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This book is the first to explore 'old age' in cinema at the intersection of gender, ageing, celebrity and genre studies. It takes its cue from the dual meanings of 'silvering' - economics and ageing - and explores shifting formulations of 'old age' and gender in contemporary cinema. Broad in its scope, the book establishes the importance of silver audiences to the survival of cinema exhibition while also forging connections between the pleasures of 'old age' films, consumer culture, the 'economy of celebrity' and the gendered silvering of stardom. The chapters examine gendered genres such as romantic comedies, action and heist movies, the prosthetics of costume, and CGI enabled age transformations. Through this analysis, Josephine Dolan teases out the different meanings of ageing masculinity and femininity offered in contemporary cinema. She identifies ageing femininity as the pathologised target of rejuvenation while masculine ageing is seen to enhance an enduring youthfulness. Thisbook has interdisciplinary appeal and will engage scholars interested in 'old age' and gender representations in contemporary cinema.
List of contents
1. Introduction: concerns, positions, intersections.- 2. From the 'silvering' of audiences to the silver of spin-offs.- 3. The 'silvering' of celebrity stardom: late-style icons and BrainAge(d) gender.- 4. Performing gender and 'old age': silvering beauty and 'having a laugh'.- 5. The 'silvering' of genre: deferred retirement and hard-bodied dissonance.- 6. A hard story to tell: silvering abjection and the gendered prosthetics of the fourth age imaginary.- 7. Conclusion: in hope of provocation.
About the author
Josephine Dolan
is an independent scholar, a Visiting Reader with WAM (Centre for Women, Ageing & Media) and member of ACT (Ageing+Communication+Technology), ENAS (European Network of Aging Studies) and NANAS (North American Network of Aging Studies). She is co-editor of
Ageing Femininities: Troubling Representations
(2012).
Summary
This book is the first to explore ‘old age’ in cinema at the intersection of gender, ageing, celebrity and genre studies. It takes its cue from the dual meanings of ‘silvering’ – economics and ageing – and explores shifting formulations of ‘old age’ and gender in contemporary cinema. Broad in its scope, the book establishes the importance of silver audiences to the survival of cinema exhibition while also forging connections between the pleasures of ‘old age’ films, consumer culture, the ‘economy of celebrity’ and the gendered silvering of stardom. The chapters examine gendered genres such as romantic comedies, action and heist movies, the prosthetics of costume, and CGI enabled age transformations. Through this analysis, Josephine Dolan teases out the different meanings of ageing masculinity and femininity offered in contemporary cinema. She identifies ageing femininity as the pathologised target of rejuvenation while masculine ageing is seen to enhance an enduring youthfulness. Thisbook has interdisciplinary appeal and will engage scholars interested in ‘old age’ and gender representations in contemporary cinema.
