Older people are significantly underrepresented in movies and often are the butt of ageist jokes, an analysis of top films has found.
The study, being released Tuesday by the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, found just 11 percent of some 4,066 speaking characters in the 100 top U.S. films of 2015 were 60 or older. Only 10 roles considered leads or co-leads were held by actors 60 or older at the time of the film’s release, the study found.
“We see not just a skewing but an erasure of these really vibrant communities in the United States,” said Stacy Smith, the USC professor who led the research.
The dichotomy was starkest for women: Only 27 percent of older characters in the films were female. Among lead roles, only three of 10 with older actors were women (Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren and Lin Shaye). This is despite the fact that women outlive men and constitute a larger segment of U.S. seniors. The Census Bureau estimates 18.5 percent of the U.S. population is 60 or older.
“Seniors on screen are an endangered species in cinematic storytelling,” the authors wrote in the report, which was to be formally released at an aging forum in New York.
More than half of films with a leading or supporting senior character included dialogue the researchers deemed ageist, everything from, “That senior bus was running late, huh?” to, “You are nothing but a relic from a deleted timeline.” Meantime, only about 29 percent of leading or supporting senior characters were shown engaging with computers, cellphones or other types of technology.
Smith said ageism seemed to be given a pass in pop culture: “This is an area that people don’t seem to be as concerned,” she said.
Though Hollywood’s depictions of older adults often amounted to stereotypical caricatures of oddballs or cranks, they also were often portrayed as healthy and professionally active. About 62 percent of older characters were depicted with a job and only about one in 10 were shows with health-related problems. Few were shown using canes, wheelchairs or other mobility aids; and even fewer showed signs of cognitive impairment.
Among older characters who died within their films, some 79 percent were victims of violence, a far cry from the reality of heart and respiratory disease and other common causes of death for older Americans.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
It isn’t only the movies. The elderly find a lack of respect in many
situations. In fact, lack of respect for others is common, including on Facebook.
Movies are made to appeal to the demographic that goes to movies. That not only is true, it also is self perpetuating. Seniors have seen good movies at reasonable prices and aren’t as likely to spend exorbitant admision prices for the trash that most movies are now. There are many exceptions and those do get senior audiences, but are not always as profitable as the high violence high special effects blockbusters that the younger seem to prefer. And what is called “reality” in films and TV has very little relationship to the reality of most people’s lives.
I really hope taxpayers money wasn’t in any way spent on this ridiculous study. I am over 60 and other then films with nostalgic old folks in them, which there are plenty of, who wants to see movies about old people doing old people things? We old timers want to see the young and the buff battling baddies and getting into comedic romantic trouble. Yes, nostalgia is great, but we’d rather relive our youth through the new youth. Not to mention the liability of old actors not being able to finish films because they got sick or died. The mix of old and younger actors is just fine. Stop making up issues that don’t exist.
One of the best movies I’ve
Seen was..it’s complicated..
There is a lot of comedy left
In older actors…i find that
Most younger people have
No sense of humor. Or it’s
A twisted dark sense of humor.
Sadly, we have a cultural reaction to old people that renders them invisible.