Sean Penn: It's the lil bit danger, the ruggedness and humanitarian in him that gets me
AARP (for the uninitiated in Britain, America Association of Retired Persons) published their list of 21 sexiest men over 50 this week, and while it included a handful of I wouldn't throw out of bed mature fellas, I noticed Sean Penn was missing from the list that included Steven Spielberg. What? Eh?Too each their own.
I understand AARP list wasn't a list of MY personal favorites but where's Sean? Sure there are the anger management issues, but I understand why occasionally he'd want to kick the shit out of a few bothersome Paparazzi's, wouldn't you? Then there is the uncomfortable knowledge, that he got rough with Madonna while they were married and later got done for domestic violence when he and Robin Wright were together, which I shouldn't gloss over nor make light of, but I wasn't there and don't know what exactly took place. Still I can't help myself liking the guy, even more so after I saw him wadding chest high in contaminated water, helping to rescue people in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina and his all out effort in Haiti. The jury is still out regarding his hero worship of Chavez. and I'm even prepared to overlook his smoking.
I'm always weary of Hollywood's "philanthropists" who f eel the need to shove their 'good deeds' in our face. With Penn, it's not a fashion statement. Several years ago, I tried to volunteer one Thanksgiving at the homeless shelter In down town LA's skid row and was told they were "over subscribed with volunteers". Sure enough the next day pictures of A list movies stars, Z listers and everything in-between donned aprons and serving spoons during what is more a media blitz, than connecting with the down trodden of LA at a special time of the year.
Then there are the ones with 'saviour complexes' who scrabble to claim their parts of Africa. I'm not sure if it was Louis CK who talked about the trend of millionaire white entertainers adopting black children from Africa, when they could so easily find white babies with dirty faces up in the Apalaches. Louis CK or whoever said it, had a point, but I've digressed enough.
Not only one of the greatest actors of my generation, Penn is a true humanitarian who wears his heart on his sleeves and puts his money where his mouth is.
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And who the hell came up with the list? They did. Not even their members, but the editorial staff of the organization: "Choosing the sexiest men on the planet over 50 is no easy task. Just ask the 17 editors and writers (both female and male) who took on the task for AARP The Magazine. After more than 1,000 email exchanges and five conference calls, we came up with our list of 21″.
The list was predictable. The obligatory 'safe' black men; Denzel, Samuel L Jackson, Mario Van Pebels (he's never done it for me) obligatory gay man; Rupert Everett and even Colin Powell. George Clooney is at the top their list which also features, George Strait, Colin, Liam Neeson, Firth, Robert Redford, Scott Bakula and Antonio Benderas. So why no Sean?
AARP's Men on Fire List
Inside The Actors Studio: One of the shows most compelling interviews and guest from 14years ago. The whole show with no commercials.
Even nice girls like a bit of Sean Penn once in a while 0 votes, 0.00 avg. rating (0% score)
