Geriatría y cine: una mirada desde la salud

Abstract

Growing old does not entail getting ill. WHO’s “Health and Aging” presents a positive view, with the idea of ‘active aging’ seeking to supersede the passive role that has been granted to the elderly. Old age is associated to stereotypes that keep changing as society itself changes. In this context, movies are a good vehicle for detecting and reflecting on such stereotypes, thus motivating the growing interest in what has been dubbed “Gerontocinema”.Cinema likewise contributes to the construction of the social representation of aging. In recent decades, many movies have portrayed the place the old man has in the world. Although many films feature the negative aspect of disease, others focus on the view of active aging as promoted by the WHO.The aim of this article is to highlight the health perspective on aging, by using three movies with disparate temporal and geographical settings, to wit: Yasujiro Ozu’s Tales of Tokyo / Tokyo Monogatari (1953), Mark Rydell’s On Golden Pond (1981), and Pete Docter’s Up (2009). All three movies depict different ways of aging, but always from a diseasefree perspective, even if disease is ever threatening and death is always hanging over the protagonists.