The mirror has two faces

Have changing demographics, increased life expectancy and findings about ge nder similarities and differences, altered portrayals of older people in Am erican feature films during the past 65 years? We identified 3,038 films ma de between 1929 and 1995 in which actors and actresses, nominated at least once during their lifetimes for an Oscar award, appeared when aged 60 years or older. Academy Award nominees were selected because they offered a samp le of 'notable' performers and an accessible database. We selected an eight per cent random sample for a content analysis of their roles. Throughout t his period, men were more likely to be depicted as vigorous, employed and i nvolved in same-gender friendships and adventure (whether as hero or villai n). Women remained either peripheral to the action or were portrayed as ric h dowagers, wives/mothers, or lonely spinsters. Despite changing gender rol es in later life since the 1930s and despite social and economic changes fo r older Americans (earlier retirement age and better health are but two exa mples), their film roles have remained remarkably static in age and gender stereotyping. In feature films, the mask of ageing differs by gender, Male masks veil inactivity and physical changes, while female masks reveal ageis t and sexist stereotypes.