[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”31359″ img_size=”800×450″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Ben Barnes, best known for roles as Prince Caspian, Logan Delos (Westworld) and Billy Russo (The Punisher); is staring in a BBC One six-part thriller. The series is called Gold Digger and is about a man who is dating a woman twenty-six years older than him. We’ve been on the subject of age a lot. While Keanu Reeves is getting praise for dating a woman who is deemed “age-appropriate”, have we really thought how damaging that mindset is? As Barnes points out in an interview, Alexandra Grant is 46 and Reeves is 55. That’s a nine-year age difference. Because Grant has gray hair, suddenly she’s deemed appropriate and that age difference goes away. If Grant was still 46, but looked like Anne Hathaway, would Reeves still be getting the applause?
Side note: very happy for Reeves, he deserves happiness.
Barnes expressed:
“I thought it was interesting that she is actually nine years younger than him. So we’re just applauding him for having a girlfriend with grey hair, which I’m not sure is as helpful as people would hope. Hopefully, we’ll get to a point in our society where we don’t have to acknowledge this. Why is it surprising that a man in his fifties should have a girlfriend with grey hair?”
The subject of dating someone who is age-appropriate is a hot topic right now. With actors like Leonardo DiCaprio dating younger women, the internet has forgotten that Ashton Kutcher once dated Demi Moore. Both relationships have large age gaps, but the subject seems to become a little more talked about when it’s the woman who is younger.
In Gold Digger, the idea of this age gap really weighs on the story, as Barnes states:
“The weight of the story, comes from our society’s prejudice against age gaps in relationships.”
When asked if the show would be as “interesting” as it is with the roles reserved, Barnes stated:
“I don’t think it would have been made.”
Gold Digger touches upon sexuality and desire in women who are older, to which Barnes expressed:
“[We rarely get to see a] full, rich, emotional, sensual, sexual life of a woman in their sixties [in drama].in drama. Therein lies the problem in terms of how often we see [older women’s sex lives] in the media, because I did note it. And it’s not like your sex drive just turns off as you get older. It doesn’t diminish, necessarily.”
Barnes hopes this show will help viewers “check” their prejudices against couples who have an age gap:
“Men are lauded in society for nabbing a younger, more attractive partner and as I’ve thought about it a lot it seems to reflect a historical judgment of women in society. No matter which way the age gap is, the woman is always blamed. If it’s an older man, people ask, ‘What power or wealth is this woman after?’ And if it’s an older woman, she’s apparently a cougar.”
Are you excited for Gold Digger?
Source: The Independent [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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