Where Are All the Old People?
TV Shows are the dominant popular performing art form of the last 60 years. If you look at the most exemplary shows, one trend stands out: the viewership has gradually become radically homogeneous, and self-centered. This can be seen in the characters portrayed.
Beginning with I Love Lucy and The Dick van Dyke show, right up to Black Mirror and The Good Place, one thing is clear: old people are anathema. Where, originally, there was always a mix of age groups and generations, now there is a sea of nothing but 20-to-40-somethings. Sometimes, you’ll find a character in his old age, but invariably, this character will be treated as wicked or avoidable. Think