Getting On; Zoo

<v Speaker>[music] We're getting on in years. We're getting on just ifne. We're getting on with the beautiful business of living. We're gonna do new things. We're gonna view new <v Speaker>[music] skies. We're gonna rise to the billion surprises of living. We're free to see what we never had time to see. Free to learn. Free to grow.

<v Speaker>[music] Free to be ourselves and build on what we know. We're getting on in age. We're getting on the ball by getting old and we can <v Speaker>[music] from the wonder of living. We know what's good. We know it's fine. It's a new road we're getting on. <v Speaker>I'm Alice Brophy and this is a television series for and about older people.

<v Speaker>And I'm Paul O'Dwyer. <v Speaker>We'll be bringing you some remarkable people who are getting on and well worth knowing. <v Speaker>Paul, have you noticed the very negative stereotypes of older people <v Speaker>that are expressed on the media today? <v Speaker>I have, but uh happily the National Association of Broadcasters were required <v Speaker>to change their code by that wonderful organization, the Gray Panthers. <v Speaker>Good for the Gray Panthers. I'm glad that they were there on their media watch and doing <v Speaker>something about it, because many of us were offended with what was happening. <v Speaker>Later on today's show, we'll be joined by Neil Hickey of TV Guide <v Speaker>and Olivia Bragger of the Gray Panthers Media Watch Committee to talk about <v Speaker>the way older people are portrayed on television. <v Speaker>We'll also introduce you to some free spirits who like to be on the road. <v Speaker>Coming up right now, a woman who has developed an extraordinary second career <v Speaker>at the age of 72.

<v Speaker>All my life, I wanted to be an actress. <v Speaker>I was down to living on my Social Security when I started this. <v Speaker>And I didn't know what risks I was taking, but I had a terrific urge. <v Speaker>It took a lot of pounding of pavements at first, but now it'll be six years since I <v Speaker>had my first commercial. <v Speaker>I just came in to show you what your store has done for me. <v Speaker>I became an actress at the age of 72 and they wanted a little <v Speaker>old lady for a commercial. <v Speaker>So I came in here and I bought this hat for 50 cents. <v Speaker>One of our famous hats and that has that became that <v Speaker>helped to establish my image. <v Speaker>And I'm gonna put it on for you in a minute and show you just what happened. <v Speaker>Later I had to have a fur for a modeling job. <v Speaker>And I came in here and I got this fur from you.

<v Speaker>So - a fur and a chapeau for $2.50 right? <v Speaker>I pinned this yard of lace down the front to look like a Grabow, you see. <v Speaker>And um this cameo, you didn't find your cameo in the <v Speaker>thrift shop, did ya? <v Speaker>No, I didn't get that here. <v Speaker>But everybody says, oh, what a beautiful antique. <v Speaker>I paid $2 for it. <v Speaker>That's fine. And it isn't an antique at all, of course. <v Speaker>There we are. That's it. I shop at thrift shops, because you can find everything <v Speaker>here, anything that you might need. <v Speaker>There's such a variety of everything under the sun.

<v Speaker>It's amazing. How much is this dress? <v Speaker>Today, it's half price. It'd be $2. <v Speaker>That's really quite good. <v Speaker>I think I'll take this. <v Speaker>Now, sometimes I have to go out and look for something they say well bring <v Speaker>so-and-so. And they just leave it up to me they don't - so <v Speaker>knowing what they want and using my imagination and intuition, <v Speaker>I go out and go to a thrift shop like this and get them. <v Speaker>It's just what they want. <v Speaker>I like to play the old lady. I like to - some years ago, about <v Speaker>10 years ago, I was hoping so that I might get into commercials. <v Speaker>I didn't um I met a gal here at the club and I said, how does <v Speaker>one get into commercials? <v Speaker>And she said, Well, cause she did commercials, she's younger than I am <v Speaker>and I said how do you do it?

<v Speaker>And she said, oh, it's a difficult thing. And she tossed it off and I never gave it <v Speaker>another thought. What I wanted to do was to make people laugh. <v Speaker>I wanted to be a comedian. I wanted to be a character, actress, comedienne. <v Speaker>That would give people pleasure and laugh, whether it was a commercial or on <v Speaker>the stage or in a movie or whatever. <v Speaker>I wanted to be that. <v Speaker>So when I was called to um by two different agents the same day <v Speaker>to go to two different places as an old lady, I went to the thrift shop <v Speaker>and bought the little hat for 50 cents and got the specs <v Speaker>and the um thing. And so that's how I became established uh <v Speaker>established, that is the image that I like best. <v Speaker>Outside what? So very properly, you will pick up your checks and you will go <v Speaker>like [rips paper] right to the camera, okay?

<v Speaker>I brought up three children. <v Speaker>And then I was in the real estate business in Baltimore. <v Speaker>But I became an alcoholic and later joined a group of people <v Speaker>working on bettering themselves. At 72 <v Speaker>I thought it was about time that I try to do what I always wanted to do. <v Speaker>All right. Let's go. Roll body. <v Speaker>Settle down, please. Rolling. <v Speaker>And action now. Right. <v Speaker>Uh-huh. Fine. Good. Right. Good. Fine and go. [pretend crying] Good and cut it. <v Speaker>Uh give me uh condensing. <v Speaker>All right, condense it for me. <v Speaker>Yeah. Because it's it's it's uh only a six or a five or a seven second bit. <v Speaker>Yeah. It's not a long time. So I got to have everything within that framework, Okay. <v Speaker>So it's one, two, three.

<v Speaker>And [ch-ch-ch-ch sound] like that, okay? Roll. Rolling. Action. <v Speaker>Good. Right. Right. Right. Right. <v Speaker>Right. Right. Let's get disgusted now, just disgusted. <v Speaker>Right. That's terrific! Now rip rip rip. [pretend crying] Good. Good and throw it over your shoulder. <v Speaker>Right and cut. <v Speaker>It's for a South Carolina bank for all over the <v Speaker>state. <v Speaker>And action. <v Speaker>Good. Uh-huh. That's nice. <v Speaker>I love that. Now look at them. <v Speaker>And you got the checks in your hand? Mm-hm. And go crazy. <v Speaker>Right. Just rip it. Right. <v Speaker>Good. That's terrific. <v Speaker>Rip. <v Speaker>Uh uh. Good and cut it. <v Speaker>That's it. Thank you very much. <v Speaker>I've had them tell me that I take direction very well and that pleases me. <v Speaker>To think that starting this late in life that I can [audible pause] just <v Speaker>do exactly what they want me to do, you know?

<v Speaker>I only feel old when I'm made to feel old by other people. <v Speaker>When I'm a principal in a commercial, they treat me like a celebrity. <v Speaker>But when I'm an extra they say <v Speaker>bring that old woman over here. <v Speaker>I'm the old woman. <v Speaker>It's hard not to be self-centered in this business, but when I'm thinking <v Speaker>too much about myself, I just get out and get active. <v Speaker>That's what's important to me, that I'm active and finally doing what <v Speaker>I always wanted to do. <v Speaker>My granddaughter is helping me to write my autobiography now. <v Speaker>I want to let people see that being old doesn't have to mean being inactive. <v Speaker>See, I didn't have that manuscript in front of me and I'd forgotten I said that. <v Speaker>But alas, all you have to do is just sing this little ditty. <v Speaker>This is in quotes.

<v Speaker>This is you and this is her? <v Speaker>Yes. When I tell people that I'm helping my grandmother writing uh her her <v Speaker>life story in her autobiography, they go, Oh, really? <v Speaker>And I go oh wait a minute you don't know my grandmother. <v Speaker>You know? Like uh she's got quite ya know - one hell of a story to tell. <v Speaker>I wanted to write it more than anything to sort of <v Speaker>let other people see that age makes no difference. <v Speaker>Get out and be active and really do things no matter what your age. <v Speaker>[motorcycle engine] [music] Go! I'm gonna wake up early 'cause I'm gonna take a ride with you. <v Speaker> [music] We're going down to the Honda shop.

<v Speaker>I'll tell you what we're gonna do. <v Speaker>[music] Put on a ragged sweatshirt. I'll take you anywhere you want me to. <v Speaker>First gear, it's alright. Second gear, I'll lean right. Third gear, hang on tight. Faster, it's alright. It's not a big motorcycle. Just <v Speaker>a groovy little motorbike. It's more fun than a barrel of monkeys, that two-wheeled bike. We'll ride on out of the town to any place I know you like. First gear, it's alright. <v Speaker>Second gear, I'll lean right, Third gear, hang on tight. Faster faster. <v Speaker>OK, well, let's let's back up a little bit, who are we talking to here?

<v Speaker>My name is Dave ?Coutier? and this is Lucy, my wife. <v Speaker>My name is Nat Zimmet. That's my po-my ride, Nelly, Nelly Zimmet. <v Speaker>And you call yourselves the Angelic Hellions. <v Speaker>Well, whose idea was it? <v Speaker>Well, my idea. <v Speaker>I had a small one. <v Speaker>A 350, a Honda and I sold it to Dave. <v Speaker>Dave had it for six months. He got rid of it, he got a 550. <v Speaker>And I got to see a Harley a twelve-twelve-twelve <v Speaker>?inaudible? When did you start riding motorcycles? <v Speaker>Well I've been riding since 1920-23. 1923. And you <v Speaker>started riding in 1923? <v Speaker>No, no. I was sixty years old rather when I started riding. <v Speaker>I began riding about two years ago. So you're a newcomer? <v Speaker>Yeah. Yeah. Well I um, I enjoy it. <v Speaker>We have a lot of fun. We go places every day and my wife loves it. <v Speaker>Where do you ride? Oh we go to Montauk and we go all through the countries. <v Speaker>It's exploring all the time new roads.

<v Speaker>Fishing stations and all that. <v Speaker>See what they catchin'. <v Speaker>I mean, how does it feel on a-on a motorcycle? <v Speaker>It's really enjoyable. You're in a different world. You're up on cloud 99 when you're <v Speaker>riding a motorcycle, it's really a lot of fun. <v Speaker>What about other motorcyclists, what do they think about you? <v Speaker>They think we're uh we're youngsters. <v Speaker>Uh you know, there's a sort of courtesty on the road when you pass one motorcycle <v Speaker>another, you just wave to one another. <v Speaker>You know, when you feel like you have something in common, you know, something that no <v Speaker>one else has. It's sharing something that uh. <v Speaker>Tell them about the movies. Yeah, well. You got a couple of good stories about meeting <v Speaker>young motorcyclists? Oh, well, we went to the movies one night. <v Speaker>My husband and the four of us went to the movies. <v Speaker>And uh we want to find out whether they would accept recognize our <v Speaker>um senior citizen card. I had my helmet on so you couldn't tell what age I was. <v Speaker>But when I took my helmet off and the kids at the ticket booth saw me, they were <v Speaker>hysterical. They just couldn't answer me. <v Speaker>Senior citizen? You?

<v Speaker>Now what about other people your age? <v Speaker>Do they think you're a little unusual riding around on motorcycles? <v Speaker>No, not really. Is it really gotten a lot of recognition. <v Speaker>How do you mean? Well, I mean, we've gotten a lot of mail and apparently they're doing <v Speaker>the same thing. <v Speaker>And you found other older motorcyclists through the mail? <v Speaker>Yes, that we never really knew about. <v Speaker>You know, we thought maybe we were the only ones that ones really that ventured out to do <v Speaker>something like this but uh now he's gotten a lot of mail, <v Speaker>so have we, 60 and over. <v Speaker>People from uh oh every part of the states. <v Speaker>We have mail from Florida. Old friends of Nat who hadn't seen him for the last <v Speaker>25 years or more than that, maybe 40 years from his old motorcycle <v Speaker>club and he received mail from them. <v Speaker>Glad to hear that he's still alive and riding a motorcycle. <v Speaker>There's a member strict - uh membership restrictions in your club? <v Speaker>Well, you had to be over 60 years old and you had to have a pretty good bike. <v Speaker>But we have a few prospects now.

<v Speaker>Join- guy uh joining the club. I see. Are you really plan to expand it, eh? <v Speaker>Only in this vicinity. <v Speaker>Oh, yeah. It's nice when you go out with a group, six, eight couples. <v Speaker>It's really a lot of fun. <v Speaker>Is it more fun to ride by uh together? <v Speaker>Oh, yes, yes. Yes. It's a lot of fun. <v Speaker>What's the fun in it? <v Speaker>Well ya got company. I break down he uh pulls me out. <v Speaker>That's no fun, that's no fun, breaking down. Yea, well you can't help some-break down, ya gotta flat. <v Speaker>They still tease at the wheel. That's why they pass each other. <v Speaker>Or one hides and the other one looks for uh either way. <v Speaker>You know the fun is your drive 25 miles some place just to get a cup of coffee and <v Speaker>uh and when you stop you uh everybody gets together and <v Speaker>uh enjoy yourself. <v Speaker>We had our place here out here in ?inaudible? <v Speaker>which is since we used it as a summer place and then now converted to all <v Speaker>year round home. And we just enjoyed and we looked forward to this. <v Speaker>We built this house with that intention of retiring here and <v Speaker>we really looked forward to it.

<v Speaker>Yeah. They're only youngsters. <v Speaker>Only 68 years old. <v Speaker>He is. They're still babies yet. <v Speaker>So I think we're looking forward to a lot of good years. <v Speaker>Well, regardless of where we go, people think it's so unusual for such a couple old <v Speaker>fogies like us riding motorcycles, which actually there's nothing to it. <v Speaker>You just sit on you turn on your switch and put it in gear and off <v Speaker>you go. Terrific. <v Speaker>Having something to do is the most important thing and anybody, young <v Speaker>or old, having something to do, something to get involved in. <v Speaker>Doesn't necessarily have to be motorcycles, anything. <v Speaker>But just so as you don't-don't become sit back, sit on a rocking <v Speaker>chair is right. Sit back in - that's important. <v Speaker>That's important. I think that is the secret. <v Speaker>Yes. [music] Spirit of America x 3. The Bonneville salt flats had seen some strange things, but the stra- <v Speaker>I'd like to introduce today's guest, Neil Hickey of TV Guide

<v Speaker>and Lydia Bragger of the Mediawatch of the Gray Panthers. <v Speaker>Lydia, tell me what uh made the Gray Panthers decide to do <v Speaker>this kind of project? <v Speaker>What happened? Well, I think I can probably that last segment that we saw <v Speaker>um and this program uh says something to it. <v Speaker>When the woman said uh that everyone was surprised that there were older people, when <v Speaker>they saw that when they took their helmets off, they were surprised they were older <v Speaker>people. <v Speaker>We're tryin, the Mediawatch, is trying to change the image of older people in society. <v Speaker>And this is one of the things that people wouldn't be surprised if uh because people of <v Speaker>all ages like to do things. I ride on the back of my grandson's motorcycle. <v Speaker>I don't think I'd want to go cross country on it, but I-I ride and enjoy it. <v Speaker>And it's fun. <v Speaker>And uh it's uh these are some of the things the Mediawatch <v Speaker>We decided that the image of the older person in television <v Speaker>was really damaging to all ages.

<v Speaker>Uh in commercials older people are shown as experts <v Speaker>on pain and ache remedies, on um insomnia, and <v Speaker>constipation. All of these things that have to do with illness so that <v Speaker>old age and illness are synonymous. <v Speaker>In comedy they're shown as a shuffling and uh <v Speaker>disheveled and uh sexless and tasteless and toothless and you could go on <v Speaker>and on. And this is the way old people are shown. <v Speaker>So that when um young people are watching these things <v Speaker>uh subliminally-ly, I always have trouble at word, but they are accepting <v Speaker>this fact that this is the way old people are. <v Speaker>So when they see old people on the street, they connect them with this image that they <v Speaker>have seen and they don't respect them. <v Speaker>And older people are always saying, well, they don't get respect from younger people but <v Speaker>this is one of the reasons. <v Speaker>Uh middle aged people watching this are saying, I'm getting old, <v Speaker>you know, and this is the way I'm going to be.

<v Speaker>So it's-it's devastating to them. <v Speaker>And older people are watching it and they many of them and many of them have accepted <v Speaker>this image of themselves and they just sink further and further into despondency. <v Speaker>Uh the Harris polls, the report from Harris polls uh <v Speaker>showed that older people are not concerned about their image in the television. <v Speaker>The majority of older people are not concerned. <v Speaker>There were only very few which didn't discourage us. <v Speaker>We realize that people need to have a consciousness raised and need to be made aware, <v Speaker>because when we go out speaking, we speak to older people, younger people, but <v Speaker>we ask older people if there's anything in the media that bothers them. <v Speaker>And they always say violence, too much sex or something. <v Speaker>So I say, well, what about the portrayal of older people, the way older people <v Speaker>are shown? And they say, well, it doesn't bother us too much. <v Speaker>And then I said, do you realize what happens? <v Speaker>And I relate what I've related to you. <v Speaker>And we talk for a while. And after about a half hour, they're all asking for <v Speaker>the sheets, we have a criteria, we have three uh things that we look for

<v Speaker>and they're all asking for that and they want to participate in the program. <v Speaker>But isn't it strange that older people aren't aware of the fact that uh if this is <v Speaker>the attitude toward them, that it's going to affect the way uh programs are funded <v Speaker>and the way allocations are made to them? <v Speaker>If uh - if we don't have very much respect for older people, then we're not going to do <v Speaker>well by them. Uh Neal, didn't uh didn't TV Guide do an article <v Speaker>recently on uh this whole uh business of attitudes toward aging? <v Speaker>Yes, we did. Yes. In fact, we we talked to Lydia's group at some <v Speaker>uh extent. And we we tried to make the point that the uh that the television <v Speaker>networks do, in fact, have sometimes sometimes a rather peculiar way of going about <v Speaker>uh uh displaying the aged. The um- there is, of course, a kind of benign neglect, <v Speaker>I think that happens in television much more so than um stereotyping, I <v Speaker>personally feel. I think it's simply that television is in the business uh Like like any <v Speaker>other corporation of of maximizing its profits.

<v Speaker>Now that's unfortunate many being in a business like television, but it does happen to be <v Speaker>true. Um they see the aged as as a kind of a new <v Speaker>miracle minority since they are not going to contribute that terribly much to the <v Speaker>ratings of any particular show. <v Speaker>And they see it as a kind of an economic minority as well, because <v Speaker>the segment of our society that spends the most amount of money on advertised <v Speaker>products that they see on television is the 18 to 49 year old group. <v Speaker>So I think that the the elderly, unfortunately, or squeezed out of that. <v Speaker>And I think you're you're perfectly right about the the commercials on television as <v Speaker>well. The fact uh that the sort of punative wisdom <v Speaker>of old people is uh is exploited by making them uh <v Speaker>experts upon all kinds of remedies that might be either useless or perhaps even <v Speaker>even harmless. Also, the commercials that uh that deal with cosmetics <v Speaker>that insisted that there's a kind of if you haven't got a good grip on a perpetual middle

<v Speaker>age or youth, that there's something wrong with you. <v Speaker>Well, those were some of the things that we talked about. <v Speaker>But the the uh watching people watching television, this is changing. <v Speaker>The age group is changing because uh people are getting you know, the <v Speaker>aging population is growing. <v Speaker>And uh it's not it is true, of course, that the people that you mentioned <v Speaker>in that age group have more money to spend and they spend more money but older people are <v Speaker>spending money, too. And as far as viewers are concerned, I think you'll find that uh <v Speaker>that that is going up with older people. <v Speaker>All these things are changing. Yes. <v Speaker>Paul, have you found any of the uh any of the material you watched on television <v Speaker>offensive or have you noticed it? <v Speaker>Has it been that sharp to you? <v Speaker>I think that what I found was that this attitude sort <v Speaker>of works downwards, you know. So that they uh in- in <v Speaker>the works to the detriment of the 50 year old because <v Speaker>the employer looks at him as a potential old person.

<v Speaker>Also, he has arrived at a point or she has arrived at a point at this time where <v Speaker>their salary is high and they can and the tendency is to get rid of them. <v Speaker>And so that it gets further and further down the scale. <v Speaker>So the 50 year old looks down and says, well, you know how much the 40 <v Speaker>year old begins to think in terms of uh how useful can he be in continued <v Speaker>uh um productivity if the one 10 years older than him is let go. <v Speaker>So that the whole attitude, I think, a-affects uh the employment <v Speaker>of uh older people and employment of the middle aged. <v Speaker>And you find that uh at this point in time, the person with 40 <v Speaker>years of age has a tough job getting a job. <v Speaker>If he winds up the one he has for a variety of reasons, including <v Speaker>the attitude of the pension fund towards him or her and the attitude <v Speaker>of the insurance possibilities with respect to his continued employment, <v Speaker>workman's compensation and otherwise.

<v Speaker>And they also have they suffered, too, from the fact that <v Speaker>it is suggested that they are more likely and more prone to accidents than uh <v Speaker>younger people. <v Speaker>Well, if that is so, then the point that uh Lydia made uh the very <v Speaker>realistic and I would like to push this a little bit, <v Speaker>Lydia. Did you go to the media? Did you talk to the-uh producers? <v Speaker>Oh sure. What happened? What was their recepetion of your ideas? <v Speaker>We had been monitoring and watching programs uh for clusters and for <v Speaker>patterns, not just for one isolated case, because we don't have time for that. <v Speaker>But we found in one program, particularly and all the media is guilty <v Speaker>of this, I mean, all of the networks are guilty of this. <v Speaker>But we found one particular program and major network uh that was <v Speaker>blatantly um guilty. <v Speaker>So um I uh it was my job. <v Speaker>I was watching this program and uh this actress asks her <v Speaker>audience for questions. She asked the audience. <v Speaker>One of the questions was, what will you be doing when you're 70?

<v Speaker>And she said, what I'm doing now? When she assumed this condition of being toothless and <v Speaker>uh sort of decrepit and uh I was watching that I was sitting by myself and I'm <v Speaker>71 years old and believe me, I almost broke my television. <v Speaker>I was just angry. I said this is the end because I had been watching these things and <v Speaker>been getting steamed up and that was the end. <v Speaker>So I'm glad that you were able to have some effect, Lydia. <v Speaker>And our thanks for joining us today to Lydia Bragger, <v Speaker>the Gray Panthers Media Watch Committee, and to Neil Hickey of TV Guide <v Speaker>magazine. We hope you've enjoyed today's speeches and discovered some fresh <v Speaker>insights about getting on. <v Speaker>And we hope you'll join us again. Alice Brophy and Paul O'Dwyer. <v Speaker>Next time we're getting on.