I’ve recently brought myself up-to-speed with Cougar Town, the popular US comedy aired in the UK on Living TV and starring Courteney Cox as a forty-something divorcee on the prowl. Courteney earned her real-life cougar status by marrying David Arquette, but they are now separated after eleven years. Rumour has it that she’s stepping out with a mysterious co-star in Cougar Town. The chap in question is quite the grown-up though, being only five years younger. So, does Courteney still count as a true cougar?
I must say that I’m unimpressed by this so-called comedy. Much of it centres on shallow middle-aged neuroses such as wrinkle-worry and eating even the tiniest piece of cake being ultimate obstacles to getting a man. I’ve said it before – if younger men wanted to date stick insects they’d date younger, undernourished girlies and not be hanging out here hoping to meet ‘real’ mature women. Obsessive calorie counting as portrayed by a very slim character is not only an unhealthy message to be peddling, but also a highly irritating one. Casting Courteney Cox, a botoxed, nipped-and-tucked actress, is hardly a realistic representation of middle-aged cougar toyboy dating. Besides which, the idea is outdated that, once we hit forty, everything is suddenly heading south and therefore it’s harder to get a man.
In other cougar news, it’s looking like Madonna has dumped her extremely young toyboy, Jesus Luz, in favour of her choreographer, Brahim Rachiki. Again, the new love interest is slightly more grown-up, but, at thirty-three-years old, he’s still nineteen years younger than Madge, so she easily manages to hang on tightly to her sparkly cougar crown.
