#5 How Actors Are Affected by Ageism (Article)

    Beautiful Actresses are Greatly Affected by Ageism

Actor Angela Lansbury from Murder She Wrote talks about the difficulty it is finding a work as you get older. She says that this greatly effects the actresses that were considered beautiful in their youth. She says that as you grow older there are less and less acting parts because more of the gigs are given to younger women. Lansbury even says that "Shakespeare stopped writing about women while his men aged. The young look nicer". She says that she hasn't really suffered from ageism because she was a character actress and was never considered a beauty. But she does see more and more women her age not being able to find jobs and being forced to retire. 

Its sad to think that there are women who want to work but can't because they are considered too old and not pretty anymore. There is too much focus today on being young and pretty. I think that it's horrible that this only effects women. This doesn't really effect men as they age. There are a bunch of male actors that are considered better looking because they are older. It must be hard for these women because they spent their career being praised for their work and good looks and now people are closing doors for them because they are no longer what the media wants. Although this is directed toward actresses, lack of jobs for older people in any profession is very common today.

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#4 Ageism in Disney (Article)

Cruella De Vil. Ursula. Cinderella's Stepmother. The witch from Snow White. These are just a few very evil villains from some popular Disney movies. What do they all have in common? They are all old with white hair. Are these Disney characters giving elderly people a bad rep?

93 Disney characters are over the age of 55.

42% of this group had negative qualities such as being grumpy, lazy, helpless, absent-minded, evil, sinister, or crazy.

71% of the films contained at least 1 negative portrayal of an older character

However, 10 films did contain only positive portrayals of older characters.



I think it's surprising how so many of the older characters in Disney movies are portrayed negatively. Now that I think back on  the Disney movies I watched as a kid, I can think of at least one older character in each movie that had a negative quality. I think that this could definitely influence the way children perceive older people. I think that how you are raised can also effect this. If you grow up surrounded by loving older adults, you won't really believe the things you see in Disney movies. But if you grow up without grandparents or your grandparents were had one of these negative characteristics, you could think that all old people are how they seem in Disney movies.

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#3 Ageism in the Media (Video)

Some Commercials For Your Entertainment!

6 Flags

Boost Mobile

Snickers

My guess is that while watching those commercials, most people would crack a smile or even laugh. This is exactly what the makers of these commercials are aiming for. But at what cost? These commercials are made to be funny because of one thing: they show elderly people doing things that are against what we think is normal for people their age to do.  The media exploits the elderly for entertainment. A current example of ageism in media is the movie Bad Grandpa, where the whole movie revolves around a guy dressed as a old man doing things that old men wouldn't normally do. "I've fallen and can't get up!" "Where's the beef?" Just by hearing those two quotes, most people automatically know where they come from. There were so many commercials that had to do with ageism that it was difficult to choose which ones to put in this post.

The three commercials that I have chosen all show things that people would find funny because it makes elderly people look silly. But where does the line stand between silly and idiotic? The first commercial that I chose is the classic 6 Flags commercial. It shows an elderly man shuffling off a bus, holding his back and adjusting his large glasses. Then, all of a sudden, he starts dancing wildly to loud music. Most people would find this funny because you never see old people dancing so bizarrely. The second commercial is for Boost Mobile and shows an elderly woman using vocabulary that most people would never expect from a person her age. She uses phrases like "ight", "yo", "home-girl" and "where you at". Boost Mobile had a line of commercials that all used the slogan "Boost Mobile. Designed for young people. But its just more fun showing old people." Boost Mobile knows that people think its funny watching old people do or say dumb things. The third commercial is a Snickers commercial starring Betty White. This is relatively new and shows Betty White playing football, getting tackled, and cracking jokes. Betty White is a good example of ageism in the media because recently she has been in commercials or guest starred in T.V. shows that show her doing and saying things that are against what is stereotypically normal for older people. Media needs to move away from only showing the elderly as dumb people that are only there for people's amusement. I was surprised by how many commercials revolved around making older people the center of the joke and I hope that there will be more commercials that show elderly people in a better light.