What Narcissism Does to a Woman’s Face
December 1, 2012
KIDIST PAULOS ASRAT in a post about celebrity women writes that the actress Keira Knightly, who is now starring in Anna Karenina for those who can stomach it, brought a “pouty narcissism” to the role of Elizabeth Bennet in the movie version of Pride and Prejudice. She writes about the photos below:
Left is English actress Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet in a serious moment, and right is Keira Knightly also trying to evoke a similar serious turn as Elizabeth Bennet. Who looks more authentic? Who looks more mature?
Knightly appeared in a recent magazine cover looking like a vampire:
— Comments —-
Sibyl writes:
As a Jane Austen fan, I was happy to check out a new version of Pride and Prejudice but horrified when I discovered that Keira Knightly was in it. My contention is that her looks and acting, rather than evoking narcissism, simply reveal stupidity. Elizabeth Bennet, more than almost anything else, is a very clever woman — mature, reflective and independent, but clever. And while a smart actress can pull off a dumb character, a dumb actress really cannot hope to portray intellectual firepower. Why casting directors keep choosing her is beyond me. She is mildly pretty to look at, if you don’t mind the pout, but her range is narrow and her voice insipid.
Kidist writes:
I laughed out loud when I read your post on these narcissistic women, when you labeled Keira Knightly as the latest victim, sorry member, of the vampires. How did I miss that in my post?
The young actress in Gilmore Girls, Alexes Bledel, is also set to act in some kind of vampire film in 2013, but I didn’t have enough information to write about it.
These pathetic girls, with their “monster” fantasies.
Also, I really liked Sibyl’s analysis of Elizabeth Bennet as “clever.” I think with that cleverness, or astuteness, comes a good judge of character, something which modern young women no longer have (and I find something even middle aged women lack, since they’re so busy acting young). The Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice was only twenty, but in our modern era they had to get a twenty-six-year-old to represent her.
No wonder Keira Knightly failed. She was “only” twenty (yes, Elizabeth’s actual age in the book) when she acted as Elizabeth.
