You know what a Cougar is, right? A kickass SSS woman who pursues or accepts dates with much younger men. Several years ago, when I was single, people called me a Cougar. A hot fireman, 20 years younger than I, asked me out on a few dates. My kids were appalled and my mother cheered me on! We just didn’t have enough in common to keep it going longer. Later, I was in a one-year relationship with a guy 8 years younger. Then there was one who was only 40 days younger. I guess he doesn’t count, right?
I genuinely liked and was attracted to these men initially. In case you’re wondering, they pursued me. I didn’t need a younger man to feel younger myself. I didn’t need anyone to take care of me.
It was fun, for awhile, then I got bored. We obviously weren’t on the same wavelength, at all.
Sunset Boulevard is the story of a leading lady who had an ulterior motive for seeking a younger man. She did need a younger man to make her feel younger and she wanted to be loved and revered. She was rolling in dough and fame; that was how she lured him.
Relationships like these usually end badly. This one ended worse than ‘badly’!
!Warning! Spoilers! If you plan to see this movie, you’ll want to save this post to read after viewing.
Sunset Boulevard, the famed Hollywood street, is representative of the film industry. Billy Wilder, a well-known screenwriter, brought us the movie Sunset Boulevard in 1950 about an aging silent film actress, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) and a hack writer, Joe Gillis (William Holden) who form a sort of partnership. Watch the short trailer and I’ll fill in the gaps when you’ve finished.
It won 3 Academy Awards and is ranked #16 on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Greatest Films of the 20th century.
Some have called it a classic horror movie and others questioned whether it was a dark comedy or a drama. Whatever way you choose to classify it, it stands as a great example of noir film and an interesting twist in fiction writing.
Joe Gillis is the narrator, however he’s dead in the water, literally, when the movie opens. Norma Desmond killed him and now he’s going to tell us what happened.
A dead man walking?
Joe Gillis is broke and can’t seem to get anyone to buy his screenplay. Creditors are after him and he winds up in a car chase with the repo guys. Upon getting a flat tire, he finds himself in front of Norma Desmond’s mansion and decides to hide his car in her garage.
Norma first takes him for an undertaker based on his clothes but lets him in as he explains his story. She commandeers him for help in writing a screenplay of her own to boost her all but faded career.
Norma takes it upon herself to move him into the mansion, without his permission, and pays his apartment rent in arrears. He accepts (the cad!) since it’s better than going back to the Midwest to work for little money, and no recognition, at a local newspaper.
While working together, she falls in love with him.
She expects gratitude, which he gives but he’s shocked she’s fallen for him and tells her he wants to make his own life and choose his own women. She’s desperate for him and threatens to kill herself to get him back. It works only temporarily.
He falls for a younger screenwriter, Betty, who sees little value in his writing. Norma is so jealous, she calls the young woman and tells her that Joe is a cad (told ya!) and wants to expose the way he’s been living. Joe invites Betty to see for herself. Betty isn’t a happy girl. She drives away from the whole sordid situation.
Joe decides to go back to his Midwest home. He packs and starts to leave, ignoring Norma’s threats to kill herself.
But, she’s gone mad. She shoots him, instead of killing herself, leaving him dead in the water, and we’re right back at the beginning of the movie.
Life as a Cougar isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Norma wasn’t your average, everyday Cougar, though. She was a “has-been” and seriously looney!
If you were a movie critic, how would your review read? What do you think about the narrator being a dead man? Do you think it works for this film, or should Hollywood have trashed it?
More importantly – Have you dated much younger men? How did it all work out? Dish it, ladies!
I love the movie Sunset Blvd, but I have to admit it’s always bothered me that the narrator was dead. The same thing is true of Goodfellas. I guess my ability to ignore obvious impossibilities only goes so far.
Diana Douglas recently posted..It’s Time to Light Up the Blogosphere! 9/27/12
I hear ya’ on Goodfellas. This one didn’t bother me, though. I saw it as a teen and the obvious wasn’t obvious to me then. LOL
Marcia Richards recently posted..Hope Springs Onto The Bed Springs
Sorry I am joining late…I dated a few younger men but not by too many years…I think I preferred them and actually married one 2 yrs younger…they don’t ry to treat me like a child or over control…as far as Sunset Blvd…one of my favs as I am an old movie buff…I think one of my favorite parts is the narotor is dead..ingenious actually and Holden is magnificent…he even makes us love his rather nasty character who we feel pity for…
Donna@Gardens Eye View recently posted..Simply The Best-September
You’re never too late, Donna! Cool! Another Cougar! I agree with you on Holden’s performance–he’s so good we love him more than feel sorry for Norma.
Marcia Richards recently posted..Hope Springs Onto The Bed Springs
Some older women are so gorgeous and naturally young looking that they simply attract younger men, without even trying. I think if there is a spark that evolves into something special, no matter how old the man or the woman is – they can live happily ever after. Or at least date for a while
I have watched Sunset Boulevard a looooong time ago. I don’t remember much of it, only that I liked the story and the acting. Well, it’s time to watch it again. Thank you for reminding me of this classic, Marcia!
Angela Orlowski-Peart recently posted..Get Ready To Party On Friday!
Well, enjoy it, Angela! Norma Desmond is truly looney-tunes, though, and thinks she’s a diva. Do you or does anyone else remember that Carol Burnett used to do a skit where she played Norma Desmond on her show? It was hilarious but I didn’t know who Norma Desmond was at the time. It all made sense when I saw the movie.
Marcia Richards recently posted..A Cougar on Sunset Boulevard
Hi Marcia, I’ve always loved the “dead man talking” viewpoint of Sunset Blvd. It just worked. But if it were released today, I suspect it would be shot down by critics and viewers alike.
Here’s a true story for you: I used to live at the Ivar Hill Apartments in Hollywood, right next door to the Alto Nido, where Joe Gillis lived (you see his apartment in the opening scene of Sunset Blvd). A gorgeous musician, nine years my junior, lived below me. One day he knocked on my door and asked me to a movie. We walked down to the Cinerama Dome to see it. And to make a long story short, we’ve been married seven years.
Debra Eve recently posted..Frank McCourt: Those Who Can, Teach
Oh my gosh, Debra! You’re the ultimate Cougar! What a great story! So happy for you! You and Tameri–you go Cougars!
Marcia Richards recently posted..Special Edition — The Look Challenge
Hmmm, my husband is five years younger than me, does that make me a cougar? I tend to think of cougars like Jolsye ~ as Samantha on Sex and the City.
I remember watching this movie a long time ago with some girlfriends and we were all creeped out by Norma. She was monkey bait crazy, but cunning in her whiny, desperate way. I think it was a pivotal moment in my life ~ I never wanted to be like Norma. Ever. To have your identity wrapped up in someone or something so completely that when it’s taken away you’re left with nothing. You are nothing. That was terrifying to my twenty-something self.
Yes, it does make you a Cougar! Cougars have gotten a bad rep! Some think of them as older women dating much, much younger men only for the sex and no relationship. Others describe them as older women who date any man younger than she and is open to a relationship. I prefer the latter definition. Samantha is not a bad example of that.
Norma is nuts and certainly no one to emulate! lol
Hi Marcia! I love this post. I’m not a cougar, never have been, but I love the classic cougar, Samantha on Sex & the City. I also love classic movies, even if they are horror films. I recall watching Sunset Boulevard as a teen and was intrigued by the twist. You keep telling yourself the narrator must have survived, but then he’s dead in the water, as you say. Well, the cad got his just desserts, taking advantage of an older, loony woman. I wouldn’t necessarily call Norma Desmond a cougar, since I don’t view today’s older woman dating a much younger man as desperate or crazy.
I like your website’s look. Definitely strong and sexy.
Jolyse Barnett recently posted..The Southernmost Artist and Key West Art
Hi Jolyse! I don’t think much of men who tell themselves that the older woman is helping him out of the goodness of her heart and he doesn’t owe her a thing. He was a cad! Back in those days, if she were successful, she would have been considered the one who took advantage of the younger man. Today, as well, some would thin that. However, today, the SSS older woman who finds mutual attraction with a younger man is cheered on in some circles and regarded as desperate in others, though she likely isn’t desperate at all. Thanks for coming by, Jolyse!
Oh, Gloria, I’m sorry you couldn’t watch the trailer. Maybe if you go to youtube.com. Here’s the link: http://youtu.be/Y3P0Zpe-2og
You’re right, she wasn’t a Sexy, Smart, and Strong woman. She was a self-centered, whiny, spoiled woman who knew she really had nothing to offer but her fading fame, hence her pitiful threat.
The trials and tribulations of dating younger men will be a whole other post–or a series of them, my friend – yes, offered up as a research project.
Marcia Richards recently posted..A Cougar on Sunset Boulevard
I couldn’t *sob* watch the trailer because laptop, Huey P. ACKard, likes to freeze frame them. Forever. I have to give him the (re)boot to outfox him.
Since the movie received accolades and awards, I’ll make the assumption that Dead Guy Talking doesn’t reveal the twist at the end. Or, that the story is strong enough for us to want to know who killed him as we see him before he relocated far, far away — farther than the farmlands where he grew up.
With one of the assumptions firmly in my noggin, I truly like movies with narrators — dead of alive. To me, it’s not dissimilar to getting the best of both worlds in the movie- versus-book debate. Movies are restricted to what the actors show us, and we aren’t privy to internalization–the motivation and thoughts beneath the action. That’s why some of my favorite books don’t give me the same WOWZA! unless the screenwriter MAKES THINGS UP THAT AREN’T IN THE BOOK, YOU CAD!
No. I haven’t dated a younger man. Why? None have pursued me, so I’ve had no opportunity to make that decision. But, I can guarantee you I would not, could not empathize with a movie character so pathetic and needy as to threaten to kill herself to hold onto a man. Strong Women don’t do that.
So. Marcia, about the salient details on younger men…
For book research purposes only. Really. Spill!
Gloria Richard recently posted..SOCIAL MEDIA Savvy with Sanity – a Brinda Berry series
Oh, Gloria, I’m sorry you couldn’t watch the trailer. Maybe if you go to youtube.com. Here’s the link: http://youtu.be/Y3P0Zpe-2og
You’re right, she wasn’t a Sexy, Smart, and Strong woman. She was a self-centered, whiny, spoiled woman who knew she really had nothing to offer but her fading fame, hence her pitiful threat.
The trials and tribulations of dating younger men will be a whole other post–or a series of them, my friend – yes, offered up as a research project.
Marcia Richards recently posted..A Cougar on Sunset Boulevard
Ooooh. Can’t wait for the series, Marcia!
Gloria Richard recently posted..PERIODUNKULOUS — My Mug Shot was Doctored