Get started
Work

The Belgian silvering screen: Representations of ageing and later life in Belgian fiction film (1945–2022) and their reception by older adults

Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Research in cultural and media studies has long prioritised youth, while ageing and later life have only recently gained scholarly attention (Ylänne, 2022). Existing research remains largely centred on Anglo-Saxon media (Chivers, 2016; Chonody et al., 2025; Montemurro and Siefken, 2014) or limited to specific genres and periods (Kline et al., 2023; Markov and Yoon, 2020; Lauzen, 2025). While these studies have made important contributions, there remains a need for longitudinal research that traces changes over time and for analyses that move beyond Hollywood-centric film cultures. This presentation addresses these gaps by outlining my PhD research on the representations of older adults in Belgian feature fiction films (1945–2022), as well as on how older adults themselves perceive these representations and how they would reimagine ageing, later life, and older age on screen. The research is made up of four studies examining the representation of older adults, ageing and later life in Belgian fiction films, through: (I) a quantitative content analysis of the 15 per cent most popular majority-Belgian fiction films across eight decades (1945–2022), (II) a qualitative content analysis of 145 films from the same period, identifying recurring tropes of ageing femininity, with textual analyses of The Departure (1972), Death of a Nun, The Over the Hill Band, and Behind the Clouds, (III) a thematic analysis of precarity in later life in contemporary Belgian fiction films (2000–2022), supplemented by textual analyses of Many Heavens and Irina Palm, foregrounding gendered experiences of economic and social precarity, and (IV) a creative scriptwriting exercise in which older adults rewrote a self-selected scene from the film Rosetta (1999), followed by in-depth semi-structured interviews discussing both their rewritings and their perceptions of media representations of ageing, and later life in general. The findings reveal a persistent underrepresentation of older adults in popular Belgian feature fiction films. Although the presence of older characters has increased over the past two decades, significant gaps remain. There is a lack of diversity in the older characters represented, as they are predominantly white, middle- or upper-class, non-disabled, young-old (65–74 years), and heterosexual if sexuality is discussed. Notably, young-old women are overrepresented compared to men, pointing to an unexpected gender difference in representation. However, the qualitative content analysis identified only four dominant tropes for older women: ageing as decline, grandmothers at the top, heroines of ageing, and rebels with a cause. Thus, although women are overrepresented, their roles remain very limited. Older adults are also largely depicted as living financially and socially comfortable lives, despite Belgian statistics showing that older adults (65 and above), alongside children and adolescents (18 and under), face the highest risk of poverty and social exclusion (Statistiek Vlaanderen, 2025). When precarity in later life is represented, it primarily affects older women, particularly through the care they give to friends and family members throughout their lives. Because women more often take career breaks, they tend to receive lower pensions (Evandrou and Glaser, 2003). Their care responsibilities can also lead to social exclusion. While women are often the backbone of others’ lives, they do not have comparable support networks to rely on. In the final study, interviews with older adults reveal a representation-recognition paradox: although participants note a growth in the number of representations, they rarely recognise themselves in them. The representations they see on screen tend to oscillate between ideals of successful ageing and narratives of decline, leaving little room for the in-between experiences of ageing and later life.
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7212460265
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: