Ageing and romance on the big screen: the ‘silvering romantic comedy’Elsa & Fred

Abstract

The radical demographic change produced by the ageing population in the Western world has entailed a complete transformation of its popular culture. The cinema is one of the popular arts to have been especially affected by the so-called ‘longevity revolution’. In fact, an important part of Hollywood celebrity culture and the mainstream film audiences belong to the same ageing demographic. The increasing necessity to tell and consume stories of ageing for the big screen is not only reflected in the growing number of films that feature older characters in their lead roles, but also in the changes produced in the cinematic narratives themselves. Film scholars within the inter-disciplinary field of cultural gerontology have started to address this phenomenon from various perspectives. Building on from their critical consideration, this article focuses on the particular case of Michael Radford's Elsa & Fred, a contemporary film released in 2014 that, paradoxically enough, helps renovate the youth-oriented genre of the romantic comedy through a ‘silvering’ romance. Taking into account contemporary manifestations of the romantic comedy genre, the essay proves that Radford's comedy contributes to the development of the ‘gerontocom’ as a new sub-genre in which old age is central to the protagonists’ characterisations and storylines. By considering the interaction of the generic rules of the genre with the hyper-visibility of the protagonists’ agedness, this article also shows the ways in which the film overcomes polarised views of ageing and enhances the figures’ own process of becoming in the last stage of their lives.

‘In a hospital bed or … out doing Indiana Jones’: older Irish men's negotiations of cultural representations of ageing

“…In connection with underrepresentation and stereotyping, the participants identified underrepresentation of older men, and heteronormative and age-defined roles, as well as polarised positive versus negative portrayals overlooking the reality of gradual decline, for instance frailty set against activity, across genre and markedly in advertising, which corresponds with previous research (Calasanti and King, 2005;Uotila et al, 2010;Ylänne, 2015). They were in general agreement that television and film are beginning to provide more diverse and complex portrayals of older men, as noted in recent studies (Saxton and Cole, 2013;Redding, 2014;Casado-Gual, 2020). The limitations they observe raise the issue of the deficiency of cultural guidelines for being an older man, or alternatives to traditional masculinities, as Thompson and Langedoerfer (2016) highlight.…”

“…Research by media studies scholars demonstrates how images often exhort older men to continue to follow hegemonic scripts. Studies highlight a lack of range in cultural representations of ageing and masculinity in mainstream media (Chivers, 2011;Boyle and Brayton, 2012;Evans, 2015;Moran, 2016), although some studies have found images that instead explore the complexities of later life (Saxton and Cole, 2013;Redding, 2014;Casado-Gual, 2020). King (2010) illustrates how the figure of the cop in action films demonstrates the contradictory scripts of hegemonic masculinity and ageing, e.g.…”

Do partnership transitions affect individual perceptions of aging in later life? Findings from the German Ageing Survey and the NRW80+ study

“…Chrononormative expectations regarding later life also manifest themselves in age-specific partnership norms and practices (Barrett, 2005;Coupland, 2000;Sears-Roberts Alterovitz & Mendelsohn, 2009). Positively connoted partnership practices, like falling in love or being sexually active, are chrononormatively linked to youth (Casado-Gual, 2020;Fileborn et al, 2015); while partnerships in older age are often associated with losses rather than with gains, such as caregiving, loneliness or widowhood (Gildemeister, 2008;Hockey et al, 2001). Furthermore, sexuality and dating are not only closely associated with youth, but they are also specifically devalued in combination with older age, e.g., by assuming that sexuality declines with increasing age (Bamler, 2008;Degele, 2008).…”