Betty White

 

Betty White

Awe... so cute, sweet, smart, funny, respected, and talented (being partly facetious). Who doesn't love Betty White? She has been working for over sixty years in ageist Hollywood and at 88 is still finding work. Wikipedia reports, in May of 2010 she became the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live and their ratings were huge. She won a Prime time Emmy Award for the show. Why did so many tune in to see Ms. White (I'm sure some were also tuning in to see Jay-Z)? Did you tune in? If so, why?

I have to wonder how Ms. White has been able to overcome our society's ageism, especially in Hollywood? Does her image help promote ageism or has she helped change societies views of older adults for the better? I have to admit, I'm a bit torn between the two. Looking at most of her pictures on Google images, doesn't she look like the stereotypical Grandmother? A while ago I saw an image of Ms. White when she was on the red carpet where she was covered from her neck down in a very matronly dress. I had to think of the article we had just read for class, Bat wings, bunions, and turkey wattles: body transgressions and older women's strategic clothing choices. She looked like she was disguising any body flaws that she has now due to age. What if she flaunted her aging body a bit more, colored her gray hair, had a face lift, would she still be getting work? Why can she pull off  "dirty old lady" talk and we laugh? Could she do that if she didn't look so stereotypically like a "nice old Grandma?".

I hope Betty White is still successful at 98, but I do think we should question whether she is helping promote a new image of healthy aging or just promoting society's ageist views. Please enjoy some of links below of Ms. White's comedic work.

Picture of Betty White found at:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.reuters.com/resources

Wikipedia information located at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_White


Saturday Night Live "Muffin" skit link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/comments_blog/2010/05/facebook-betty-white-snl-ratings-tina-fey.html


Saturday Night Live "Golden Girls remake- Ms White drops the F-bomb"
http://bossip.com/246056/jay-z-performs-on-snl-and-betty-white-skit-video/

 
Betty White on The Daily Show Jon Stewart Link:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-14-2010/betty-white