OK, BOOMER!
By
Gerry Niskern
Let’s turn this “Ok, Boomer” put down around.
“Have you ever noticed that mothers, over the age of fifty in sitcoms, are depicted as sex starved maniacs. The older men fare even worse. And their counterparts in the flicks are only portrayed as worthwhile if they ended up with a Jay Lo or Scarlett Johansen type.”
As depressing as all this is, I think you mothers, and fathers too, of the boomer generation, could easily turn this trend around. After all, your large body of consumers have redefined marketing in this country. I know you could do it again regarding television and movies. That’s where millions of our nation’s young people pick up their ideas on life.
Granted, some children in today’s society are lucky enough to know their grandparents as individuals. However, most kids never learn about the senior’s careers or their life experiences. In other words, a large percentage don’t see the elderly as real people. They only know the stereotypes they have been conditioned to laugh at in entertainment.
You could begin with your children and grandchildren. Yes, some boomers have grandchildren already! We all know kids learn by example. They see your daily attitude towards the older members of your neighborhood. Do they see you communicating with older people on a person to person basis, or talking down to them, as if to a child?
Do they hear you complaining about the white haired driver doing the speed limit and holding up traffic…while not saying a word about the twenty-something playing thread the needle, well over the speed limit?
Our sense of stability and security has always been grounded in respect for families and our elders. In these times, with our mobile society, we need assurance that if you lay the groundwork, our kids and grandkids will have a different attitude towards anyone growing older.
And the added benefit will be…when the boomers progress from middle age into the pace maker years, they won’t be automatically assigned the “geezer” roles created by the script doctors!