Infantilising older people stops them leading a fulfilling end to their livesFarewell then,Downton Abbey – and with it, Lady Violet Crawley, or the purveyor of some of TV’s best one-liners. Whether conspiring to disguise her granddaughter’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy,rekindling broken-down flames with Russian princes or doling out advice to frenemy Isobel Crawley, Maggie Smith’s character has always been defined by personality, and not age. That this remains worth commenting on is symptomatic of the ageist stereotyping of TV characters in their 70s and 80s that,save a few notable exceptions, remains far too common.
It’s not just TV: ageism is prevalent in the wider public debate approximately ageing. To the extent that we have such a debate, and it is approximately baby-boomers getting a better deal at the expense of the younger generation. Yet there are genuine issues around ageing that we are barely talking approximately.
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Source: theguardian.com