A Material, A Material, A Material, A Material World

There's no real substance or value in any of the words that follow. You have been forewarned. I watched the last twenty minutes of Mannequin last week. A real crap movie that demands a serious suspension of disbelief and leaves a lot of (meaningless) questions unanswered. But it costars Kim Cattrall, circa 1987, and in watching her for those twenty minutes or so I recalled the absolute fascination I had with her in this role. In this film, as the optimistic, selfless (if somewhat dim) ancient Egyptian princess, she is the most attractive woman in the world--to me. There are several such roles that I have identified for actresses and my adoration of them. In each case, there is an undefined, intangible quality or combination of qualities (physical, behavioral, temperamental) that makes that actress in that role irresistibly attractive. Other examples: Claire Forlani in Meet Joe Black; Rachel Weisz in About a Boy; Natalie Portman in Closer; Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's ; Katherine Ross in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Katie Holmes in Wonder Boys; Kate Beckinsale in Serendipity; Keira Knightly in Pride and Prejudice; Olivia Williams in Rushmore; Agnese Nano in Cinema Paradiso, Scarlet Johansson in Lost in Translation. And there are more I am sure--there's some Marisa Tomei role I am neglecting. Winona Ryder, too. The number of examples may seem to belie the singularity of the experience...but it doesn't.