Ageism In Hollywood Analysis

Hollywood is known to be overrun with discrimination whether it racism, or sexism, even in present day; where this should be a thing of the past. However, one discrimination that is often overlooked is ageism, which is the discrimination of someone just because of their age. Many people do not think of ageism as a big issue; however the effects of it have the ability to make an entertainer unable to acquire a position in the industry, even tho they might be highly skilled. Although ageism runs ramped in the entertainment industry, people are bringing the issue to the light in hopes of putting it to rest. A recent example of ageism is when Madonna dropped the lead single from her 2015 album Rebel Heart “Living for Love” in 2014. The song received
In a 2014 study, the percentage of female characters in movies in their 30’s was 30% and in their 40’s 17%, and for males 30’s was 27% and 40’s 28%. In the same study, another statistic the percentage of male characters in their 50’s was 18% and for women it was 9%. Now this shows that clearly men have a higher presents in the film industry; and this just adds on to the already sexism problem in the industry which is keeping women from being active in the industry, and adding ageism to the equation keeps older women from being
She say’s that “she’s… heard ageism comments her entire professional life. She states, “I’ve been hearing it since I was 30.” She goes on to compare her life to comedian Will Ferrell, who is 49 and has starred in/produced/wrote over 15 comedy films in the past 10 years; a majority of them have received mixed to negative reviews (rotten tomatoes reviews). Griffin says “I have to explain to them that I have no intention of retiring. They say ‘What do you want to do now?’... You would never say that to Will Ferrell.” She further explains the ageism in the industry by stating that “Often the networks have maybe one woman who’s my age. I’m getting the feeling that if they have one woman who’s 55, they say, ‘OK, we’re done;’” and this is backed up by the 2014 study, which said only a 9% of all female characters in movies were female. Griffin, who has been in the industry for over 20 years, so she should be a good source on these things, has experienced a lot within in the industry and see’s how it discriminated people, and she has experienced it