Ageism and Career Stereotypes from the Intern
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 9:49 am
It was the last day of my vacation in Seattle and I suggested to a friend that it might be fun to go see a movie, something light and fun. And since I have a career blog and am concerned with issues of ageism, The Intern seemed a perfect choice.
Well, The Intern is light and does have some funny moments. But mostly the movie recycles one stereotype after another.
The writers needed a premise to get Robert De Niro into this start up tech company as an intern. So instead of having him apply for a position based on skills, they had the company create special senior intern positions to raise their image; the Robert De Niro character gets assigned to the Anne Hathaway character for the unlikely purpose of softening her edges.
When Robert reads his application letter, I whispered to my friend (I rarely talk in a movie philippines phone number resource but this was a horror show), “This guy needs a career coach.” His letter was all about him: he was lonely and isolated and wanted to work. His forty-plus years of business experience? Irrelevant to him … and sadly, to the company as well.
The stereotypes continue when Robert wears a suit and carries a briefcase, reinforcing the notion that seniors prefer traditional formality and refuse to adapt to corporate culture. The stereotype confuses aging effects with cohort effects: today’s sixty-year-olds grew up with a casual culture.
And of course Robert doesn’t know how to use Facebook. I know 70-year-olds who are not only active on social media but also setting up WordPress blogs and editing movies. And I know thirty-year-olds who can barely handle their emails.
The Robert character knows how to make himself useful in a new corporate setting, even if he’s ignored. He’s got business savvy, although the analyses he performs are pretty simplistic and the Hathaway character should be getting reports automatically. His people skills are so strong I’m afraid a new stereotype has emerged: the over-60 set now has to be wise and kind as well as humble, heroic and kind to children. He even hops into an unfamiliar car and drives easily all over New York, something most people can’t do whether they’re twenty or ninety.
Well, The Intern is light and does have some funny moments. But mostly the movie recycles one stereotype after another.
The writers needed a premise to get Robert De Niro into this start up tech company as an intern. So instead of having him apply for a position based on skills, they had the company create special senior intern positions to raise their image; the Robert De Niro character gets assigned to the Anne Hathaway character for the unlikely purpose of softening her edges.
When Robert reads his application letter, I whispered to my friend (I rarely talk in a movie philippines phone number resource but this was a horror show), “This guy needs a career coach.” His letter was all about him: he was lonely and isolated and wanted to work. His forty-plus years of business experience? Irrelevant to him … and sadly, to the company as well.
The stereotypes continue when Robert wears a suit and carries a briefcase, reinforcing the notion that seniors prefer traditional formality and refuse to adapt to corporate culture. The stereotype confuses aging effects with cohort effects: today’s sixty-year-olds grew up with a casual culture.
And of course Robert doesn’t know how to use Facebook. I know 70-year-olds who are not only active on social media but also setting up WordPress blogs and editing movies. And I know thirty-year-olds who can barely handle their emails.
The Robert character knows how to make himself useful in a new corporate setting, even if he’s ignored. He’s got business savvy, although the analyses he performs are pretty simplistic and the Hathaway character should be getting reports automatically. His people skills are so strong I’m afraid a new stereotype has emerged: the over-60 set now has to be wise and kind as well as humble, heroic and kind to children. He even hops into an unfamiliar car and drives easily all over New York, something most people can’t do whether they’re twenty or ninety.