From Kate Winslet in Hollywood to Vidya Balan and Neena Gupta in Bollywood, many celebs have rightfully spoken out against ageism and the so-called sexist ‘shelf life’ as well as body shaming of older female actors in the industry, both on-screen and off. Pop culture websites such as The Quint and The Swaddle too have extensively covered topics such as the uncomfortable age gap between older male actors and younger female actors, sparking conversations within as well as beyond the film industry.
More recently, Nicola Clark, an actor, activist, and journalist sparked a discussion on the same via her campaign ‘Acting Your Age,’ and the initiative has been steadily gaining momentum on social media as well with many well-known celebs pledging their support towards it.
The outspoken activist was gracious enough to speak to me about her campaign, its importance and more in this interview.
Vidal Dcosta for The Movie Buff: I think you’re doing an exceptional job in highlighting ageism in the film industry and firstly would love to know more about this campaign and how it began? Who or what influenced you to start the ‘Acting your age campaign’?
It was a frustration at not seeing women like me on-screen and a recognition that for a woman returner to the industry, I was attempting something deemed impossible at best and ridiculous at worst. You can be a young, unknown woman breaking in, but not a middle-aged woman. The pressure on women to look thirty-five on-screen when they’re not also worries me; an entire demographic of audiences are subjected to unrealistic versions of women and this key media influence permeates our psyche.
Everywhere I turn there are more proscriptive messages about visible ageing being somehow equal to feminine failing. Yet unreconstructed, unmodified men are embraced for their wisdom and life experience. It’s not a statement about personal choice for women from me; [it’s] rather a plea that women of all appearances can be deemed to have the same value, on par with men.
Has there been an impact on you personally by ageism and/or sexism within the industry as a performer? And how did you tackle or cope with it at the time?
Since returning, I’ve had two castings in four years; in both cases they went to younger women even though the characters were my age. The phrase “they went in a different direction” always seems to mean younger. The impact this has on mental health and on societal norms, explains why the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report highlighting that ageism is contributory factor in mortality.
I feel the issue of ageism isn’t doesn’t just pertain to movies and TV, but also seeps into print media. A majority of tabloids/magazines propagate harmful practices such as extensive airbrushing and promoting body shaming via those offensive ‘best and worst beach bod’ articles that target older female actors in particular. What are your thoughts on such toxic tabloid culture?
“Acting Your Age” campaign founder Nicola Clark. Photo: courtesy submission.
It certainly alters perceptions. Women are used to being a consumer target rather than an active participant in cultural life; we scarcely notice anymore the ways in which we’re packaged and sold, judged and told how to be. Young women are so beautifully fierce when it comes to challenging being shamed or sold a myth of digital perfection, and so determined to challenge prescribed norms of appearance.
But for older women, our inclusion is so seemingly dependent on not looking our age; we often still see octogenarians with tinted hair and this is deemed normal. As with cosmetic surgery there is only one version of older women in media; yet men rarely, if ever, have to alter their appearance at all in order to feature.
In terms of tabloid culture, the perceptions of predatory women in middle age still sees women with younger male partners deemed cougars and their partners deemed toyboys. However, the reverse of older men with much younger female partners is never deemed newsworthy but rather the status quo. I’m also tired of seeing front pages predominantly featuring photographs of half-naked young women in a reality TV show gossip stories alongside fully clothed middle-aged men featuring in serious or worthy news stories. It underpins, I feel, a reductive narrative. Sexuality [is]the only currency deemed of value for women, when we are all so much more than that one facet.
While I know a lot of known faces such as David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Ricky Gervais, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Tracy Ann-Oberman, etc., have signed up to be part of this initiative. I wanted to know if you’ve personally faced backlash (from within or even from outside the industry)? And if so, how have you handled any harsh/unwarranted criticism?
I’ve been campaigning online for a long time especially in internet terms. I challenged the way representation is determined for disabled people in 2009 and met with all of the broadcasters. I also campaigned against pejorative terminology used routinely about people with learning disabilities; these two issues drew a lot of abuse to me online.
People don’t tend to like having the status quo questioned; but it’s always important I feel to highlight inequality if you have any kind of platform. With my first campaign on disability, I found the media and press to be very responsive featuring across all broadcasters; with this campaign it’s been incredibly difficult to interest news editors at all. It’s a well-known problem in the industry, and has been for as long as the medium itself has been invented. Many women in public life have spoken out about it and there have been employment tribunal successes.
My goals have remained pretty much the same for the campaign, for gender parity on-screen to mean men and women of the same age seeing the same career longevity.” nicola clark
However, gendered ageism is the final taboo of female representation, and many women become broken and exhausted by fighting for their rights and the rights of subsequent generations of women that eventually they stop talking about it. When your livelihood depends on your reputation within the industry, on your employer’s permission as to which topics you can discuss and which ones you can’t, your power as a woman to fight for change is limited.
I don’t have a career to lose, however; I feel it’s important to keep raising the situation for all women over the age of 45, irrespective of criticism. Ultimately, I’m attempting to be a critical friend to the broadcast and film industry. The economic imperative of recognising the neglected audience demographic of women over 45, is significant. Broadcasters constantly chase audiences shares and there’s a huge untapped market to recognise and represent.
Being from India, I find it infuriating seeing actors in their 40s-50s in mainstream Bollywood (and even in some South Indian movies) playing 20 somethings on-screen alongside an actress who is in her 20s in real life as their love interest. What are your thoughts on such age gaps? And how can the film fraternity and we as an audience/the general public combat it?
In my campaign research audience survey I found that only 4% of UK audiences wanted to see older men paired romantically on-screen with younger women. The need for age parity from audiences may well be the driving factor in terms of cinema changing. Production companies find worldwide that there is a huge audience share of people, especially women, who want to see their lives and themselves on-screen; therefore choosing the films which offer that.
Lastly, what were your initial goals for the campaign? And have they changed or evolved in any way ever since the campaign gained momentum?
My goals have remained pretty much the same for the campaign, for gender parity on-screen to mean men and women of the same age seeing the same career longevity. How we achieve that is slightly more fluid as there are several routes to that point. The first being a commitment by broadcasters and film companies to recognise the problem and make meaningful changes.
You can learn more on how to pledge your support to the campaign and stay updated about this endeavour by following the ‘Acting Your Age’ Instagram page.
