Thursday, October 9, 2014

Age representation in films

In Harry Brown, the character of Harry, a pensioner, is shown at the beginning of the film to be weak, lonely, disapproving of the youth & content to keep to his more old-fashioned ways. It starts him off as a stereotypical pensioner, showing the dated décor of his tiny flat,  his cleanliness & his collection of old family photos & artefacts. As the film progresses, these stereotypes give way to others, such as the stereotype of the elderly having a stronger sense of ethics & justice, as he decides to take the law into his own hands to punish the youths who killed his friend & terrorised his estate. He turns down the prospect of sleeping with a vulnerable young woman & even kills her captors & takes her to hospital with no expectation of reward or gratitude, showing his old-fashioned high morals, which contrast with the loose & low morals of the young people around him. The violent acts Harry commits are not a usual part of the representation of the elderly, but his high morals certainly are.

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