Ageism and Media; The weight of gravity and media portrayals
When talking about stereotyping in media channels, our minds often go to sex role or racial stereotyping. Although both are salient issues to tackle, one that often goes unspoken are the media portrayals of people from older age demographics. Perhaps, it’s because as young consumers we’re so detached from thinking that far in the future and think little about how this may affect people of this age group. If aging is a natural part of life, why do we try everything we can to defy it and make people fearful of it?
To start, aging in the United States, especially for women, is seen as losing beauty and worth because youth is associated with desirability. In the documentary The Illusionists, media scholars discuss the world of beauty and advertisements in various parts of the world. Among harmful skin lightening products there are also the popular products that prevent or suppress cellulite. Although some of us may see cellulite as a problem, it in fact isn’t which was by design. Cellulite is natural but was made to seem like a flaw as early as 1968 when Vogue published its magazine issue entitled, “Cellulite: The Fat You Could Not Lose Before” which introduced American women to this idea. This helped launch what we know today as the Wellness Industry which includes anything that wants to prevent what’s naturally occurring in your body- especially women’s bodies.
Similarly, anti-aging cosmetics prey on the insecurities of women. In the U.S. alone, the market for anti-aging products is valued at $14.2 billion in 2020. Not only do magazines, TV commercials, and online ads have a large influence, Hollywood and the entertainment industry do too. In the recently awarded film “The Irishman”, the three main actors Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, appear at different ages from 30 to 70 because the director did not want to recast actors to play as younger counterparts. Accordingly, they are de-aged significantly thanks to CGI which racked up the budget near to $200 million. Director Martin Scorsese said that CGI technology is “an evolution of make-up”.
As for women in Hollywood, being de-aged is common, but it is more criticized when the effects wear off. For example, a 2008 issue of Newsweek cover shows a close up of Sarah Palin with “imperfections” which was met with scrutiny. On the other hand, Brad Pitt in the same year and same age covered for W magazine with the story of rebelling “against photoshop”. It begs the question of double standards of aging- why are we shocked to see women age but accept the rugged, salt and pepper look from men?
Another side of entertainment that often gets overlooked in terms of media portrayals of older people are horror films. In an article by Roe McDermott, she explores the obsession of horror movies’ obsessions with older women’s bodies as a source of fear and repulsion. You don’t have to think very hard of examples because it’s everywhere: The Shining scene with the old woman in the bathtub, a naked older woman in IT2, and the movie The Visit where two grandchildren are deeply disturbed by their grandparents. More antiquated examples include witches, crones, hags, and even evil stepmothers from fairy tales. McDermott adds, “This pervasive trope associates being a woman and ageing not just with being repulsive, but with being evil… And unfortunately, in this way, the trope is playing on and perpetuating existing ageism and sexism in society.”
Well, why can’t we just get rid of this unachievable ideal of not aging? The answer, I think, relies on advertising. Without advertising and its revenues, the Internet and platforms on the medium would not exist and the industry of anti-aging products will not cease because it is successful in targeting insecurities and converting them into dollars. As for movies, the image of old age can be naturally scary as we may fear losing youthfulness and dying. Although more consumers are seeing right through the smears of anti-aging creams and stereotypical portrayals in the media, there still needs to be a change with how people place “expiration dates” on women’s worth relative to age.
