Studying the aging process sometimes makes me hyper aware of time and the way that we fill that time. How am I using my time today? What about my time this year? This can be time in reference to the very measurable second by second or more abstract frame of a human lifetime. Most humans outline our lifetimes in stages or phases. The human life is often viewed as a process. My question that I have been thinking about over the last weekend is, does this process have to end on a downwards spiral? On Saturday I was able to watch a wonderful Icelandic film at the International Cinema. The movie, Children of Nature, was directed by Fridrik Fridriksson in 1991. The film is the story of an older man, his friend, and the adventure they go on to return home.
The first scene that I would like to share takes place when the older man is being moved into an old persons home, (this is what it is referred to in the movie). It is the man, his adult daughter and the director of the facility. The director is introducing him to the home. While this is taking place a young girl is serving them tea. She turns to the daughter and asks, “does he take sugar or cream.” Later in the movie two police officials are discussing the disappearance of the older couple. The response is to the effect of, “Look no further than the boiler room they are old after all.” The last scene that I want to describe takes place at the end of the couples journey at the longtime home of the best friend. There is a beautiful compilation of flashbacks of her growing up, working, laughing, and raising a family in the same home. It shows everyday life experiences as they were for decades.
Besides being an overall moving film, I do actually have a point to my ramblings. In the first scene I described the perception of the elderly was that they were incapable of caring for themselves or deciding. The man either did not know what he liked, or would not be able to understand the question and respond properly. The man clearly was capable of answering, and was instead marginalized. It was much the same result in the second scene described. I would like to counteract this with the experience and perception of the couple themselves. During the flashbacks the audience sees time proceed without hindrance. It was not a matter of seconds or years it was the lived experience of the aging process. It reminded me in 45 seconds (time again) why I want to study aging. The reason I care about what I am learning. I love learning about the aging process, because I love learning about the individuals experience with aging. One person in their late eighties has already had nearly four times the life experiences I have. Think of that knowledge!
While in the field I hope to learn what the perceptions and experiences of aging are in Tamil Nadu, India. The film embodied many of the issues that I will be studying while in the field. It showed negative perceptions of aging at their worst, and the sheer beauty of what the aging process can be. I am excited to be going to the field to be able to study these aspects of the aging experience. I want to make sure while I am in the field that I am not finding things just because I am expecting them. I don’t want to look only for negative stereotypes and examples because I am sure if I do this I will find them. Instead, I want to try and have my work reflect most accurately what those perceptions and experiences are. One of the best ways for this to happen will likely be through making sure that I have great descriptive questions.
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