Woman Worship
» Movies
A look at the unusual - unique - place of Greta Garbo in American popular culture:
Apparently, this has always been the case. In her heyday, Garbo’s female fans spanned every age, but her male fans skewed very young. Her fan mail was mainly from guys around 20 years old, who were looking for a woman to worship. Generally, 25-year-old men are not looking for a woman to worship. They’re looking for someone to have fun with (like Jean Harlow). And 35-year-old men aren’t looking for a woman to worship, either, but rather someone sexy, sensible and presentable who’s easy to live with over the long haul (like Norma Shearer). But around 20 years old — that’s the dangerous age. It’s the little stretch of time in men’s lives in which love seems divine, preordained and supernatural. That’s the Garbo age.
The immortal Garbo was born a century ago. In 100 more years, we’ll still care