More gray hair on screen: Hollywood鈥檚 subtle shift on age
When Estelle Getty starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in 鈥淪top! Or My Mom Will Shoot鈥� (1992), the joke was that a senior could be a gun-toting hero. Nowadays, Mr. Stallone is not only older than 鈥淭he Golden Girls鈥� comedian was when she filmed that role, but he鈥檚 still playing an action hero聽鈥� and not for laughs.
Mr. Stallone is among several veteran actors who are bringing iconic heroes out of retirement. In September鈥檚 鈥淩ambo: Last Blood,鈥� the titular hero rises from his front-porch rocking chair to fight invaders at his ranch. Similarly, trouble comes knocking for a grizzled humanoid cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who lives in a backwoods cabin in November鈥檚 鈥淭erminator: Dark Fate.鈥� And in the 2020 TV series 鈥淧icard,鈥� a former 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� captain (Patrick Stewart) leaves his vineyard to reengage with intergalactic politics.
It would once have been unthinkable to greenlight action projects featuring septuagenarian actors in lead roles. But today, retirement age looks very different from what it did a few decades ago. As Americans live longer, healthier, and more active lives, on-screen portrayals of seniors are beginning to reflect that shift. To be sure, Hollywood continues to traffic in stereotypes of older people. But cultural critics say that positive portrayals can help mitigate societal fears about aging and also influence how seniors perceive their own potential.
Why We Wrote This
If Tinseltown thinks differently about age, does that mean other people will, too? A flurry of new offerings with seasoned stars raises questions about a changing societal view.
鈥淚mages on screen do affect us in our self-images and what we think we can鈥檛 do and should do 鈥� what鈥檚 appropriate to our age,鈥� says Tim Appelo, film critic for AARP The Magazine. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a phrase from William Blake, the poet: 鈥榤ind-forged manacles.鈥� People are troubled by manacles forged in their own minds. And I think that TV and movies helped to break those shackles of illusion. ... We can鈥檛 all be action heroes, but watching Liam Neeson and Tom Cruise and Helen Mirren do some heroics gives us the strength to do what we want to do in our own lives.鈥�
Back to work, like boomers
At a time when the majority of baby boomers are still in the workforce, it鈥檚 apt that many legendary cinematic characters are heading back to work. Older boomers are staying in the workforce longer than previous generations. Since the turn of the millennium, global life expectancy has increased at the fastest rate since the 1960s. Consequently, concepts of retirement and longevity are evolving聽鈥� even in Hollywood. It鈥檚 telling that the premise of 鈥淐ocoon,鈥� a 1985 science fiction movie about how alien powers rejuvenate residents in a retirement home, now seems antiquated.
鈥淥ne of the big jokes was now that they have encountered aliens they鈥檙e out dancing,鈥� says Tim Gray, senior vice president for Variety. 鈥淚f you said to somebody [today], 鈥楬ey, I know one of my neighbors is 70 years old and goes out dancing,鈥� people would say, 鈥榊eah, OK, where鈥檚 the story here?鈥欌��
For actresses over age 40, it鈥檚 still a struggle to find lead roles in an industry predisposed toward ing茅nues. But in certain genres, that age no longer means what it once did. Between 1996 and 2015, the average age of action stars was 40, according to movie data analyst Stephen Follows. But in 2015, the last year he tracked those figures, it spiked to 48. Audiences are embracing action films featuring stars who are older than those averages, including Charlize Theron and Sandra Bullock聽鈥撀爊ot to mention聽Daniel Craig, Jason Statham, Keanu Reeves, Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Clint Eastwood, and Mr. Neeson.聽
To that list, add Linda Hamilton. In 鈥淭erminator: Dark Fate,鈥� the cool heroine battles robots with her bazooka. Indeed, the popularity of veteran actors is sometimes aided by an audience appetite for nostalgia. Cases in point: Mr. Cruise is back on the highway to the danger zone for 鈥淭op Gun 2.鈥� Who you gonna call for another 鈥淕hostbusters鈥� sequel? Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and . Harrison Ford, who has already reprised his iconic roles in recent sequels to 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� and 鈥淏lade Runner,鈥� is dusting off his fedora for a fifth 鈥淚ndiana Jones鈥� movie.聽
Reversing negative messages
Inevitably, news about these types of roles conjure up the same sort of jokes that follow the Rolling Stones when it tours. Messages of ageism can be subtly harmful, says Becca Levy, director of the social and behavioral sciences division at the Yale School of Public Health.聽
鈥淚n our experimental research, we bring older people into the laboratory and we expose them on a computer screen to either positive or negative age stereotypes, and we found that when we activate negative stereotypes, it can lead to different kinds of outcomes including worse memory performance, worse balance, and slower walking,鈥� says Professor Levy. 鈥淎nd then we found when we expose people to positive age stereotypes on a computer screen and we measure variables before and after they鈥檝e been exposed to the age stereotypes, we do find a shift in performance.鈥�
Stories聽on screen have a social and cultural pedagogic effect, agrees Sally Chivers, director of the Trent Centre for Aging & Society in Peterborough, Ontario. Too often, Hollywood associates age with decline, she says 鈥� especially movies about dementia, which stoke fears of aging by insinuating that this could happen to anyone. But screen stories can also have a positive influence. She points to how the Netflix series 鈥淕race and Frankie,鈥� starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, has shaped how some seniors view late-life romance. Professor Chivers鈥� book 鈥淭he Silvering Screen鈥� chronicles how Hollywood has also gotten better at producing stories about the perspectives of older characters even if the stories, such as romantic comedies, are formulaic.聽
鈥淚f those plots are going to be what dominate, why not have age be part of it rather than this kind of either grotesque horror story, like in 鈥榃hat Ever Happened to Baby Jane?鈥� [from 1962] or humor. Even the 鈥楪rumpy Old Men鈥� are just kind of a joke to move the plot along,鈥� says Professor Chivers, referring to the 1993 comedy starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. 鈥淲e鈥檝e come a long way since then.鈥澛�
