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THE REPRESENTATION OF OLDER WOMEN IN BRITISH FEATURE FILMS 1997-2006

In 2006, The BFI and the U3A organised jointly a study day on the subject of Older Women in Feature Films. The day consisted of a panel discussion on the representation of older women in film, the launch of a BFI on-line "Older Women in Film Guide" and a viewing of 'The Whales of August" introduced by Dr. Josephine Dolan. Screen One of the NFT was filled by U3A members who had taken part in an audience survey and who engaged in a lively discussion. The guide contains a review of the literature on the subject, a report on a U3A members' audience survey on eight films and extracts of reviews of the films.

In October 2007 the University of the West of England hosted a conference organised by Dr. Dolan entitled Re-Generations - Ageing Femininities: Representation, Identities, Feminism. It is for this conference that our Wembley Film Group decided to undertake the following research. The Wembley Film Group has been meeting for two years as a U3A[1] study group but has a longer history of older women getting together to view and discuss films featuring older women[2].

The literature review in the BFI/U3A guide indicated that, despite extensive writing about women in films, the subject of older women in films had attracted little academic interest. In particular, apart from Sue Harper's mention of the 'difficult dowagers' of the 30s, there has not been any research on British produced films. Markson (2000), considering mainly American films, came to the conclusion that between 1927 and 1990 there has been no change in the portrayals of older women. They relied mainly on the ageist stereotypes of self-sacrificing or controlling/domineering wives/mothers, frustrated spinsters and rich dowagers.

Given that in the last few years high profile films featuring older women have been released, we decided to examine British produced[3] popular films in order to see how older women have been represented in the last ten years. We narrowed our area of research by only considering films where the older woman was the main protagonist, excluded films made for television and, following the practice of other research papers e.g. Age Concern (1999), Markson (2000), defined older women as women over 60 years of age.

We identified 17 films which fulfilled our criteria but four of them had never been released in the UK and were unavailable on DVD or Video so thirteen were studied.  

Hold Back the Night (1998), Cotton Mary (1999), Tea with Mussolini (1999)

Saving Grace (1999), Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War (2000), Iris (2001),

The Mother (2002), Ladies in Lavender (2003), Keeping Mum, (2005), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), Driving Lessons (2006), The Queen (2005) , Notes on a Scandal (2006).

The films were viewed in a group (except from an on-line member ) on a home television set and a qualified textual analysis followed the viewing. There were 17 older women in the 13 films. For signs of age we decided to look at face, neck, hands, hair, gait and posture. We also noted the class, career or work status of the character. For relationships we noted marital status, sexual/ romantic involvement, contacts with family members and younger people in general. We also documented the genre of the film, the gender of the director and writer, the age of the actor, the age of the character. [4]

When age was not indicated in the text, ascribing age to the characters was sometimes problematic. In ambiguous cases we decided to ask the question: 'could she be 60?'. We were very aware of the fact that women age very differently and trusted our knowledge of women of our generation . While there was general agreement, the only characters who left doubts in our minds as to whether they were 60+ were Cotton Mary played by Madhur Jaffrey aged 66 and Grace played by Brenda Blethyn aged 53. Cotton Mary's face, neck and hands were never seen in close up and we decided that Grace could be a 'well preserved 60'.

There are few images of older women in the media in general. When they do appear, older faces are usually retouched and air-brushed, and the hair is dyed, not to mention the rejuvenating effects of cosmetic surgery. We, therefore, examined face, neck, hands and hair to see how the most obvious signs of ageing were dealt with in the films. We found no visible evidence in the thirteen films that lines, wrinkles, pouches and folds had been concealed by make-up to disguise age. However as mentioned above, Cotton Mary is never shot in close up.

Mrs Henderson’s attractiveness is not diminished by her lines and wrinkles because her face is becomingly made-up and framed with styled hair, hats, tiaras, jewellery, velvet and satin. The same actor’s features, however, signify evil in Notes on a Scandal where lighting, editing and, in one scene, physical contact, contrast Barbara’s old and withered skin with the young and fresh skin of Sheba. The frequent close-ups of Barbara’s and Iris’s wrinkled hands with prominent veins and liver spots suggest age and deterioration.

The colour of the characters’ hair seem to reflect real life with a range of jet black, dyed, partially grey, grey at the roots, faded blonde or a full head of white hair. In general the colour of the hair has no particular significance, except for Cotton Mary's jet black hair which may have wicked witch connotations given also her demented threats about snakes to the little girl. The degree of dishevelment of a character’s hair invariably reflects her emotional state. The Queen, however, presents perfectly controlled hair even when she is just out of bed or in an emotional turmoil. It is only slightly ruffled by the wind in the relaxed atmosphere of a family barbecue.

We also took into account gait and posture as age indicators. Most of the older women in our films had little in their movement to resemble the stereotyped image of bent old ladies once common in films. Many are sprightly, with straight backs and brisk walks. An exception is Edie, played by Julie Walters in her fifties who was not made up to look older but used her acting skills to suggest an ageing body, with a humped stance and an unsteady walk. Otherwise in only one of the films physical ill health is displayed. Vera in Hold Back the Night is shown vomiting and in pain and it is revealed that she is making a journey to die in a place of her choice. She dies in the arms of a young woman in a very touching scene.

In the domain of mental health the characters can be divided into two distinct groups: those suffering psychological distress or mental health problems and those who are drawn into a crisis not of their own making. Thus Iris suffers from Alzheimer's disease, Cotton Mary displays unspecific signs of insanity, Edie is depressed and alcoholic and Ursula develops an obsession for a very young man. It is difficult to categorise May as having mental problems but she is cold and masochistic. In other words, in all these roles the older woman is the problem. In the other group, Tea with Mussolini, Mrs. Henderson Presents and The Queen the women are placed in events of national importance while in hold back the night, Mrs. Caldicot's Cabbage War and Saving Grace the crises are of a more personal nature. Rosie/Grace in the dark comedy Keeping Mum cannot be categorised as she is a serial killer who solves all the problems of a troubled family.

The role of the woman over 60 as mother of adult children has been reported as being the most common one in popular films - Markson (1993,2000), Walsh (1989) and Stoddard (1983). The stereotypes are self-sacrificing mother, dominant manipulative mother, or matriarch. The four mothers in our series of films do not follow this pattern. Unloving, unloved and unlovable May is seen in explicit sexual scenes. Thelma, initially manipulated into a care home by her son and cheated out of her house, reclaims her rights and those of older people. Mother/grandmother, Rosie/Grace, kills everyone who stands in the way of the happiness of her daughter's family. The Queen is distant and dismissive as mother. However in an explicit scene Cherie Blair enunciates that Tony Blair does equate the Queen with his mother. CB:” it is not a mother thing is it?... If she was alive now, your mother would be exactly the same age ... you always said how stoical she was, old fashioned, uncomplaining, lived through the war... come on, who does that sound like?”

The Queen although concerned with the welfare of her grandchildren is not shown with them and May does not appear to have a very close relationship with hers. But close relationships spanning two generations, though not involving family ties, are present in Tea with Mussolini, Driving Lessons and hold back the night. The Scorpions and particularly Mary nurture the young Luca while Ben and Edie engage together in a mutually beneficial journey. The sole older woman who has a profound effect on a much younger female youth is Vera.

The role of wife is not prominent in these films. In Iris there is a reversal of power in the relationship. In her youth Iris was dominant in her sexual and intellectual power. Bailey acquires the power of carer when she is in the depth of dementia. One outburst, when stressed beyond endurance he recalls her past infidelities, seems to express a more general truth about the desirability of older women: “I have got you now and I do not want you. I've never known anything about you at all and now I don't care”. Only a brief moment of intimacy is shown between The Queen and Prince Philip when she expresses doubt on the wisdom of having chosen Diana for Charles.

In four of the thirteen films, the recent death of a husband is the initiating event in the narrative. In all four films, the older woman becomes dangerous or transgressive: Thelma leads a mass break-out from an old people’s home; Grace grows cannabis; Mrs Henderson opens up a theatre and introduces nude shows; and May sleeps with her daughter’s lover. The romantic closures in both Saving Grace and Mrs. Caldicot involve the pairing up of Thelma and Grace with rich, powerful, handsome grey haired men while Mrs. Henderson settles for a platonic understanding with Van Damm.

Apart from Vera, who talks of her dead lesbian partner with love, the sexuality of the older woman when it is mentioned is problematic. We have Barbara who does not admit to being lesbian but stalks younger women, Ursula who cares for a very young man and desires him obsessively and Mrs. Henderson whose identification with Maureen and interest in young soldiers suggest sexual yearnings. This is revealed in the scene where she performs the fan dance in front of the mirror. The scene where she performs the fan dance in front of a mirror certainly dispels any ambiguity.

The Mother has been praised for introducing to the mainstream cinema screen the taboo subject of sexuality and the older woman – in this case, a steamy affair with a much younger man. She is depicted as a cold mother who, very recently widowed, instigates a sexual affair with her son’s best friend and daughter’s boyfriend. Her dignity is destroyed when she has to ask or even beg him for sex, when, in a cruel and flesh-crawling scene , she goes to bed with an older man, when she submits to being punched by her daughter and finally when she is effectively rejected by her son.

The sexuality of the older woman is always expressed in opposition to youth as the object of desire or envy. The ageing hands of the sixty year old Barbara are compared by the camera with the smooth beauty of the young woman she is pursuing. Scenes of of Iris's disintegration into dementia are cut with scenes of the youthful Iris, glowing with life and sexual energy. Mrs. Henderson's vicarious desires lead her to manipulate Maureen into a tragic affair with a soldier and the feelings she declares for young men are poised ambiguously between desire and grief for her dead son.

Iris Murdoch was a writer and a philosopher but there is little in the film to indicate her success and power. The careers and work of some of the women in these films depart from the stereotypes: army officer, novelist and philosopher but there are also a teacher, a nurse, an amateur gardener, a shop attendant an actor and a theatre producer. But however competent these women are, they are seen to lose their authority ( Dame Edie Walton cannot act any more, Iris is in an Alzheimer's nightmare) or they have to rely on a man to save the day. The most extreme example is in The Queen. The film is structured dramatically as the opposition between the older woman and the young man, between old values and modern life. The scenes of Blair’s audiences with the Queen that book-end the film are visually telling. At the beginning of the film, the Queen gives her hand for Blair to kiss and reminds the new Prime Minister that her role is to “advise, guide and warn the government”, that she has 'education, experience and wisdom'. In the final scene, she withdraws her hand before Blair bows down to kiss it. He apologises for having 'managed her and manhandled her'. She says she “will never understand what has happened this summer”, and joking about who is supposed to advise whom, seeks reassurance from him.

What conclusions can we draw from this textual analysis?

Of the 18 characters only Julie Walters as Edie in Driving Lessons has to rely on artificial means to signify age. Her humped back and faltering gait are too close to the grotesque figure of the television series character Mrs. Overall[5] to indicate any realistic signs of ageing. As an ageing actor she has neither the pathos of Norma Desmond[6], the wit of Eve[7] or the mystery of Fedora[8].

The ageing actor has been used as a vehicle to express the fear of ageing in a few important films: Sunset Boulevard, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, All About Eve, Fedora. We see here yet another example of the genre. Also the similarities of Driving Lessons with the cult Harold and Maude are difficult to escape.

Other common roles for women over 60 as noted by Markson Stoddard and Harper are present in these films. They are the frustrated spinster and the transgressive rich difficult dowager. Judy Dench not only impersonates the contrasting gentle Ursula and the predatory Barbara but also the witty, attractive, charming, irresponsible Mrs. Henderson. In this last role she does not have the formidable presence of , for example, Dames Edith Evans and Peggy Ashcroft but her power still resides in her wealth and status. Finally Dorcas, in a minor role, represents the stereotypical working class comic character.

Apart from these stereotypical roles. There are interesting features of the older woman as sexual being, wife, sister, mother of adult children and grandmother or independent person in these films but few consistent trends emerge. However in all instances where the woman has heterosexual desires, they are exposed as problematic or dangerous and sited in an oedipal scenario. The death of a husband is often liberating but on the other hand successful career and high status (except for The Queen) are destroyed by the process of ageing. Also it is disturbing to note that when the film is based on actual women, the fictional elements or the narrative somehow diminish the older woman.

Aside from these trends, there is a scattering of observations. The most striking one is a change from reported portrayals of mothers. The mother of adult children in these films has different modes. We have the cold masochistic sexually liberated May, Rosie/Grace the avenging mother/grandmother, and Thelma who rebels against her son and defends her rights. The idealised view of the mother 'stoical, old fashioned, uncomplaining, lived through the war' (Cherie Blair about Blair's view of his mother) full of 'knowledge, experience and wisdom' (The Queen about herself) is applied to the Queen but her function in the film is that of Monarch rather than mother. Only in the Queen is the mother also a daughter and grandmother. The older woman as wife or grandmother is not explored fully in any of the films. Six films show intergenerational relationships. Involvement with the next generation but one is present in a number of them but only one is with a female youth. There is a hint of sisterly solidarity and warmth in Ladies in Lavender and Thelma fights for the residents of a care home but the most moving intergenerational relationship is the redeeming one between Vera the dying older woman and the young Charleen.

Finally it is remarkable that issues of social significance, like the abuse in care homes, the financial difficulties after the death of a providing husband, the grandmother's role in troubled families, are dealt with in light hearted comedies.

As an older women viewing group our concern is the image conveyed by popular feature films on cinema goers in general. It is difficult to assess the impact of these images of the older woman on the viewing public as even in our group we sometimes disagreed on the importance of certain features of the film, especially when the narrative and characterisation were complex. We were all in agreement within the group and with the critics that the embodiment in Cotton Mary of the problems of the Anglo Indians made for an unwatchable film. We all found The Mother and Notes on a Scandal disturbingly misogynistic and ageist. We were all deeply touched by the realism of hold back the night and its treatment of intergenerational connection and the death scene. The comedies elicited different responses as comedies always do.

The main difference of views centred on Iris, Mrs. Henderson Presents and The Queen. The different readings fell into Stuart Hall's three strategies of dominant, negotiated and oppositional strategies. These were not consistent in the same people across the films. The three films were based on real people. Some of the women considered that the misrepresentations were the major issue, others considered that the major themes of Alzheimer's disease, the Blitz spirit and the saving of the Monarchy were more important . There were revealing scenes in the three films (the last two directed by Stephen Frears) that were not perceived or remembered after a first viewing. Does it matter therefore if a dominant reading considers these protagonists as being 'strong women' and a 'positive' representation while the oppositional reading sees the older woman still subjected to the male/youth gaze ? This is not a question that we can answer but the three films deserve a deep feminist analysis.

What we found useful, however, for understanding the realities of the film industry is that before this research we were not aware of the two films we felt had the more relevance to our lives today : Mrs. Caldicot's Cabbage War and hold back the night . The two films between them had a UK audience of 4,917, disappeared from the screens in no time, and were not favourably reviewed., The films representing the older woman as demented, dangerous, or predatory i.e. Iris, The Mother and Notes on a Scandal benefited from huge publicity and were seen by 2,121,695 people.

Cate Blanchett states in Cineaste[9] that it is misogynistic to call Notes on a Scandal misogynistic and that we should be grateful to see roles for older women whatever they are. As older women we cannot accept this position as long as the film industry remains ageist and sexist in the portrayals of women. The HSBC report[10] shows that people in their 60s and 70s are huge contributors to the economic and cultural well-being of societies. The UK Film Council's 2006 Year Book notes that “Growth in the older audience seems to have been driven both by the ageing of the population and by the wider choice of films on offer”[11] . It is time that producers, writers, distributors, programmers hear our voices.

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[1] University of the Third Age

[2] Appendix 3

[3] As defined by the British Film Council

[4] See summary of findings.

[5] Acorn Antiques (1986) BBC Television Series

[6] Sunset Boulevard (1950)

[7] All About Eve ( !950)

[8] Fedora (1978)

[9] Vol. 32, no.2, spring 2007 pp 232-247

[10]

[11]

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