Elderly People in the Media

By: Jordan Molnar, Jasmine Koshman, Andrea Landstad

Definition

Elderly people- someone who is old or near old age.

Stereotypes

Helpless Dirty Deteriorated Greedy Picky

Slow Weak Unhealthy Hard of Hearing Moody

Helpless

The elderly are portrayed as helpless in the media. Often, movies and television shows display them as being a hassle to those around them. This is because they simply cannot do things for themselves.

Dirty The older

generation is said to smell like “moth balls”. They are repeatedly represented as smelly old people who cannot bathe themselves.

Deteriorated The elderly are stereotyped as not

knowing where they are or what they are doing. They get lost quickly and easily when in public places.

Greedy Elderly people are shown as only caring

about themselves. They are constantly asking for help from others no matter what the cost is to that person.

Picky Seniors are displayed as always

needing to have things their way. They are extremely fussy.

Slow Elderly people are believed to not only

walk and think more slowly than youth but they also believe that youth take the same pace as them. Example: When going through a till the older generation takes the most time to check-out of the store because of their use of change and their constant story telling.

Weak Senior citizens are shown to be weak

as they cannot carry their items or belongings to their destination. Example: In movies and television shows the elderly are displayed as needing help with carrying their groceries.

Unhealthy Often, in movies the elderly person is

sick or dying. They are commonly the “tragic part” of the storyline.

Hard of Hearing

The media presents elderly people as being nearly deaf. This is used so often that it has become comical to viewers.

Moody The older generation is represented as

grumpy. They frequently have a temper and are rude to those around them.

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