Abstract
Film produce and reproduce cultural and societal ideas and expectations of ageing, which in turn can contribute to stereotypes and discrimination. It shows how ageing and older adults are culturally and socially perceived in a specific time and place. This study addresses two significant gaps in existing literature on the representation of older adults by (i) focusing on a longitudinal perspective, and (ii) examining a non-Anglo- Saxon context. While previous research has highlighted the invisibility of older adults in mainstream media, these studies often focus on contemporary media productions. Our study expands this inquiry to Belgian cinema from 1945 to 2022. A longitudinal analysis provides this unique opportunity to map trends in representations and discourses of ageing and older adults. The corpus for this study comprises a total of 133 popular fiction films covering different genres and time periods. Our study revealed a stark under-representation of older adults, accounting for a mere 13 per cent of characters, a disparity inconsistent with the demographic composition of the Belgian population. In addition to our quantitative content analysis, we examined the tropes used to portray ageing femininity over time. This focus on tropes, particularly concerning older women, was prompted by our quantitative findings, which revealed a significant over-representation of women aged 65 and above. However, our in-depth analysis of ageing femininity revealed a prevalence of stereotypical portrayals, such as the grandmother trope, suggesting a more nuanced understanding is needed to challenge prevailing tropes and perceptions.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Ageing femininities, Belgian cinema, Representation, Textual Analysis, Quantitative content analysis
