Elderly represented
in Media presentation
Ageism is a
huge problem within the media and this applies to all age groups with the
addition of the elderly. Fact is, the public is vulnerable to this and whenever
anyone is unease about something, we seek information and advice; this is
mainly derived from the media itself. That’s why the media is so powerful at swaying
the minds of the public and acting as a sort of brainwash to people itself
without them even realising. This affects the way people view the elderly and
typically categorize them into labels such as them being lazy, gritty, greedy, unattractive
and senile. Essentially putting them on the same categorization as vulnerable children
in most cases, the similarities such as always having to look after them and
being forgetful. However on the other hand they’re also depicted as being very
kind to people in order for attention since they are represented as being
lonely, normally with a carer who takes advantage of them due to them being
seen as dumbfounded people and carelessness. These are normally seen in news
articles about how the elderly are exploited for their fortune, usually in
articles about them in care homes and often times when their own son’s/daughters
stealing their pension.
News
stories such as these where people who are meant to be looking after them are
actually stealing from them and committing crimes against the elderly ADD to
the harsh representation of them being helpless victims. This is how the media
dictates how the elderly are seen as and also the way we think about an elderly
person when we see one.
Categorized into
groups
Normally shown in the media, elderly people
seem to be the most boring of age groups who do nothing entertaining or what is
deemed to be beneficial and practical to our society. In my opinion based from
what I have personally seen, the elderly always tend to participate in golf
clubs or bowling clubs which the media can use as another tool to utilise in
their news stories or in other types of media about how useless and
uninteresting they are. This is also another factor to why they’re categorized
into groups. However there are a variety of groups they’re stereotyped and
represented into. The main ones focusing around the ‘wise and ignorant’ elderly
groups, ‘senile and weak’ and ‘sweet and vulnerable’. All of these categories
are put into one whole group and become a victim of demonization altogether. This whole group is
condemned as greedy and undeservedly drain societies resources and waste the
money we pay our taxes with, due to them being represented as not being
productive at all. However elderly people have to enjoy themselves in order to
prevent becoming depressed and already, as many elderly people are suffering
from being lonely so they use these activities to escape being seen that way.
Television
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