Cougars and Second-Hand Lions
My girlfriends and I jokingly refer to ourselves as Cougars; women of—ahem—a certain age who pursue younger men. Okay, so we don’t actually pursue any men, young or otherwise, but in our search for perfect hero material for our books, we always seem to gravitate toward younger men. Ben Barnes, Steve Strait, James Franco…all unquestionably gorgeous young men. Then there are the 40-something heroes who are equally inspiring; Brad Pitt, Josh Holloway, Daniel Craig, and Eric Bana, to name a few.
But last night, I happened to catch the movie, Second-Hand Lions, starring Robert Duvall and Michael Caine. I am a huge fan of Robert Duvall; he’s been in so many movies that I love; Lonesome Dove, The Broken Trail, and Open Range are just a few that come to mind. There is something inherently charming about the man. If he wanted me to run away with him…well, let’s just say I might actually consider it! Maybe it’s the twinkle in his eye, or the slight smile that always seems to hover on his lips. I even mentioned to my husband that here was a man who, despite his age, was still undeniably attractive. So imagine my surprise when I learned this 77-year old actor is married to a woman 41 years his junior. Oddly, the knowledge didn’t creep me out. He’s a guy that any woman would be proud to be seen with.
That got me to thinking about other older heroes…men who, despite their age, retain a certain “something” that makes them appealing to women of all ages. Anthony Hopkins is another such man. I loved him in the movie, The Edge and thought his trophy wife was a fool for cheating on him.
I’ve always admired actor Sam Elliott. He’s boldly charismatic and his voice alone could entice a woman to do wicked things. So while some women might go for the younger guys, if I had to do it all again, I think I’d look for an older hero. And it's not just their ageless good looks; it's their wisdom, their humor, their patience, and all that experience that makes them infinitely appealing.
What about you? Are you a Cougar, or are you a woman who prefers a Second-Hand Lion?
I just love your posts, Karen...
What a great topic!
In general, I like the lions. Mike laughs at me, because recently I put Enrico Colantoni
on my "list" LOL -- but I think he's way sexy. And he's exactly my age, actually, born Feb 14, 1963. ;) I would also add Victor Garber and ultimately, Tom Selleck, of course. ;)
Generally I haven't been a cougar type, which I always thought emerged from my teaching days, I trained my brain to view most younger men as off limits, LOL, but there are two that have caught my eye, though they aren't THAT much younger: Makoto Nagano and Jason Dohring.
Makes me wonder what they'll be like as they get older. ;) I do like the character, patience, and experience that men my own age and older bring to the, uh, table. ;) They can hold a conversation, they have more quality of self... while younger guys are fun to look at, usually after talking to them for about ten minutes they aren't as attractive any more, LOL.
Sam
Mmm...all excellent choices,
Mmm...all excellent choices, Sam! I actually work with a lot of 20-something guys and have to agree...the conversations are mostly one-sided. They talk, and I just sort of listen, completely baffled. I'm sure it's just a case that as I get older, I find the older men are more attractive.
PS - How do you link those names to the pictures? I need to take a course in blog posts, LOL!
I like 'em all! :O) I do
I like 'em all!
:O)
I do like the young men, I like the older ones. I'm basically easy to please...because it's all fantasy for me at this point. I married a dude 11 years older than I am. He's what I got. Anything else is just winks and giggles!
M
Absolutely!! I married a
Absolutely!! I married a guy who is just a few days younger than I am, so I can fantasize either way...Steve Strait one day and Sam Elliott the next, LOL!
Yep
Mike is 9 months younger than me... which he loves to remind me of. ;) So I guess I am into younger guys. *G*
Sam
LOL! Nothing wrong with
LOL! Nothing wrong with that!
And I don't consider myself a cougar, but if someone sewed me a velcro suit and tossed a few younger men at me, they might stick. S'all I'm saying. In my head, anyway. :)
M
OMG, I'm getting a great
OMG, I'm getting a great visual! Thanks for the laugh!
Now that I think about it,
Now that I think about it, though, every other boyfriend I've ever had has been younger, even if only a few months.
Hmmm...with the exception of
Hmmm...with the exception of my husband, every guy I dated was older, by at least a few years. And then there was this one guy when I was in college who was at least 20 years older and I hope my parents aren't reading this because they'd be so horrified (my mom is 18 years older than me, so he was even older than her). But he was from Bucharest and had that whole Vlad the Impaler thing going on, heh-heh. (Should I have said that?)
LOL, Karen
Enough said. You go, girl!
I, too,
dated an older man. Older than my father, I mean! It was while I was at university. I knew he was older but not that much. And he thought I was older.
He broke it off because of my age, not the other way around.
I am 3.5 years older than my husband. But he has an old soul.
ani
Secondhand Lions
I'm with you on Sam Elliot, Sam Shepard, Tom Selleck, and most especially Sean Connery, who I would follow to the ends of the Earth!
LindaC
Oh, yes. All good
Oh, yes. All good choices...
Hello!!
What about Sean Connery (who is better now than when he played James Bond IMHO) or Harrison Ford?
They could both eat crackers in my bed without any complaints!
ani
Okay...
I never got the whole eating crackers thing...
*G*
My mother once told me she got in trouble with my dad for saying she'd let Perry Como leave his shoes under her bed -- I *know* what they'd take their shoes off for, but... where did the crackers thing come from?
Good think Mike is more understanding than my dad... LOL But that's because he knows he really has really no competition at all... ;)
S
Clearly, you've never had a man eat crackers in your bed...
LOL!
My son does it. Then leaves the bed undisturbed...looking. So you climb in, expecting smooth sheets. And you get tiny crumbs you can't get rid of. Trust me, it kills the mood when you have to consider the possibility of getting cracker bits in your hoo-ha.
Hot guy + crackers (or chips or toast)= laundry.
I'd kick a lot of guys out. I do laundry for no man.
LOL!
Dee
Ahhhh...
I guess I'd wonder what the heck they are doing laying around in bed eating crackers, and if I'm there, there are better things to do... no crackers involved.
I just don't even like the idea of crackers anywhere near the hoo-ha.
LOL
PS: Yul is 33, lives in San Mateo, and has graduated Yale and Stanford, if I recall... I think he's a really cool guy. If you have to have a crush, good pick...
Sam
Yul??
Okay, who is Yul??
Hee
Yul Kwon -- the winner of Survivor, Cook Islands. Major hottie, but smart, strong, has integrity, I believe, a good guy - the whole package. And a millionaire, LOL.
Dee and I have been dishing hot Asian guys, LOL.
Sam
Ooh...
Hubba hubba... and he's in my neighborhood... I wonder where he does his grocery shopping? ;)
I admire younger guys (and am about a month older than my husband, which he enjoys for that month each year), but I'm not feeling very cougar-ish today... More chocolate!!
Oh my!
Say no more! Got it; the guy is gorgeous! My mom said she always hoped one of us girls would fall in love with an Asian man...I think she just wanted beautiful Asian babies...
Oh, she was right to...
And this isn't vanity. No one can tell my kids are mine at all. They look just like my husband...and they're freaking ADORABLE.
LOL
Dee
Oh thank God...
He's old enough to lust over.
Wheeeeee!
Oh, you missed one.
Giancarlo Giannini.
Good God, I'd be that man's slave. Probably. Well, I'd seriously consider it. Thankfully, he can afford maids and I can slave away at other things. If you can't place him, he was the father in Walk In The Clouds. But something happened and he had some kind of sexy infusion that totally blew my mind so that by the time he was in Hannibal I think I had to bite my own hand to finish the movie. He ain't bad in Man On Fire, either.
Of course, he's married to Catherine Denueve, so I'm possibly out of my league, but who cares?
I think it's all about voices. As a kid I fell madly, irreparably in love with Yul Brenner. (Can you blame me?) The way he talked and looked and moved. That's the thing with older guys. They have purpose with each motion. Like they know where they're going and they only say what they mean. And men with gruff accents... Giancarlo, Sam Elliot, Jean Reno... I turn into absolute puddle. I'd even let them call me darling and I hate that endearment. Those voices would make it sound good.
As for younger guys, they're pretty yeah, but I can't quite drag myself into being truly attracted to them. (Sam, do you know if Yul is younger than me? If so, then he's my exception.) Also, most of the guys younger than me are really young and thus think it's okay to act stupid. Total turn off. So, my opinion might change as I get older and there's smarter, more experience selection. LOL, when I'm 80, all bets are definitely off.
Uh oh, I rambled!
Dee
Okay, off to find pics of
Okay, off to find pics of Giancarlo; with a name like that he just has to be the epitome of the Latin lover!
Karen--You just posted my
Karen--You just posted my favorite three older guys--especially Sam Elliot. I watched one of his first movies back in the mid-seventies, Lifeguard, and thought he was one of the best things I'd ever seen. I've been watching him ever since.
I am married to a second-hand lion, so I guess I have to go that way, lol, but boy do I appreciate the younger kind, so I'm going to judge my guys on a case by case basis.
Thanks for a great post.
You see??? I just knew we
You see??? I just knew we were destined to be good friends, Jeannie!! Sam Elliott...*sigh*. Does he have the most amazing voice, or what? Suz Brockmann has a character, Sam, in her Navy SEALs series, and he has a Texan drawl and is described as tall and lanky; I always pictured Sam Elliott as that character, and a green-eyed Halle Barry (did I spell that right?) as Alyssa.
That book is in my TBR pile.
That book is in my TBR pile. I read the book before it--Unsung Hero, I believe--and decided to "save" that book for later. Now I know what the characters look like, lol!
Hmm...
I think I am just a teensy bit younger than the rest of y'all, Dee excluded, but I have to say I swing both ways. DH is 10 months younger than I am (in age only - he was about 100 years old in maturity when we met at 18) and there was a certain dark haired, dark eyed barista at Starbucks who flirted very nicely, thank you. But I've always crushed hard on older celebrities. There's just something about the world-weary outlook, kind of Dirty Harry-ish, that says, "I may not look like much, but if you mess with me, I'll bring the smack, big time." I like that, young, old, or somewhere in between. Rabble-rousers, fresh or seasoned, are too much work.
If I had to name names, ahem: Alan Rickman (love the voice), Ralph Fiennes (not too fond of the hookup with the stewardess thing, though), Dennis Leary (I like them sarcastic and funny).
Nobody, not even the men named above, eats crackers in my bed. My 3 year old and Pullups are engaged in a nightly saturation battle and I wash sheets enough as it is.
Alan Rickman...my sister
Alan Rickman...my sister adores him, although I never understood the fan fiction that pairs Snape with Harry Potter. I actually like big noses on men, and Alan Rickman's nose is F.I.N.E. I saw a music video with him and a younger woman that was sizzling! Whew. And Ralph's nose is Fiennes, er fine, too! I agree with you about Dennis Leary, and it doesn't hurt that he's a local (Boston) boy!
Oh, and then there's the guy from LTR
I am not into these movies, but I really liked the older elf guy -- what's her name's father? He was also in Matrix, and I think he's pretty hot.
You know, when I was little, I liked Dean Martin and Robert Wagner, so there you have it... LOL
Alan Rickman is cool, and I like Gary Oldman, too... thanks for reminding me about him. Major yum, there, IMO.
Major Yum is right!
Sam, I never knew his name before, although I loved him in Brahm Stoker's Dracula...Gary Oldman. Yes, indeedy!
I am a second hand lion. Sam
I am a second hand lion.
Sam Elliott makes me roar.
Tombstone
I thought Sam Elliot was so handsome in "Tombstone." I've always had a thing for Patrick Macnee from the tv series "The Avengers." He portrayed the debonair British agent working with Emma Peel.
Oh, Tombstone is one of my
Oh, Tombstone is one of my favorite movies...I loved Val Kilmer in that movie. In fact, that just had a cast of gorgeous men all around, even the villain, Michael Biehn! I remember watching a Sam Elliott movie; a western where he played a drifter who helped a couple of homesteaders fight off an aggressive neighbor. He was in love with the homesteader's wife. I can't recall how it ended, but that was the movie where I fell in love with him.
I GOT IT!!!
Dennis Quaid. 54. Ain't a single inch of that man that is not hot.
Nuff Said.
Agreed.
Good call, Dee.
;)
S
Oh yeah... :)
Oh yeah... :)