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TV Guide: 'There's bias against good-looking people like myself'

posted 11 years ago by SimplemindedSociety
8 replies | jump to latest

So effeminate-looking(though he doesn't know it), I don't find him goodlooking. Yeah, he's not a narcissist..that's why he has to say "I'm not narcissist"
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Rob Lowe: There's bias against good-looking people
April 7, 2014, 1:06 PM EST
By Robyn Ross
TV Guide

Rob Lowe says he's not a narcissist, but claims there's an "unbelievable bias" against good-looking people like himself.

More from TV Guide: Celebrity alter egos

In an interview with The New York Times magazine to promote his second memoir, "Love Life," Lowe talks about finally scoring meaningful roles his good looks didn't allow him previously. "There's this unbelievable bias and prejudice against quote-unquote good-looking people, that they can't be in pain or they can't have rough lives or be deep or interesting," Lowe says. "They can't be any of the things that you long to play as an actor. I'm getting to play those parts now and loving it. When I was a teen idol, I was so goddamn pretty I wouldn't have taken myself seriously."

Lowe, 50, most recently starred on NBC's "Parks and Recreation." When asked why people were surprised that he was funny, he echoed his previous sentiment: "Again, there's a historical bias that good-looking people are not funny."

The former Brat Pack member also opened up about his infamous sex tape in 1988, which he claims increased the leaking of personal home videos. Ironically, he'll soon co-star in "Sex Tape," a movie about a man and wife whose intimate video is accidentally shared with their friends. When asked if the feature's story line could exist without his previous scandal, Lowe said, "Absolutely not. Considering I pioneered the field, it's high time I actually made some money in it."

So, is Lowe sure he's not a narcissist? "I've had years of psychiatry, and I ask about every six months -- it's sort of like getting your oil checked -- I ask, ''I'm not an actual narcissist, am I?' The learned men of psychiatry assure me that I meet none of the medical criteria," he says.

What do you think of Lowe's comments? Tell us on on Facebook and Twitter.

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[–] corinnacarpenter 11 years ago

He's right to an extent. There is this idiotic notion that good-looking people
have an easy life and that they're vain,vacuous dim bulbs.

That being said, he is a narcissist on a very high level.

"What say there, Fuzzy Britches? Feel like talking?"

[–] corinnacarpenter 11 years ago

He's right to an extent. There is this idiotic notion that good-looking people
have an easy life and that they're vain,vacuous dim bulbs. (I'm not including him in my statement.)

That being said, he is a narcissist on a very high level.

"What say there, Fuzzy Britches? Feel like talking?"

[–] Miss_Sui_Generis 11 years ago

"So goddamned pretty" is the wrong description.He was beautiful in his early twenties. Rob Lowe had a glowing complexion like the Princess of Wales and brilliant blue-green eyes. I was a freshman at USC then and became used to seeing him a few times a week because we had a class in the same building. He was always polite and sweet. The other students expected him to be dumb.

He wasn't. So maybe he has a point: people have low expectations of the young and gorgeous. It's a bit tacky to speak of it so bluntly though.

Send lawyers,guns and money/The *beep* has hit the fan

[–] Willows2 11 years ago

Whether it's true or not, he made himself sound like a total douche by saying it.

[–] SimplemindedSociety 11 years ago

'because we had a class in the same building. He was always polite and sweet. The other students expected him to be dumb.'
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Are we sure that just isn't what "goodlooking" people say when they don't get hired or taken seriously, when they also wouldn't if they were average looking? But here'e part of what he could be conveying: that an average-looking actor/actress might get a better appraisel of their acting vs. a handsome one who gave an equal performance (or that might be my own thought)

Raquel Welch says the same thing...whoa!
It's not that Raquel is unintelligent; she wasn't taken too seriously because she was a lousy actress--but she doesn't know that. To get where she did takes intelligence

Interesting, I read a study that said better-looking kids in school were more apt to get a higher mark.

Carol Burnett was talking about an actress(I think I know who) she used to work with in her earlier years who told her "oh dear..men just don't me seriously", while Carol is sitting there taking it all in.

I have to be honest: Lowe is not a leading man or action hero. I don't know what he expected to do in this business.
Yes, if given a choice, let's ask these people if they would rather be ugly.

[–] FCA1975 11 years ago

This guy is 2nd level vain. He is really, really full of himself.

[–] Miss_Sui_Generis 11 years ago

"Are we sure that just isn't what "goodlooking" people say when they don't get hired or taken seriously, when they also wouldn't if they were average looking? But here'e part of what he could be conveying: that an average-looking actor/actress might get a better appraisel of their acting vs. a handsome one who gave an equal performance (or that might be my own thought)"

That's a good point. In recent years beautiful actors of either gender won awards and critical acclaim by playing unattractive characters. It's as if great looks negate talent. Actors from the "Golden Age" of Hollywood were not taken less seriously if they happened to be very attractive. Laurence Olivier and Paul Newman come to mind. Classically handsome actors have been out of fashion since the late 1960s. Does anyone think Seth Rogen or Jesse Eisenberg or Jonah Hill are hot?

Maybe he expected to be Robert Wagner without the dead wife?Rob Lowe was a leading man during his Brat Pack years. Later on he became a decent character actor. He should stick to that and maybe write another amusing book.

Send lawyers,guns and money/The *beep* has hit the fan