Question: Makeup on men in sitcoms and movies...

[88survivor]

I know it goes back like more than a hundred or so years, but I never noticed until a few years ago that even most of the sitcoms and movies we watched men/young men were also wearing makeup as well. When I saw like those uncanny moments in those teen magazines with charismatic teen stars like Scott Baio, River Phoenix, Kirk Cameron, and most of the 80s gang, it suddenly occured to me as to say, "Wow, look at the visible acne, oily skin, and beauty marks on that person." It is so strange when seeing them on T.V, there is no acne or visible beauty marks. They must have good makeup artists to hide all the skin flaws or something. I know men today still wear makeup, but it is interesting when they are out of the makeup and the media catches, you could see a major difference between television appearances.

[treky]

this has little to do with it, but back in the days of silent movies, men used to wear eye shadow.

[mikeny99]

I think everyone on television wears makeup. In real life everyone looks like people you see in the street everyday. The guys wear it for the news stations all the time.

[Pus$y Galore]

Originally Posted by treky

this has little to do with it, but back in the days of silent movies, men used to wear eye shadow.

You're right - they wore the same theatrical makeup that they use on the live stage. This version though is waaaay exaggrated to highlight eyes, etc..


And yes, all shows and movies use stage makeup. It's a very heavy, camoflauge type of thing that hides everything. The medical industry is now using it for patients that need to cover bad scars and skin conditions.

[BensonFan]

If you look closely enough, you can usually see the eyeliner/eye makeup on some of the men.

[Dean Winchester]

I think most actors wear makeup to enhance their appearence on television. It's not a drag thing or anything like that, just something needed to enhance certain features for the camera. You can tell the difference with a lot of actors when you see them casually posing with a fan or something than when they're on television or at a red carpet event. Jensen Ackles from Supernatural and James Lafferty from One Tree Hill are two prime examples. The difference in their appearences with and without makeup are night and day

[comedyfreak]

I think makeup is also used to cover the shine on the actors faces in case they have oily skin.

@treky I remember watching the Black and white version of Lost In Space and noticed that Dr. Smith seemed to wear eye liner which added to his evil character.