Everyday Ageism: FEMAIL columnist CHRISTA D’SOUZA, argues the older we get, the more we probably do get in the way
- British columnist Christa D’Souza, recently watched Japanese film Tokyo Story
- She explained an elderly couple are subjected to humiliations by their children
- She said it’s heartbreaking that the older we get, the more we get in the way
It’s the last tolerated prejudice. But Femail’s had enough. It’s time we called out those day-to-day moments when we’re patronised for no longer being young…
Christa D’Souza (pictured) said it’s heartbreaking that the older we get, the more we probably do get in the way
Don’t we always think of Japan as a country which reveres its elders and where everyday ageism happens least? I do. Or did until I saw Tokyo Story, a Japanese film about an elderly country couple who visit their urban dwelling, grown up children.
Though released in 1953, the subtle slights and humiliations the sweet couple are subjected to by their children, who are far too wrapped up in their own lives to host them, feel horribly contemporary. Like, for example how intolerant they are of their parents’ inability to navigate the bustling city by themselves; how the couple are shunted from sibling to sibling and end up being bundled off to a holiday spa so they stop getting in the way.
But then isn’t it heartbreaking that the older we get, the more we probably do get in the way?
We move slower, we drop things, we forget where things go. I love my mother to bits and she is not particularly old, but just the idea of her being in the kitchen while I’m trying to get dinner on the table suffuses me with unkind thoughts.
I hope it won’t be the same when my kids have their own families, but I fear it will.