Not a good analogy. Sports doesn't have anything to do with looks. If a woman loses her acting ability after 40, she should get out of the business.
But that is a big part of the problem - these women didn't have ability to begin with. They were always eye candy. In a few years, Halle Berry will have to complain about age-ism as well as racism: hot babes can get away with no talent, but a 50 year old woman (Davis, Hepburn) needs talent.
Here's another reason - movies are made for teenagers, not adults. And here's some more:
Sex is easy. Romance is hard.
Violence is easy. Suspense is hard.
Special effects are easy. Memorable dialog is hard.
Someone promoting a movie-to-be with sex, violence, and special effects can deliver. Someone promoting a movie-to-be with romance, suspense, and memorable dialog can only hope. Since the former can be guaranteed, and since it sells - we get a lot of it.
On the contrary, it's a great analogy. In sports, the name of the game is drawing fans to the stadium. In acting, the name of the game is drawing an audience to the theatre. In sports, a team draws fans to the stadium by winning. In acting, one way to draw an audience to the theatre is to feature attractive young women in a film. If an athlete can no longer contribute to the team in a way that draws the fans, the athlete should be let go. If an actress no longer has the looks to draw an audience, another actress should be cast in her place.
It may not seem fair, but it's reality. As I said in my previous post, I doubt any of these women were complaining when they were the ones benefitting from this reality fifteen years ago.
The fact that they've made huge sums of money before their fortieth birthdays is all the more reason why they have no justification to complain. If they haven't properly planned for a time when the big contracts won't be there, that's their problem. No one who makes millions of dollars playing pretend gets sympathy from me when the pretend game goes away.
Actually, it's quite an appropriate analogy. Each is valued for his or her skills -- and in acting, looks are a big part of the package. In basketball, for example, being preternaturally tall is pretty much a requirement and that just ain't fair to men of average height, is it?
Personally, when I watch movies, I care more about the story, the talent, etc., than what the actors and actresses look like.