Description
Book SynopsisAnalyzing hundreds of films, including classics such as You Can't Take It With You, Rosemary's Baby, Grumpy Old Men, and Nebraska, this book critiques Hollywood's representations of aging and the elderly from the silent era to the present.
Trade Review"
Fade to Gray proves a worthwhile and often insightful study that makes a compelling case for the vital importance of cinematic representation." * PopMatters *
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- Introduction
- The Study of Aging in Cinema
- Filmography and Terminology
- Chapter 1: Generational Conflict in Prewar Hollywood Film
- Elder Depictions in Early Cinema and the Silent Era
- The Neediest among Us
- Solid Pillars in Unstable Times
- Elders in the Nuclear Era
- Chapter 2: The Sensational Specter of Aging
- An Audience Lost
- The Formation of "Adult Films"
- Competing for the Adult Market
- Gender and Generation in Melodrama
- Chapter 3: The Horrific and the Hilarious
- The Horror of Aging
- Youth Films Exploit Elders
- Elder Kitsch at Its Limits
- Chapter 4: The Emergence of the Elder Odyssey
- The Road to a Subgenre of Penultimate Quests
- The Elder Odyssey in Expansion
- Investigating and Evading
- The Road from Here
- Chapter 5: The Repression and Release of Old Romance
- The May-December Romance as a Genre Device
- Calmly Increasing Honesty
- Elder Romance Matures
- The Life Left in Love
- Chapter 6: Deceptions and Delusions of Elder Death
- Early Elder Death
- Death Gets Darker
- Elder Legacies
- Conclusion
- Appendix A: Filmography of Significant Elder Roles in American Cinema
- Appendix B: Subject Lists of Elder Films
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
