Ageism and Classic Films

I’m angry… And I have to empty my bag.

You know, to love classic films is a thing, but to love classic films as a Millennial is another. It’s a situation that has both its bright and dark sides, the brightest one being that you feel unique with your distinct passion that only a few people of your generation share with you. Because yes, most Millennials don’t watch classic films or only the obvious one, or the not-so-old ones. I mean, who hasn’t seen The Wizard of Oz (the obvious) or Forrest Gump (the not so old one)?

But I want to focus on the dark side. Actually, if Millennials don’t have the tendency to watch classic films, I believe it’s because they are “unconsciously” discouraged by the older generations to do so. I say “unconsciously” because if those people are like “ah Millennials should watch more classics.” They actually don’t do much about it. Maybe it is easier to say than to do…

Take my example. If I started watching classic films, it’s not because of my parents or anyone older than me. Anyway, my parents don’t watch a lot of classics and I know more about them than they do. It’s a fact. No, I pretty much discovered them by my own and this articleexplains more precisely how I discovered them. Basically, just buying a book with beautiful movie star photos helped a lot. And, of course, when you are a Millennial watching classic films, you want to spread the love among people of your age because they are so wonderful (the films), right? My best friend has now seen a few classic films that she truly enjoyed thanks to who? To ME, a Millennial. My mother saw a lot of classic films that she’d loved because I wanted her to watch them with me.

I have to admit my parents made me discover a few classics such a Thelma & Louise, The Birds, Cinema Paradiso, and more. But there aren’t 30s classics either.

Now, I just probably sound like I’m overpraising myself, but it’s just a way to show you that Millennials know about classics, perhaps more than some older generations. And I’m talking about me because I’m my best judge, but I know I’m not the only one. When I go see classics at the movies I see a lot of young people.

And just look at the classic film blogging community. Many Millennials here:

Critica Retrô

The Old Hollywood Garden

In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood

Wolffian Classics Movies Digest

The Flapper Dame

Love Letters to Old Hollywood

Phyllis Loves Classic Movies

Back to Golden Days

Maddy Loves her Classic Films

Cinema Cities

And many more! These are just a few examples.

Go read their blogs. These are Mellinnial’s passion for classics is contagious.

Moral of the story, don’t draw conclusions too fast. Don’t put us all it the same bag. Some Millennials do watch and love classic films. More than you might think!

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But why?Why writing such an article right now when it’s like 11 pm. I just came across a post in a Facebook movie group where someone was asking which classics we should show to Millennials. At first, I had a very normal reaction and thought it was a common classic film group question. Then, I thought ‘hey are you assuming there are only non-Millennials in the group?” After all, Facebook is a Generation Y thing…

Me in my head: “Eh, I’m sure you haven’t seen Give Us the Moon!” Ok, major weird obsession with this film.

And there was this person assuming that they (we) should just stick to Marry Poppins as if we were hopless cases. Ugh. We’re not.

And it seems that, recently, I’ve encountered a lot of similar situations, so I guess my patience has limits!

While I was writing this text, I came across this article that pretty much sums up my thought on the situation but in a more orderly way. I particularly agree when the author says “Shaming young people for not doing something is the sure fire way to make them not do it.” Go read it:

Millennials Do Care About Classic Movies, But Need More Exposure to Them

Furthermore, Julia from Cinema Crossroads has some wise advice to give us in her article “How to encourage Millenials to watch classic movies“.

You might think that “ageism” is a too strong word for this situation, but as that particular situation is due to prejudices like racism, or sexism, it is exactly the right word.

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I’ve been watching classic since I was 15 and I’m not ready to stop! And hey, let’s make this clear once and for all, no generation is better than another!

I think that the only persons who can blame Millennials for not watching classics are… Millennials themselves!