The question began making the rounds at last year's Oscars. Was it possible that film audiences were actually appreciating terrific performances by actresses more than a day over 22? If so, then maybe women don’t need all of that plastic surgery, all those injections and peels. “Think of what just happened here,” the momentum grew. “Helen Mirren owned the Oscars. She took everyone’s breath away, and her face still looks every day its age. This just proves that a woman can, too, grow old in Hollywood.”
But then these people never thought of Helen and the Two-Thirds Rule. Most of us can manage to smile on occasion if we have somehow managed to make it in two out of three of life’s biggies. For example, happy at work and happy with the kids, but the marriage is, eh. Or the romance and work rocks, but offspring not so much. Whatever your cocktail, life clicks. The Two-Thirds Rule applies singularly, too: great body, great face, but insecure; or brilliant mind and decent appearance, but the body, well, don't get up. It's ok. For the most part, if we've got two, life can actually have its moments.
Mirren’s co-stars chattered about her in the days before the ceremony. They were saying, “OMG 
what
she would do on the set - so funny!” and “Man, she has a bod under
those Queen clothes.” We saw the “bod” part. Her slim frame supported
breasts that covered her entire rib cage. She didn’t need a face that
melted hearts because the other two parts about her were so
spectacularly wonderful that the spectacularly wonderful bubbled over
and encased it all.
Catherine
Deneuve also walked the red carpet, but she isn’t famous as a good time
gal so much. Her 2/3s is different. Hers face became Marianne, the
symbol of the French republic (recently replaced by
French Victoria Secrets model, Laetitia Casta, in a harsh life version of
Next).
To maintain her role as the Great Beauty, Deneuve went to doctors for
subtle work. There have been reports of the odd sounding gold thread
lift and it looks like some upper eyelid work. And any lifelong smoker
with a full lips is pumping something in. But other parts are
noticeably au naturale, like the undereye
bags, wrinkled neck, and soft chins.
Some Oscar bloggers thought Catherine looked great, but one
could imagine only scary plastic surgery. It's understandable She has a
tendency to knot up her face. This strained look might be because she
doesn't seem to want to be filmed or photographed when animated.
So out of some concern that she'll look grandmotherly (which she often does), she freezes up and looks fake.
Efforts to slow the signs of aging can landslide into efforts to stop all signs of aging, and that is when bad things happen. Deneuve once said that Botox for actresses is a mistake because without expression, one cannot act. Yet, her own need to it seems that her own need to continue in the role of the Classic Beauty reduces her to wax museum half-smiles and nods.
Still, I can forgive Deneuve anything. I can only imagine how my head would handle it if, for example, my face were on the Statute of Liberty. Yeah, big pain brattypants, for sure. Heck, maybe I could just settle for a Christian Lacroix gown and a pair of new boobs.
