It’s hard to pin down the origins of accounts like these two — whether and how they might be related to Mr. Depp’s defense and public relations teams — but it seems obvious to many of Mr. Depp’s fans that the The actor’s physical attraction is an external manifestation of inner worth. On Twitter, hundreds of accounts, many with names like “Justice Served for Johnny Depp” (with 40,800 followers), focused on Mr. Depp, and assured us, for example, that Mr. Depp “is just as beautiful in real life,” or calling him a “king” or a “god.”
It is rare to see male beauty inspiring such moral conclusions. Beauty remains a topic largely reserved for and about women. They are typically women whose appearance is dissected into countless parts to be judged or embellished – eyes, lips, skin, hair. They are usually women whose beauty is constantly examined for signs of decay or misfortune, attributed to aging, weight gain, insufficient (or even excessive) maintenance or other possible crimes.
Women, metaphorically, occupy the realm of faces and bodies. One is believed to live in the realm of ideas and deeds. So, according to conventional thinking, by focusing on a man’s beauty (as opposed to, say, his masculinity), or using it to judge his character, he risks emasculating him, robbing him of his inner worth, his mind, strength or performance. And so we shy away from mentioning male beauty.
Our coverage of the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial
A lawsuit between the formerly married actors turned into a fierce battle over the truth about their relationship.
Mr. Depp proves an exception to this rule. In his middle age, he still possesses an unusual, arresting facial beauty. A beauty that surpasses conventional beauty and – especially in his youth – roamed a kind of feline, even female territory: a symmetrical face with large, dark, almond-shaped eyes; a small chiseled nose; the highest, sharpest cheekbones imaginable; profuse, wavy hair.
