h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Did you ever see Lou Ferrigno (ex-Hulk) as Hercules? THAT's an even stronger reason not to choose Hercules...

Whilst resisting the temptation to ask whether "Male Perfection" is not a contradition in terms, may I suggest Spartacus - he was the gladiator who led thousands of slaves to rise up against the Romans and fight for their freedom. He was a true leader who lost his life fighting for the freedom of others - a good example of manhood.

Yeah, but was he good looking?

As long as we don't all have to go and lose our lives fighting for the freedom of others...
And before Kaeori beats me to it: was he a "legendary beauty"?

Right, she beat me to it!

Well, in the film of his life, Jean Simmonds certainly fancied him, so he must have been fairly dishy.

From conversations with girlfriends and from surveys in the press, it is obvious that everyone has a different idea of a man's "beauty". According to our radio here in Germany, for example, everyone is raving about Craig David. He quite turns me off, to be honest.

I remember once being in the local cinema and a trailer for a Bruce Willis film came on. At the first sight of him, the whole cinema collectively gasped, swooning (the audience was predominantly female, due to a Languages Faculty here). If that's not the equivalent of launching a thousand ships .....

TC - who can hardly walk out of the cinema after seeing a whole BW film.

It is not looks that make men attractive, it is their charm, wit, confidence and general aura that appeals to women. There are plenty of 'pretty' boys out there, but the only ones the women swoon over are those with the aformentioned qualities : i.e. Sean Connery, George Clooney, Robbie Williams, Sean Bean, Russel Crowe etc.

Then, of course, there is the ultimate aphrodisiac - POWER - if you have that you need no other qualities at all, or so it seems - Bill Clinton, David Mellor, Robin Cook, Steven Norris.......the list is endless, and very scary!!

I liked "Unbreakable" and "The 6th Sense" a lot more than his action-films, but I guess that's because in those cases there actually was a story.
But Willis is not "classical" enough. We could have stayed with Kaeori's Sean then...

Oh TC, we have something else in common - Bruce Willis is allowed to date me!

But I think, in all honesty, his desirability rests not mainly on his looks, which are quite decent, but on the whole, er, 'package'.

btw, the same goes for women: it's not only physical beauty that appeals to men (at least, not to me). It's hard to explain, but e.g. I find elegance much more attractive than looks.

Bruce Willis is a gay icon! He is not gay himself, but the characters he portrays in many of his films embody characteristics that gay men admire. He has great physique, is strong, determined, not too brainy and he stands on the side of justice and the good guy.

We shouldn't make a difference: maybe Helen is (or was) also a gay icon...

If we use Bruce Willis as the basis of the unit of male beauty, it would have to be a "bruce" rather than a "willis" as a milliwillis and a kilowillis are both ridiculous. Microbruce doesn't sound too bad. The abbreviation would be "Br" (unless this is already taken).

As my fellow posters to the thread that spawned this one well know, I am the mother of two adult sons. One of them looks like Robbie Williams (seriously). I reckon they're as near perfect as you're gonna get, so my proposed unit is a "Jones boy"

Ah. Sparticus - why not. I'll go for that.

Wasn't there a Jones-boy in some sit-com in UK once?

If we're on about that certain je ne sais quoi, I have to say that Dr. Daniel Jackson is our man then. He's gorgeous, he has a brain _and_ (here's the clincher) he's also (apparently) a bit of a gay icon.

I rest my case.

You can't be serious about a "Danny-boy" as unit?
A "Helen" is a face that launched a thousand ships, a "Bruce" is a face that made a thousand filmviewers gasp and swoon (cfr. Trillian's Child's posting), but what does a "Danny-boy" do (except make some people break out in song)?

The thread now seems focused on 'beauty' (perhaps I'll start another for other qualities).

We need to agree on the criteria. This is, of course, impossible.
We need to consider all males to see if they fit our criteria. This is, of course, impossible.
We need to decide which particular male is the 'perfect' one. This is, of course, impossible.
We have to let everyone know in the world, and get them to accept our choice. This is, of course, impossible.

Having completed these impossible tasks, we will all be showered with accolades, gifts and untold riches. This is, of course, ...

"If the search for Mr. Right is futile, what about the serach for Mr. RightNow?"