Joan Cusack’s First Red Carpet Appearance in 11 Years Drew Scrutiny — But the Comments Had Other Ideas
After Joan Cusack’s appearance sparked “before and after” chatter, many commenters pushed back on the internet’s favorite tired hobby: judging women for aging.
Joan Cusack made a rare red carpet appearance this week, and apparently, the internet needed a minute to process the shocking news that a person can look older after more than a decade out of the spotlight.
Cusack attended the London premiere of Toy Story 5 on May 28, marking her first red carpet appearance since 2015. The 63-year-old actress, who returns as Jessie in the new Pixar sequel, joined co-stars including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Greta Lee, and Tony Hale.
The event should have been an easy nostalgia moment.
Instead, one Facebook post framed her appearance as a “before and after” that “draws scrutiny,” and the comments section quickly filled with people pointing out the obvious: this is not a medical mystery. This is aging.
The comments were not buying the “before and after” framing
A lot of commenters seemed genuinely annoyed by the comparison, especially because the “before” photo being used was not exactly recent.
“Comparing a 25 year old to a 65 year old??” one person wrote.
Another said, “You mean younger and older? It’s called aging.”
Several commenters pointed out that Cusack has simply been out of the red carpet spotlight for years, so of course, people are seeing her differently now.
“This just in: Woman ages as time goes on. gasp,” one person joked.
Another put it this way: “She looks the same except 11 or so years older. She’s 63 not 23. Stop criticizing women for doing something we all do, if we are fortunate enough.”
That last line is really the part people seemed to rally around. Aging is not a scandal. It is the thing that happens when life goes well enough that you get to keep having birthdays.
People also pushed back on Hollywood’s impossible aging rules
What stood out to me was how many commenters recognized the no-win setup for actresses.
If a woman appears to have cosmetic work done, people pick her apart. If she appears to be aging naturally, people pick her apart. The rules are fake and exhausting, and always harsher for women.
One commenter summed that up perfectly: “We glorify the actresses that get the Botox and surgeries, but when a real woman steps out we criticize.”
Another added, “So we judge when they get plastic surgery and we judge when they don’t? Lord.”
Another said, “The internet doesn’t let anyone age.”
The double standard was hard to ignore
Cusack was photographed at the Toy Story 5 event with several longtime co-stars, including Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. And yes, everyone at the premiere is older than they were when the first Toy Story came out in 1995. That is how time works. Pixar has not yet found a way around it, apparently.
Commenters noticed that too.
“Tom and Tim also got older and yet we’re not talking about that,” one person wrote.
Another asked, “Notice they never do this to male actors?”
That is the part that always gets me. Male actors are allowed to become “seasoned,” “distinguished,” or “beloved.” Women are more likely to be placed into some strange online inspection chamber where every haircut, wrinkle, jawline shift, or pair of glasses becomes evidence in a case nobody needed to open.
One commenter cut through it with: “This is not a before and after photo. This is a then and now photo.”
Exactly.
My take
Personally, I think Joan Cusack looked great. She looked like Joan Cusack, just older, with glasses and a different haircut. Which is not exactly breaking news.
More importantly, she showed up for a franchise people love after spending years mostly away from red carpets. That should have been the story. Not whether her face perfectly matches someone’s memory of her from the ’80s, ’90s, or early 2000s.
The internet keeps pretending it wants women to age naturally, but then acts startled when they do.
For once, a lot of people saw the bait and did not bite.
And honestly? Good. Joan Cusack deserves better than a “before and after” debate. So does every woman who has dared to experience the passage of time in public.
This also fits into a bigger pattern I keep noticing. I recently wrote about the way people pushed back after Margot Robbie’s appearance became online fodder, and it reminded me of a separate report I covered on the media’s fixation with women’s weight. Different celebrities, different headlines, same exhausting idea: women’s bodies and faces are still treated like open comment sections.
Maybe the better story is not that Joan Cusack looks different after 11 years away from the red carpet. Maybe it is that more people are starting to recognize how ridiculous it is to act surprised when women age.
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