Life Begins At. . . Whatever Age You Want
A Facebook ad for AARP presents several short clips from popular films, beginning with one of from “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994). It shows the elderly James Whitmore seated inside a bus, tightly holding the handrail before him and staring blankly ahead; the image is grim. Another clip shows Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech” (2010); he’s at an audition where an unseen individual tells him, “We’re looking for someone much younger.” We also see the battle between news teams in “Anchorman 2,” where Will Ferrell cuts down his opponent with his line, “What are you doing here? You’re too old for this.” The ad is preceded by this statement: “We’re bombarded with negative stereotypes about aging every day. But age isn’t a punchline, it’s about growth. #DisruptAging.”1
They are correct. We are constantly told that aging is terrible and, worse, that those over a certain age are either worthless or should be avoided. The ad presents these statements from a few movies, but we could add any number of other films that perpetuate this attitude. The idea is so entrenched in U.S. culture that we take these ideas for granted.
An article from the American Psychological Association states that, “Ageism is defined as discrimination against older people because of negative and inaccurate stereotypes—and it’s so ingrained in our culture that we often don’t even notice. Most organizations now have diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) departments to tackle issues such as racism and gender bias. Even in those departments, age bias is seldom on the radar. Ageism is this odd ‘-ism’ in that it’s still socially acceptable in many ways.”2 Many capable people lose their jobs—or are just not hired—simply because of their age. And these individuals don’t have to be over 65; they can be much younger than that. This, of course, is insidious in many ways. Professor Becca Levy writes that the ageism that people face is actually damaging to one’s health.3
Although some traditional cultures perhaps value(d) older adults, ours is certainly not there yet. Our “Cult of Youth” is one of the many things we inherited from Ancient Greece. The Greeks valued beauty and youth and these qualities were often associated with virtue and goodness. According to Professor Chris Gilleard of the University College in London, “Youth—neotas—was sweet, beautiful and heroic. To leave youth meant one quickly passed the threshold to old age—geras. Old age was ugly, mean and tragic. There was no middle ground, no third age.”4 This is evident in Greek drama, philosophy and, of course, in art. Ancient Rome preserved, adopted and perpetuated much of Greek culture and art. Greek sculpture frequently depicted youthful athletes, who were often winners of Olympic games as handsome, healthy adolescent males, an example is the Spear Bearer, a sculpture by Polykleitos, which is known only through Roman copies.
Western culture has perpetuated these ideas and it is worth repeating what we already know, Capitalism has capitalized on the youth cult. Advertisers constantly tell us that we are not getting any younger and sell us many commodities—such as cosmetics, “age-defying” products, and Viagra—to fake it and make ourselves and others feel better about it. And, of course, this has always been worse for women, who are the primary targets of advertising. This obsession with youth has developed into a recent trend: a rise in young women between the ages of 20 and 29 seeking costly cosmetic procedures, which has been dubbed “rich-girl face.”5 But a youth-obsessed culture favors ignorance over wisdom. And an ignorant populace is easily manipulated, and it will focus—by design—on superficialities rather than important issues. It is sad that the dilemma persists, particularly because, through modern medicine, people are living longer. Unfortunately the media perpetuates the youth myth, as the AARP ad demonstrates.
Fortunately, this ad turns the depressing narrative around. Midway, it presents much more positive images, including a scene from the Netflix series, “Grace and Frankie,” in which Jane Fonda tells Lily Tomlin, “You know, at my age, I only have one speed: breakneck!” Another clip from the Disney animated film “Up” (2009) shows the elderly widower Carl (voiced by Ed Asner) taking on the adventure of his life. The latter is particularly important because it is a children’s movie and, as is well known, youth is impressionable, and destroying ageist (and any other destructive) stereotypes early on is a great idea.
Copyright © 2024 by Rosi Prieto, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved
https://www.facebook.com/AARP/videos/10155083107963960/
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/03/cover-new-concept-of-aging
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/08/how-americas-ageism-hurts-shortens-lives-of-elderly/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890406506000557
https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/rich-girl-face-trend and https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/fashion-and-beauty/beauty/the-rise-of-richface-why-more-and-more-young-women-are-getting-cosmetic-surgery/article25756128/