There is a development called “The Villages,” an hour north of Orlando, Florida. This Grandma personally knows people who have retired to the huge and influential development. It is huge in size and huge in influence in the area in which it sits, because of the number of voters situated within The Villages.
This Grandma follows politics, and really thought most about the voting block that The Villages would have and the impact on the local area. However, this Grandma must live under a rock. Every time I would mention “The Villages” to anyone, all they would say was did I know that the development has the highest rate of STD’s (sexually transmitted diseases) in Florida, followed by a snicker. I put “The Villages sex” into google and found much about this issue.
According to Huffingtonpost.com, “after two over 55ers were caught having sex in the public, a British tabloid decided to investigate.” Yes, a British tabloid! According to the Huffington Post which says an investigation was “much-needed”, following that arrest, the Daily Mail . . . found, among other things:
-“ There are “ten women to every man” and there’s a black market for Viagra in the community of 100,000 residents.” - “All of the women work hard to look good… Turn your back for a minute and someone will try to steal your husband,” said resident Belinda Beard, 62.” – “Contrary to what your standard calendar would have you believe, “every night is Saturday night,” according to author and expose-er, Andrew Blechman.” – “A local bar is selling a “Sex on the Square” cocktail in honor of the arrested couple.”
They continue, “the racy underbelly of The Villages has been written about before. In 2009, the New York Post came back from Florida with similar findings. The Post claims that an unidentified gynecologist “treated more cases of herpes and human papillomavirus at The Villages than she did when she worked in Miami.”
This Grandma is not surprised. This Boomer generation is forever young. “ Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’Roll” are the hallmark of this generation and “survey of recent and coming films will reveal the number of people over 70 engaging in such.” It seems that Hollywood is not only appealing to Boomers, but is also showing how it really is.
John Anderson, May 14, 2015, in the New York Times, in “With ‘I’ll See You in My Dreams’ and ‘Grandma,’ Hollywood Pays Attention to Older Viewers,” writes:
“The older generation is really a core audience for independent film,” said Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, which in August will release “Grandma.” starring Lily Tomlin, and last year had “Love Is Strange” and “Land Ho!” “They’re the audience you can depend on time and time again.” When his company put out the Oscar-winning “Amour” in 2012, “there were all these naysayers claiming the older audience would not relate to it. And they embraced it the most.” “I think there are a couple of things happening,” Mr. Barker continued. “One: Older audiences are going to the movies. Two: Older audiences embrace stories about what they’re going through. I think younger audiences are afraid of that.”
“. . . .It’s not as if mature characters haven’t always been in the movies, but the problems of being old have seldom been embraced as warmly as they are now. The boomer generation is at the point where it has to understand that “you’re going to fade, fall apart, lose your beauty and come face to face with mortality,” said Thom Gencarelli, 55, chairman of the communications department at Manhattan College and the editor, with Brian Cogan, of “Baby Boomers and Popular Culture.”
“Still, he said, “when people are past the passion of adolescence and young adulthood and some Hollywood-ized version of life, I don’t think they’re interested in something that doesn’t talk to the realities. And who’s producing these movies? Sure, they’re doing so with a lot of strategists and committees, but where are the ideas coming from to begin with? The movies they make have got to speak to the things they’re interested in as filmmakers.”
“And even filmmakers get older every day.”
Take a look at the sensationalized article about The Villages, booked as the largest retirement community in the world, and we can be sure to expect to see The Villages memorialized on the big screen someday soon:
In the meantime, we grandmas can appreciate all the new movies coming our way.
“In “Grandma,” Ms. Tomlin plays an Adrienne Rich-inspired poet who has a pregnant granddaughter and a bad attitude toward the new world. “The Farewell Party,” opening May 22, is a dark Israeli comedy about retirees-cum-Kevorkians. And then there’s “Hello, My Name Is Doris,” scheduled for 2016, in which Sally Field will play a reclusive older woman whose eccentricities make her hip. . . . .Sam Elliott and Blythe Danner, star in “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” Blythe Danner stars as a retired schoolteacher who plays golf and bridge and suddenly has to contend with the attentions of her much younger pool boy (Martin Starr) and a dashing contemporary (Sam Elliott). . . .recent “5 Flights Up,” starring Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton, or the Swedish import “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared” or even “Danny Collins,” about an aging rocker played by Al Pacino, even though it was Mr. Pacino’s most successful lead role at the box office in a while.”
Don’t miss any of them so more will come our way! “Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll” sells movies and defines the Boomer generation. Again, we rule!
Joy,
Mema
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