the elderly in the movies

[Melek Ortabasi]

Hi,

I have a vague recollection that some time ago, someone posted a link to an article about a popular and contemporary elderly pink film actor whose name escapes me just now. Maybe someone else can help?

It might be that there are a wider range of portrayals, but I would say stereotypes still persist. For example, the prototypical, self-sacrificing elderly mother figure is still extremely popular, as one can observe in recent films such as _Tôkyô tawâ: Okan to boku to, tokidoki, oton_ (2007). ("passive" elderly women?)

This might be contrasted with the many aged (but still powerful) male samurai figures who people the ever-popular historical dramas. (a hackneyed and idealized portrayal of "active" elderly males?! I know this might not be what you're thinking of: the contemporary silver-haired fox, wearing khakhis, engaging in active leisure activities with his equally healthy wife, a common image in North American advertising copy)

Lastly, I wonder if portrayals of elderly (not just in Japan) are more often accompanied by flashbacks and other filmic techniques to render memory. In this case, the active younger person of the memory might be contrasted with the older, less active version of themselves.

I might also point out that social scientists are working on this issue from another angle: TV advertising. A couple of papers I've read recently (sorry, can't remember the authors) point out that Japanese marketing agencies are now actively trying to promote the image of the "active senior," which might explain their slowly increasing presence as images in TV ads. The German Institute of Japanology in Tokyo (known as the DIJ) has several social scientists working on the aging issue, so you might glean some useful information from them (www.dijtokyo.org).

Just some thoughts.

Cheers,
Melek
----- Original Message -----
From: "itchy" <itchyshouse at rocketmail.com>
To: kinejapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Sent: Sunday, October 4, 2009 8:19:38 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: the elderly in the movies

Has the depiction of the elderly in Japanese movies changed with the growing number of senior citizens in Japan?

Since the percentage of seniors is -- and has been -- on the rise, do Japanese films today feature more active senior citizen characters than in the past, say the 1950s or 1960s?

Can anyone offer examples of films that show this change?

J. Chau



      

-- 
Melek Ortabasi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
World Literature Program
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Simon Fraser University
Unit 250-13450
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Phone: 778-782-8660

"Education is what survives when what has been learned is forgotten." -- B. F. Skinner, "Education in 1984," _New Scientist_ (1969)