Ageism: 1. discrimination against persons of a certain age.
2. a tendency to regard older persons as debilitated, unworthy of attention, or unsuitable for employment.
Watching the previews of a couple new movies today, I began to get the distinct impression that Hollywood has made a perhaps unconscious, but all the same outrageous decision to ignore those of us over the age of say 40, when it comes to romance or sex.
First I saw the preview for the movie version of “He’s just not that into you.” This is a pretty humorous book directed at women who are attracted to abusive relationships, and how important it is to move on when “he’s just not that into you” and have enough self-respect to instead go after those that actually might have the potential of showing you real love.
I related to this book when it came out in 2004 because I was still trying to get water from a stone in this way. It helped me laugh at the stupidity of my own ways and then move on. But, of course, the actors in the movie interpretation of this story are all in their 20’s or maybe early 30’s.
Then I saw a preview for “Nights in Rodanthe” based on an interesting novel by Nicholas Sparks about finding love later in life. I loved this book when I read it in 2003, so I was anxious to see how it would be transformed in a movie. Richard Gere, who is actually 58, plays the older man in this film, and is therefore age appropriate for this part, and Diane Lane plays his lover. Diane is only in her early 40’s, not exactly the older woman portrayed in the book. Oh, I get it, it’s O.K. for older men to fall in love, but only with women fifteen years their junior.
Even the new “Sex in the City” movie was a disappointment in this regard. It has the distinct tone of getting everybody happily married off quick before they’re 50!!! Is this the full extent of Hollywood’s imagination when it comes to love? Do they have even a clue of what’s happening out here in the “REAL WORLD”?
If Hollywood is to be believed, romance, love and sex only happens between very young, vapid and yet frightfully beautiful people under age 40. The rest of us might as well go shrivel up and die, because we are so far gone!
WE could teach Hollywood a thing or two, couldn’t we!
