The media has different representations of the elderly. The elderly is not always portrayed well in the media. In fact, the media has shown the elderly has sympathetic and naïve in some ways. The elderly people suffer from a negative stereotype. Many times in the media, the elderly are shown with preconceived pessimistic notions about their health, mental state of mind, personality and other characteristics. Elderly people are also shown as out of touch and not as advanced especially with all the new technology. There are some influences in the American culture that could possibly be some of the reasoning for the negative outlook of elderly people. Some of these influences include a general devaluation of tradition and the fact that there is such a strong association with death and old age.
The media has also played a major role in showing the positive ideals and lifestyles of young and lively. Baby-boomers are sometimes depicted as “geezer-like” and sometimes self-pitying. Many political issues surrounding the elderly such as social security and healthcare do not bring out the best presentation of old people.
To get an insight view of what comes up in the media regarding elderly people, I went to youtube.com and typed in “elderly people.” The results that showed were what I expected. Many of the clips were about death and diseases that affected elderly people.
The clips that I watched were somewhat depressing and dealt with saddening issues of becoming old. There was even a clip called “Sarah Silverman-You’re Gonna Die Soon”. I am somewhat surprised by the negativity that is out on the web about old people. There was hardly any positive clips of the elderly that came up right way on youtube.
The first clip that appeared was called “Elderly People and the Cold” It is clip from 1977 in the UK and although it is quite outdated, it was the first match that appeared from the search of elderly people. The clip is only 45 seconds but shows an elderly woman sitting in her living room while a man is speaking about the cold and hypothermia. The man speaking tells how if elderly people are in the cold temperate areas they can suffer from hypothermia but also it says “left unattended they can collapse and die.” This is public information film that was shown around the country. This clip shows that only is the American media somewhat bias in its showing of the elderly but also countries around the world.
The woman in the clip was really old, with wrinkles and did not smile at all. The angles of her face and body posture were also shown so that it made the film more dramatic. It then shows the mailman dropping off the mail and the elderly woman is unable to get the mail because she is too old. The woman looks very depressed and sad in the clip. This supports the stereotype that old people are helpless, sad, and unable to take care of themselves.
The next video on the list is called “ Camp for elderly people with Diabetes” so once again this enhances the connection between elderly people and illnesses. The clip opens up with a woman sitting with elderly people and taking blood of one woman. The music is a violin and is dramatic but miserable at the same time. The setting is on a lake. After talking to the woman for a bit it shows a scenic route of a lakeshore. The woman then goes on to describe what the camp is about.
With the first video clip there was a large use of close-up shots of the woman. This technique dramatizes the symbolic importance of the woman’s wrinkled aged face. This clip also used many low-angle shots, looking up the woman’s face, which again is associating power of her elderliness. The second video clip also uses a few different film critiques. One of the techniques is that the camera goes back and forth of zooming in and out on important details relating to diabetes and elderly people. For example, in one shot the camera zooms in on someone drawing blood to test the blood-sugar level.
These film techniques have placed a large emphasis on the physical aspects of the elderly. It shows that elderly people have a negative view of elderly people.
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