EXAM QUESTION 2C -

2(c) With reference to your own detailed examples, explore representations of older people in the media today


Older people are seen in the media is many different ways, an example of this would be in 'the Simpsons' when Abraham Simpson is seen as an old, weak person that nobody cares about. The reason that he is mean to be that way is because the representation of older people are seen as boring and forgettable. This character also shows the younger youth that the elderly people have no respect for anyone else and that everything was better when they are young. The representation of elderly people on TV portray them as bitter which shows that they are a depressing characters.



However, in films such as 'Harry Potter' you can see that Professor Albus Dumbledore is a more loved elderly character as they show the representation of wisdom and courage. This representation is very good for the youth and elderly people to watch as it makes them understand that elderly people are not so forgetful and may have a lot of wisdom within them. This also has the role of being powerful which shows that elderly people have essence of power as Dumbledore is the strongest wizard of all time, which means that he is seen as a God or a hero within the 'Harry Potter' franchise.



Finally we have the representation of elderly people in adverts. This representation is mainly seen as elderly people being clumsy, deaf or even blind, the reason for this is because they show elderly people stupid to try and correct them into their product. An example of this could be a car insurance advert about 'direct line' where they show a car crash of a younger audience with direct line and an elderly audience without direct line to represent their clumsiness and to show that the elderly audience are not so smart.