"Get off my lawn!" Elderly in the Media

Where are the elderly in the media?
Television
    This Chevy commercial characterizes senior citizens as misunderstanding buffoons that can't comprehend modern technology. In part, this is true, but the way they're depicted as completely
clueless is inaccurate and can be condescending.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5z57nAaPIA

The popular cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants depicts the elderly as nothing more than an angry, complaining spinal cord.

Pop icon, Betty White embraces her age and breaks the stereotype of the typical senior citizen when she adopts the trends of today by rapping and donning hip clothing in this PSA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5phqDvrWNZc


Advertising
    Turning on the television, it's hard to avoid advertisements that put shame on advanced age. Every cosmetic company has a line designed for the aging woman who should be utilizing her every resource to get rid of her wrinkles or age spots. Obviously, we're all supposed to look 25. 

    It's not just makeup companies that shame age, hair care companies have also jumped on the bandwagon. Men and women alike are constantly bombarded with pressures to cover up any gray hair. The companies put a social stigma on age to make more profit and expand their market, ensuring that you will cover up any natural signs of aging with their product. 

Books

Harry Potter (Dumbledore and McGonagall)

Old Man and the Sea 

King Lear

The Grapes of Wrath (Ma and Pa Joad, Granma and Granpa Joad) 

Music

Etta James

Dolly Parton

                                             The Beach Boys

                                             Frank Sinatra

An illustration inspired by the Disney Pixar film, The Incredibles shows the vulnerability of senior citizens. 

Similarities
    In modern media text, being a senior citizen seems to be a negative thing. There are hundreds of products offered that intend to erase years off your face and body because nobody would DARE to look over 40 (makeup and hair care.) When selling a product isn't involved, society seems to embrace senior citizens. Betty White's appearance on SNL was one of the most watched episodes that season, and Harry Potter fans seem to worship the nobility of Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. Music artists such as Etta James, Dolly Parton, The Beach Boys, and Frank Sinatra among many others were able to keep their booming careers going even after they applied for AARP benefits; The Beach Boys played at the Superbowl halftime show and Frank Sinatra continued to sell out concerts in his final years of life-proving that old can be celebrated and cool.

Unique Representations
 Among my selections, Shakespeare's King Lear provided the most unique yet chillingly accurate representation of the elderly. In the manipulation and eventual collapse of King Lear, his vulnerability due to his age is revealed when his daughters, Goneril and Regan manipulate him into gaining power for themselves. Had King Lear been in his prime and tip-top mental shape, it would have been difficult for his daughters to completely obliterate their father causing his tragic death. Readers of Kind Lear see a glimpse into the realistic physiological decay associated with age-a stark contrast from the wise, witty, and confident senior citizens that some media chooses to focus on today (Betty White, Dumbledore, and Ellen DeGeneres.) What should be noted is that Shakespeare is able to communicate a universal human truth through King Lear. In life, everyone finds their niche, thrives, and dies. Many people don't understand or won't face the decay of life and their inescapable death. What's mesmerizing is that even though King Lear was not an ideal citizen in his youth, readers, hundreds of years after the play's first staging, are still captured by the turmoil Lear is experiencing that all of humanity will face. 
    Today, media explores this idea on a very superficial level. Why do we color our hair and cover up wrinkles? We don't want to believe that the end of life is drawing closer-in this way, we try to clinch small fractions of immortality. But, the end will come and how will we compensate for fear of the unknown? By putting Betty White in a bejeweled tracksuit, that's how. And life is good.

Consequences
   From my findings, media represents the elderly in a few different facets. 1: As incapable, oblivious, decaying vegetables. 2: As wise, dependable, and resilient mentors. Finally, 3: as carefree, hip, and youthful citizens. What's toxic in this mixed representation is that none of these popularized ways of illustrating the elderly are completely true. Someone watching a Snicker commercial can't expect their grandma to tackle young men, nor can they infer that their their quiet 80-year-old neighbor has nothing cool to say. As with anything represented in media, it can't be taken at face value and to gain a true understanding of what people off the screen or beyond the page are like, you need to get off the couch and have some social interaction. 

In conclusion, old people are awesome and media has hardly touched on what special kind of people they really are. (Until you find their prosthetic foot in the hallway and they accuse you of stealing it. See facet #1.)

   
  



   

Bachmann, you so silly.

    In September 2010, Michelle Bachmann accused house speaker Nancy Pelosi of charging taxpayers with her bar tabs while on military jets that "she's flying." This terribly inaccurate quote portrays Pelosi as a drunken fighter pilot, risking tax dollars with her careless impulses. Had this quote not been fact-checked, it's easy to assume that the approval ratings and opinions on Pelosi would quickly plummet. Luckily, Pelosi's reputation wasn't sacrificed because of Bachmann's desperation for attention by vomiting up falsities.

        What's crucial to understand about the media is that what is on the news is influenced heavily by corporate greed (something that many people don't know.) Once my newbie friend understands that economic factors influence what is and is not shown on all levels of media, (Commercial Forces That Shape Media Content) they will have a greater understanding of why news is sensationalized and why facts between networks don't always line up. When my friend seeks out news, I would recommend that they stay away from sites that are geared towards gossip or popular and sensationalized news (Digg, Facebook, Twitter.) Granted, those sites do contain small amounts of genuine journalism, but it's rare and not always dependable for an amateur who wants to be well-informed about real issues.  I would advise my friend to look at a variety of news sources (MSNBC, FOX, etc) to provide different political and social biases. This way, he/she would consume a diverse group of media where they could more easily get closer to the truth on any issue.

   Popular YouTube blogger, Jenna Marbles provides satire on what the typical American girl finds attractive.
    Her exaggerations of beauty and acceptable behavior promote values of individuality, natural beauty, and acceptance. Poking fun at what it means to be cool shows the audience that being "good looking" isn't all it's cracked up to be. She gives viewers the ok to analyze what some girls do to feel attractive with a critical eye.    
    In the end, Jenna Marbles lets viewers know that everyone has an "ugly" side to them (complete with glasses and retainers) and that there's really no point in making yourself look like a prostitute, because, everyone can see through it and doesn't see it as attractive-it looks just as ridiculous as Jenna makes it seem.