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After years of debate, U.S. Soccer has publicly offered the same contract to women and men

The U.S. Soccer women’s team is one of the most successful sports organizations in the world. They’ve won the Women’s World Cup four times — most recently in France in 2019 — and have claimed five Olympic gold medals. The U.S. men’s team has had much less success but the women have to achieve much…

By

Tod Perry

Array
Photo credit: via Lorie Shaull / Flickr – Array

The U.S. Soccer women’s team is one of the most successful sports organizations in the world. They’ve won the Women’s World Cup four times — most recently in France in 2019 — and have claimed five Olympic gold medals.

The U.S. men’s team has had much less success but the women have to achieve much more to earn the same compensation. A spokesperson from U.S. soccer told Upworthy that the men’s team is compensated primarily in bonuses and its players receive $17,625 if they win against a top 10 opponent. Players on the women’s team have a $100,000 salary and receive $8,500 for a win against a top 4 opponent.

The men’s team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Earlier this month, USSF president Cindy Parlow Cone said that the discrepancy between how the World Cup prize money is allocated is “by far the most challenging issue” when it comes to paying both teams equally.

“Until Fifa equalises the prize money that it awards to the men’s and women’s World Cup participants, it is incumbent upon us to collectively find a solution,” she said.

Prize money for the 2018 men’s World Cup totaled $400 million with winners France taking home $38 million. The prize money for the 2019 women’s World Cup was just $30m with the U.S. women’s team bringing home $4 million.

The reason for the huge gap is that the women’s World Cup only generates around 2% of the revenue that the men’s does. The 2018 men’s cup generated $6.1 billion whereas the women’s brought in $131 million.

In May, the women’s team filed a lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) claiming it was owed equal pay. The lawsuit was dismissed, pending appeal. The judge dismissed the case because the women had been paid more per game than the men, but that was due to their achievement on the field.

The women won two World Cups during the time period covered in the lawsuit, 2015-19, while the men failed to qualify for a World Cup.

“To argue that women should have to work harder and achieve more in order to earn the same as men is simply wrong — both morally and legally,” midfielder Samantha Mewis said in a statement. “We are pleased to be moving forward with the next phase of our lawsuit so that we can finally achieve what we — and all women — deserve: equality.”

Even though the judge dismissed the lawsuit, it appears as though USSF still got the message from the players because it just offered equal contracts to both the men’s and women’s soccer teams. It’s the first time the USSF has done so publicly.

“U.S. Soccer firmly believes that the best path forward for all involved, and for the future of the sport in the United States, is a single pay structure for both senior national teams,” the USSF said in a statement. “This proposal will ensure that USWNT and USMNT players remain among the highest paid senior national team players in the world …”

If either team doesn’t agree to the contracts, the USSF will invite both player unions to negotiations to show full transparency.

Even though the USSF has offered equal contracts, the women’s team is still pressing on with the lawsuit and is asking for $66 million in back pay.

Julie Foudy, captain of the 1999 World Cup-winning team says that the improvement in the way the women’s team is being treated stems from the team’s rise in popularity and social media. “The women’s game now is so big in comparison to when the 99ers played,” Foundry said. “The support that we have globally has absolutely risen. It’s not just a few people in the United States – the world has our back.”

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    Photo credit: The Rose family courtesy of BelfastLive – Phoenix Rose, 8, is a great soccer player and plane-passenger soother.
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    8-year-old prevents flight from being diverted by soothing unruly passenger with ‘Dance Monkey’ song

    He sang to and talked down an unruly passenger for three and a half hours.

    Erik Barnes

    Being on a plane can be a nuisance on its own, but when there is an unruly passenger, it goes from an annoyance to a potential danger. On a Jet2 flight, a passenger was so belligerently drunk and rude to the staff that the plane was going to be diverted. Then hope arrived in the form of an eight-year-old soccer fan.

    Phoenix Rose and his father were cutting their vacation in Turkey short. They had to catch a flight home to Manchester due to a family emergency. During the flight, a passenger had too much to drink before boarding. She even had her open bottle of whiskey confiscated. This caused the irate passenger to disrupt the flight, shouting and swearing at the flight attendants. The passenger became so unruly that the flight attendants made an announcement: The flight would be diverted to remove her from the plane.

    And a child would lead them

    Phoenix was desperate to get home to deal with his family emergency. He didn’t want the flight to be diverted and cause a delay. On a whim, he asked a flight attendant if he could sit next to the angry passenger. He asked for only 30 seconds.

    The flight attendants gave Phoenix a chance. They switched his seat to one next to the unruly passenger. And it worked.

    “He just took all the control,” James, Phoenix’s father, told BelfastLive. “Phoenix, he got his cards out, he started singing to her this Dance Monkey song.”

    “She’s screaming, she’s shouting, she’s still being irate. And he starts singing to her, he starts talking about his football to her, talking about her family, asking her about her kids,” James told BBC News. “I’m sort of sat there in the end and I’m thinking to myself, thank god that Phoenix is with me because if he wasn’t, I don’t think I would have been able to handle it.”

    The young master of de-escalation

    Knowingly or instinctively, Phoenix practiced effective de-escalation techniques while talking to the passenger. This included finding common ground, listening to her talk about her family, and using several other strategies.

    Phoenix even calmly reminded her of the consequences. He told the passenger that she could be arrested if she couldn’t calm down, but quickly encouraged her to talk about her kids.

    For three and a half hours, Phoenix chatted with the passenger. They discussed his love of soccer, his YouTube channel, and their families. Phoenix also showed her his trading cards of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. An eight-year-old accomplished what a plane full of adults struggled to do.

    After the plane landed at its destination, the pilot and flight attendants thanked Phoenix for preventing a forced flight diversion. That would have been costly for both the airline and the passengers in terms of time and money. The passenger was taken into custody by authorities.

    A spokesperson for Jet2 thanked Phoenix and rewarded him and his dad with free flight vouchers.

    A little bit of kindness and the wisdom of a young kid were all it took to ease an intense and volatile situation.

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    Photo credit: Library of Congress Life (public domain) – Martin Short at the Kennedy Center Honors Medallion Ceremony in 2021.
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    After daughter’s death, Martin Short says he understands mental illness can be ‘terminal’

    “She was just saying, ‘Dad, let me go.'”

    Annie Reneau

    When we talk about someone having a “terminal illness,” we generally mean an incurable, progressive disease that will eventually end someone’s life. Advanced cancer, end-stage heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and many other diseases are widely accepted as terminal in modern medicine.

    Most medical institutions don’t include mental illnesses in that category either, for understandable ethical reasons. But as actor Martin Short shares from firsthand experience, viewing treatment-resistant mental illness as “terminal” can help families process the loss of a loved one to suicide.

    In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Short compared losing his 42-year-old daughter, Katherine, to suicide in 2026 with losing his wife, Nancy, to cancer in 2010.

    “You know, it’s been a nightmare for the family,” Short said when asked what he wanted to share about Katherine’s death. “But the understanding that mental health and cancer, like my wife, are both diseases. And sometimes with diseases, they are terminal. And my daughter fought for a long time with extreme mental health, borderline personality disorder, other things, and did the best she could until she couldn’t. So Nan’s last words to me were, ‘Martin, let me go.’ And she was just saying, ‘Dad, let me go.’”

    Adding nuance to the “suicide is preventable” conversation

    Short is speaking a hard truth that goes against the unequivocal messaging that suicide is preventable. As with so many human realities, conversations about mental health and suicide require nuance. Those who have seen a loved one through every available treatment, medication, therapy, and program, only to lose them to suicide after trying everything, play an important role in that conversation.

    We understand that many deaths from cancer and heart disease are preventable, but not all are. While mental illness may not be directly comparable to those diseases, the reality is that some illnesses, both physical and mental, resist even the best and most effective treatments.

    As Sophia Laurenzi shared in her Time essay, “The Problem With Saying Suicide Is Preventable,” the blanket message that suicide can be prevented places an unfair burden on individuals and families.

    Acknowledging the complex reality of suicide prevention

    “Though well-intentioned, the truth is that not all suicides can be stopped, even with the best efforts,” Laurenzi wrote. “But right after my father’s death, everywhere I looked I read that suicide is preventable. This instilled an immediate, unconscious conviction in me of a double failure: my father, who had not done enough to save himself, and those of us who loved him most, who had not done enough, either. Collectively we could have deterred his death. But we did not.”

    This feeling of failure and guilt prompted Laurenzi to dive deeply into suicide education and advocacy. That deep dive led her to the conclusion that while suicide prevention efforts are important, so is acknowledging the complex reality that a 100% success rate on that front is not currently possible.

    “The crux of the issue with blanketing suicide as something that can be stopped is that it flattens one of the most confounding psychological, medical, and philosophical questions of being human into something simpler than its reality,” she wrote. “Perhaps one day we will be able to say that, with the right blueprint, suicide is preventable. But we do not have the knowledge, let alone the resources, to make that true now.”

    To be clear, acknowledging that suicide isn’t always preventable is not the same as saying suicide is inevitable. Most suicides are preventable, and people should absolutely exhaust all preventative measures and possibilities. Knowing typical warning signs, having access to mental health treatment, limiting access to firearms and other highly lethal methods, and following other best practices are vital to giving someone the best chance of surviving a suicidal mental illness.

    Keeping hope in the balance

    Acknowledging that mental illness can be “terminal” also doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t have hope. Many illnesses that used to be terminal diagnoses—HIV, cholera, and more—are now totally survivable thanks to advances in medicine. Just because some people’s mental illness resists all known treatments now doesn’t mean we won’t find more effective treatments in the future. Most mental illnesses, even many serious ones, are currently treatable.

    But in some cases, for some people, having all the access in the world to resources, support, and treatment may not be enough. Just as doctors can exhaust all treatments for physical illnesses, people can also exhaust all treatments for mental illnesses. That doesn’t mean anyone should ever give up hope or stop trying. It means that families and friends who did everything they could, and who knew their loved one fought as long and hard as they were able to, can find peace in understanding that their loved one who died by suicide was dealing with a terminal, treatment-resistant illness that ultimately took their life.

    Short shared that he’s gotten involved with Bring Change to Mind, an organization started by actress Glenn Close, which he said is “taking mental health out of the shadows.”

    “Not being ashamed of it, not hiding from the word ‘suicide,’ but accepting that this can be the last stage of an illness,” said Short. “That’s my approach to this.”

    Watch Short’s full interview:

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    Photo credit: Canva – Hands intertwined, left, and an X-ray of a hand.
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    British woman holds her late daughter’s hand again after it was transplanted onto a quadruple amputee

    “There’s a little piece of her still there.”

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    Jackie Kirwan was understandably devastated when her 33-year-old daughter, Georgie Peterson, died from a fatal seizure. However, because Georgie was an organ donor, her hand was transplanted onto quadruple amputee Kim Smith. Now Jackie gets to hold her daughter’s hand every time Kim comes to visit.

    When Jackie first met Kim and held the hand that once belonged to her daughter, she remarked to BBC News, “There’s a little piece of her still there.”

    Georgie’s parting gift

    In 2017, Kim contracted a urinary tract infection that led to sepsis. To survive, she was forced to have all four of her limbs amputated in 2018. After a failed double-hand transplant, Kim had to learn to live without hands or feet—until she got a call in 2025 about a possible donor. That donor was Jackie daughter, Georgie.

    Ever since she was young, Georgie suffered from Periventricular Nodular Heterotopia (PVNH), a condition that causes uncontrolled epilepsy. Throughout her life, she treated PVNH with medication, but nothing truly worked. Although Georgie underwent brain surgery to address PVNH, the condition ultimately took her life.

    While Georgie had signed up to be a donor, permission from the family was still needed for limb donation. Jackie knew that Georgie wouldn’t hesitate to donate a part of herself to help someone else, despite the two never having discussed donating hands, feet, or other limbs. In an interview with This Morning, Jackie said, “If you’re giving heart, liver, lungs, why not help somebody?”

    Shortly after Georgie’s passing, Kim was prepped for the transplant. It was a success.

    Extending gratitude

    After the procedure, Kim reached out to Jackie. She wrote a letter thanking both Jackie and her daughter for the incredible gift of a hand. Kim also expressed interest in meeting Jackie in person to thank her if she was interested. Jackie accepted.

    Upon first meeting, Jackie was afraid to ask if she could hold her daughter’s hand again. After all, her daughter’s hand now belonged to Kim. However, Kim wanted to meet Jackie for that very reason. Now, whenever the two visit, Jackie has permission to hold Georgie’s hand.

    Thanks to Georgie, Kim is now able to hold her five-year-old granddaughter’s hand, along with performing several other day-to-day tasks and activities. Because of the mobility in Georgie’s hand, Kim is able to keep the fingers on her new hand straight, something that isn’t common with hand transplants.

    A call for advocacy

    Today, the two women have become advocates for organ donation and other causes. Jackie wants to raise awareness of PVNH and support further research into the condition that took Georgie’s life. Kim is also an advocate for sepsis research to improve early diagnosis and treatment.

    While Georgie is no longer with us, her impact lives on—not just through the hand now attached to Kim’s wrist, but also through the example she set for how we can improve lives even after we are gone.

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  • In 2022, John Lennon’s son performed ‘Imagine’ for the first time after swearing he never would
    Photo credit: via Julian Lennon/YouTube and Wikimedia Commons – John and Julian Lennon both performing "Imagine."
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    In 2022, John Lennon’s son performed ‘Imagine’ for the first time after swearing he never would

    “Within this song, we’re transported to a space, where love and togetherness become our reality, if but for a moment in time.”

    Tod Perry

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    In 1971, a year after the break-up of the Beatles, John Lennon released his most important piece of music, his single “Imagine.” The song is an appeal to humanity’s goodness and urges the listener to “join us” in visualizing a world without war, hunger, or greed.

    The song provides a glimmer of hope in that if we can visualize a perfect world, then maybe one day it will be achievable. Over the past 50 years, the song has become a secular hymn that can conjure hope in the aftermath of the most tragic events. The song was played by Queen at Wembley Arena the night after Lennon was murdered in December 1980. Stevie Wonder sang it at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics to honor the lives of those lost at the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. Neil Young played it at the 9/11 Tribute to Heroes concert. And who could forget the infamous celebrity singalong to “Imagine” in 2020 barely a week into the initial COVID pandemic shutdown?

    Why Julian Lennon vowed never to sing it

    “Imagine” is widely seen as Lennon’s signature song that encapsulates his artistic persona, which is no small feat given the earth-shattering effect the songs he wrote with the Beatles have had on the world.

    Given the song’s incredible power, Lennon’s son Julian vowed never to perform it in public. Julian has had success as a musician over the years, most notably with his 1984 hit, “Too Late for Goodbyes.” He’s also a philanthropist who has produced numerous documentaries.

    The war in Ukraine pushed Julian to break his vow and he performed a beautiful rendition of “Imagine” as part of Global Citizen’s social media rally, “Stand Up For Ukraine” on April 8, 2022. The campaign worked to raise money for the war-torn country, a cause Julian still adamantly supports.

    What the performance actually looked like

    During the 2022 performance, Julian was accompanied by guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, who is best known as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme and a longtime guitarist for Rihanna’s world tours.

    “The War on Ukraine is an unimaginable tragedy… As a human, and as an artist, I felt compelled to respond in the most significant way I could,” Lennon wrote in the video’s description in 2022. “So today, for the first time ever, I publicly performed my Dad’s song, IMAGINE. Why now, after all these years? — I had always said, that the only time I would ever consider singing ‘IMAGINE’ would be if it was the ‘End of the World’…But also because his lyrics reflect our collective desire for peace worldwide.”

    Watch:

    Lennon went on to say he was influenced to sing the iconic song “because within this song, we’re transported to a space, where love and togetherness become our reality, if but for a moment in time… The song reflects the light at the end of the tunnel, that we are all hoping for…

    “As a result of the ongoing murderous violence, millions of innocent families, have been forced to leave the comfort of their homes, to seek asylum elsewhere,” Lennon concluded his message. “I’m calling on world leaders and everyone who believes in the sentiment of IMAGINE, to stand up for refugees everywhere! Please advocate and donate from the heart. #StandUpForUkraine.”

    John Lennon, Imagine, song, piano, musician
    John Lennon recording at the piano. via Wikimedia Commons

    Lennon’s decision to never play “Imagine” was a wonderful way to honor his father’s legacy by respecting the power of his song, but John would probably be proud if he knew that he sang it at a time when we all need to imagine “all the people living life in peace.”

    Julian Lennon keeps his father’s legacy alive

    Julian Lennon continues to advocate for those suffering in the world by raising awareness and offering help through his charity, The White Feather Foundation, which was established in 2007 and exists “for the Conservation of Life” and provides aid for the environment, the preservation of Indigenous cultures, and access to clean water, education, and health.

    In 2023, The White Feather Foundation launched an emergency campaign alongside World Central Kitchen to feed those in need in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. And in early 2025, Lennon and The White Feather Foundation donated a split $10,000 to MusiCares and FireAid in response to the Los Angeles wildfires.

    Clearly in all that Lennon does to help the world and others, whether through his philanthropy or his music, he’s supporting the vision of “Imagine” and making his father proud.

    This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.

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    Letting teachers know they made a difference is a gift they'll never forget.
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    Entire graduating class shows up at their kindergarten teacher’s house for a surprise thanks

    Now THAT is a sweet high school reunion.

    Upworthy Staff

    Kindergarten is one of the most formative experiences in a child’s life. Not only do they learn there how to navigate the tricky world of friendships and the seeds of independence, they also start their education journey. All of that is made extra special if they have a teacher who really loves them. When you’re a kindergarten teacher, you know that you have the power to make a serious impact, and that shouldn’t be taken lightly. A retired kindergarten teacher warmed hearts on TikTok as people learn just how great that impact is.

    Then, one by one, they filed through the gate

    In the video shared by user Kim Hamilton (the daughter of said teacher) in 2022, a woman, who is identified in the comments as Mrs. Pearson, is sitting on her porch when a girl in a cap and gown shows up at the gate. “Congratulations!” Mrs. Pearson calls out, waving. Soon, she realizes that the young girl isn’t alone.

    @kimhamilton15

    #kindergartentograduation

    ♬ Graduation March – Pomp And Circumstance – Instrumental – Zev Weinstein

    “What’s happening?” she asks her daughter, who can be heard chuckling behind the camera.

    “They’re your kindergarteners,” Hamilton replies, as kids in caps and gowns start filing through the gate.

    “Did you know this was happening?!” Pearson asks, the shock and joy clearly evident on her face.

    “Oh my gosh, I love you all! Look at you!” she exclaims as she runs over to the kids.

    Hamilton explains to her that these kids, clearly high school graduates, are the last group of kindergarten students Pearson taught before retiring. As each one of them comes into the gate, the joy on Pearson’s face grows exponentially. It’s clear that these kids were her babies, and even though now they’re all grown up and going off to college, they’ll always have that special place in her heart.

    “Oh my god, you’re all just gorgeous!” she says, giving each one a hug.

    The kids are just as happy to see their beloved Mrs. Pearson as she is to see them. They eagerly shuffle together to pose for a picture as she just stops and looks at them, taking it all in. Presumably, she hasn’t seen them much in the many years since she retired. Maybe they’ve seen each other around. As a kid, I loved running into my teachers outside of school. I still do. But the fact that these kids showed up to see her, to allow her to celebrate her integral role in their lives, that’s really special. And I’m not the only one who thinks so.

    People in the comments lost it completely

    Here are just a handful of the comments people left on Hamilton’s video:

    “Proof they never stop being our kids after they leave us.”

    “The love she showed and was shown, she must have been one heck of a teacher”

    “I started crying when your mom did.”

    “Love this! ❤ I teach kindergarten and only hope my students will remember me like this! She must have been extraordinary!”

    “Literally teachers like HER are the reasons I still talk to my teachers from middle school, HS & college good teachers are so special.”

    “The best gift a teacher can receive is seeing her former students bloom.”

    Teachers can truly make a lifelong impression on us, for better or for worse. When you get a good teacher at any age, it’s never too late to offer them your gratitude and appreciation.

    This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.

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    Photo credit: Canva – A supermarket cashier checks out customer.
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    Dutch grocery store add slow lane for elderly customers who want to chat

    A Dutch supermarket chain created slow checkout lanes specifically for people who aren’t in a rush and want to have a conversation.

    Adam Albright-Hanna

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    Jumbo, a Dutch supermarket chain with over 700 locations, noticed a problem. A lot of their older customers were lonely. So in the summer of 2019, they created something called a Kletskassa, which translates to “chat checkout.”

    It’s exactly what it sounds like. A checkout lane specifically for people who are not in a rush and would like to have a conversation with the cashier. No pressure to scan quickly, no annoyed sighs from the person behind you. Just a place where taking your time is the whole point.

    The first Kletskassa opened in Vlijmen, a town in the North Brabant province. The response was so positive that Jumbo rolled out 200 of these lanes across the country. They also added “chat corners” in their stores where people can grab a cup of coffee and talk with neighbors.

    The initiative was part of the Dutch government’s “One Against Loneliness” campaign, which makes sense when you look at the numbers. Statistics Netherlands found that nearly 1 in 10 people in the country reported feeling lonely frequently. Among people 75 and older, around one-third said they feel at least somewhat lonely. And that loneliness tends to stick around, especially for seniors living independently.

    Colette Cloosterman-van Eerd, the CCO of Jumbo and one of the people behind the National Coalition Against Loneliness, explained the thinking: “Many people, especially the elderly, sometimes feel lonely. As a family business and supermarket chain, we are at the heart of society.”

    She added that Jumbo wants to be more than just a place where people shop. “We help our stores by means of a manual to signal loneliness among customers and to set up local initiatives. Several stores also have a chat corner where customers can grab a nice cup of coffee and chat with neighbors.”

    The “Alles voor Mekaar” Foundation (which translates to “All Together”) runs the coffee corners with local volunteers. They connect lonely seniors with people who can help with things like gardening and grocery shopping, but mostly they just provide a place for people to show up and talk.

    This is all happening while the grocery industry is moving in the exact opposite direction. Self-checkout lanes, automated systems, less human interaction. Jumbo looked at that trend and said no thanks, we’re going to do the thing that actually helps people.

    The Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport has supported local coalitions in all 355 municipalities across the Netherlands to fight loneliness through home visits, hotlines, and activity directories for seniors. The chat checkouts are one piece of a much larger national effort.

    It’s a pretty simple idea. Some people just want to talk while they’re buying their groceries. So you give them a place to do that.

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    Why don’t actors look like normal everyday people anymore?

    Jack Nicholson didn’t need to look perfect to sell tickets.

    Tod Perry

    There is a grittiness that seems to be missing in today’s movies. A big reason is that actors look too perfect. Before the turn of the millennium, the screen was filled with actors whose faces had character: Walter Matthau’s nose, Jack Nicholson’s wild hairline, and Sylvester Stallone’s droopy eyes and bottom lip that pulled to the side. They looked like real people, and that made them much more relatable than today’s A-listers, such as Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds, and Michael B. Jordan.

    When it comes to female actors, the difference is less noticeable because women have always been held to more stringent beauty standards. But in the late ’80s, some of the biggest stars, including Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, and Geena Davis, were all pretty, but their faces had character. Compare that to today’s actresses, such as Scarlett Johansson, Margot Robbie, and Zendaya.

    Archer Green, a popular YouTuber who digs deep into why movies work, took a shot at explaining why actors look so different today in a video titled “Why Aren’t Actors Ugly Anymore?” In the video, he cites three major reasons why actors today lack the relatable physical characteristics that made pre-millennium screen legends so memorable.

     1. Cosmetic surgery

    “In an article from 2021, Raquel S. Benedict likens our body to an investment in which we have to maximize our value through looking good,” Green said. “We’re reduced to a collection of features like perfect skin or a strong jawline. The body is no longer the vehicle through which we experience joy and pleasure, but a status symbol that needs to be constantly presentable to the world.”

    “For actors, this is taken to the extreme, especially for women. They can never age or show any imperfection. They need to be a bankable star, and a big part of this is looking good on camera. Pretty girls should always smile,” Green added.

    margot robbie, barbie, actors, hollywood 20206, popular actors
    Margot Robbie. Photo credit: Eva Rinaldi/Flickr

    He adds that actors these days all have perfectly straight, pearl-white teeth. He notes that earlier in his career, Tom Cruise had crooked front teeth, which made him look like a real person. Many actors today also have perfect hairlines, whereas actors such as Nicholson, Bill Murray, and Burt Reynolds had age-appropriate receding hairlines that made them look authentic.

    2. Digital cinematography

    “iPhone face. It’s hard to define, but I think it’s basically this kind of pristine look that most actors seem to have,” Green said. “It’s why some people look out of place in period pieces because they’ve got a modern haircut or their teeth are too wide. They’re striving for a kind of look that didn’t really exist before the 21st century.”

    ryan gosling, ryan gosling interview, actors, hollywood 2026, a-list,
    Ryan Gosling. Photo credit: Ralph_PH/Flickr

    “And this speaks to a kind of aesthetic that many modern movies have,” Green said. “They’re perfectly lit, the set perfectly designed, the actors in perfectly clean clothes, but this kind of perfection just makes it all look boring.”

    3. The industry is afraid to take risks

    “If you look for it, you can find interesting-looking people in modern movies,” Green said. “But this whole change in how actors and, by extension, movies in general look is a natural result of an industry that’s afraid to take risks. Movies need to make money, so they minimize anything that could theoretically make the film less successful, but in the process, remove what makes it special.”

    Ultimately, Hollywood is in the storytelling business, and one of the keys to making a story work is creating characters who are relatable and have, well, character. The movie business is in the depths of a six-year slump, and the cure for getting folks back into theaters may not be fear-based perfection, but putting people on screen who resemble the folks in the seats.

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    Lacie films as the mysterious man visibly gets closer.
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    Nail-biting video shows a woman as she realizes a creepy man is following her

    She was only halfway through her run when the man’s behavior forced her to stop.

    Heather Wake

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    It’s no secret that even the most seemingly safe of public places can instantly turn dangerous for a woman. Is it fair? No. But is it common? Absolutely, to the point where more and more women are documenting moments of being stalked or harassed as a grim reminder to be aware of one’s surroundings.

    One of the most common and frightening experiences many women can relate to is being followed by a strange man. It’s scary because it’s difficult to tell the difference between a random passerby who just happens to be walking in your direction and someone who has malicious intentions. At least, at first. But sadly, most women have learned how to pick up on the clues.

    Lacie (@lacie_kraatz) is one of those women. In April of 2023, she was out on a run when she noticed a man in front of her displaying suspicious behavior.

    Things got especially dicey when the man somehow got behind her. That’s when she pulled out her phone and started filming, partially to prove that it wasn’t just her imagination, and also out of fear for her safety.

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    @lacie_kraatz

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    “Hello. I’m just making this video so that women are a little more aware of them,” she begins in the video. “See this gentleman behind me? Yeah, this is what this video’s about.”

    Here is exactly what happened on that run

    According to Lacie, the two were initially running in opposite directions. But at some point after seeing her, the man stopped in the middle of the trail and waited for her to pass so that he could follow her path from behind.

    “Now, I know what you’re thinking, ‘Why are you suspecting that he’s following you?’” Lacie continues. “Well, let me tell you. I was just walking like this, and I look up, and he’s in front of me, and he just keeps doing a ‘peek’ like this behind him, over and over again.”

    Lacie added that at one point, she even made an illegal crossing when “do not walk” sign was still up in an attempt to put some distance between herself and the man. After looking over her shoulder, she noticed that the man was visibly “speeding” to keep up.

    In case there is still any doubt, Lacie then begins to run to see if the man will follow suit. Sure enough, he does.

    Luckily the man eventually seems to give up, though he still seems to be watching her from a distance. Lacie ends up safe back home, but she didn’t even accomplish what she set out to do that afternoon.

    “I couldn’t even finish my run,” she concludes. “I only ran like a mile and a half. I wanted to do 3 miles, but no, creepy men just had to be creepy f****** men today.”

    Women in the comments had plenty to say

    Countless women empathized with Lacie in the comments section. Clearly, this was not a unique circumstance.

    “What I do when I’m being followed is act feral,” yet another person shared. “Like I’ll bark and growl really loud and flail my arms around. If you look crazy, you’re doin’ it right.”

    Another added, “Man, nothing pisses me off more than men who make me feel uncomfortable doing things that I NEED to do for my health and well-being.”

    Others tried to give their own tips for handling the situation, from finding nearby police or fire stations to using a variety of running trails to simply notifying the first visible passerby of what’s happening and asking to stand with them.

    And of course, the resounding advice was to use the public space, and modern-day technology, to one’s advantage.

    As one person wrote, “Girls we have got to normalize turning around and yelling at people following us. Let them know you know, take pictures of them, scream, make a scene.”

    What experts say you should do

    Experts say the most important thing is to stay in a populated area as long as you’re being followed. If you can pop into a store, do it. And always let a trusted friend or loved one know where you are. Giving a family member access to Find My Phone or a similar tracking app could be a lifesaver.

    It’d be nice if these kinds of unsettling interactions didn’t exist. But here we are.

    Some estimates say around 75% of women have been followed by a stranger at some point in their lives; a shocking, tragic statistic. They’re also around four times as likely to be continuously stalked compared to men. It’s not fair that women and girls have to deal with this, and that they’re forced to develop a keen instinct for when danger is present.

    At the very least, it’s good that women are speaking up more so that these situations are easier to spot early on and women can know how to navigate them in the safest way possible.

    And as for Lacie, she went on to join the US Coast Guard and regularly posts updates about her life in the military. Safe to say she has no problem taking care of herself these days.

    This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.

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