Representation of Age

Representation of Age

In different forms of media, different age groups have different stereotypes that are associated with them. People who are between 21-50 are seen as being in the prime of their lives and are the audience that most media forms are directed to. Those under 18 and over 60 are seen as slow and dependant, however, and have to rely on others to do things for them.

The way that babies and young children are represented between print based and moving image media platforms varies greatly from each other. In moving image media forms, babies are often seen as a great responsibility and often end up being a burden to the parents. This differs to print based texts as usually in magazines or on posters the young child will be either stripped down to show sensitivity or dressed up to either show a glamorous lifestyle or for comedic effect. Young children can typically be seen as creative and imaginative. In one "Fairy Liquid" advert they use the basis of a child wanting to be creative and build a space rocket with the empty bottle to show the longevity of the product. They can also be seen as messy and mischievous as in most adverts for washing machine powders a child will be featured as the mess-maker.

Teenagers are often the worst when it comes to misrepresentations. They are commonly seen as moody, antisocial, rebellious and out of place in society. When hearing about teenagers in the news it is rarely positive and the headlines focus on the negative things that they do around the world.This can lead to fear and discrimination against people of a certain age group. They are also targeting a certain demographic that is often overlooked in today's society. There are always reports of an increase in stress and mental health issues amongst young people in the news but there are not much campaigns or products that aim to reduce and eradicate this. Another misconception in teenagers (mainly the older ones) is that they are obsessed with sex and people of the opposite gender. This will also lead to them being perverted, making crude jokes and making creepy advances onto the opposite sex. An example of this in "The Inbetweeners" trailer where they go abroad and immediately want to go meet girls for the sole reason of  'getting laid'.

Elderly people are presented as frail, slow and on occasion senile. Most advertisements that contain elderly people are usually for life insurance companies or something that is sympathetic like that. Like children, elderly people are also used in the 'reward and punishment' technique. They make it seem like not following what the advert is telling you makes you a bad person/child/grandchild/relative. This can also be the case in television and films. Some representations can be pretty negative, however. An example of this is Abraham 'Grandpa' Simpson's portrayal in "The Simpsons". He is portrayed as old, boring and crazy due to his many stories. As a result of this he is usually ridiculed by members of the Simpsons' household with a recurring joke being that they put him in a retirement home with the sole intention of never visiting him and listening to his stories.Their have also been episodes of "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" which dealt with the cons of elderly people driving; this is a poor stereotype that demoralises them.

A media text that subverts these stereotypes could include the wise old mentor figures. An example of this is the Ancient One from the Doctor Strange. Although the actress is in her 50s, the character is portrayed as over 500 years old. The character is seen as wise and powerful and capable of a lot. She subverts the stereotype as although she is old she is not fragile or weak. Another example is Catherine Tate's "Nan" character. Her attitude is rude, aggressive and does not fit into the societal place that you would expect an elderly person to be in. She is also seen to not care about anyone or anything which is a trait commonly seen by teenagers and young people. This gives the impression that she is young in everything except age.

In conclusion people that are not part of the primed 21-50 year old are usually used in advertisements in a "reward and punishment" way that is really selling to people of that primed age to buy for their children/parents. They can also be used as a gimmick in order to get people to remember their products such as 'dancing Evian baby". In television and film -usually comedies- the common stereotypes concerning these age groups are exaggerated and played for humour.