Eric and I have been married 17 years, and yet there are still depths of Eric’s psyche that remain unplumbed. One of these is an unexplained aversion to Julianne Moore. Yes, the actress, and no, he doesn’t know her. And yet, he will go out of his way to avoid her movies, ads, etc. I decided to try to unearth the root cause.
She’s a good actress, that is not in dispute. But there is something about her near-translucent skin that is unnerving. I dug deeper. Her gums. There is something unnatural about her gums. Fair enough. See the picture? Weird gums. Non-existent gums. Like teeth coming out at you with no warning.
So, I started examining my own celebrity aversions, and came up with the 2 people I really can’t stand and can’t really say why: Nicholas Cage and Cameron Diaz. With Nick, it’s got to be the hang-dog, mouth breathing. It worked in “Raising Arizona” but not since. Cameron is just someone I feel deserves a punch in the face. No particular reason–she could just do with one. Nickeron offspring would be the end of me.
According to the people at Morphthing.com, this is what a baby Camge would look like, receding hairline, mustache, angular jaw and all. See, already can’t close his/her mouth. Frightening!
So I asked Eric about his male star aversion, and he came up with…Stanley Tucci. Stanley Tucci? That’s what you come back with? That’s like saying you don’t like capers (which he doesn’t). They just don’t feature often enough to warrant a statement that you don’t like them. I sent him back for a better answer. He seconded his dad’s weird aversion to Al Pacino. Could celeb-aversion be hereditary? I see a pattern against mob movie character actors emerging.
I’m curious to know what inexplicable biases snooty readers have. You don’t need a justification. In fact, it’s better if you have no valid reason, whatsoever. Clearly Rachael Ray is odious and grating. That’s too easy. I need to know who you can’t abide on a visceral level, though they are probably a lovely person.
Snooty Call 
Hilarious!! Mine?…..Gary Busey. Can’t stand to see him. My face hurts from frowning whenever he’s on the screen. I swear I can smell him through the wires. Funky! Oh, and almost every newsw anchor to speak of. Lots of uneven faces on TV these days. It’s hard to concentrate on world politics when one of your eyes is slightly bigger than the other one. Totally distracting!
Gary Busey = the holy grail of creepy
Me: Amy Adams–no good reason. She just bugs the shit out of me.
Larry: Angelina Jolie–freaky lips.
I really can’t stand Glenn Beck. I hated his Fox show and radio program with a passion. I’m even a serious conservative! My political pundit pain threshold is pretty high but everything about that dude makes my skin crawl.
At last something that liberals and conservatives can agree on!
My aversions are Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts. Tom is too short for my taste, but mainly it’s the bad acting skills, that no one apparently sees but me. Julia’s acting is also poor in my opinion, plus her laugh is so annoying. My husband has a severe aversion to Renee Zellweger. Don’t know why.
I think a lot of people feel that way about Renee Zellweger.
So timely…I was just last night (while catching up on Season 2) thinking how much I LOVE Downton Abbey but not sure I can continue watching because I have, and have always had, an almost physical revulsion to Elizabeth McGovern. Even though her wrinkles now somewhat hide that weird lip thing, she is still highly disturbing to me. I hate to begrudge anyone revived career success, especially since she’s not all that much older than I am, but I would have been completely happy if she had not come back from “retirement.”
Also, does anyone else think the “older” Jon Voight is creepy in a way that he wasn’t in his younger days??
Agree! John Voight is creepy!
I do so want to contribute, but honestly I don’t have any brutally strong celebrity aversions that I can think of. Unless you count Barney, Caillou, Dora the Explorer and her cousin Diego, or Ronald McDonald
C’mon DB, dig deep. Not even Carrot Top?
Carrot Top?! Oh, dear God, how could you bring him back into my memory? I’d forgotten about him and…and…no! Now I’m remembering Gallagher, too! Damn you!
Will add my vote for Julia Roberts.
What about the other way? Is there any actor you will go see regardless of the movie?
Jack Black, Colin Firth (ok, pretty much anyone British), and Blossom (morbid curiosity–but thankfully doesn’t come up much.)
Fran Drescher (I think no explanation is necessary)
We have a winner!