bingren
04-06-2008, 03:09 PM
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_244020.html
Big boys finish first
Guess who's getting the girl in the cineplexes these days? Jack Black weighs in on the phenomenon
By Boon Chan, MEDIA CORRESPONDENT
HOLY moly, roly-poly is in.
Or at least, that is what the movies would have you believe.
In recent films such as Knocked Up (2007) and Superbad (2007), it's the chubby schlubs who have been getting the (thin) girls of their dreams.
Actors such as Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Jason Segel are up on the screen, love handles and all, and carrying the pictures on their fleshy shoulders.
But these boys might not have got up on the marquee if not for the tubby trailblazer that is funny guy Jack Black, 38.
The Santa Monica-born comedian first made his mark as the amiably geeky sidekick in films such as Enemy Of The State (1998) and High Fidelity (2000).
He has since graduated to leading- man status, never mind the beer belly, in comedy hits such as Shallow Hal (2001), where he courted Gwyneth Paltrow who donned a fat suit, and School Of Rock (2003), where he played a musician who scams his way into a teaching position at a private school for young music talents.
His leading-man streak continues in animated form as he voices the lead character in DreamWorks Animation's latest offering, Kung Fu Panda. The movie, which co-stars Angelina Jolie and Dustin Hoffman, opens here on Friday.
While Po, the paunchy panda voiced by Black, does not find romantic bliss, he is chosen as the dragon warrior who saves the day in true screen hero fashion.
Speaking over the phone from the Paramount lot in Los Angeles recently, the laidback Black says with a laugh: 'Yeah, yeah, that's kinda great. Usually a character like that would be the funny sidekick and not the main attraction.'
He once memorably said in an interview: 'I'm up at 15 stone (95kg), 5ft 6 (1.7m) and I'm wildly attractive to the opposite sex. I am a hero to a whole section of society.'
Quote that back at him and he seems a little embarrassed: 'That's very pompous. I can be a little conceited, I'm like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I don't even remember being that guy saying that. But I'm sure I did, I'm sure I did. But yeah, it feels good.'
He is not deluded about his attractiveness, if a straw poll conducted by Life! is any indication.
Of the 50 women queried, 39 said they would go out with a chubby man, five said they would consider it and only six rejected the idea flat out.
Marketing executive Chong Zhi Ling, 25, says her fiance is chubby but admits that she was not immediately attracted to him.
'He was just a very good friend to me at first. We met through friends and then things developed.'
She adds: 'He is quite comfortable to cuddle. And regardless of size, he is the best boyfriend I've ever had.'
It seems that women are more open to looking beyond skin-deep appeal.
And tickling a woman's funny bone, it seems, is the way to her heart. It is no coincidence that it is in comedies that the big guys are throwing their weight around.
Undergraduate Esmeralda Tan, 21, is still with her boyfriend even though he's packed on 25kg since they first met: 'I didn't care that he was fat, I just liked that he could make me laugh.'
Of course, reel life is often an exaggerated reflection of real life and these recent movies contain more than a hint of wish fulfilment on the part of the less-than-buff screenwriters behind the stories where the schlubby but nice guy gets the girl.
In Knocked Up, for example, written by Judd Apatow, Rogen gets the lovely Katherine Heigl pregnant after a one-night stand and then wins her over.
Hill gets a second chance with the pretty, popular girl (Emma Stone) in Superbad.
And Segel gets to get over the very attractive Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a script which the actor himself penned.
In a much talked-about break-up scene, Segel is emotionally, and literally, naked, baring a flabby jelly belly.
Black concedes that the more rosy scenarios are partly the result of the pudgy nerd's screen revenge: 'Yeah, that's what most movies are about. People want to go to the movies to escape and it's fun to imagine your dreams coming true. Wish fulfilment is the key to that.'
But he is living proof that the tubby guy can finish first. After all, he is married to musician babe Tanya Haden, 36. They have two sons Samuel, almost two, and Jack, born last month.
Ironically, the couple went to the same high school but did not date then.
'We saw each other over the years but I never had the courage to talk to her. Finally, I saw her at a surprise party for a mutual friend and I asked for her phone number. I don't know why I got more courageous but I did. Maybe it's maturity,' Black says.
Or maybe it is the fact that he is currently a Hollywood success story.
As Black points out, he shares more than a paunch with Po the panda: They both had to overcome conventional wisdom about fat guys in order to become a success.
Black says wryly: 'Po wants to be a gongfu master but his body type does not really match the idea of one, so he's kind of a joke and he has to face his fears and humiliations in order to make his dreams come true.
'I went through the same thing. I don't look like Brad Pitt but I pushed through and I got to have my dreams come true through perseverance and believing in myself.'
In a way, this is the very embodiment of the classic American dream, which advocates self-belief and hard work as the keys to unlocking fame and fortune.
The endless reality TV shows, with their parades of mediocre talents convinced of their worth, are ample evidence that this belief in the American dream is alive and well.
And what is more American than the swell (literally and metaphorically) guy getting the girl?
But guys, you might want to hold back before deciding that it is okay to let yourself go completely to the dogs.
Travel agent Janice Sim, 29, says: 'A little chubbiness wouldn't hurt, but not the Jonah Hill kind. And not chubby and short please.'
Big boys finish first
Guess who's getting the girl in the cineplexes these days? Jack Black weighs in on the phenomenon
By Boon Chan, MEDIA CORRESPONDENT
HOLY moly, roly-poly is in.
Or at least, that is what the movies would have you believe.
In recent films such as Knocked Up (2007) and Superbad (2007), it's the chubby schlubs who have been getting the (thin) girls of their dreams.
Actors such as Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Jason Segel are up on the screen, love handles and all, and carrying the pictures on their fleshy shoulders.
But these boys might not have got up on the marquee if not for the tubby trailblazer that is funny guy Jack Black, 38.
The Santa Monica-born comedian first made his mark as the amiably geeky sidekick in films such as Enemy Of The State (1998) and High Fidelity (2000).
He has since graduated to leading- man status, never mind the beer belly, in comedy hits such as Shallow Hal (2001), where he courted Gwyneth Paltrow who donned a fat suit, and School Of Rock (2003), where he played a musician who scams his way into a teaching position at a private school for young music talents.
His leading-man streak continues in animated form as he voices the lead character in DreamWorks Animation's latest offering, Kung Fu Panda. The movie, which co-stars Angelina Jolie and Dustin Hoffman, opens here on Friday.
While Po, the paunchy panda voiced by Black, does not find romantic bliss, he is chosen as the dragon warrior who saves the day in true screen hero fashion.
Speaking over the phone from the Paramount lot in Los Angeles recently, the laidback Black says with a laugh: 'Yeah, yeah, that's kinda great. Usually a character like that would be the funny sidekick and not the main attraction.'
He once memorably said in an interview: 'I'm up at 15 stone (95kg), 5ft 6 (1.7m) and I'm wildly attractive to the opposite sex. I am a hero to a whole section of society.'
Quote that back at him and he seems a little embarrassed: 'That's very pompous. I can be a little conceited, I'm like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I don't even remember being that guy saying that. But I'm sure I did, I'm sure I did. But yeah, it feels good.'
He is not deluded about his attractiveness, if a straw poll conducted by Life! is any indication.
Of the 50 women queried, 39 said they would go out with a chubby man, five said they would consider it and only six rejected the idea flat out.
Marketing executive Chong Zhi Ling, 25, says her fiance is chubby but admits that she was not immediately attracted to him.
'He was just a very good friend to me at first. We met through friends and then things developed.'
She adds: 'He is quite comfortable to cuddle. And regardless of size, he is the best boyfriend I've ever had.'
It seems that women are more open to looking beyond skin-deep appeal.
And tickling a woman's funny bone, it seems, is the way to her heart. It is no coincidence that it is in comedies that the big guys are throwing their weight around.
Undergraduate Esmeralda Tan, 21, is still with her boyfriend even though he's packed on 25kg since they first met: 'I didn't care that he was fat, I just liked that he could make me laugh.'
Of course, reel life is often an exaggerated reflection of real life and these recent movies contain more than a hint of wish fulfilment on the part of the less-than-buff screenwriters behind the stories where the schlubby but nice guy gets the girl.
In Knocked Up, for example, written by Judd Apatow, Rogen gets the lovely Katherine Heigl pregnant after a one-night stand and then wins her over.
Hill gets a second chance with the pretty, popular girl (Emma Stone) in Superbad.
And Segel gets to get over the very attractive Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a script which the actor himself penned.
In a much talked-about break-up scene, Segel is emotionally, and literally, naked, baring a flabby jelly belly.
Black concedes that the more rosy scenarios are partly the result of the pudgy nerd's screen revenge: 'Yeah, that's what most movies are about. People want to go to the movies to escape and it's fun to imagine your dreams coming true. Wish fulfilment is the key to that.'
But he is living proof that the tubby guy can finish first. After all, he is married to musician babe Tanya Haden, 36. They have two sons Samuel, almost two, and Jack, born last month.
Ironically, the couple went to the same high school but did not date then.
'We saw each other over the years but I never had the courage to talk to her. Finally, I saw her at a surprise party for a mutual friend and I asked for her phone number. I don't know why I got more courageous but I did. Maybe it's maturity,' Black says.
Or maybe it is the fact that he is currently a Hollywood success story.
As Black points out, he shares more than a paunch with Po the panda: They both had to overcome conventional wisdom about fat guys in order to become a success.
Black says wryly: 'Po wants to be a gongfu master but his body type does not really match the idea of one, so he's kind of a joke and he has to face his fears and humiliations in order to make his dreams come true.
'I went through the same thing. I don't look like Brad Pitt but I pushed through and I got to have my dreams come true through perseverance and believing in myself.'
In a way, this is the very embodiment of the classic American dream, which advocates self-belief and hard work as the keys to unlocking fame and fortune.
The endless reality TV shows, with their parades of mediocre talents convinced of their worth, are ample evidence that this belief in the American dream is alive and well.
And what is more American than the swell (literally and metaphorically) guy getting the girl?
But guys, you might want to hold back before deciding that it is okay to let yourself go completely to the dogs.
Travel agent Janice Sim, 29, says: 'A little chubbiness wouldn't hurt, but not the Jonah Hill kind. And not chubby and short please.'