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Why?

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:29 am
by Anyse
I have been a fan of Leonard Cohen since his first alum came out. I actually learned how to play almost every one of his songs for many years after that. In the 70's I played on stage and women adored the music while many men sort of just looked off in the distance as though it were a scratching chalk board or something. Fortunately, there were men who also enjoyed as well.

Here is my question. Why do they keep showing pictures of Leonard Cohen in his forties rather than what he looks like now? Do they parade him on stage in a lot of makeup or does he appear as he is now without all of the plastic and stuff to make him look like he is in his forties and then also add the unshaven look as well? I have seen the newest films of him and his presence at his age is NOT offensive. I just don't get it. If he has acepted the prelude to his own death, why do they have to advertise him as physically immortal and always in his forties?

What do YOU think about this in a culture that gives youth greater credit than age with all of the wisdom acquired?

Anyse

Re: Why?

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:09 pm
by osmachar
He definitly didn't look like a 40-year-old when I saw LC this summer. But I have wondered about that as well.
In my opinion, he looks better now than back then.

Re: Why?

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:49 pm
by Kiwi56
I`ve seen Leonard in Lörrach this year and I can tell you, he still looks very good, but not like a 40 year old man.

Re: Why?

Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:29 pm
by News Gal
Because Western culture is devoid of any respect for elders as teachers. We have mainstream media to thank for that travesty, and don't get me started on beauty pageants (especially in Latin America.)

In my culture (I'm Eastern Band Cherokee,) elders are the most important members of the nation. There's one gentleman in North Carolina, Walker Calhoun, who is in his 90s and is still performing with the Warriors of Ani-Kituwah, a traditional dance group based on the Qualla Boundary. To us, he's a celebrity in his own right because he's teaching my generation and younger about our traditions. There's no sense of the old ways in modern Western cultures. That's what I like about Leonard Cohen--he knows where he came from and keeps the old ways, but is always willing to try something new and see if it works, while showing the younger people how things are done. That's what it means to truly be an elder, to us anyway.

Re: Why?

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:46 pm
by AvidCohenFan
I don't think I've seen more pictures of him in his 40s than in his 70s...

Re: Why?

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 7:55 pm
by Sisterofmercy.
I have only ever seen Leonards pictures,but he seems to be just as Attractive now as he was years ago,just in a different way.His Charm will never change I am sure. :D

Re: Why?

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:44 pm
by LisaLCFan
sadeyes wrote: to some degree, perhaps when he was in his 40's that age was seen as him being at the height of his musical prowess, so that people associate him with looking like that...
I have heard this suggestion before, and it strikes me as odd, considering that Leonard's (arguably) most popular albums came out while he was in his 30s and his 50s (which also coincided, arguably, with higher levels of his general popularity).

Perhaps the photos of him in his 40s are used simply because it makes him recognizable to both the fans of his earlier work, who may relate more to his younger appearance, and to his later fans, who may relate more to his older appearance.

Re: Why?

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 5:56 pm
by Giulia
Look at youtube , you see Lc how he is today, he is beautiful en allways will be, for me.
Because he is beautiful inside.
greetz giulia

Re: Why?

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 10:43 am
by Lauren66
I don’t see the work of Leonard Cohen as rock music. I see Cohen as a folk singer who gradually became a singer/ songwriter. His early work (So Long Marianne, for example) puts him in the role of what I call the broken troubadour, a precursor of the 1970s anti-hero. All the usual suspects are here: the man vs. the system, the division of rich and poor, failed love, musical hints of the old country, and of course the specter of years to live on in isolation while the flame still burns.

The broken troubadour lives on the less-hip fringes of beatnik territory. Neil Diamond wandered in the shadows near this place. Sartre and Kerouac reigned high this world.