-wrecker or worse?

I would hazard a guess it's most of them. You can't blame Bynes for "retiring" (which I doubt she is - I think she'll just pick smaller, independent films from now on) because for her, the clock is already ticking. The older she gets, the fewer roles she'll be offered. If she's lucky she'll be able to snag some "character" roles when she's older - but the 30s and early 40s are likely to be a wasteland for her as far as movie roles go.

Its an absolute disgrace how misogynistic mainstream cinema is; its a much bigger problem than anything else in movies today - be it brain-dead, effects driven blockbusters, "tortureporn", "gross-out" comedies overstepping the line or whatever. Those may all contribute to the second-class nature of actresses in Holywood, but they alone are not the cause.

2099net wrote:Its an absolute disgrace how misogynistic mainstream cinema is; its a much bigger problem than anything else in movies today - be it brain-dead, effects driven blockbusters, "tortureporn", "gross-out" comedies overstepping the line or whatever. Those may all contribute to the second-class nature of actresses in Holywood, but they alone are not the cause.

I think its even sadder that when women are given the rights to write and direct movies, they create garbage. I mean, they feel as if they have to criticize the male dominated media and instead of creating a good, inspired story they make the women out to be angry bitches while the men are pigs, dumb and disgusting (The Ugly Truth is a great example of this).

And don't even get me started on the Twilight/Sex and the City movies. Sorry if this offends anyone that loves these movies, but they prove Netty's point. The female characters in those movies are usually dumb, unappealing, passive and annoying, always following the handsome male lead. Yet, these movies have a strong FEMALE fanbase behind them. It's just giving filmmakers ammo for creating shallow female characters because apparently female audiences don't care at all.

Escapay wrote:

pap64 wrote: Huh? I thought Glen Close and Anjelica Houston were decent actresses. Or are you being ironic?

I think he means that if Amanda Bynes retires now, someone of a lesser acting calibre will one day, years from now, be considered the Glenn Close/Anjelica Huston of her generation.

Correct. Except for the "if" part. It would be damn silly of me to say Amanda Bynes can save the world from the Kristen Stewart's. I was just saying, women like her have the most potential of doing something interesting with their careers later on. She had real charisma, was damn funny when she went all-out, and had a likability beyond her clothes and her breasts. And clearly Hairspray showed that she wanted to do something more ambitious than the teen schlock she'd been doing up to that point.

I'm glad you liked Amanda Bynes. Me too. She was funny and it's not often we get actresses who really are funny because they're funny, not because a romantic comedy made them fall on their...you know.

She was interestingly enough in Sydney White which cast her as a modern Snow White. I didn't see it, but I wonder if she has a lot to do there, if she's funny or what. I think the movie does say her personality makes her fairest of all at the college, overthrowing the "evil queen".

I've actually never seen her outside of All That and The Amanda Show on Nickelodeon. Was she actually scoring a bunch a great parts after those shows? If not, then I can see why she would just retire.

The sad part is I thought she already was retired.

Amanda Bynes is one of my favorite actresses since The Amanda Show and What I Like About You. I enjoyed watching her on Big Fat Lair and She's The Man. I got surprise when I heard that she was retiring, she's the only young actress that knows comedy because she made me laugh hard on her movies and TV shows.

Disney Duster wrote:She was interestingly enough in Sydney White which cast her as a modern Snow White. I didn't see it, but I wonder if she has a lot to do there, if she's funny or what. I think the movie does say her personality makes her fairest of all at the college, overthrowing the "evil queen".

It's a very paint-by-numbers movie that does little else but re-tell the Snow White story in a college setting with the additional message of "in a way, we're all geeks!". Amanda's intentionally chewing the scenery through it all, which is more or less the only sign of acting life in the entire movie. The Prince equivalent (conveniently named Tyler Prince) is more boring here than in the 1937 Disney version, which is such a waste of a role for Matt Long ("Jack & Bobby", "The Deep End"). It also doesn't help that Sara Paxton (one of the worst actors of her generation) plays the Evil Queen equivalent "Rachel Witchburn". The Dwarfs/Dorks in the movie provide some mild comic relief but are all just stereotypical outcasts. Then again, the whole movie is filled with stereotypes anyway.

But don't let any of that stop you from ever seeing the movie. It's a harmless way to spend 90 minutes of your time.

albert

jpanimation wrote:I've actually never seen her outside of All That and The Amanda Show on Nickelodeon. Was she actually scoring a bunch a great parts after those shows? If not, then I can see why she would just retire.

The sad part is I thought she already was retired.

Well, she had major success with Hairspray, even if she was mainly playing the best friend role.

I liked her in All That(what i remember of it) the Amanda Show, What I Like About You, That movie when she goes to Britain (forget the name ), Big Fat Liar, and Hairspray.

IOW, half her career

I'm kinda saddened by this, but this won't be the end of her (not if her overly obnoxious Twitter tweets have anything to say for her... jk).

She's co-starring in a comedy, Easy A, due out this fall! It also has Emma Stone, Aly Michalka, Lisa Kudrow, Penn Badgely, Cam Gigandet, and others...

PeterPanfan wrote:It also has Emma Stone, Aly Michalka, Lisa Kudrow, Penn Badgely, Cam Gigandet, and others...

Yay, ugh, YES!, eh, eh, and who?

albert

http://wonderwall.msn.com/movies/amanda ... ?GT1=28135

Well, that lasted a long time, didn't it?

Although, to be fair, she was plugging an upcoming movie of her's at the same time. She could very well still be staying out of acting from now on. Who knows?

http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/crush/five-j ... xx.;_ylv=3

Glee and Supergirl would be awesome.

Hmm... Maybe she did it to try and get people to offer her roles...

I think she's great!

Loved her in What I Like About You and She's The Man. She was also fun in Hairspray and Sydney White.

Would love her in Glee!

Lazario wrote:Hmm... Maybe she did it to try and get people to offer her roles...

That I am willing to bet wouldn't be the first time an actress or actor has done that to get jobs... I mean it's effective....Conan on the Tonight show didn't gain more fans and viewers until they announced Conan was getting the boot and then they higher ratings....

Also Didn't Silvester Stallone also say he was retiring or wouldn't work in films again.....and we know that didn't last