More negative than positive representations

A number of studies show that the medias can contribute to certain forms of ageism. This age discrimination is reflected in the low visibility of older adults in film and television productions and commercials, among other things. In addition to being underrepresented, older adults are often portrayed in ways that reflect even more insidious ageism. Images of unattractive, poorly dressed, ridiculous (especially when trying to look young), inactive, dependent, vulnerable, senile, sullen, mean, and even evil “old” men and women, when repeated again and again, fuel these stereotypes. A broad study drawing on a database of more than 1.1 billion words from radio, television, fiction series, magazines and newspaper content from the UK and the US found that negative descriptions of older people outnumbered positive ones by six to one. The negative descriptions tend to be physical, while the positive descriptions tend to be behavioural. Magazines contain the highest levels of ageism, followed by radio shows, newspapers, and fiction.

Despite the ideal of objectivity, journalistic content often offers a biased view of the realities of older adults. The focus on “problems” supports an essentially negative and alarmist view of aging. The terms that are used speak for themselves: we hear about the fears of a “demographic apocalypse,” a “grey tide,” a “grey tsunami,” an “assault” and even a geriatric “Armageddon”! With labels such as these, older adults are portrayed as an economic burden on the generations that follow them. They are seen as the primary culprits for our financial, social and environmental problems. Adding to this gloomy picture, studies point to the media’s disproportionate attention to Alzheimer’s and related diseases (the poorly named “dementias”), compared to their actual rates of occurrence. 

Representations that widen the intergenerational gap

These representations contribute to digging a gap between the “young” and the “old,” in which older adults are seen as a homogeneous group whose interests are irreconcilable with those of the rest of the population. Such representations provoke certain emotions toward older adults (mistrust, fear, rejection), which nourish a hostile ageism. Of course, more positive stereotypes can also be found, especially in representations of involved, productive, self-reliant and active older adults. However, these representations also tend to emphasize individuals who are managing to “get older” without “aging.” 

In short, even media content that aims to be as objective as possible cannot be considered to be a mere “reflection” of the actual pre-existing reality. When inadequately nuanced, this content fails to expose us to a variety of ways of living, loving, having fun and relating to others throughout our lives: they end up creating a reductive and negative view of older adults. This is why it is important to be open to diverse representations of age.