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Aging and Society

Student’s name

Professor

Course

Date
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Aging and Society

Part A. Aging & Dying in Amour (2012)

The film, Amour (2012), is about a retired couple, Georges and Anne, who are enjoying their

eighties living in Britain. However, the couple is faced various health challenges associated with

their old age; Anne experienced a decline in physical and mental health and later on experienced

a stroke at breakfast. Even though the film expresses success in the careers of the couple, they

experience struggle as Anne’s right side remained paralyzed due to the stroke (Amour, 2012).

The two couples have a daughter who is also a music teacher. The film is entirely about aging as

the main characters are Georges and Anne who are in their 80s and the main theme presented in

the film is their harsh experience as a result of aging.

The film has portrayed various aspects related to aging including increased susceptibility to

acquiring various diseases, retirement, and caregiving. As discussed in class, aging makes older

adults more options for diseases including stroke, diabetes, and hypertension, among others. The

film explores an example of these diseases, stroke, as prevalent among older adults (Amour,

2012). As Anne develops a stroke while taking breakfast, the right part of her body becomes

paralyzed thereby affecting her mobility. Consequently, Anne worries that she is a burden to her

husband since Georges had to help her from her bed to the bathroom, and everywhere around the

house. These responsibilities advance with the second and third stroke episodes of Anne as her

mobility worsens. Initially, the first stroke never seemed as serious as Anne tried to improve her

health through exercise. However, the other stroke episodes left her paralyzed.

The aspect of retirement is evident as the aged couple living in their 80s are the main actor used

to build the theme of the film. Both the couples were retired music teachers and were therefore

just living together throughout. They had the role of taking care of each other and their daughter
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who was also a music teacher (Amour, 2012). The aspect of caregiving is expressed as Georges

had to take care of his wife due to her health condition. Additionally, their daughter had to chip

in and assist them through as they ahead, their energy and mobility ability reduced. This

expresses that the older adults need to be taken care of by the younger adults within their

environs to promote their health and improve their psychological and emotional wellbeing

through active interactions.

Part B. Assessing Representation & Ageism

I believe that the film is an accurate representation of aging and experiences of the older adults.

The lectures established that older adults experience various health challenges due to their age.

They get more susceptible to diseases following reduced immunity due to diminished rates of

various cells that help in responding to diseases. Therefore, older adults are at risk for diseases

including; stroke, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and hypertension among others.

Additionally, older adults face mobility challenges, reduced vision ability, and psychological

issues making them poor in problem-solving, cognitive skills, and poor memory.

In the film, some of these aspects we learned in class are comprehensively expressed. The film

expresses various challenges the main characters living in their 80s experience. Anne is seen to

develop some mental concerns and later stroke which diminishes her mobility (Amour, 2012).

Additionally, there is observed emotional distress observed with Anne due to her feelings that

she was burdening her family. Additionally, the film explains the essence of the elder adults

living with someone to counter the challenges of elder adults living alone. When they live with

someone, preferably their partners or/and a younger family member, they can counter the distress

of experiencing the challenges associated with aging. Additional aspects covered within the film

include elder abuse, home care, and euthanasia.

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In the film, there is no evident expression of ageism within the film. However, the film forces us

to question our reaction if we had been placed around an elderly with such a situation since their

health conditions of Anne were extreme (Amour, 2012). Among the questions fostered in us

include, if we were placed within the environs of Anne; could we bear the burden? Could we be

ageist? Could we be supportive regardless of the cost?

The film is attempting to educate the younger generation about the need to dare older adults.

This is evident through the showcasing of the challenges and deteriorations linked to aging

(Amour, 2012). By expressing the extreme challenges, it tries to appeal to the audience that the

elderly need medical attention and need to have people around them to distract them from

psychological and emotional distress. Medical attention to the aged can potentially help prevent

some of the health risk factors such as stroke which is presented in the film. Additionally, having

people around them would boost their emotional well-being thereby enabling them to live a

fulfilling and happy life. Therefore, it presents the audience with a realistic experience of the

older adults to make the audience understand what they do go through.

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Reference

Amour. (2012). Written and directed by Michael Haneke.