About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Young @ Heart

Just read an article in the Vancouver Sun about a new documentary playing at the Fifth Avenue Cinema in the city. Now, I don't usually bother going to that theatre because there's no parking available and they usually feature those sort of avante-garde type of films that I don't particularly enjoy.

*anyway*

This one is about a choir made up of seniors. British documentary filmaker Stephen Walker was blown away by the group when he saw them at London's famed Lyric Theatre. He said that the audience was made up mostly of young people in their 20s and 30s, but was clearly a cross-generational phenomenon.

By the time the curtain fell, Walker was passionate about the whole endeavour and started looking for financial backing. Because the choir was based in Massachusetts, Walker approached American broadcasters but was turned down, so he ended up back in the UK for the cash.

Put simply, Young @ Heart shows old people who look their age. They have wrinkles and walkers, oxygen tanks and colostomy bags, terminal cancers and hair growth in unlikely places.

However, Walker's documentary ensured human integrity. Although he could have taken an exploitative role, he realized that this was a complex story. I love what he says:
"If you call old people cute, you're marginalizing them...You're essentially saying they're irrelevant. This movie addresses those attitudes about older people. I think it also gets into our understanding of mortality, and this incredible level of denial that surrounds death."

I think I'll go see this one.

7 comments:

Mental P Mama said...

I'm going to look for that one. And I'm taking my kids with me to see it!

RiverPoet said...

Okay, gotta look this one up now! I want to prepare myself for old age NOW. But I grew up with lots of "old" people around. My life was richer for having them around - and I never called them "cute."

Peace - D

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Sounds wonderful and I wish I could see it, too. Love your spring avatar, btw. [Sorry I've been a bad visitor lately, Leslie - have been unwell.]

Leslie: said...

Hi mm and momma Thanks for dropping by. I'll let you know if I see it what it's like. I might just take the bus into the city and walk the few blocks to the theatre on a nice spring afternoon to catch the matinee.

Hi Welsh So sorry to hear you've been unwell. Hope you're feeling much better now.

Ellee Seymour said...

I remember this story and would like to see lots more people singing their hearts and souls delight, it is so uplifting.

jmb said...

Sounds like a film I might like. Luckily online although I don't disguise my age, I am judged by my words and not by my wrinkles and grey hair.

Liz Hinds said...

Sounds good. you'll have to let us know what it's like.