Hollywood’s depictions of the elderly are tired clichés

By N.E.G.

HOLLYWOOD makes more films about senior citizens than ever before. Notable octogenarians like Judi Dench, Donald Sutherland, Robert Redford, Maggie Smith and Christopher Plummer all seem to be able to find work whenever they want it. But most actors more than 60 years old should be wary when cast in a film: the character is likely to die—or at least get very close to death—and its senior moments will be mocked and ridiculed. Among the many social groups that the movie industry marginalises, the plight of the elderly seems to get the least attention.

A USC Annenberg Film Study from 2016 found that seniors are both underrepresented and stereotyped on screen. Analysing the 100 highest-grossing films of 2015, the authors found that only 11% of characters were aged 60 and over—off-screen seniors represent 18.5% of the general population—and 30 of the 57 films that featured a senior character used ageist comments. Senior characters that died on-screen often did so at the hands of physical violence rather than from chronic illness, the most probable cause of death of an ageing population. Hollywood’s depiction of seniors does not map onto real life.

The latest example of this trend is “Going in Style”. A remake of a film from 1979, it follows three retirees (played by Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin) who rob a bank to make ends meet after their pensions are dissolved. An occasion to probe the failures of the state pension system and societal neglect of the elderly, the film instead refuses to offer the characters a modicum of dignity. They continually reference how close they are to dying, calculating how many years they may have left based on their various ailments.

For the stars of “Going in Style”, it must feel like déjà vu. Mr Freeman previously starred in “Last Vegas” (2013) and “The Bucket List” (2007)—the latter film triggered this development with a $175m worldwide gross—both about elderly friends angling for one last hurrah. Mr Caine starred in “Mr Morgan’s Last Love” (2013), which followed an elderly Londoner’s romance with a younger woman. Mr Arkin earned an Academy Award for dying in “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006), and met a similar fate in the Al Pacino-Christopher Walken comedy thriller “Stand-Up Guys” (2012) about old gangsters having one final night on the town.

“Going in Style” induces a few laughs, but like these other films it mostly relies on the tired conventions of the old-folks-behaving-badly genre. Its elderly characters act like reckless teenagers, and the audience is meant to giggle at the anachronism. They smoke marijuana and joke about getting “the munchies”. They shoplift from a local supermarket. One has energetic sex with a casual acquaintance. There is even a slow-moving chase scene in which they evade an officer of the law on a scooter, a sequence familiar to fans of sitcoms, cartoons and other derivative comedies.

It is hard to understand why films offering richer depictions of elderly life are not being made: the incentives are there. The membership of most awards bodies still skews older, making a film like “Philomena” (2013) a shoo-in for major nominations. Financially the case is even stronger, with older Americans now making up a significant portion of the movie-going public, according to the MPAA. In 2011, 4.1m senior citizens (60+ years old) were going to the movies once a month or more. By 2015, that number had risen to 5.1m, while frequent movie-going among Americans aged 12-39 fell during that same period. In short, seniors go to the movies; in recent years they have driven independent films like “I’ll See You in My Dreams” (2015), and “Hello, My Name is Doris” (2015) to surprisingly sturdy theatrical grosses.

“Philomena” is an excellent example of how ageing and its challenges can be dealt with on screen. The Best Picture nominee starred Judi Dench as an older woman looking for the child she was forced to give up for adoption decades earlier. Through the character of Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), a journalist doing a story about her search, the film addresses and subverts our expectations. He dismisses her as a senile old lady but, as they grow closer, his understanding deepens. When they discover that her son was gay, for example, Sixsmith tries to break the news to her gently, expecting her to recoil with horror. Instead, she brushes it off as an insignificant detail like a modern-day progressive.

Sadly, films such as these remain exceptional; films like “Going in Style” are now a genre in their own right, and they may think that they’re helping. “A culture has a responsibility to take care of its elderly,” says one figure in “Going in Style”, and an argument could be made that these films provide positive, life-affirming role models for the elderly, while allowing younger viewers to find ways to relate to them. This argument would be much stronger, however, if the films didn’t spend so much time mocking them. Using comedic clichés does not fully-formed, empathetic characters make. Rather than encourage younger generations to laugh at the elderly, we should be encouraging them to have some compassion.