Aging and Disability Beyond Stereotypes to Inclusion: Proceedings of a Workshop (2018) / Chapter Skim
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5 Disrupting Negative Stereotypes in the Media
5 Disrupting Negative Stereotypes in the Media
Pages 47-54
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From page 47... ...
INTRODUCTIONS Karen Chong Disrupt Aging, AARP Chong is the director of audience and influencer engagement at AARP, working in a department called Disrupt Aging, which seeks to challenge "outdated beliefs about aging." Age itself should not be seen as a limitation to anything that an individual wants to accomplish, Chong said, but rather as something that gives experience, wisdom, and the possibility to do more. Chong expressed an interest in talking about how people are represented and portrayed as they age.
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From page 48... ...
Robert David Hall Actor, Musician, and Disability Advocate Hall described how at the age of 30 he was hit by a drunk truck driver and suffered burns over most of his body and the loss of both of his legs. He noted that as a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
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From page 49... ...
Hall agreed, noting that historically, characters with disabilities were first ones like Quasimodo and Captain Hook and later were "inspirational" characters like the angry Vietnam veteran who climbs Mount Everest. Chong added that age and disability need to stop being punchlines for characters.
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From page 50... ...
Not including race specifications in character descriptions (unless necessary, as in the case of a true story) could help to make the focus more on who the character is as a whole person.
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From page 51... ...
AARP's Disrupt Aging department is reaching out directly to the entertainment community to change conversations about aging in a more positive direction and to discuss how images in entertainment can reflect more positive images of aging. Marter said that the film industry is dictated largely by business concerns and that for the content to change, audiences have to show up for movies with those storylines.
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From page 52... ...
You start to, I think, have an empathy and an understanding of those characters in a way that -- if you live in a town, in a family, in a situation, where you just don't confront people who are "other," then maybe the screen can do it for you. Kenneth Brummel-Smith from the American Geriatrics Society said he appreciated the panel's honesty about how financial concerns can drive the decision-making process for choosing stories, but he noted that many movies targeted to younger generations cost hundreds of millions of dollars to make but end up as box office failures.
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From page 53... ...
Hall agreed, noting that many producers will be interested in projects that focus on issues that have affected them personally. Dan Trucil with the American Geriatrics Society asked whether the regulation of broadcast television "in the public interest" had any role here, as well as whether the growing number of unregulated forums with user-generated content might be a prime outlet for fostering more diverse conversations.
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