Within the movie and television and film industry, the elderly are portrayed with enormous disrespect as they are depicted as foolish or eccentric which indicates an under-representation of who they actually are in respect to how they are portrayed. The feminine characters appear worse in comparison to the men in all aspects of characters although the female sex is currently receiving an improved status in their roles. The elderly are portrayed as inactive, weak, slow and sentimental in their actions in numerous films and television shows. The portrayal is different from the actual picture that elderly depict to the public as some are physically strong, faster in their actions and reflexes, quick at comprehending situations as well as realistic in their thoughts and actions. The depiction of the elderly as a form of stereotyping in films and television arises due to failure by the younger generation to recognize themselves alongside elders. The portrayal breeds marginalization, discrimination, development of negative attitudes towards the elderly and deprivation by the younger generation in movies and television media thus influencing elderly stereotyping. Therefore, the research study examines the portrayal of the elderly in both film and television as stereotypes in their given roles.
Image of the elderly as the stereotype focal point
Elderly people in television shows and movies are often given injustice. Their characters and personalities all fall under a standard representation which creates an image for our society. In an Indian movie titled "Dadi" about a family living with an elderly woman, portrays the older adult as annoying, emotional, distracting, childlike and grumpy. The elderly are depicted acting like a child when the son stated that the mother was acting like “a kid” and an understanding “can you not understand anything”. The family with which the elderly lady lived seemed tired of sentimentalities, with the son at the forefront to neglect and ignore the mother. On the other hand, the daughter always interjected prior to the grandmother saying a word that acted as a form of neglect. The scenarios and portrayals in the movie indicate how the elderly are depicted in films and television. The continued show of such content to the public and especially millennial teenagers implies that the trend will persist to thrive and spread. Thus, challenging teenager’s alignment and cooperation with the elderly (HelpAge India n.d).
How elderly character is marginalized in television and films
Magoffin, p.1&2 explains that older people are portrayed in film and televisions as stereotypes and the inappropriate attitude is possessed by mature individuals of all age categories. The biggest numbers of older film and television characters are portrayed with constructive character traits, for instance, caring and in a friendly way, however, unenthusiastic qualities still prevail for certain characters. The negative attributes occur specifically for older females that are usually depicted as stupid, eccentric, grumpy and mean. Additionally, the physical characteristic and nature of film and television older characters have been widely neutral and constrictive, though some are depicted as ugly and sick. Nonetheless, some pessimistic stereotyping has persevered within the media that includes the portrayal of more than one-quarter of the older characters having missing teeth.
According to Robinson pr.1, an examination of sixty popular teenage films from the 1980s to the 2000s determined how the elderly people are portrayed in film and television. In relation to the realistically available United States population records, the elderly populace was largely underrepresented. The underrepresentation accounts for only 7% in accordance with the aggregate number of teenage movie characters. The elderly citizens are segregated in relation to the plot and only featured as secondary characters in the films. The statistics indicate that 60% of the characters are stereotypically portrayed, with only 45 percent of those characters depicted positively. In addition, 32 percent of elderly characters are negatively portrayed and a fifth portrayed with unconstructive characteristics.
How film and television influence the formation of elderly stereotyping
The creation of stereotypes in the media relating to elderly people is usually portrayed as frail, fragile and forgetful in depicting their physical and cognitive capabilities. The outcomes indicate negative prospective effects of the media towards the elderly people. The elderly populace is stated as vulnerable, forgetful that aligns with the descriptors employed to portray elderly people in the media. The depiction about the elderly people by all forms of media both television and films are deeply influencing attitudes held about the elderly people (Australian Human Rights Commission 49).
The aspect of stereotyping is consensual which implies that in scenarios where those that are unemployed are considered lazy by a minor category of isolated people, the theory would achieve little in terms of attention. Contrarily, due to the fact that stereotyping is a justification shared by several different individuals makes it an important issue of note to the public. The convictions regarding cohorts are principles that would be shared via cohorts as well as consensualization that indicates comprehending how these groups formulate what others require to understand about the course by which the beliefs become shared. These ideas are representative of obligatory pre-requisite for the combined action, for instance, protest, law enforcement and regulation as the argument arises from the fact that stereotypes structure to facilitate action. The stereotypes are political arsenals that are employed with the attempt to attain as well as oppose social change (McGarthy 15). Additionally, the author also indicated that “integrating distinctiveness and expectancy-based illusory correlation through the idea of differential meaning”.
The elderly are provided with minor scene plots to play. The scenes are not captivating since they are short and capable to catch the audience’s attention. The stereotypical portrayal of the elderly illustrates the weakness of their bodies. It also displays appearing sick, retarded, forgetful and sentimental. The portrayal makes the current generation of youngsters to believe the depiction as permanently true that might factual but its showcasing is negative and demeaning to the young people (Quarter Orange n.d).
Lack of main characters in films and television while stereotypically portraying the elderly
In an analysis of soap opera films, there exists an indication of elevated representation of elderly people. The analysis discovered that almost 16 percent of characters in soap operas were found to be over 55 years. Nonetheless, almost half of the "older adults" film characters belonged to their 50s which implies that about 8 percent of those characters were more than 60 years old and probably lesser beyond the age of sixty-five. In another study, soap opera characters accounting for 8% were more than 60 years in comparison to almost 14 percent of the entire population. Therefore, statistics indicate that elderly film characters might not be extremely underrepresented within the soap opera film industry in relation to other movie sections though they are still not majorly represented (Harwood 152). The illustration below indicates the representation of men and women in films.
(Harwood 154)
In a television show with animation "the elderly portrayed in film and television: part 1" portrayed elderly as angry, juvenile in their actions, and ill-tempered. These short clips depict how elderly stereotyping has escalated in the television and film industry. The elderly are depicted negatively in theatrical ways that make others laugh thus making a comedy. The elderly are also portrayed as those that receive the jokes and say nothing in response. The portrayals show the forgetful minds and sentimentality of the old people. The old populace in film and television are depicted as upsetting and inconveniencing to those around since they seem lazy to perform any activity and in cases where they engage themselves, they usually distort whatever that is touched (Berfeldt, n,d).
Summary
The manner in which elderly individuals are portrayed in films and television are at times positive. The distress lies in the continued association to health and age that reignites the link between the two elements. On the other hand, minor television characters are displayed for shorter time frames, participate in particular plot functions then disappear. The presence of such scenarios requires the audience to comprehend and process them quickly that creates the likelihood that the audience depends on the stereotypical cohort the characters originate. In cases that require a specific character deemed to have difficulty in hearing to enable a joke to be appropriately received, the use of an elderly person serves the purpose properly. The poor hearing suits the audience's stereotype of the elderly. Therefore the ever-present fact that elderly person is usually given peripheral roles increases the likelihood of their portrayal in stereotypical circles or fashion.
Additionally, in order for comedy to acquire enormous crowds, it is essential to employ character of an older person that will be the receiver of jokes from other characters, for instance, a dirty elderly man and forgetful older parent. The continued availability of those messages apparently depends on the collective understanding of stereotypes for the wittiness that almost and properly serves to emphasize the stereotype. However, in soap opera movies, there exists a fair representation of older characters that are above the age of 50 years. The soap opera has more elderly individuals taking roles but are widely involved in television and movies.
References
Australian Human Rights Commission. Fact or fiction? Stereotypes of older Australians. Australian Human Rights Commission Research Report. 2013. Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/Fact%20or%20Fiction_2013_WebVersion_FINAL_0.pdf
Berfeldt, Lauren. The elderly portrayed in film and television: part 1. 2013. Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=nOqWn7VZqrQ
Harwood. Mass communication portrayals of older adults. 2007. Accessed from https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/15092_Chapter8.pdf
HelpAge India. Dadi. 2016. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8-bAFTXoTI
Magoffin, Dawn. Stereotyped seniors: The portrayal of older characters in teen movies from 1980-2006. Masters of Art thesis, Brigham Young University. 2007. Retrieved from https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1976&context=etd
McGarthy, Craig., Yzerbyt, Vincent & Spears, Russell. The formation of meaningful beliefs about social groups. Cambridge University Press. 2002.
Quarter Orange. The old man and his grandson. 2009. Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAXCS_QSgs0
Robinson, Tom. Older characters in teen movies from 1980-2006. Journal of Educational Gerontology, Volume 35, Issue 8, pages 687-711. 2009. Accessed from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03601270802708426 [August 4, 2009]
