A Look at Elderly Cinema's Obsession with Youth

Sally Field in Hello, My Name is Doris
It has been a constant theme in culture going back to Ponce de Leon and The Fountain of Youth. As everyone ages, there's a desire to age backwards, returning to a period of exuberance and bliss. It has been a common theme among films lately geared towards an older audience - the AARP market if you will. With this weekend's release of Hello, My Name is Doris, Sally Field plays an elderly woman who falls for a younger man. The trailer highlights familiar awkward humor of poor fashion choices and not being hip with the modern culture. Why is this more acceptable to audiences than, say, the man-child genre that plagues 20-something cinema? It's not entirely clear, though it does make for a compelling alternative.
Back in the 1980's, there was a trend called the Rapping Granny. Basically, it was cute to watch old ladies try to be hip. Nowadays, the overexposure to this technique among white upper class people of any age has made it a cringe-inducing stereotype. However, it does paint the picture nicely for other youth-bound media that has come out over time. In general, elderly cinema has been keen on exploring a meditative attitude about life - coming to terms with the past and accepting the inevitable fate of the future. There were films like Harry and Tonto and The Way that at their core were about the elderly finding a deeper maturity by providing wisdom to the younger generations, leaving the Rapping Granny in the dust.
Which makes things odd that there's been a recent trend about wanting to become younger. It makes sense to even those half of the protagonists' ages. More than in any generation since the 1940's and rock and roll, there is a huge gap in a way that the young and old align. The consistent shift towards computers as the prime motive for communication and the English language being reduced to (*shrugs*) emojis, it is impossible for anyone who grew up pre-mid 90's to really understand the current climate where everything is a lot more complicated and the basic concepts of day-to-day life aren't the same. The desired secretive life has  become public and the aesthetic of pictures have been reduced to camera phones. To say the least, there is both a disconnect and a desire for the average adult of a certain age to live their life in the present moment.
It's a fascinating moment, and one that is likely going to alter in a few decades. However, the cinema that depicts old people wishing to find youth has found resurgence in Hello, My Name is Doris and The Meddler and raises the question as to why this is so appealing. Everyone wants to remain relevant, but it's hard to not see Sally Field acting like a nincompoop and wonder why she couldn't age gracefully like Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond. Of course, that is probably because the Rapping Granny syndrome still feels present, as stars like Betty White go on Saturday Night Live and belt out the line "Happy Mothers Day," followed by an expletive. It feels like the only way for old people to appeal to young people is to play into young people stereotypes; be crass and wild instead of the charming source of wisdom that age brings.
This isn't to say that Field's movie cannot be entertaining. In fact, there's been a few others over the years that have done elegant jobs of showing the elderly finding exuberance of life. The Bucket List saw Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman playfully doing outrageous things together. Grandma saw Lily Tomlin being crass and (grand)motherly. Even Youth saw Michael Caine finding solace with his increase in age. There is no one way to show the old people becoming content with life. However, there's always the sense that art depicting it cannot be taken seriously unless it's exaggerated and plays into silly expectations. Maybe the draw of Hello, My Name is Doris will have more mature themes underneath Field drooling over Max Greenfield in a risque fantasy sequence. 
Alternatively, it's also hard to really take it seriously because of the unfortunate man-child genre that has gotten serious flack over the years. Popularized by Judd Apatow, the genre highlights grown men who refuse to take responsibility for their actions by playing video games, smoking marijuana, and referencing movies. It's a compelling formula, but one that gets flack for being a negative stereotype, especially as it seems regressive. Women have recently gotten into the trend in films like Trainwreck and on TV's Broad City. Still, it's the quest for a simpler day that feels like its own embarrassing upper class white man rapping stereotype. It doesn't help that it often feels like a self-involved narrative, usually with some sexism tied into the mix.
Of course, what generally could be problematic about finding youth through film is that it cannot help but look embarrassing, even at its most earnest and truthful. It may end up being more tragic, even in the comic sense to see someone who has evolved into a strong, independent thinker contemplate losing their attributes for a state of bliss. Of course, that is what has to be done to appeal to them. The youth doesn't have those years of experience by which they can make the right moves. It doesn't help that it's the only way to also be hip and in tune with modern trends as well. So while Hello, My Name is Doris' trailer does feel at times like the Rapping Granny in motion, it does play into a longing that we all have to be younger - for that is where most of us were happier; whether for lack of knowledge and failed relationships, or because we were healthier and more ambitious. Every film ends the same. The old will grow older, which may be the bigger tragedy in this equation.
So, why is there an onslaught of recent cinema about old people wishing to be young and hip? The answer feels simple, but is far more complicated; for a blogger in their 20's has lead a different life than a man over four times his age. The disconnect between the electrical current of today and the manual labor of the past is on its last leg with many generations unfortunately seeing their way of life disappearing. It explains why someone would find appeal in understanding an age culture far different from their own. It can be played for laughs, but inevitably has one of the most humane and deep truths. We can't be younger, even if we act that way. We'll still have those years interfering with it. So while I prefer cinema of the older generation to have more of a sense of philosophical maturity and wisdom, it is inevitable that the generation it depicts wants what I have. It may keep the Rapping Granny aesthetic in play for eternity, but it will at least mean something important to them, and them feeling useful is far more integral than me laughing at them carelessly.

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