Ageism in Hollywood

When you watch TV, do you ever wonder if people are portrayed accurately?  Many moms are a little too perfect.  Some kids are a little too precocious. Elderly people are not shown as often as the younger counterparts and when they are they are often depicted as being slow, weak, reclusive or despondent. Finding a vibrant, active senior who is actually acknowledged as a senior, is rare unless you count Diane Keaton chick flicks. Ageism flows in TV and movies and many people don’t care, or even worse, don't notice it.

However, the way older people are shown on screen may impact how seniors are regarded in society.  This could lead to disparate treatment of a large part of the population.

Dr. Stacy Smith, Associate Professor, University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communications and Dr. Yolangel Hernandez Suarez, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for the Care Delivery Organization at Humana, Inc. spoke with TheCelebrityCafe.com about key research on age in Hollywood, how damaging it can be when older people are disregarded, how Humana aids in this research, what are the consequences of inaccurate portrayals of seniors on screen and more.