All too often the gossip-world is devoted to covering and following the youngest, the dumbest, the drunkest, and the most ridiculous celebrities out there. So occasionally it’s nice to cover a interesting little story about a woman of a “certain age” who isn’t mangling her face with surgery or Botox, who isn’t dating a guy half her age, who isn’t telling off some other celebrity and who isn’t flashing her lady bits to a paparazzo’s waiting camera. Such is the case of 51-year-old Michelle Pfeiffer. Michelle gets my respect automatically because she was in some of my favorite films of all time – Dangerous Liaisons (where she seduced John Malkovich on and off screen), The Age of Innocence (where she allegedly seduced Daniel Day-Lewis off-screen) and Married To the Mob (which is just a really funny movie).

Unfortunately, not everyone shares me good opinion of Michelle Pfeiffer and how cool and classy she is. Michelle recently told a story about how during some of her promotional duties, a reporter asked her “’How does it feel to have an old and decrepit body?” Not cool, douchebag reporter. Not cool:

MICHELLE PFEIFFER was left speechless during a recent promotional trip to Germany – when one journalist described the Hollywood star’s body as “old and decrepit”.

The Dangerous Liaisons actress, who is currently promoting new romantic drama Cheri, celebrated her 51st birthday this April (09) and insists she is embracing growing old gracefully.

But she was stunned when one female reporter criticised her looks in such a harsh manner.

Pfeiffer says, “She asked, ‘How does it feel to have an old and decrepit body?’ And at first I didn’t understand her, I was like, ‘Sorry, did you just say I had an old and decrepit body?’ and she was like, ‘Ja (yes). How does it feel?'”

The actress recognized the woman from a past press conference when she attacked the star’s fashion sense – and Pfeiffer responded to the criticism of her appearance by giving the reporter a telling off for her consistently rude comments.

Pfeiffer reveals, “She was the same woman who’d asked me years before, because I remembered her. She’d said, ‘Do you think what you’re wearing is appropriate?’ She was like, 60 and had on a miniskirt! And I said, ‘Well, you’re the one who asked me two years ago if I was dressed appropriate… (sic)’.”

[From Contact Music]

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the reporter was either insane, or on crack. Or both. I like how Michelle handled it though, and I hope she didn’t take it seriously, but the woman still looks amazing – and age appropriate. The reason Michelle has been giving so many interviews lately is because she’s got a film to promote – Cherie, “a romantic drama set in 1920s Paris, where the son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love.” Michelle plays the older woman who “educated” the son of the courtesan, and thus, the whole cougar-hood question came out when she spoke to In Style Magazine (quotes via Page Six):

Don’t call Michelle Pfeiffer a cougar. The actress, 51, tells InStyle: “I so hate that term! Colette wrote these novels [about older women with younger men] so long ago, but even today they’re ahead of their time in the way we perceive women’s power and sexuality.”

As for her take on plastic surgery, she says, “Well, I think your face should still move. And you should be recognizable to your friends. One actress I knew years ago, a really lovely person, had some stuff done, and literally, every time I run into her now I don’t recognize her. Every time!”

[From Page Six]

Michelle gets an A-plus for a literary cougar reference. Eat that, Demi Moore. That being said, as I was researching this, I checked Michelle’s dating history on Who’s Dated Who, and her entry is epic. That girl dated some really great guys when they were in their prime. But generally, she tended to date men who were older. She doesn’t have the heart of cougar, only the looks. Currently, Michelle is married to David E. Kelley (they’ve been together since 1993 and he’s two years older than her) and they raise their two kids together quietly and happily from all evidence.

Michelle Pfeiffer is shown on 6/16/09 outside the Late Show. She is also shown on 6/17/09. Credit: WENN.com