Firm and Hard: old age, the ‘youthful’ body and essentialist discourses IV SELICUP Conference: 2010 Past, Present and Future of Popular Culture: Spaces and Contexts Dr. Josephine Dolan University of the West of England Bristol, UK.
The clinical gaze and pathologised aging body
Pathological ‘old age’ in popular culture
A backwards glance at Hollywood All About Eve (Joseph Mankiewicz 1950)
A backwards glance at Hollywood Bette Davis and Joan Crawford Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (Robert Aldrich 1962)
A backwards glance - pathologising resistance to pathologised aging Gloria Swanson Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder 1950)
‘Youthful’ old age Jane Fonda – age 73 Because ‘she’s worth it’ Brand Ambassador L’Oreal cosmetics
‘Youthful’ old age Johnny Hallyday – age 67 Still rockin’ and rollin’
‘Youthful’ old age Julio Iglesias – age 67 World Tour 2010
Honor Blackman - 85 Celebrities ageing gracefully website ‘Ex Bond girl Pussy Galore and Avenger, Honor Blackman, is a great example of looking beautiful with age as she continues to act at the ripe young age of 82’ ‘
‘Youthful’ old age Morgan Freeman – age 73 Invictus (Clint Eastwood 2009) Red (Joe Matheson 2010) Dolphin’s Tale in pre- production Unamed Batman movie in pre-production
‘Youthful’ old age Judi Dench – age 76 Rage (2009 Sally Potter) Jane Eyre in post production 2 Bond Films in pre-production
‘Youthful’ old age Mick Jagger – age 67 The Very Best of Mick Jagger Oct release Exile On Mainstreet documentary film 2010 release
‘Youthful’ old age Susan Sarandon – age 64 Jeff who Lives at Home (Jay and Mark Duplass 2011 post production) Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Oliver Stone 2010) Peacock (Michael Lander 2010) You don’t know Jack (Barry Levinson 2010 TV movie) The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson 2009) Solitary Man (Brian Koppelman and David Levien 2009) Leaves of Grass (Tim Blake Nelson 2009)
Shirley Bassey – age 73 Glastonbury Festival 2007 The Performance (2009) The Girl from Tiger Bay (BBC documentary 2010)
Make-over culture Ten Years Younger Channel 4
FIRM AND HARD: EMBODIMENT, ‘YOUTHFUL AGING’ AND GENDER Jack Nicholson – age 73Helen Mirren – age 65
Economic consumption and ‘youthful aging’
Constructing the signs of essential old age Madonna’s Hands