Dormant Person

I didn't find it as bad as some reviews suggest - it was a bit slow, did make 50 something seem rather dreary, but there were some laughs. Tina Fey's character was marvelous, probably the highlight of the film. Disagree that it would appeal to women over 40 as a whole - the general "I'm getting older" vibe maybe, but the references in this film aren't really geared for people who were mere children in the '80s. Most of that aspect of the film went over my head, as did the rather polarized portrayal of "young people" versus "old people", with the protagonists being depicted as smartphone inept, angry individuals who can't appreciate organic wine or newer music. I'm not sure if that last issue is just due to the fact that I am closer to 40 than 50, or if this is one of the shortcomings of the writing, where the characters have been reduced to one-dimensional stereotypes.

In this film, one of the first themes we are presented with is the ongoing sexual harassment of the lead male character in an elevator by an older lady, to which he only laments that the women who are interested in him are always old enough to be his grandmother. Then, one magical day, he is forcibly kissed by the young female lead character in the same elevator. This flavor of sexual harassment is obviously more to his liking, because he immediately kisses her back and then runs off to tell his cousin. "I just got kissed again in the elevator!" When asked if he had been preyed upon by the old lady again, he replies: "No, this time it was a REAL woman." Yes. He actually says that. The older lady is not a REAL woman, since she is old and unattractive to him. I have no idea how this horrid statement made it into the script and can only assume that it is because the woman was "old" that saying something so nasty was deemed acceptable. I highly doubt it would have gone so completely unnoticed if they had chosen someone who was, for example, young and plus sized. Disgusting. I don't know when or if we will ever get to the point where sexual harassment of any gender is not depicted as some kind of comical interlude or if people will stop being openly hateful towards those who are older. Men can be sexually harassed and it is not a selection process or dating game. Unabashed ageism is as rampant as it is repulsive and people seem to think nothing of devaluing someone based on the year they were born. Perhaps one day, in 20 years, we will look back on archaic films such as this and shake our heads in horror the way we now do with inappropriate themes from the 70s or 80s. One day.