film / tv / politics / social media / lists / web / celeb / pajiba love / misc / about / cbr
film / tv / politics / web / celeb

getty-pacino-deniro.png

Who Was Hotter Back In The Day: Al Pacino or Robert De Niro?

By Brian Richards | Social Media | May 15, 2023 |

By Brian Richards | Social Media | May 15, 2023 |

getty-pacino-deniro.png

This past weekend, Twitter found themselves debating and discussing one of the most important elections of the decade so far. No, it wasn’t about the 2024 Presidential election, but it was about something that was just as deserving of everyone’s attention. It revolved around a question that was asked by writer (and widow who is constantly targeted by a—holes on Twitter who get mad at her tweets and like to dunk on her by pointing out that she’s now a widow) Ashley Reese. And that question?

If you’re someone who saw this tweet, and became aware of all the discourse surrounding said tweet, you might have been asking why Twitter cared about this, and about comparing the level of hotness between two actors back when they were younger. And this isn’t the first time this topic has come up, as there’s even a Reddit thread about it from last year. But this is where I remind you that this is Twitter we’re talking about. It’s a social media app that can, and often does, bless us with insightful conversations about important social issues that deserve and demand attention. It’s also a social media app where people will tell ridiculous jokes, bless us with some wisdom to hopefully knock some much-needed sense into readers who need it, and tell unusual anecdotes that will make their way into our brains and stay there for the rest of our lives. (“THIS NIGGA EATING BEANS!”; the “Bud…Let me tell y’all something…You don’t wanna be out here” thread; and nearly every tweet about how DC Comics refuses to let Batman give Australian kisses to Catwoman? Those are only just a few examples.) It’s also where people will discuss who arouses their intellect as well as their loins, and make comparisons as to who is much better in bed: Kyle or Overton from Living Single (Overton won that poll by a landslide), Desus or Mero (Mero was the winner, and not just because he has four kids, but also because he’s made clear more than once that his porn-loving self is a firm believer in eating the booty like groceries), Ryan or Seth from The O.C. (If you’ve ever watched The O.C., you know damn well that Ryan slings that *insert cucumber emoji here* like it’s his job.)

GettyImages-2638344.jpg

GettyImages-1435833666.jpg

GettyImages-1358785285.jpg

GettyImages-75453140.jpg

So it should come as no surprise that Twitter had a lot to say as to whether they were Team Young Al Pacino, or Team Young Robert De Niro.

FYI: I was wondering when (not if) Roxana would share her own choice on this matter by reminding us all that she wouldn’t hesitate to hit it like the fist of an angry god, and sure enough, she did not disappoint. (As she once put it, De Niro being hot in The Godfather Part II isn’t the reason why it’s her favorite film, but it’s also not NOT, you know?)

Those are just some of the tweets out there about Young Pacino vs. Young De Niro. Fancams were made, screenshots and entire clips from each of their films were shared, and the poll kept getting refreshed for hours and hours by Twitter users who, as Ashley herself said, were more invested in this than in their local elections. (They even started making jokes about staying in line to cast their votes and make their voices be heard.) We got reminders that Young Pacino was not only easy on the eyes, but he was a romantic who had plenty of game, as evidenced by his letter to Diane Keaton.

Others gave Young De Niro the edge over Young Pacino because of his longtime and very well-known attraction towards Black women. So well-known that the late, great comedian Paul Mooney once said this about De Niro: “The only thing a white woman can do for Robert De Niro is show him where the Black women at…If you see Robert De Niro with a white woman, he’s holding her for the police.”

One of the Black women who De Niro had his eye on? Whitney Houston, according to this 1990 interview she did on The Byron Allen Show.

Unlike previous polls, there was no landslide with a clear winner, and it became even more unbelievable when the poll finally closed…and though it looked like it ended in a tie, with both Young Pacino and Young De Niro each coming in at 50%, De Niro emerged as the winner by just 2%. This did not stop people on social media from waving their flags, and making their choices loud and clear to everyone else, while also claiming that the election was rigged. The poll gained so much attention that even people from TikTok had something to say.

@olivialayne6 This is like the least annoying argument that’s ever happened on Twitter🌺🔥 #alpacino #robertdeniro #whoishotter #whoshotter #popculture #popculturenews #fypã‚· #fyp #greenscreen ♬ Wii - Mii Channel - Super Guitar Bros
@olivialayne6 I stand with the working class🫡 #alpacino #robertdeniro #whoishotter #whoshotter #popculture #popculturenews #fypシ #fyp #greenscreen ♬ Wii - Mii Channel - Super Guitar Bros

It’s no secret that Elon Musk — a.k.a. Fake-Ass Tony Stark — has ruined much of Twitter’s safety and functionality, and that far too many of his supporters have done their part to make the app feel like even more of a hellmouth than it was before, which has caused hundreds if not thousands of its users to abandon ship by leaving Twitter behind to join other social media apps. But it’s moments like this, in which thousands of people answered a single question about two celebrities, and expressed the depths of their thirst while doing so, that are a reminder as to why Twitter still remains popular, influential, and like nothing else on the Internet. For better, and for worse.

As for which actor gets my vote? I like them both, and each one of them would make me do a double take if I were alive in the 1970s, and saw them walking down the street. But my choice? Young Al Pacino.

Screenshot_20230515_090254.jpg