Ageism on TV still exists

Almost all media presentations of older people show them as doddery, absent minded and at times, downright stupid.

It is time we started campaigning for equality and making sure we are represented fairly, just as women, those of other ethnicity, the disabled amd every other group in society has.

They also like portraying the old as foul mouthed and thoroughly horrid. Catherine Tate's gran for example, and the two oldies in 'Mum'.

They will all be old themselves one day. I saw a post the other day where someone thought people 40 and above were old and did not contribute much to society. Ageism is not going anywhere soon.

I don’t mind it in comedy programmes. Some old people do become very outspoken/embarrassing etc. An elderly aunt of dh who we used to take regularly out for lunch would say at the top of her voice e.g. ‘WHY DOES THAT WAITRESS WEAR SUCH A SHORT SKIRT WITH LEGS LIKE THAT?’ Or out in the street, ‘BLACKS EVERYWHERE NOWADAYS!’ when she’d just seen someone of that description.

Cringe! And yet she was a highly intelligent, well informed woman who’d held very responsible jobs. There was no dementia to account for it, either.

Where I do really mind it is when e.g. female newsreaders are ditched because they’re getting on a bit, when the same never seems to happen to men.

And of course, ageing male actors, quite hunky in years gone by, still in parts where they have a very attractive wife/girlfriend half their age. Whereas ageing actresses are portrayed as sad old things scraping by with the occasional toy boy or gigolo.

Exactly Calendargirl! Well said M0nica I too think it's time we have some 'Older people's lib', all the other groups are getting recognition except us!

I agree about Cold Feet. I found the way the two mothers were portrayed uncomfortable and found myself wondering if that's how my two daughters thought of me. When we used to visit from Spain we stayed with them and now I wonder if they thought us a nuisance and were glad to see us go.

My daughter makes comments about my IT skills. Which aren't perfect. I don't find intuitive IT intuitive, for example.

BUT I am a qualified Apple teacher and use tech everyday in my teaching. As opposed to sitting on a mobile phone. I don't bother arguing. One of us is earning a fortune, the other isn't.

And the mothers-in-law in particular are always singled out, their arrival a calamity!

I watched Cold Feet and didn't get that impression at all. Karen's mother was portrayed as being really horrible not as a blithering idiot. Jen's mum was having a great time dancing with her daughter. However I have seen other programmes whereby older people are treated as stupid and I think it is an accepted fact that as you get older you get more stupid which is true in some cases. I went on a coach trip a few years ago and there were lots of old people on it who laughed at nothing and kept shouting out silly comments to the driver. It was so cringeworthy I vowed never to go on another one! On the other hand the young people I work with don't treat me or my older colleagues any differently and seem to like hanging out with us. We always go on nights out together etc. When I was young my friends and I would never consider socialising with older people. But if someone sets up an "Oldies Lib" I'll be up for it!

Ageism is not new. When I started a new job , one of the young girls I worked with informed me all old people should leave jobs for younger ones. When I asked her what age she regarded as old she replied 40. She wasn't the least bit embarrassed when I told her I was 43.

"All Those Women" BBC Radio 4Extra is currently running (on Sundays) and is a non-patronising/non-insulting/non-stereotyping gentle comedy revolving around 4 female generations of the same family finding themselves living under the same roof due to uncontrollable circumstances.

Recommended.

I think that some writer's ideas of how elderly people behave is a good few years out of date!
I can remember my grandmother, at the time in her 60s, behaving like the two mothers when shopping. I also had a great aunt that as she got into her 70s and beyond, had absolutely no filter - her mouth often worked quicker than her brain!

Coronation Street has very good older characters

I absolutely agree with you Hollysteers.
I watched ‘Cold Feet’ on Monday and by the end of the programme I felt really angry and vowed never to watch the programme again.
The older mothers were portrayed as pathetic and stupid.
I especially hated the scene where Karen and Jenny have to go back to the petrol station because they have left Jenny’s mother behind...presumably because she had spent too long in the loo.
She was collected like some piece of old rubbish. Both women thought they were so funny making derogatory patronising comments about their mothers.
Awful...just awful...cringe making and not at all funny.

I saw something on Facebook where people take the Micky out of those that appear in local papers. One guy commented "I know we like to make fun of the wrinklies, but in this case he had a good point". I thought that said it all. Older people are figures of derision.

The Graduate was a good film
And good books were Collette's Cheri and The Last of Cherie.
On radio we had Lilian in The Archers, who had a toy boy some time ago. But I think Brenda, Mike's daughter lured him away. Those examples are all quite a while ago. I am trying to think of anything more recent.
Older women being respected though and in powerful jobs...Mrs Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir.
Oh, Elizabeth Warren is 70. If she made it and won....

Silly me, Theresa May!
Not a comedy act at all.

Something else comes to mind. My mum decided to go back to work when she was 50. She went for a job interview in an office. The young man said he could offer her the job but thought she would be like a fish out of water working with young people. She completely lost her confidence at that remark and didn't take the job. What a s**t he was.

Well good luck to all those who joke of the elderly because there is no surer thing, they will be one of them in time.

TV sitcoms have to be the worst when it comes to portraying the elderly although there are without a doubt many we can recognise in every day life.It makes me look at myself thinking ' hope I don't get like that then in the same instance thinking maybe I am like that.

When news media portray WASPI women, they attach a photo of women who look a lot nearer 90, very wrinkly, old-lady clothes. I promise though I'm close to 70, none of my contemporaries look like that

Sitcoms rely on stereotypes, though. They have half an hour or so to get through the storylines, and do it by using short-cuts to make their points. Young people, men, women, gay people etc also get stereotyped.

What I find a lot worse is in more general programmes such as Jeremy Vine (on TV - I don't listen to him on the radio). He constantly refers to boomers, millennials etc, and distances himself from the 'boomer' category, although he is about 5 years younger. 'As a millennial, Storm . . ' comes up in most of his shows. Storm is an intelligent young woman who can think for herself, not 'as a millennial'.

All of this suggests that people behave in line with others of their generation, when a cursory glance at places like Gransnet shows that there are as many differences in opinion/lifestyle/outlook as there are similarities.

I also didn’t like the depiction of the mothers in Cold Feet
last night, in fact there was a rather nasty remark Karen made to her mother that made me wince.