Comments on: One big happy “Community?”

By: Counterfeit campuses? : Historiann : History and sexual politics, 1492 to the present

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:55:12 +0000

[...] No wonder Hollywood ignores us, for the most part. Whatever David Horowitz says, we’re extremely boring people. [...]

By: Historiann

Historiann — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:31:27 +0000

Good point, Mamie–I never saw that movie, but maybe I’ll check it out. (Was it any good?)

By: Mamie

Mamie — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:30:26 +0000

Well, at least one art history professor got to be as pretty as Julia Roberts.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:30:18 +0000

Eeeeeeew! What a dirtbag. One of the reasons I never watched that show was that I couldn’t stand David Schwimmer’s whiny portrayal of that character.

By: Cassandra

Cassandra — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:04:15 +0000

On “Friends,” Ross was a professor and worked in a museum…and dated one of his undergrad students in season 6 (thanks, IMDB.com!).

The undergrad’s dad was played by Bruce Willis, and I believe he dated Rachel for a bit.

So, Ross has a Ph.D., works for a university, teaches, and is a total skeeve who dated one of his students.

Another great model for professor-types. Reminds me of John Mahoney’s character in “Moonstruck.”

By: John S.

John S. — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:22:37 +0000

Historiann–this was 1995 Noah Wyle, back in his younger and cuter days. Whether I have aged better than he has is *not* a debate I would willingly entertain! And I do see your point about Tom Hanks, though he has been tapped to play the male lead in more than one romantic comedy. Maybe there’s a double standard for male and female leads in these films?

(I will admit, though, that I never found Meg Ryan as cute as everyone else did, which would seem to make Sleepless in Seattle a film starring people Hollywood *thinks* we should find attractive rather than people we might find appealing on our own. It’s almost as if the media is trying to dictate beauty standards to us or something.)

By: Historiann

Historiann — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:50:33 +0000

John–I forgot about the 30-years younger Harrison Ford, who was pretty cute (and moreover, we were meant to “read” him as cute, and understand that he was the object of many undergrad crushes. Remember the girl with LOVE and YOU painted on her eyelids in the original “Raiders” movie?)

Noah Wyle hasn’t aged well, John–I don’t think it’s a complement to you any longer! And Tom Hanks–when was that guy ever handsome? I mean, he’s better-looking than Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman, but who isn’t?

By: John S.

John S. — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:32:52 +0000

Well, as far as actors playing professors, there are Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks (the professor of art history “symbology” in the Da Vinci Code), and Noah Wyle, playing a character with 4 PhDs in the “Librarian” show on TNT. My wife was always convinced that Noah Wyle should play me if there was ever a movie made of our grad school department. I took this as a reflection of her affection rather than her skills as a casting agent. (But then, Bob Woodward became Robert Redford on the big screen, so there’s always hope!)

By: Historiann

Historiann — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:20:11 +0000

Profane–you’re right! I never watched “Friends,” but I was vaguely aware that the not-good-looking guy who was nebbishy and whiny was a “professor,” or at least a Ph.D. (Didn’t he work in a museum?)

That’s another beef: why do only funny-looking actors play “professors?” Has there ever been a hunky/hottie professor? (Aside from “The Professor” on Giligan’s Island, that is. Russell Johnson is probably why I went into this line of work. Looky what I just found!)

By: Profane

Profane — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:18:43 +0000

Amazed I have not been Greeked on this – recall Ross’s stint as a Professor on Friends? Every stereotypical academic flaw was portrayed there. . .

Oh, and to steal a line from Run DMC, Buffy does not merely rock, she rocks and rulz.