Last night J and I had a fun time seeing a local production of the musical "Anne of Green Gables." J has never read the L. M. Montgomery books (or seen any of the telefilms), so the whole story was new to him. It was fun for me to see the show, and think about my memories of the books and telefilms.On the way home from the show, I had to fill J in on how the "Anne of Green Gables" 1985 telefilm was extremely popular show when I was a young girls and teenager - and not just because of the story. I would bet that Jonathan Crombie, the actor who plays Gilbert Blythe (Anne Shirley's rival/friend/romantic interest) was probably the first "movie star crush" for a lot of girls my age.
It's interesting to trace the historical development of movie star crushes during my teenage years. I would guess that my friends and I all had similar trends, largely due to the release dates of different films/telefilms. The early Gilbert Blythe crush soon developed into the Jack Kelly (Christian Bale) crush when "Newsies" came out in 1992. And just about the time of high school, the "Pride and Prejudice" television drama (starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy) came out in 1995. Darcy was an easy replacement for our earlier crushes - not only was he rich and broodingly handsome, but he was a little bit older (just as we girls were becoming older and not as interested in schoolboys and newspaper boys like Blythe and Kelly). And plus, by that time we girls were reading Jane Austen in our English classes, so we could swoon over Darcy in print as well.
Can you think of any other actor crushes from the '80s and '90s? What crushes were popular during your teenage years? (On a side note, J doesn't remember any widespread crushes for actresses during his teenage years - he guesses that boys would just note that someone was "hot" and stop at that.)
I would imagine that girls a little bit younger than me had a widespread Heath Leger crush after "A Knight's Tale" came out in 2001, right?
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Ah, Gilbert Blythe. I never actually had a crush on him because I found him just as irritating and juvenile as Anne did! But some of his looks to Anne made my heart skip a beat...so full of longing!
Jack Kelly was definitely one of my big crushes, as well. So dreamy.
Growing up, I watched 7 Brides for 7 Brothers A LOT. Benjamin was the cutest brother, so all the girls wanted to be Dorkus when we "played" 7 Brides for 7 Brothers.
Many of my middle school friends (and myself) had crushes on Leonardo DiCaprio after Romeo + Juliet came out in 1996.
I agree with J, but I've always had a bona fide movie star crush on Grace Kelly.
But my question is (and always was when we were that age) is it the actor or the role that attracts? For instance, would you feel the same way about Colin Firth as Jack in "The Importance of Being Earnest?"
ixoj: I think you and Anne would have been bosom friends, if she had really existed. You and her are feisty kindred spirits. And yeah, Gilbert did have a lot of longing looks in the film. My eleven year old self swooned over those looks.
m.m.: I loved "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." (That's an interesting one to bring up, since the film was released long before we were born. But girls our age still developed crushes on the Pontipee brothers, huh?) Frank was my favorite brother, but I think most girls preferred Benjamin. I actually read in some article that Benjamin wasn't that talented as a dancer, but he was expressly cast in the film to be "eye candy" for the female audience.
Jon, I think that the character role definitely has something to do with the crush (good point!), but the good looks of the actor are also a requirement. In some ways, I think that we superimpose part of the character role on the actor/actress that is the object of the crush. Don't you think?
Your Colin Firth question was especially interesting to me. I remember feeling like Firth was attractive in "The Importance of Being Earnest," but I undoubtedly was influenced by the already established Mr. Darcy crush...
The Colin Firth thing is such a mystery to me--I mean, he's so old--but we would totally watch that scene over and over where he jumps in the lake and is walking across the field with his white shirt all wet. And we'd swoon. It's weird to have a crush on someone your 50-year old English teacher thinks is hot. Inexplicable.
I was totally obsessed with Keanu Reeves after The Matrix came out. And Dimitri from Anastasia. And Josh Hartnett from Pearl Harbor. But I was never much for JTT.
Yes and yes to Gilbert Blythe and Jack Kelly...and then yes later to Mr. Darcy, although I didn't see P&P until my freshman year @BYU - but I was still only 17 then, so I suppose it counts.
I remember thinking Jonathan Taylor Thomas was SO cute when I was around 11. Then later in HS I had a big crush on Ben Affleck around the time Armageddon came out. And also Leo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet and Titanic.
ditto on gilbert blythe, ben affleck, leonardo dicaprio and josh hartnett. and the kid on casper...what was his name? oh it's so funny to look back at these crushes! but i'd def. say matthew mcfadyen has replaced colin firth on my P&P "crush" list. ;)
Yes. To the three you mentioned ... sort of.
I loved Gilbert Blythe. I loved Colin Firth though I was always troubled by the fact that, well, he was OLD. Jack Kelly ... hmm, not so much. However, I LOVED David from Newsies. I still hold a soft spot for him.
I've been trying to think of other people during my high school years that I had a crush on. I remember thinking Christian Slater was dreamy, but that was way back when I was about 12 or so. I also remember thinking the lead singer of 311 was really cute when I was about 16 or 17. Clearly, my tastes were all over the place.
Another group of teen crushes that really sticks out to me is more from my little sister's generation:
the return of boy bands (N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, etc.). I remember of all of her friends were pretty drooly over that. I'm grateful to have escaped that by a couple of years.
As you know, we didn't watch much contemporary film/tv. Cary Grant has had my heart since I first saw Arsenic & Old Lace...
[Side note: I'm married to someone who looks a lot like Colin Firth (not precisely, I know, but far more than anybody I know). And I've NEVER thought CF was handsome, and therefore never thought his Mr. Darcy was particularly intriguing. Michael Macfadyen, from the Kiera Knightly version, though? Woof!]
I also had a crush on Gilbert Blythe and Mr. Darcy, although I have still never seen Newsies. My Seven Brides for Seven Brothers crush was Gideon, probably because I was the youngest of seven children and I felt like I could relate the most to his character. It's funny to go back and look at pictures of the movie online, though, because Gideon is actually kind of scrawny compared to the others.
My real high school crush was Gregory Peck. I was smitten the first time I saw Roman Holiday. It wasn't until college that I also realized he was Atticus Finch, and then he just seemed to paternal and old for me.
Ha! It was fun to read everyone's past crushes. (And Aunt Bee, I also think that you've married the closest doppelganger for Firth that I have ever met. Funny that you never found the actor attractive, but (obviously) find your husband attractive. Perhaps you're mostly attracted to the ways that Jaime differs from CF? Ha!).
I forgot about JTT - I did have a lil' crush on him when I was a tween. And e: I forgot about the character David in "Newsies." Now that you've brought that up, I remember how I used to debate with my friends over who was the most attractive boy in that show. There are (were?) a lot of David fans out there. There was another boy that girls also liked. Was his name Spot?
On a non-movie star note, I also remembered today that I used to have a crush on Prince William (which I still had in college, especially when I learned that he was an art history major).
So before there was team Jacob vs. Team Edward there was Team David vs. Team Jack?
In never knew Jonathan Crombie's mother was named Shirley Ann! That's funny.
Jon: No way! I didn't know that Crombie's mom's name is Shirley Ann. Oooh - that makes Crombie's role a little Oedipal, don't you think? Eek! :)
Oh, and there definitely was a little Team David vs. Team Jack, but not on the phenomenal Twilight level. No one made t-shirts to proclaim their "Newsie" crush. Ha ha!
I was the weirdo child that while everyone was pining over JTT I was putting up pictures of Cary Grant in my locker. Gregory Peck, how do you do sailor. 80's and 90's actors, I know I had a brief moment in love with that guy from "Iron Will". Shauna could probably spit his name out in two seconds. Speaking of Shauna, her crush was Harrison Ford. She had pictures from magazines up on our walls,(We shared a room) and I have this faint memory of her celebrating his 54th bday.
It's funny you mention a Prince William crush. I had one of those, too,and always wondered how I could get him to marry me in the temple if he were destined to be head of the Church of England. Did you see the latest news on his engagement? There is a press release here:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/prince-william-kate-middleton-engagment/story?id=12158508
Ha ha! Yeah, Kiersten, I did hear about the engagement. Actually, in the grocery store I saw a magazine cover that announced the engagement, which caused me to remember my Prince William crush.
At least Kate is an art historian, too. :)
Shelby, you and Shauna know how to pick those older men! :) I love that Shauna celebrated HF's birthday. Ha!
I loved the show Silver Spoons and the actor Ricky Schroeder who is now LDS! I thought he was back them- but not until he married an LDS girl and had some children.
I love Gilbert! Everyone needs one of them.
Also "Manly" on little house and the prairie!
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