Aging Women and the Media

The popular culture has for a long time depicted the older woman as the invisible character. They have been left in the periphery with their roles only reduced to that of the mother or the grandmother. In other cases, she also represents an inner meaning or a metaphor to symbolize isolation, disease, vulnerability, worthlessness, and dissatisfaction among other negative attributes (Hant, 2007). An example of an older woman in pop culture is Diana Rigg who plays the role of Olenna Tyrell in the Game of Thrones. 

Tyrell is first depicted as a grandmother just like many other older women in the pop culture. She serves as the grandmother to both Margaery and Loras. She is also used to depict a careless character as shown when she is aware yet unconcerned with the fact that her grandson Loras is practicing homosexuality. She also has wicked tendencies, a factor that is mostly associated with many aged women in popular culture. Hant (2007) asserts that popular culture has emphasized the idea of ageism which has since made the younger generation to view the old as people who are different from them or individuals who are less human. In the Game of Thrones, this is proved by a plot that involves Tyrell and Baelish to kill Joffrey. 

It is also imperative to note that many popular cultures, especially those involving the television, have played a significant role in tainting the image of the older people in some instances depicting them as feeble, declining, and mentally incapacitated (Hant, 2007). Olenna is engaged in many situations that could lead the viewer to question her personality and mentality. She engages in several alliances with individuals with an aim to exert undue revenge through acts of aggression. Her vulnerability as an aged individual comes into play when she is forced to leave the city after Sparrow threatened her life.

References

Hant, M. (2007). Televisions mature women: A changing media archetype: from Bewitched to the Sopranos. UCLA Center for the Study of Women .