Tricia Romano takes down People Magazine’s 'Sexiest White Man Alive'

[The Dark King]

I don't get how that Channing dude topped the list. He's fugly to me. But I understand why Bradley Cooper was there, why Ryan Reynolds was there too. I, personally, think Cooper is sexier than Taye Diggs, and I love Taye. Blair's ok, but I wouldn't put him on the list these days.

However.

The fact that Idris hasn't made it, astounds me. Especially since he's been in so many movies lately AND what about Luther? I mean, surely he's one of the 'men of the moment'? He's a lot sexier than either Cooper or Reynolds. *shrugs* Perhaps these lists are for girls in their late teens, early twenties only?

That wouldn't explain Clooney, Connery, Nolte, Ford, Gere, or Brosnan who were all in their late 40s and 50s when picked.

 

[Bliss]

Ok so we're in agreement then because regardless of who they actually used based on your premise there are others who should have been on there but never were like Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L Jackson, Eddie Murphy, and Jamie Fox who all had big movies come out but were never considered. So when you say that black men have always been deemed sexy who do you think that idea is supported by? The women of wwbm? Sure but to the mainstream like I said earlier we as a group still struggle with being seen as human beings. And thank you for pointing out that attributes like intelligence, charisma, and success mean nothing for the People's criteria. Then it lends to the idea that all that is needed is that one be white. Box office success in which Samuel L and Smith have them all beaten, as well as popularity mean nothing. So in essence does it not support the idea that even now in 2012 its difficult for black men to be truly deemed as sexy?

Can we keep to the premise that it is a 'sexiest' man cover, lol. So for People it appears to be a popular AND SEXY celebrity, with a hit movie or tv show, and White 25 out of 26 times. Picked from an industry that is 90% White men...Again I say it's catering to their readership demographic.

See below. v v v

The 1-25 is a glaring inequity. It appears that People as a celebrity mag chooses its pick from the current trend -- all the examples mentioned coincided with a hit movie that year.
...I think they cater to their readership demographic is all.

Since PEOPLE is an entertaiment magazine in the business of selling magazines that contains ONE cover....NOT making the cover doesn't equate to 'Black men aren't human' - they have several BM inside alongside other WM who didn't make the cover. I'd agree with your argument if BM were entirely absent from being represented or if a BM never made the cover, but both are untrue.

Further, we don't know if Eddie, Will or Jaimie didn't make the semi-final cut. (trying to think what box-office hit movie Jamie was in).
And each BM you mentioned that would even be considered sexy, played roles in a comedic fashion, while the WM the author mentioned played superheros, swashbucklers, spies or serious roles (barring Bradley).
Sorry yeah popularity alone doesn't count for much when vying for the sexiest man cover.

*But seriously, just now looking at some of these covers...I wouldn't take from it that BM are being portrayed as non-human and just sexual dildos. Half of the covers are whack, tbh.

So I am going to respectfully disagree with your "People magazine covers are racist" protest.

.

Poor Johnny had to share it with Bob and Estelle?

.

.

.

They even had a couple??

Good grief, lol.

 

[The Dark King]

There you are! Hi.

As far as for the bolded...
I know it's a personal preference and that's when beat to death. I'm pretty sure the carcass isn't even that anymore and the carrion was eaten long ago.

I must say, even though i've been somewhat called out on not praising the beauty and sexiassness of black man, that is bullshit.

All types of people have a certain degree of traits that make them sexi or whatever. But in my opinion black men have them all beat.

You are just flat out fine.

So. There.

And this goes beyond just looks or body type or anything physical...before you change your story to black men are seen only for their physical looks or their nubian god love making or whatever crap...
The men I have personally known..were smart and kind and generous and smooth and all types of things that a lot of the white men that i've known in my life were not.

So. There.

Well you are speaking from a personal preference stand point which is the whole point of the forum but if when look at things from a societal stand point every other group has a particular designation usually making them very one dimensional. White men get to be jacks of all trades so to speak. Their "sexiness" isn't limited and far more celebrated even though when using their litmus test many black men outshine them but never get credit for it.

 

[Bliss]

I don't get how that Channing dude topped the list. He's fugly to me. But I understand why Bradley Cooper was there, why Ryan Reynolds was there too. I, personally, think Cooper is sexier than Taye Diggs, and I love Taye. Blair's ok, but I wouldn't put him on the list these days.
....

He's GORGEOUS!!!! Look at him!! :smt050

:smt060

 

[Bliss]

Agree with this post...cannot believe idris hasn't been on a cover yet either...!!!

I was hoping joe manganiello would be on the cover or Jason momoa.

At least have mention of Matt kemp, Pharrell, shemar, gosling, skarsgard, Boris, Lenny or maxwell....

Wait - are you saying they have NOT mentioned any of them??? Sounds like the choosers have bad taste...especially since they chose Kanye!!

But I have to give it to them for choosing LL Cool J...

*ps @ Gosling..do you mean Ryan??

 

[The Dark King]

Can we keep to the premise that it is a 'sexiest' man cover, lol. So for People it appears to be a popular AND SEXY celebrity, with a hit movie or tv show, and White 25 out of 26 times. Picked from an industry that is 90% White men...Again I say it's catering to their readership demographic.

See below. v v v


Since PEOPLE is an entertaiment magazine in the business of selling magazines that contains ONE cover....NOT making the cover doesn't equate to 'Black men aren't human' - they have several BM inside alongside other WM who didn't make the cover. I'd agree with your argument if BM were entirely absent from being represented or if a BM never made the cover, but both are untrue.

Further we do not know if Eddie Murphy or Will Smith or Jaimie Fox didn't make the semi-final cut. (trying to think what box-office hit movie Jamie was in).
And each BM you mentioned that would even be considered sexy, played roles in a comedic fashion, while the WM the author mentioned played superheros, swashbucklers, spies or serious roles (barring Bradley).
Sorry yeah popularity alone doesn't count for much when vying for the sexiest man cover.

*But seriously, just now looking at some of these covers...I wouldn't take from it that BM are being portrayed as non-human and just sexual dildos. Half of the covers are whack, tbh.

So I am going to respectfully disagree with your "People magazine covers are racist" protest.

.

Poor Johnny had to share it with Bob and Estelle?

.

.

.

They even had a couple??

Good grief, lol.

I think you might be conflating my original argument which might be my fault. I may have not articulated it well enough. I am not saying that People Magazine holds the position that black men are not human but the general social consciousness of this country reflects, not only of blacks but most non white people. Not human meaning one dimensional caractures of certain stereotypes. Which is why it may not occur to them to consider black men for the cover. Yes they may make it in the magazine which is a fair point but its not only getting the cover but also being deemed sexiest man says a lot. Again I can understand why this isn't a big deal to certain people when who look like you always grace the cover so its common place.
Also Jamie Foxx was in several hundred million dollar or more grossing movies including Any Given Sunday, Collateral(which he got an Oscar Nomination), Ray (which he won the Oscar), Miami Vice, Dream Girls, Law Abiding Citizen, Valentine's Day, Rio, and Horrible Bosses.
The others I've mentioned have much longer resumes and have proven to box office successes. So the popularity is there, its not like some of the others mentioned like Taye Diggs, Boris, and Maxwell who have a following but wouldn't be considered megastars. So I'm sorry its tough for me to buy into the idea that they simply aren't as popular as the other dudes who got listed. Will Smith is the Billion Dollar Man for Godsakes and hasn't made the cover and he's done it ALL. Spy movies, superhero movies, romantic comedies, and even drama and they've all been successful. So it isn't far fetched for someone to notice a certain racial element to the selection process.

 

[Sin Mari]

He's GORGEOUS!!!! Look at him!! :smt050

:smt060

I've looked. He isn't gorgeous to me. In fact, calling him gorgeous (in my opinion) is an insult to all that is gorgeous. I really REALLY don't find him attractive.

And Bradley Cooper hasn't just done comedy. He was in Alias & Touching Evil TV series' to begin. Then there was Midnight meat train, Limitless, Case 39 and there's a new one called The Words. None are comedies. I'm sure there are more. I think he's just really well known for The Hangover movies and people get stuck on that. Not that I'm saying he's academy award material...just saying he's done serious & dark stuff, not just comedies.

And he's thousands of times hotter and sexier than Mr. icky-gross Tatum.

 

[Alinoa]

Johnny...how does this man not win the coveted title every year?

 

[alli]

I think it's a numbers game. More American women are into white men than are into black men. (I have nothing but my own observations to back that up, so take it fwiw.)

What annoys me about this article is that People may take it to heart and then attempt to appease by picking a black man next time. I don't want it to be that way. I don't want them to pick a black man because they don't want to be called racist or because they feel bad for the poor, ignored sexy black celebrities.

 

[The Dark King]

I think it's a numbers game. More American women are into white men than are into black men. (I have nothing but my own observations to back that up, so take it fwiw.)

What annoys me about this article is that People may take it to heart and then attempt to appease by picking a black man next time. I don't want it to be that way. I don't want them to pick a black man because they don't want to be called racist or because they feel bad for the poor, ignored sexy black celebrities.

It has little to do with whose most popular with white women because I doubt women ages 16-30 found Sean Connery hotter than ever man out there.

 

[4north1side2]

So Petty, TDK, Arch who's y'all pick as the sexiest man alive? You guys are very passionate about the subject and seem to have expert opinion.

 

[JordanC]

So Petty, TDK, Arch who's y'all pick as the sexiest man alive? You guys are very passionate about the subject and seem to have expert opinion.

Next they are going to say they read Seventeen on the sly too. This stuff is to sell magazines. It isn't scientific. Channing Tatum's acting is suspect so it isn't even based off of current projects or really anything but who looks pretty enough to sell their magazine, to the 10 editors sitting around a table deciding. People walks the line of gossip mag.......they throw in a bit of interest stories to keep legit.

I think it's a numbers game. More American women are into white men than are into black men. (I have nothing but my own observations to back that up, so take it fwiw.)

What annoys me about this article is that People may take it to heart and then attempt to appease by picking a black man next time. I don't want it to be that way. I don't want them to pick a black man because they don't want to be called racist or because they feel bad for the poor, ignored sexy black celebrities.

I don't even think it's numbers. It's not a "fair election". Very few of the "majority" would say they agreed with the pick. Pop culture. Surprised it wasn't the Gangham Style guy.

 

[ReginaStar]

Channing Tatum has been the sexist Celeb in my eyes since I saw him in "Fighting".

I have noticed though multiracial websites are claiming him b/c he has a native american and creole background.

 

[Frederick]

dont worry fellas the women here know whats up

No, they don't. When brother Idris said that America didn't think that black men were sexy, most of the women here attacked him.


Anyway, I couldn't care less about what People magazine says about anything. Freddy has more important shit to worry about.

 

[pettyofficerj]

lmao

 

[archangel]

So Petty, TDK, Arch who's y'all pick as the sexiest man alive? You guys are very passionate about the subject and seem to have expert opinion.

Me !


Like You think I wasn't going to say someone else.

 

[pettyofficerj]

Me !


Like You think I wasn't going to say someone else.

no homosexual

 

[JamalSpunky]

Let me say this first : the problem with the black-male-celeb-sex-symbol-idol thing is that there really aren't enough of them in the entertainment industry. To be blunt I see better looking black guys working 9 to 5s in non-entertainmnet jobs than I do those working in front of the camera for TV , film or music (with some exceptions of course). This has been my take for awhile. The media has NO USE for black guys who could be sex symbols for women of all races. Maybe they are too much of a threat to the status quo. Here's a small example: E Network recently selected a group of guys who could play Lando in the next film if there was a Star Wars reboot. The four black dudes they came up with were a joke. Common. The less said about that the better. Jeffrey Wright. A fantastic actor who is way too old (or at least LOOKS too old), and not nearly suave eneough for the role. Anthony Mackie. A great actor who is closer to the ideal age but unfortunately lacks overt sex appeal. Idris Elba. Here we go again. From suggestions of Bond to Lando. Look the guy is attractive to an extent and has presence but I don't think I know of any other black actor who has been more overrated in terms of his looks than Elba.

Billy Dee Williams was both a pretty boy and a man's man. He could fit in with the old male stars of Hollywood's golden age if it had room for black stars (which it did not). Being the recovering SW nerd that I am a short time ago I came across Empire's list of the best Star Wars characters of all time. The writeup of Lando, by a British female no less, emphasized his sexuality, his matinee idol looks. That's what Billy Dee Williams brought to the role. As a heterosexual male myself I could see that plainly just as well as a straight woman recognizes the overpowring sex appeal of a gorgeous female. Now....do any of the four black men listed above bring that charisma to the screen? In my opinion the answer is a definite "no" although I'm sure the Elba folks will make a solid argument.

There lies the problem. Either Hollywood and or white people in general have no interest in black men with sex appeal or they simply fail to acknowledge that characteristic in regards to black men in the first place. How else would those clowns at E pick that group of men to play the Ultimate Charmer of the Star Wars universe? Do you think they would pick a bunch of mostly average-joe white men to take on the Han Solo role?

But that may be a topic for another time. Right now let me give props to Ms Romano. When I came across her article this weekend I was pleasantly surprised. For any woman to write such an article that can be viewed as slighting the media-driven push of white men as the lone sex symbols in the universe takes guts. For her to be a white woman means her writeup was beyond bold, especially since the men of color she was pushing the most were black men. Let's just say people don't handle that too well. Frankly it is the type of writeup I would think black females would piece together, sort of the equivalent of the articles or blogs by black guys who complain about all the white women on the covers of magazines. Then again black women are generally far more interested in the fight to make the media think of them as sexy as white women, they don't seem to have nearly the amount of interest in how black guys are viewed. So I applaud Ms Romano. I do wish however there were better examples of black male sex symbols out there for her to back up her argument. Right now the leading black male sex symbo is STILL Denzel and how old is he? Close to 60? Crazy.

 

[pettyofficerj]

Let me say this first : the problem with the black-male-celeb-sex-symbol-idol thing is that there really aren't enough of them in the entertainment industry. To be blunt I see better looking black guys working 9 to 5s in non-entertainmnet jobs than I do those working in front of the camera for TV , film or music (with some exceptions of course). This has been my take for awhile. The media has NO USE for black guys who could be sex symbols for women of all races. Maybe they are too much of a threat to the status quo. Here's a small example: E Network recently selected a group of guys who could play Lando in the next film if there was a Star Wars reboot. The four black dudes they came up with were a joke. Common. The less said about that the better. Jeffrey Wright. A fantastic actor who is way too old (or at least LOOKS too old), and not nearly suave eneough for the role. Anthony Mackie. A great actor who is closer to the ideal age but unfortunately lacks overt sex appeal. Idris Elba. Here we go again. From suggestions of Bond to Lando. Look the guy is attractive to an extent and has presence but I don't think I know of any other black actor who has been more overrated in terms of his looks than Elba.

Billy Dee Williams was both a pretty boy and a man's man. He could fit in with the old male stars of Hollywood's golden age if it had room for black stars (which it did not). Being the recovering SW nerd that I am a short time ago I came across Empire's list of the best Star Wars characters of all time. The writeup of Lando, by a British female no less, emphasized his sexuality, his matinee idol looks. That's what Billy Dee Williams brought to the role. As a heterosexual male myself I could see that plainly just as well as a straight woman recognizes the overpowring sex appeal of a gorgeous female. Now....do any of the four black men listed above bring that charisma to the screen? In my opinion the answer is a definite "no" although I'm sure the Elba folks will make a solid argument.

There lies the problem. Either Hollywood and or white people in general have no interest in black men with sex appeal or they simply fail to acknowledge that characteristic in regards to black men in the first place. How else would those clowns at E pick that group of men to play the Ultimate Charmer of the Star Wars universe? Do you think they would pick a bunch of mostly average-joe white men to take on the Han Solo role?

But that may be a topic for another time. Right now let me give props to Ms Romano. When I came across her article this weekend I was pleasantly surprised. For any woman to write such an article that can be viewed as slighting the media-driven push of white men as the lone sex symbols in the universe takes guts. For her to be a white woman means her writeup was beyond bold, especially since the men of color she was pushing the most were black men. Let's just say people don't handle that too well. Frankly it is the type of writeup I would think black females would piece together, sort of the equivalent of the articles or blogs by black guys who complain about all the white women on the covers of magazines. Then again black women are generally far more interested in the fight to make the media think of them as sexy as white women, they don't seem to have nearly the amount of interest in how black guys are viewed. So I applaud Ms Romano. I do wish however there were better examples of black male sex symbols out there for her to back up her argument. Right now the leading black male sex symbo is STILL Denzel and how old is he? Close to 60? Crazy.

lol i know.........................................

face it...young BM just aren't as appealing as young WM

in all seriousness tho...like someone else said, you gotta look at the readership of that magazine. If you ask a group of WW who they find to be sexy, chances are they're going to say some random white guy. Ask a group of BW, and they'll say some random black guy.

that's why magazines like Ebony et al should still get serious play, so that we can see ourselves represented the way we want to see us.:smt023

 

[LA]

And that's pretty much all there is to it. We can search for why's and ponder on the deepness of the meaning but really isn't that deep.

People magazine caters to... well, you know. And Ebony magazine caters to... well, you know.

End of story.

in all seriousness tho...like someone else said, you gotta look at the readership of that magazine. If you ask a group of WW who they find to be sexy, chances are they're going to say some random white guy. Ask a group of BW, and they'll say some random black guy.

that's why magazines like Ebony et al should still get serious play, so that we can see ourselves represented the way we want to see us.:smt023