An Older Person's Film

Last Sunday night was the Academy Awards. There were ten best picture nominations, but everybody knew that it was really going to be a two-horse race. The winner was either going to be (a) The King’s Speech or (b) The Social Network. Both were based upon true stories. Both were excellent films.

After The King’s Speech won the academy award for best picture, I received a Facebook post. The person making the post described The King’s Speech as being “an older person’s film.” An older person’s film? What’s that?

The more I thought about this quote, the more I became disturbed by it. I felt that The King’s Speech had a universal appeal. It was about a good, but insecure man struggling to overcome a stutter. And because of his social position as a member of the British royal family, he could not withdraw or hide from his problem. He had to confront this adversity and either defeat it or be defeated by it.

The Social Network, on the other hand, was about America’s youngest billionaire. There really was not a likable character in the film. But the story, about an individual who amassed an incredible fortune while stabbing both his friends and enemies in the back, was nonetheless fascinating.

And so, if The King's Speech was an "older person's film" was The Social Network a “younger person’s film?”

Was this year's Academy Awards a vicarious contest between generations?

Just sayin'