Billy Douglass Silver Fox Analysis

Celebrations occur at various time points throughout the life course. With his everlasting group of friends to share those moments with, Billy invites his childhood comrades to share the newest milestone in his life – his marriage. As the four men embark on a “final” trip to remember, they learn the importance of embracing their age, rather than evade the inevitable by living up to the stigmas perpetuated by societal ignorance.

Virility, affluence, and power, make up the formula that represents Hollywood’s longstanding depiction of a silver fox. Feeding into such stereotypes portrayed by older males in the industry paints unrealistic images of the aging process into the minds of the consumers, ultimately misconstruing one’s expectations of

You know? And without her, I’m just scared of being old.” (Baer, Mark, & Turteltaub, 2013). Billy represents himself as a prime example of an individual who internalizes negativity that arises from the stereotypes surrounding aging in general. Throughout the movie, his character, played by Michael Douglas, is presented as the stereotypical older male who partakes in attempts to not appear or act his own age. Playing into the role of the silver fox, an affluent and healthy older white male, engaged to a much younger female. The stage is set for his character, as the audiences’ attention is drawn to his wealth and virility with the introduction of the lavish beach house in which he and his fiancé reside – painting the image of the evergreen playboy. Although downplaying stereotypes allows older adults to take control of their image, persistent negative stereotypes that develop into long-lasting stigmas are not easy to

Although those components are important for healthy aging in general, active aging is predominantly dependent on continuity throughout one’s life course. The picturesque ideal painted by Hollywood, where older men and women frequent country clubs participating in tennis or golf while enjoying the company of equally affluent members, may seem far-fetched to the average adult, however this image represents the basic principles of active aging. According to the World Health Organization (2015), aging actively refers to an individual’s ability to maintain “participation in social, economic, cultural, spiritual and civic affairs” that optimizes their health and overall quality of life. Whether one’s social network is a close knit group or consists of a vast number of members from the community, engaging in constant social interactions improves the likelihood of attaining the best quality of life. Although many older adults travel south, primarily to Florida, as they retire, these individuals attempt to maintain social ties, especially with family and friends, back home or within their new community. “…It’s crazy, but whenever something spectacular happens to me, the first thing I want to do is tell my wife about it…after 40 years of marriage, if I can’t tell her about something wonderful that