Blog 4: How are the Elderly Represented in the Media?

According to a U.S. News article I read, people of retiring age (65+) make up over 13% of America's population today. I think the biggest problem with their portrayal in the media is that the media does not reflect this statistic. Elderly are almost completely shunned from many forms of media. I rarely see older generations regularly in movies, shows, commercials, etc. This severe underrepresentation of the elderly in the media is an issue because it does not reflect the diversity of age spans in America and in the world.

When the elderly are represented in the media, they are almost always shown with one of a few common stereotypes of the elderly. These include: weak, immobile, of extreme income groups (very poor, very rich), miserable, grumpy, in nursing homes, or the butt of a joke. A quote featured in newsworks.org explains how the media portrays the elderly:
"In the media, aging is about being in a nursing home or conversely we will see it as living 'til 100 and still being able to run a marathon and in between those two poles is where most people will actually live."
-- Bruce Chernoff, president and CEO of the SCAN Foundation

Almost every instance I can think of an elderly person in the media involves one of these stereotypes.

In this clip from the TV show, King of Queens, Arthur, the elderly character, is shown not knowing what is going on at all and can't understand what people are trying to say when they talk to him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMiJzne3Wmk&feature=related

This popular Taco Bell commercial from this year's Super Bowl features elderly people breaking out of a nursing home and doing rebellious things. People find it funny because these are things that young people do that elderly individuals do not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2yBevCWbRA

Almost every instance of a commercial, TV show, ad, or movie I can think of or looked up features an elderly person in one of the listed stereotypes. This is an extremely negative portrayal for people our culture has been taught to have a high level of respect for. And, perhaps the biggest problem with the elderly in the media, is the severe lack of representation they are given which is extremely misleading.

Is the Media Homophobic? Presentations of Gays and Lesbians in the Media

While much progress has been made in recent years of the presentation of gays and lesbians in the media, the way they are most often represented is problematic. Thirty years ago, gays and lesbians were severely underpresented, or even not shown in the media at all. Today, they are no longer shunned from the media and kept in secrecy. We now see gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders shown often in every form of media. In my opinion, they are often shown in a positive light: successful, wealthy, attractive, employed, and charming. The following pictures are from popular TV shows in which gays and lesbians are shown positively:

Eric: Gossip Girl

Emily: Pretty Little Liars

Sophia: Orange is the New Black

Leslie: Chicago Fire

With all of this in consideration, LGBT community is a minority, and with every minority comes stereotyping. These stereotypes, wrong and demeaning as they may be, are also often shown in the media that gays and lesbians appear in. Lesbians are often shown as either masculine females, or extremely hyper-feminine, and often portrayed to have an interest in heterosexual sex. Examples of this are: both Arizona and Callie from Grey's Anatomy and Carol from Friends.
Gay stereotypes shown in the media are no better. Gay men are often shown as feminine and extremely flambuoyant. They are often the butt of the joke. This is shown in the movie Mean Girls, in which one of the main characters, Damien (described in the infamous quote as "too gay to function"), is shown always wearing a pink shirt, caring excessively about his appearance, and using words such as "fierce", "fabulous", and "own it" in a feminine voice. His only friends are girls and he is shown throughout the whole movie without a love interest. He is pictured below:

 

 

In conclusion, while gays and lesbians are misrepresented in the media, the media is making slow but sure progress in their representation. Slowly, stereotypes are being broken down. The stereotypes that are shown that are mentioned above, though, are wrong and demeaning to the LGBT community, which is why I commend people behind the media that are beginning to show gays and lesbians in a positive light. The video below features many more examples of my points proven above: