"Film often presents a generalized fear of aging, as something that necessarily involves illness, disability or the need for some type of care and from which family or financial problems derive," or so claimed Sally Chivers, a professor of English literature and a founding and executive member of the Center for Aging and Society at Trent University (Canada). Her presentation was part of the international workshop "Taking the Pulse of Our Times: Media, Therapy and Emotions," organized by the Institute for Culture and Society at the University of Navarra.

According to Professor Chivers, films usually show aging "as something to be avoided, reviving the appearance or an active lifestyle to limits that are unrealistic even for younger people." In this regard, she regrets that there is no "set of films that show the daily life of any elderly person."

Life expectations during youth

As she added, this relates to the cult intensified youth: "Youth is portrayed as a set of promises about the steps you will take in your life: have a happy childhood, meet the love of your life, have career success ... life expectations for elderly characters disappear."

This Trent University professor also sought to emphasize that the film industry does not treat actresses and actors equally. "For example, Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood represent roughly the same roles now as they did throughout their careers, though with some humorous touch about their loss of physical abilities. Actresses frequently disappear from the silver screen as they age because they find it much harder to find roles; when they are 40, they start playing roles that are older than them."

The international workshop "Taking the Pulse of Our Times: Media, Therapy and Emotions" was organized by the ICS research project Emotional Culture and Identity, which receives funding from Zurich Insurance. Historians, psychologists, sociologists, and communication and film scholars from the United States, England, Canada, Germany and Spain attended the workshop.

In addition to addressing emotionally charged issues like old age, disability and death, the conference also addressed issues like anger, managing emotions, emotional intelligence, and the "happy" feelings of relaxation and enjoyment.