Wildcard Wednesday: Beautiful People
Jennifer Ethle

This may seem like blasphemy to some of my dearest friends, but the last time I watched Pride and Prejudice, I found myself admiring Jennifer Ethle at least as much as Colin Firth (though the wet shirt scene is still all about Colin). I didn't hate the 2005 version. It thought the actors did all right, and even though I prefer Firth, the new Darcy wasn't so bad. I even came to respect Keira's performance. But no one can ever replace Ethle as the perfect Elizabeth Bennet. The only problem she ever had was it was impossible to believe she was the just the second prettiest sister.

Not a lot of the still photographs capture Ethle's beauty quite as well as film. This one is good for showing off her amazingly symmetrical face, and lively dark eyes that always seem to hide a bit of mischief. But I wish I could have found one that also showed her smokin' period bosom. Although, it's probably better for the admirers of good bosoms to see it heaving. Perhaps there's something about seeing her vivacity and sparkling eyes in action that just can't be captured in most the static photos they had her pose for.

Beautiful Girl

Heretofore my beautiful people list has been all men but there are plenty of beautiful women whose looks I admire. Olivia Wilde, who plays Thirteen on House, is easily the most beautiful woman on television (or Hulu in my case) in my opinion. I think it's her huge bright eyes. I can never quite tell their color, but they're mesmerizing. I know Dr. Cameron was supposed to be hot, but I personally never found her that attractive even before Thirteen came on the show and made all women look like hags by comparison. Usually it's easy to resent girls like that but when even I wouldn't mind looking at her all day, I can hardly judge. She's the perfect female counterpart to Dr. Chase, who is the male version of mind-melting pretty.

Beautiful Figures

In honor of the Olympics I thought I'd honor Johnny Weir as my favorite current male figure skater ("current" because Scott Hamilton's probably my favorite of all time. Yay, backflips!). The above video is fun to watch, but I first fell in love with his style during a much more traditional performance that I can't presently recall. He's easily the most attractive man on the ice. Before anyone else comments, I'm well aware that his personality would lead to some obvious assumptions, but he doesn't like speculation on his sexuality, so out of respect, I'll just say that whoever's with him is a lucky person. I just read an excellent article about people's speculations about Weir and men like him. All that really matters to me (since I'm not likely to have a chance at him either way) is that he's a beautiful man and a beautiful skater.

EDIT: The clip is now in Korean because the English one was taken down. But it also made me notice a fascinating difference between the two. I actually watched the Korean one again after having watched the English one (several times) and I suspect the way both the countries video edit the performance says a lot about their different attitudes towards Johnny's sexuality. Forgive me, Johnny (yeah right, like he's reading this), but if you are reading this isn't me speculating on your sexuality so much as it's an observation about the magic of video editing. Take the same performance, but the angles in the English one highlighted sillier aspects of the performance while the Korean one highlights sexy ones. I think it's because, in Asia, they have a very different definition of "appropriate" male behavior, and while Johnny is still considered a little out there, he's actually quite a bit closer to at least one example of an Asian ideal sex symbol.

EDIT2: Okay, here's the English performance for now (until they take this one down) so you can compare the two.

Beautiful Pixels

To most my friends it's no secret that I think Link from the The Ocarina of Time and The Twilight Princess is the world's most beautiful composition of pixels ever created. So I'm adding him to my list of beautiful people. I also wish Nintendo would take note that Ocarina and Twilight Princess were two of their top sellers and both featured hot Link instead of the horrible chibi Link. It's not just girls who prefer the realistic Link. I've talked to guys (well, at least one guy) who would far rather play the manly character pictured above instead of some embarrassingly cute monstrosity. So take note, Nintendo. Link should be the man that every woman wants (the fact that he's mute helps) and every man want to be (serious weapons and serious graphic).

Beautiful People: Anime Edition

I'm a big fan of Kyoya from Ouran High School Host Club since he's the evil one. But deep down inside...okay, he's still evil there too, but he likes to use his evil for good. I like characters like that. I like to say that I don't have a thing for bad boys--and I don't. I have a thing for villains. Bad boys just do stupid and reckless things. Villains plot. Plotting's hot.

As for his looks. Kyoya's certainly not bad looking, as anime characters go, but it really is his personality that attracts me to him.

Beautiful Nerds

Still shot from the excellent film, Hogfather, with Ed Coleman as Ponder Stibbons

The second in my series of beautiful people is Ponder Stibbons from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, as played here by Ed Coleman. I've been thinking about him more recently as I've been reading Unseen Academicals where Ponder really gets to shine. But I've loved himever since I saw the Hogfather film. My problem here is that I actually like the amalgam of two people. I love the personality of Ponder Stibbons, but I never envisioned him as being someone I was attracted to when I first read the books. Probably because of the Paul Kidby version of him where he looks like a slightly overweight Harry Potter. Kinda cute but not exactly screaming sex appeal. I preferred the Kidby version of Rincewind, and confess I am attracted to that picture. Even though keeping a relationship with Rincewind would be rather difficult as he runs away so much.... But Ed Coleman as Ponder embodied the perfect adorable nerd. Now, when I read Unseen Academicals, I envision Ponder as played by Coleman and love each and every scene he's in (quite a few as he unofficially runs Unseen University in this book).

On the other hand, I'm not sure I'd be as crazy about Coleman playing any other part. Sorry dude. It's the combined personality and looks that make this Ponder irresistible. Alas, he's completely unobtainable since he is fictional.

However, Coleman, if you're reading this, and it turns out you actually are like Stibbons, I have two words for you. Call me.

ZMOGM! Magical computer nerd! Brain-melt cute!
He even has his quills in a giant pocket protector!

Heh, heh, the song Almost Lover plays as I write this. So true...

Beautiful People

I figure People magazine does their list of beautiful people. Whenever I run out of blog ideas, I can just list one of my favorite beautiful people. It's a way for me to talk about myself without feeling too much like I'm talking about myself. There's usually a certain amount of psychology behind my attraction to someone.

It might also tell you what I've been up to lately. I got the first two seasons of Bones from the library and I've been watching them a lot. Hodgins is actually a large part of the reason I watch Bones at all. He is definitely the only reason I started watching. I love forensic shows, but when I was first told about Bones I couldn't disassociate David Boreanaz from the character of Angel. But my roommate from grad school was watching it, and I saw Hodgins and fell in love with the character. He's smart and nerdy which is almost a prerequisite for me to like someone. He's a bit shorter than I go for these days but in high school, my ex-boyfriend aside, I had a real thing for shorter guys. No idea why. Maybe it's just because most the guys were shorter than me at the time. Still, it may just be a throwback from my high school self that I find his height that much more endearing. Also, he may actually be the same height as me or even marginally taller. The other actors and actresses he works with could simply be tall. Plus, the character of Angela says she's 5'8" and Hodgins is said to be slightly shorter but sometimes they look the same. I'm 5'7" so he could be a whole inch taller.

Anyway...I better stop before this sounds too stalkery. Suffice to say, I think Hodgins is hot.