In the short clip of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, we see that Mr. Drayton takes his wife out to ice cream even though it is after five pm and they are expecting guests for dinner. He decided to go anyways, ignoring his wife’s scoffing and pulls into a lot that is over run with adolescent adults, easily placing him and his wife as the eldest couple there. When he mentions to the waitress that he had a special type of ice cream there she suggests that she go get the menu so he can decided, but he tell her that she must remember it (the menu) and she recites it off the top of her head. When he tells the waitress that he is assuming because she is young she had a good memory and is pointing out a difference in their ages. After he receives the ice cream he realizes that it is not the same kind he had before and immediately calls the girl over. While he is waiting for her to come over he changes his mind and decided he likes it, but before he decided he liked it he got into a tiff and was acting rather honoree. The waitress just shrugs him off and walks away. When it comes time to pay the bill, Mr. Drayton asks the waitress to remind him next time he comes in that it was the Oregon Boysenberry ice cream that he liked and she agreed but only to placate him and get him on his way faster. The younger generation has no regard for the older generation whatsoever, and just like to put up with them or brush them off completely. This is apparently evident when Mr. Drayton accidently backs up into another car and the younger man says that it should be illegal. He is implying that allowing elderly people to drive should be illegal. I disagree with this. I think the more things we take away from them, the more discouraged they get. However, I think that once you hit a certain age you should have to take a driving test every year just to make sure that you are safe and not endangering others as well. sunflower123
I never thought of the encounter with the waitress as an example of ageism until I read this post. Now that I think about it, that makes a lot of sense. It is amazing how many different assumptions we make throughout the day based on age and other sociological mechanisms. The younger generation does the same thing when she says that she will remember just to get them moving. That is very interesting to me because ageism is going on in both perspectives at the same time. He assumes she will remember and she is assuming he will forget about it next time he comes to get ice cream and they are both based on age. Scuba123
Sunflower123 - Nice response here. Illegal to drive because your slightly older? The pure disrespect of the younger man for no reason at all) towards his elder for a simple mistake....LearningAllDay345
There are a lot of different scenes, involving ageism, in the movie "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" but this one really sticks out the most. There are certain stereotypes of older people that most of all people hold in their head. We use these stereotypes as excuses for mistakes older people make even when that may not be the reason a certain situation happens. The example in the film is when Matt backs into a younger mans car. The younger man is very angry with him and blames it on his age. He says that Matt is blind and incapable of driving. He says that Matt should be in a retirement home and it should be illegal for old people to drive. Another similar example could be someone driving under the speed limit in front of you. You automatically think the person that is driving is a grandma or grandpa, curled around the seat, focusing intently on the road. We have all had these past experience and associate every new experience with old ones we have acquired. We can also make meaning to the situation. We can say it is an old person going slow because their cognitive skills are not very good. If it is just a middle aged person driving, the only explanation without knowing the person is that they are a bad/slow driver. We can make similar comparisons when talking about minors. We say that all minors are irresponsible and childish. If I am waiting tables and I have a middle aged professional couple and a table with two teenagers, I am going to make sure the middle aged couple has everything they need before the teenagers. You simply believe that the middle aged couple is wealthier and is going to tip you better than the teenagers are. Ageism affects decisions we make every day. Scuba123
This scene plays out much like it would today if an elderly person were to hit someone. I believe that a lot of different people think that old people should not be able to drive. Driving is a right in this country and it is just as much their right as it is ours. To take that away from them is just unfair. We do not get to decide when they need to be done driving because we are not important enough to make that decision. In this particular scene Mr. Drayton is out with his wife and once they are leaving he runs into the back of a younger mans car. The younger man begins to yell and make a huge deal out of the whole thing even after Mr. Drayton gives him money to fix the damage. The younger guy yells old man which right there is an example of someone thinking that Mr. Drayton only did that because he is older. Which is not true at all making him older doesn't make him any less capable of driving. That could have been anyone of any age that backed into that car. This was not the only conflict of age throughout this movie there were many different scenarios where age was brought up or was an issue. This was just the main one because of the different things that the younger man was yelling at Mr. Drayton. I think the younger generation has no respect for the elderly, and I think that it is not really important to them either. We need to change our view on many different issues and this one is just as important as any of the others. Litv123
In this scene of the movie, one can see the use of ageism. When the Draytons arrive at the car hop, one can see the attitudes of the waitress to be a little rude. She is not very helpful when Mr. Drayton is trying to remember the last ice cream flavor he had when he was there. If I was in her place, I would ask if he remembered which color the ice cream was or brought over a hand held menu with all of the picture of the ice cream. Working in the food industry, I understand that it may be frustrating when a customer expects you to know their last order when you have never served or let alone seen them before. However, there are ways to mask your slight irritation and try to work with the customer to figure it all out. The scene continues to demonstrate ageism when Mr. Dayton accidently hits another car. The driver of that car is very angry and yells at Mr.Dayton calling him and old man and belittling him for making the mistake. Even when Mr. Dayton gives the driver the money needed to repair his car, the driver still continues to yell at Mr.Dayton. “There ought to be a law!” he shouts. He is saying that older people should not even be out driving vehicles. At the end of this scene, all of the younger people at the car hop applaud the angry driver for voicing out his opinion and making a big scene out of the whole event. In my opinion, I thought that the writers put this scene in for satire as well. A lot of stereotypes about older people were demonstrated in this part of the movie. The satirical style of the lines in the movie further emphasized what an apparent stereotype it was. You cannot learn from something until you make fun of it. Check123
“Stupid old man!” “There should be a law!” Those lines really resonated with me because they play into the stereotypes our culture has set about older people: old people are unable and senile. Our culture has developed a sense of ageism, and those lines reflect that greatly. In the movie, that younger guy at the carhop showed an attitude that reflected the beliefs of the culture where older people were looked down upon. That attitude may have been further enforced by the civil rights movement in a way. The civil rights movement brought about a mindset of rebellion against previous ideas, which may have translated to ‘out with the old, in with the new’ in many people’s opinions. The rebellious spirit that came with the civil rights movement encouraged the younger generations to look down upon the older generations and their ‘old ways.’ causing many younger people to deviate from cultural norms set by the elders in the community and, in a way, disrespect those who brought them up. Also, as older people began to get older, the differences between the old and the young grew. This happened with increased industrialization, and with increased industrialization, an increase in the need for young attributes increased, such as strength, speed, and stamina. As we age, normally, our physical abilities decline, rendering us useless in an industrial society. What do you contribute if you cannot perform the necessary physical tasks to keep up in society? That mentality is shifting as the majority of our population gets older and the physicality of the workforce is being taken out. Mental abilities are what push you forward in life now, and older people have so much knowledge to share because of the experiences they have had. It is clear the American culture as a whole has greatly advanced. aardvark123
Ageism is where prejudice and discrimination are because of a person's age. In this particular scene of the movie, ageism is clearly evident. Towards the end of this video, a scene was shown between a younger boy and Mr. Drayton. Mr. Drayton backed up into the young boy's vehicle causing quite the scene. It was definitely an accident. The young both was extremely angry. He belittled him, calls him a stupid old man, and calls him an idiot. Mr. Drayton offers to pair for the repairs even after being yelled at but the yelling and belittling continued. He even said something along the lines that there should be a law against older people being able to drive automobiles. After Mr. Drayton drove away, the people at the car hop witnessing the scene all cheered for the young driver. The witnesses were young just like the driver was. This is an example of ageism and stereotypes. When we are driving behind a slow driver, we automatically assume it is an old driver. We're all guilty of it even though it is not right. Ageism happened in the 1960s when this film was produced and it still occurs in today's society. While a majority of the film was based off of racial stereotypes, this scene stood out to me the most even though it is about stereotypes involving age. The scene with the waitress even had ageism in it. While Mr. Dayton was ordering his ice cream and asking about the menu and such, the waitress brushed him off without really caring. She seems completely indifferent towards them and wanted the Dayton's to leave faster. I did not see or make the realization of this stereotype until I rewatched the scene for a second time. I am sure if I rewatched the movie again, I would find even more stereotypes. -softball_savvy123
The young black man that Mr. Drayton ran into is completely out of line in his thinking. We all react poorly when we are angry but I think how the boy reacts shows that he has a some unconscious bias lingering regarding age. I think it’s normal, although not ideal, to yell and be upset especially when you are young but the way he goes on and on about how he shouldn’t be allowed to drive is just mean and ageist. I wonder if there was more hostility towards the old generation in the 1960s because there was a large divide between the young and the old. I think that may be the case because after Mr. Drayton drove away all of the other kids began clapping as if his obnoxious intolerant behavior is something to be praised. Perhaps the young man thought that Mr. Drayton represented a white racist old man, but that of course doesn’t excuse his behavior because he is simply contributing to the problem when he treats expresses this hostility through alienating and humiliating the older generation. The situation is ironic because the young man is saying that he wants to take away Mr. Drayton’s right to drive just because he is old as Mr. Drayton is considering whether or not his daughter should have the right to marry a black man. The girl at the ice cream store is representing poor customer service in my opinion because if you are in customer service your prejudices aside because it doesn’t matter what a customer looks like you have to treat them well in order to get get them to come back to your establishment instead the girl kind of ignores him and seems annoyed that he is asking her to remind him about the ice cream when he returns. -Glass123
Glass123 - Totally with you. Never thought of implicit bias. I liked your thoughts here. Never saw the girl employee either!! Wow! I am feeling your insight here. LearningEveryDay345
There is a scene in the movie where ageism is obvious. The scene begins when Matt and Chris Drayton are pulling into a car hop malt shop. When placing his order Matt Drayton can not remember what he had ordered the last time he was there. The car hop seems put out and bothered and with a little attitude runs through the menu of what flavors of ice cream he could of ordered. Eventually he thinks he remembered what the flavor was. Come to find out he was wrong. A little bit upset he called the car hop back to tell her that it was wrong, but what he ordered did taste good. When he was paying for the bill he tells the car hop that she needs to remember the flavor he ordered for the next time he goes there. Thinking that she would remember easier since she is younger. After that when pulling out of the parking lot Matt backs into another car. When he gets out of the car the other driver starts yelling at Matt. After Matt pays the other man more than what the cost would be to fix the car, trying to make things right. He keeps on yelling at him telling him it should be against the law for someone his age to drive. He also calls him a stupid idiot, and he should be put away in a home. What happens after that kind of shocked me too. The people in the parking lot started clapping after Matt drives away. In this part of the movie Matt gets no respect anywhere. The kids in the malt shop just think he is an old man that is out of his element. It is obvious that the kids at the malt shop think what society teaches them. They think the old couple should just go to a nursing home and leave everybody else alone. Diver123
What a scene. This scene scene really displays the issue of agism on behalf of the young man whose car was hit. He straight up said, “stupid old man.” It totally feeds into the stereotype that old people cannot drive. Matt tried to explain that he didn’t see the car due to how low to the ground it was. This was no excuse to the young man whose car was hit. This kid flipped out! It is understandable to an extent. This kid had put his own work into the car. But that is no excuse to disrespect like he did. You can see agism from the perspective that the young man was following a stereotype given to young people, which is that they are disrespectful. He overreacted a bit. Matt gave the man more than he needed to fix up the car, and the kid just did not give. However, there is an empathic perspective you could choose to look from. Issues like this are very complicated. You’ve got a rich old guy who is being judged for hitting a car. Instead of blaming him, the kid practically blames the age. Then you have a kid who has a very short temper, but who also cares a lot about his car. Both of these people can be justified and torn apart for their actions. In the end, what is important is acknowledging that both of these people could have handled the situation differently for a better outcome. -M&M123
In the video clip from the movie “ guess who's coming to dinner” there is a scene when Mr. Drayton and his wife decided to go get some ice cream out of frustration. Once they got to the drive in he could remember what flavored ice cream he got the last time he was there so while he was trying to figure it out his waitress made faces as if she hated her job, she didn't looked pleased when he told her thank you. Some may say it is because he is old but that still doesn't justify the fact she was being rude. After that scene Mr. Drayton was backing out of the parking lot and hit someone's car and the person yelled “ old man this should be illegal” referencing to the fact old people should not drive. Which is an example of ageism in today's society we always assume if a person is driving slow in front of us they are old and they shouldn't be driving. Yes it is wrong but that is how we think when it comes to the elderly. Our culture believes that younger people should be the ones on the street and the elders should be in nursing homes, not everyone thinks in such a way because I don't but people do this and neglect those who care for them due to their age. the African American whose car was messed up wasn't angry the Mr. Drayton was old he was angry that he ruined his car. Then he started talking at the mouth and started saying things he didn't mean. We do this out of impulse we say things we don't mean when we are angry and frustrated. Dancer123
In this scene of the movie "Guess who's coming to dinner," we are shown two examples of ageism. One of the encounters was more subtle, and the other was more aggressive. The beginning of this scene is when Matt Drayton wants to leave the house with his Cristina to escape the stress of having to approve the marriage of his daughter Joanna to Dr. John Prentice. The scene shows them driving when Matt suddenly gets a craving for ice cream, He pulls into this diner type place and parks his car. Their waitress is a teenage blonde white girl who was amiable towards them at the beginning. Matt orders a certain flavor of ice cream and his wife orders black coffee. The girl comes back with their orders and leaves. When Matt took the first spoonful of ice cream he realized that it wasn't the flavor he thought he wanted. He honks his horn to get the girls attention, this time she was slightly annoyed, and serious towards them, but she wasn't rude. Finally, the scene shows Mr. Drayton paying the waitress. At this point, the waitress is very distant, and cold towards them. That attitude was incorrect because they were her customers and she should have treated them with the same kindness and patience with everyone else. The second encounter was when he was backing up to leave and accidentally hit a young black guys car. The guy began yelling at him and calling him a stupid old guy. Matt even gives him money so he could buy a new vehicle and they guy continued to insult him. The black guy began yelling, "Some of these old guys are senile, there ought to be a law, there ought to be a law." They guy completely overreacted, and he was unnecessarily loud and disrespectful. That accident could have happened to anyone regardless of the age. There was ageism in different degrees between the teenage waitress, and the young man. Mr. Drayton should have been treated better, and should have been apologized too. panda123
I find the contrast in ageism in my own life more often than not, as viewers of this clip from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" will also find. Nowadays it feels like I'll come across a reckless driver almost every day, and in most cases it is indeed an elderly person. Is it wrong then to have some sort of bias against elderly people driving at all or is it simply a glitch in our society's sociological perception of ageism between young and elderly drivers? Nevertheless, it is quite frustrating to know that many preventable accidents are caused by reckless elderly drivers day in and day out in America, as well as other countries around the globe. I do find myself however gaining a greater respect for the older generations, through this clip especially, as they begin to notice the world changing vastly around them and often don't have as much time to slow down and smell the roses with everything going on around them. It truly is a shame that due to the carelessness of some, the overall views of ageism and the gap between the young and the old on America's roadways has developed into an all around cultural bias that finds itself melding into an all out cultural meltdown. A clash so to speak among various generations fighting to be the top dog. "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is no stranger to ageism references though as the entire film is basically one big homage to the differences between generations and the gaps they have to fill in order to satisfy the needs and rewards of one another. Maybe someday through higher education and a better sociological understanding of the differences between generations we can all find common ground and learn from one another so that we all make both a smoother, and healthier transition into old age.-MrG123
Ageism is such an interesting concept because it is one I hadn't really thought of before. I don't find myself having bias against the elderly often, and taking the IAT test yesterday actually made me aware that I had a stronger implicit bias towards the elderly. Ageism can be seen in a couple different places in this scene from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". The first example is when the young blonde seems to have a negative bias towards Matt Drayton when he's trying to remember the kind of ice cream he ordered last time. When he calls her back to let her know that the ice cream wasn't the one he had wanted, but it's still very good, she seemed almost annoyed as she walked away without saying anything. The young girl seemed to have a bias against the elderly. Another example was when Matt Drayton backed into a young man's new car. The young man started yelling at him and made a comment about how "They should make a law!" Following this, all of the young people at the ice cream shop started clapping in support of this idea. This shows ageism as the younger generation thinks there should be more restrictions against the elderly driving. In today's society, the rate of elderly people in America is rising. Because of this, it is likely that ageism will begin to decline as the young people of America encounter more elderly people in their lifetime. Daisy123
This clip is from the film we recently watched, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. In this excerpt, we can see Mr. and Mrs. Drayton getting ice cream at the local shop. The customers there are primarily young people of all races. You can see the the waitress being short with Mr. Drayton and looking displeased as he attempts to remember the kind of ice cream he enjoys. It is easy for us to do this today, I know especially from working with older people. When you are stressed out, it can get bothersome to have someone taking a long time to figure out what they are trying to say to you. While I understand it, I know that it is wrong to feel this way. The people cannot help that they are forgetful and they are just as frustrated as we are if not more. You also notice that when Mr. Drayton accidentally backs up into a younger man’s car, the young man gets out and begins to yell at Mr. Drayton. He yells very rude things to him as Mr. Drayton tries to remain calm and reasonable - something I think you gain with age. Eventually, Drayton is very angry, throws the money at the kid, and drives away. You can see when he drives away that the younger person yells things like “stupid old man.” and “there outta be a law.” Drayton is very angry and hits the steering wheel while the crowd at the ice cream shop applauds the young man that yelled at this older man. I found it most surprising that the whole audience there applauded and cheered for the man after he yelled at an elder like that. I cannot imagine that and it is sad that we do not have the same respect for our elders that other people around the world do. SAS123
The parents decide to go get ice-cream because Mr. Dayton feels the need to eat some since he is stressed. He asks the waiter about a specific ice-cream that he had that he loved and makes a point to figure out what it is. The waitress is not at all concerned with his persistence but just stays doing her job and listing all her ice-cream flavors. When he eats the ice-cream and realizes that it’s not the flavor he wanted, it symbolized the black man his daughter was going to marry. This is because he might not be the man he originally wanted her to marry but he ends up liking the ice-cream (the guy) just the same. I think this shows that no matter what the age, you’re always learning. When Mr. Dayton runs his car into the young man’s car, the young man calls him stupid and an idiot. I think these words were the first to come to his mind because of his old age and the stereotype that comes with really old people driving cars. They tend to be oblivious to the people around them because they focus on their own driving so intensely. The young man says of course he didn’t see him because he wasn’t looking where he was going. He doesn’t know that Mr. Dayton wasn’t looking where he was going; it was just a hasty generalization to assume that because he is old, he must not pay attention. He clearly did not look to see what was behind him, though. The young man then shouts that some of these old guys are senile. So, even though Mr. Dayton reacted accordingly and even paid the young man up front, which is a generous and extremely kind act, the younger man still assumed he was mentally ill because of his old age. -Kiwi123
The clip from the movie has several points of reference that display ageism. The more obvious was at the end of the clip when Mr. Drayton backed into the black man’s vehicle. The younger fellow displayed signs of anger maybe because he’s a minority and isn’t afforded the same equal rights as other racial groups so to have someone just haul off and hit his car enraged him; but nonetheless, he was very disrespectful towards Mr. Drayton by yelling instead of speaking to him with respect as he would his parents, he also called him senile as if only old people were the cause of all car accidents and he said “he outta be put in a home or something” how belittling is that to say that after all of the hard work you’ve given to society we’re not even partial to elderly people it’s as if he viewed Mr. Drayton as nothing more than an ornament that can be put away after it use was no longer needed, after getting paid that still wasn’t good enough for him because even as Mr. Drayton he yelled out inappropriate comments stating there should be a law. It’s seems that it’s easy for him to impart upon the next person what he may experience daily. The other scene that was not as obvious but still apparent was the way the waitress treated Mr. Drayton after he called her back to the car to discuss the ice cream as well as when he was paying for the bill. Yes, he may have called her back for a complaint but he decided to change what he was going to say and asked for her help the next time he went there and she looked at him as to say you won’t even remember saying this to me. And again, after it was time to pay she did some eye rolling and made it seem that his precious time impeded upon her time and that he needed to talk less so that she could hurry up and leave. Benoodles123
This humorous scene from Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner starts with Mrs. Drayton stating that they should not have ice-cream because of the fact that it was after five in the afternoon. Although this line is laughable now, I think it still makes a point about the views some elderly people have. Having worked at an ice-cream place for a few years, I can personally relate to the annoyance the waitress who took their order must have certainly felt. Oftentimes, older people would come up to the serving window and not know what they want, but the are certain of the fact that you know what it was they had last time and what it was called. Fortunately, in this movie scene Mr. Drayton thinks that he remembers which type he ordered last time (even though he was mistaken.) The scene then ends with Mr Drayton accidentally hitting a young African-American’s car when pulling out of the ice-cream shoppe. The young black man is furious and repeatedly verbally abuses Mr. Drayton calling his “stupid”, “senile”, and “idiot” among various other names. The amount of anger and disrespect towards someone of an older generation is appalling to me. I have always been taught to respect my elders and, because I am currently employed in a nursing home environment, have learned to empathize with those I take care of. It helps to consider how much the elderly have been through; all of those memories and so much knowledge is in their brains it is often more difficult to find space to fit new ideas or notions into their already jam-packed minds. -ThreeTwo123
The ice cream shop scene really sums up what ageism is. From the time Matt and Christine entered the parking lot to when they left, I had the feeling that they were being treated like outcasts or even deviants for daring to enter an ice cream shop flooded with young people. The waitress was taking their order and seemed to be bored or impatient at Matt for asking questions and being indecisive. Matt honks his horn before he even tastes the first bite of ice cream, but then realizes he likes it and tells the waitress that when she comes over to see what he wanted. I worked at dairy queen for 3 years and I have experienced the elderly order their ice cream a lot like Matt. However, I can honestly say that I did not get annoyed because I have a lot of respect for the older population. I think that when they get demanding or picky it is our responsibility to be patient and understanding because they did the same for us when they raised us and they have taught us most of what we know. Moving on, when Matt backs out to leave the parking lot and accidently hits a young black man’s shiny new car the man jumps out of his car and starts screaming at Matt. Matt hands him $50 which is more than enough to fix his car, but the man continues screaming at him rather than thanking him. I can feel Matt’s anger as he drives off. He is probably mad at himself for what he did and for how poorly he was treated. Elderly people are not excited about all of the possible physical and mental declines that occur at old age and it does not help when young people are ageist toward them. -Chameleon123
I didn't even recognize how Mr. and Mrs. Dayton was approaching the ice cream parlor that the younger generation made them feel as an outcast or even deviants. It was multi-culture at the ice cream parlor. So right then in their evolution is taking place. Based on how this young man reacted to Mr. Dayton he felt as if the disengagement theory needs to occur. The young man yelled out to him you’re a stupid old man should be in a nursing home. He feels that society should function in an orderly way by removing people from positions of responsibility as they reach old age. I can agree with this to a certain extent. Rendezvous123
Mr. Dayton was being nostalgic about the situation while on a drive to the ice cream parlor. Mr. Dayton ordered some ice cream that he thought he had before, but it wasn’t that ice cream. Mr. Dayton ended up accepting the new flavor of ice cream and even liked it. While backing up from the ice cream parlor Mr. Dayton ran into a young African American man. The young man showed ageism by calling Mr. Dayton a stupid old man who should be in a nursing home somewhere. “Ageism is stereotyping and discriminating against individuals or groups based on their age” (Ageism-Wikipedia). This young man basically wanted to commit genocide on a target age group because they were driving at a certain age. Mr. Dayton offered to pay for the cost. The young man did not want to hear that, he felt he should have been paying attention to what he was doing. He called him a stupid idiot and a stupid old man. That was not right for the young man to call Mr. Dayton names. Just because Mr. Dayton is an elder man does not mean that he is not capable of driving. On the other hand, the textbook states on pg. 390 that statistically speaking, older people are more likely than younger people to be mentally and physically impaired. I understand the young man was upset, because he just fixed his car up, but that is not a way to talk to someone. Especially an elder man regardless of his race. I also saw ageism when Joanna father stated that she is 23 years old she can do whatever she likes. He’s basically making a statement that she is of age to make her own decisions. He may not agree with her decisions, but if marrying John is what Joanna wants to do he should respect that. Rendezvous123
In the short clip of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, we see that Mr. Drayton takes his wife out to ice cream even though it is after five pm and they are expecting guests for dinner. He decided to go anyways, ignoring his wife’s scoffing and pulls into a lot that is over run with adolescent adults, easily placing him and his wife as the eldest couple there. When he mentions to the waitress that he had a special type of ice cream there she suggests that she go get the menu so he can decided, but he tell her that she must remember it (the menu) and she recites it off the top of her head. When he tells the waitress that he is assuming because she is young she had a good memory and is pointing out a difference in their ages. After he receives the ice cream he realizes that it is not the same kind he had before and immediately calls the girl over. While he is waiting for her to come over he changes his mind and decided he likes it, but before he decided he liked it he got into a tiff and was acting rather honoree. The waitress just shrugs him off and walks away. When it comes time to pay the bill, Mr. Drayton asks the waitress to remind him next time he comes in that it was the Oregon Boysenberry ice cream that he liked and she agreed but only to placate him and get him on his way faster. The younger generation has no regard for the older generation whatsoever, and just like to put up with them or brush them off completely. This is apparently evident when Mr. Drayton accidently backs up into another car and the younger man says that it should be illegal. He is implying that allowing elderly people to drive should be illegal. I disagree with this. I think the more things we take away from them, the more discouraged they get. However, I think that once you hit a certain age you should have to take a driving test every year just to make sure that you are safe and not endangering others as well.
ReplyDeletesunflower123
I never thought of the encounter with the waitress as an example of ageism until I read this post. Now that I think about it, that makes a lot of sense. It is amazing how many different assumptions we make throughout the day based on age and other sociological mechanisms. The younger generation does the same thing when she says that she will remember just to get them moving. That is very interesting to me because ageism is going on in both perspectives at the same time. He assumes she will remember and she is assuming he will forget about it next time he comes to get ice cream and they are both based on age. Scuba123
DeleteSunflower123 - Nice response here. Illegal to drive because your slightly older? The pure disrespect of the younger man for no reason at all) towards his elder for a simple mistake....LearningAllDay345
DeleteThere are a lot of different scenes, involving ageism, in the movie "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" but this one really sticks out the most. There are certain stereotypes of older people that most of all people hold in their head. We use these stereotypes as excuses for mistakes older people make even when that may not be the reason a certain situation happens. The example in the film is when Matt backs into a younger mans car. The younger man is very angry with him and blames it on his age. He says that Matt is blind and incapable of driving. He says that Matt should be in a retirement home and it should be illegal for old people to drive. Another similar example could be someone driving under the speed limit in front of you. You automatically think the person that is driving is a grandma or grandpa, curled around the seat, focusing intently on the road. We have all had these past experience and associate every new experience with old ones we have acquired. We can also make meaning to the situation. We can say it is an old person going slow because their cognitive skills are not very good. If it is just a middle aged person driving, the only explanation without knowing the person is that they are a bad/slow driver. We can make similar comparisons when talking about minors. We say that all minors are irresponsible and childish. If I am waiting tables and I have a middle aged professional couple and a table with two teenagers, I am going to make sure the middle aged couple has everything they need before the teenagers. You simply believe that the middle aged couple is wealthier and is going to tip you better than the teenagers are. Ageism affects decisions we make every day. Scuba123
ReplyDeleteThis scene plays out much like it would today if an elderly person were to hit someone. I believe that a lot of different people think that old people should not be able to drive. Driving is a right in this country and it is just as much their right as it is ours. To take that away from them is just unfair. We do not get to decide when they need to be done driving because we are not important enough to make that decision. In this particular scene Mr. Drayton is out with his wife and once they are leaving he runs into the back of a younger mans car. The younger man begins to yell and make a huge deal out of the whole thing even after Mr. Drayton gives him money to fix the damage. The younger guy yells old man which right there is an example of someone thinking that Mr. Drayton only did that because he is older. Which is not true at all making him older doesn't make him any less capable of driving. That could have been anyone of any age that backed into that car. This was not the only conflict of age throughout this movie there were many different scenarios where age was brought up or was an issue. This was just the main one because of the different things that the younger man was yelling at Mr. Drayton. I think the younger generation has no respect for the elderly, and I think that it is not really important to them either. We need to change our view on many different issues and this one is just as important as any of the others. Litv123
ReplyDeleteIn this scene of the movie, one can see the use of ageism. When the Draytons arrive at the car hop, one can see the attitudes of the waitress to be a little rude. She is not very helpful when Mr. Drayton is trying to remember the last ice cream flavor he had when he was there. If I was in her place, I would ask if he remembered which color the ice cream was or brought over a hand held menu with all of the picture of the ice cream. Working in the food industry, I understand that it may be frustrating when a customer expects you to know their last order when you have never served or let alone seen them before. However, there are ways to mask your slight irritation and try to work with the customer to figure it all out. The scene continues to demonstrate ageism when Mr. Dayton accidently hits another car. The driver of that car is very angry and yells at Mr.Dayton calling him and old man and belittling him for making the mistake. Even when Mr. Dayton gives the driver the money needed to repair his car, the driver still continues to yell at Mr.Dayton. “There ought to be a law!” he shouts. He is saying that older people should not even be out driving vehicles. At the end of this scene, all of the younger people at the car hop applaud the angry driver for voicing out his opinion and making a big scene out of the whole event. In my opinion, I thought that the writers put this scene in for satire as well. A lot of stereotypes about older people were demonstrated in this part of the movie. The satirical style of the lines in the movie further emphasized what an apparent stereotype it was. You cannot learn from something until you make fun of it. Check123
ReplyDelete“Stupid old man!” “There should be a law!” Those lines really resonated with me because they play into the stereotypes our culture has set about older people: old people are unable and senile. Our culture has developed a sense of ageism, and those lines reflect that greatly. In the movie, that younger guy at the carhop showed an attitude that reflected the beliefs of the culture where older people were looked down upon. That attitude may have been further enforced by the civil rights movement in a way. The civil rights movement brought about a mindset of rebellion against previous ideas, which may have translated to ‘out with the old, in with the new’ in many people’s opinions. The rebellious spirit that came with the civil rights movement encouraged the younger generations to look down upon the older generations and their ‘old ways.’ causing many younger people to deviate from cultural norms set by the elders in the community and, in a way, disrespect those who brought them up. Also, as older people began to get older, the differences between the old and the young grew. This happened with increased industrialization, and with increased industrialization, an increase in the need for young attributes increased, such as strength, speed, and stamina. As we age, normally, our physical abilities decline, rendering us useless in an industrial society. What do you contribute if you cannot perform the necessary physical tasks to keep up in society? That mentality is shifting as the majority of our population gets older and the physicality of the workforce is being taken out. Mental abilities are what push you forward in life now, and older people have so much knowledge to share because of the experiences they have had. It is clear the American culture as a whole has greatly advanced. aardvark123
ReplyDeleteAgeism is where prejudice and discrimination are because of a person's age. In this particular scene of the movie, ageism is clearly evident. Towards the end of this video, a scene was shown between a younger boy and Mr. Drayton. Mr. Drayton backed up into the young boy's vehicle causing quite the scene. It was definitely an accident. The young both was extremely angry. He belittled him, calls him a stupid old man, and calls him an idiot. Mr. Drayton offers to pair for the repairs even after being yelled at but the yelling and belittling continued. He even said something along the lines that there should be a law against older people being able to drive automobiles. After Mr. Drayton drove away, the people at the car hop witnessing the scene all cheered for the young driver. The witnesses were young just like the driver was. This is an example of ageism and stereotypes. When we are driving behind a slow driver, we automatically assume it is an old driver. We're all guilty of it even though it is not right. Ageism happened in the 1960s when this film was produced and it still occurs in today's society. While a majority of the film was based off of racial stereotypes, this scene stood out to me the most even though it is about stereotypes involving age. The scene with the waitress even had ageism in it. While Mr. Dayton was ordering his ice cream and asking about the menu and such, the waitress brushed him off without really caring. She seems completely indifferent towards them and wanted the Dayton's to leave faster. I did not see or make the realization of this stereotype until I rewatched the scene for a second time. I am sure if I rewatched the movie again, I would find even more stereotypes.
ReplyDelete-softball_savvy123
The young black man that Mr. Drayton ran into is completely out of line in his thinking. We all react poorly when we are angry but I think how the boy reacts shows that he has a some unconscious bias lingering regarding age. I think it’s normal, although not ideal, to yell and be upset especially when you are young but the way he goes on and on about how he shouldn’t be allowed to drive is just mean and ageist. I wonder if there was more hostility towards the old generation in the 1960s because there was a large divide between the young and the old. I think that may be the case because after Mr. Drayton drove away all of the other kids began clapping as if his obnoxious intolerant behavior is something to be praised. Perhaps the young man thought that Mr. Drayton represented a white racist old man, but that of course doesn’t excuse his behavior because he is simply contributing to the problem when he treats expresses this hostility through alienating and humiliating the older generation. The situation is ironic because the young man is saying that he wants to take away Mr. Drayton’s right to drive just because he is old as Mr. Drayton is considering whether or not his daughter should have the right to marry a black man. The girl at the ice cream store is representing poor customer service in my opinion because if you are in customer service your prejudices aside because it doesn’t matter what a customer looks like you have to treat them well in order to get get them to come back to your establishment instead the girl kind of ignores him and seems annoyed that he is asking her to remind him about the ice cream when he returns. -Glass123
ReplyDeleteGlass123 - Totally with you. Never thought of implicit bias. I liked your thoughts here. Never saw the girl employee either!! Wow! I am feeling your insight here. LearningEveryDay345
DeleteThere is a scene in the movie where ageism is obvious. The scene begins when Matt and Chris Drayton are pulling into a car hop malt shop. When placing his order Matt Drayton can not remember what he had ordered the last time he was there. The car hop seems put out and bothered and with a little attitude runs through the menu of what flavors of ice cream he could of ordered. Eventually he thinks he remembered what the flavor was. Come to find out he was wrong. A little bit upset he called the car hop back to tell her that it was wrong, but what he ordered did taste good. When he was paying for the bill he tells the car hop that she needs to remember the flavor he ordered for the next time he goes there. Thinking that she would remember easier since she is younger. After that when pulling out of the parking lot Matt backs into another car. When he gets out of the car the other driver starts yelling at Matt. After Matt pays the other man more than what the cost would be to fix the car, trying to make things right. He keeps on yelling at him telling him it should be against the law for someone his age to drive. He also calls him a stupid idiot, and he should be put away in a home. What happens after that kind of shocked me too. The people in the parking lot started clapping after Matt drives away. In this part of the movie Matt gets no respect anywhere. The kids in the malt shop just think he is an old man that is out of his element. It is obvious that the kids at the malt shop think what society teaches them. They think the old couple should just go to a nursing home and leave everybody else alone. Diver123
ReplyDeleteWhat a scene. This scene scene really displays the issue of agism on behalf of the young man whose car was hit. He straight up said, “stupid old man.” It totally feeds into the stereotype that old people cannot drive. Matt tried to explain that he didn’t see the car due to how low to the ground it was. This was no excuse to the young man whose car was hit. This kid flipped out! It is understandable to an extent. This kid had put his own work into the car. But that is no excuse to disrespect like he did. You can see agism from the perspective that the young man was following a stereotype given to young people, which is that they are disrespectful. He overreacted a bit. Matt gave the man more than he needed to fix up the car, and the kid just did not give. However, there is an empathic perspective you could choose to look from. Issues like this are very complicated. You’ve got a rich old guy who is being judged for hitting a car. Instead of blaming him, the kid practically blames the age. Then you have a kid who has a very short temper, but who also cares a lot about his car. Both of these people can be justified and torn apart for their actions. In the end, what is important is acknowledging that both of these people could have handled the situation differently for a better outcome. -M&M123
ReplyDeleteIn the video clip from the movie “ guess who's coming to dinner” there is a scene when Mr. Drayton and his wife decided to go get some ice cream out of frustration. Once they got to the drive in he could remember what flavored ice cream he got the last time he was there so while he was trying to figure it out his waitress made faces as if she hated her job, she didn't looked pleased when he told her thank you. Some may say it is because he is old but that still doesn't justify the fact she was being rude. After that scene Mr. Drayton was backing out of the parking lot and hit someone's car and the person yelled “ old man this should be illegal” referencing to the fact old people should not drive. Which is an example of ageism in today's society we always assume if a person is driving slow in front of us they are old and they shouldn't be driving. Yes it is wrong but that is how we think when it comes to the elderly. Our culture believes that younger people should be the ones on the street and the elders should be in nursing homes, not everyone thinks in such a way because I don't but people do this and neglect those who care for them due to their age. the African American whose car was messed up wasn't angry the Mr. Drayton was old he was angry that he ruined his car. Then he started talking at the mouth and started saying things he didn't mean. We do this out of impulse we say things we don't mean when we are angry and frustrated. Dancer123
ReplyDeleteIn this scene of the movie "Guess who's coming to dinner," we are shown two examples of ageism. One of the encounters was more subtle, and the other was more aggressive. The beginning of this scene is when Matt Drayton wants to leave the house with his Cristina to escape the stress of having to approve the marriage of his daughter Joanna to Dr. John Prentice. The scene shows them driving when Matt suddenly gets a craving for ice cream, He pulls into this diner type place and parks his car. Their waitress is a teenage blonde white girl who was amiable towards them at the beginning. Matt orders a certain flavor of ice cream and his wife orders black coffee. The girl comes back with their orders and leaves. When Matt took the first spoonful of ice cream he realized that it wasn't the flavor he thought he wanted. He honks his horn to get the girls attention, this time she was slightly annoyed, and serious towards them, but she wasn't rude. Finally, the scene shows Mr. Drayton paying the waitress. At this point, the waitress is very distant, and cold towards them. That attitude was incorrect because they were her customers and she should have treated them with the same kindness and patience with everyone else. The second encounter was when he was backing up to leave and accidentally hit a young black guys car. The guy began yelling at him and calling him a stupid old guy. Matt even gives him money so he could buy a new vehicle and they guy continued to insult him. The black guy began yelling, "Some of these old guys are senile, there ought to be a law, there ought to be a law." They guy completely overreacted, and he was unnecessarily loud and disrespectful. That accident could have happened to anyone regardless of the age. There was ageism in different degrees between the teenage waitress, and the young man. Mr. Drayton should have been treated better, and should have been apologized too.
ReplyDeletepanda123
I find the contrast in ageism in my own life more often than not, as viewers of this clip from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" will also find. Nowadays it feels like I'll come across a reckless driver almost every day, and in most cases it is indeed an elderly person. Is it wrong then to have some sort of bias against elderly people driving at all or is it simply a glitch in our society's sociological perception of ageism between young and elderly drivers? Nevertheless, it is quite frustrating to know that many preventable accidents are caused by reckless elderly drivers day in and day out in America, as well as other countries around the globe. I do find myself however gaining a greater respect for the older generations, through this clip especially, as they begin to notice the world changing vastly around them and often don't have as much time to slow down and smell the roses with everything going on around them. It truly is a shame that due to the carelessness of some, the overall views of ageism and the gap between the young and the old on America's roadways has developed into an all around cultural bias that finds itself melding into an all out cultural meltdown. A clash so to speak among various generations fighting to be the top dog. "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is no stranger to ageism references though as the entire film is basically one big homage to the differences between generations and the gaps they have to fill in order to satisfy the needs and rewards of one another. Maybe someday through higher education and a better sociological understanding of the differences between generations we can all find common ground and learn from one another so that we all make both a smoother, and healthier transition into old age.-MrG123
ReplyDeleteAgeism is such an interesting concept because it is one I hadn't really thought of before. I don't find myself having bias against the elderly often, and taking the IAT test yesterday actually made me aware that I had a stronger implicit bias towards the elderly. Ageism can be seen in a couple different places in this scene from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". The first example is when the young blonde seems to have a negative bias towards Matt Drayton when he's trying to remember the kind of ice cream he ordered last time. When he calls her back to let her know that the ice cream wasn't the one he had wanted, but it's still very good, she seemed almost annoyed as she walked away without saying anything. The young girl seemed to have a bias against the elderly. Another example was when Matt Drayton backed into a young man's new car. The young man started yelling at him and made a comment about how "They should make a law!" Following this, all of the young people at the ice cream shop started clapping in support of this idea. This shows ageism as the younger generation thinks there should be more restrictions against the elderly driving. In today's society, the rate of elderly people in America is rising. Because of this, it is likely that ageism will begin to decline as the young people of America encounter more elderly people in their lifetime. Daisy123
ReplyDeleteThis clip is from the film we recently watched, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. In this excerpt, we can see Mr. and Mrs. Drayton getting ice cream at the local shop. The customers there are primarily young people of all races. You can see the the waitress being short with Mr. Drayton and looking displeased as he attempts to remember the kind of ice cream he enjoys. It is easy for us to do this today, I know especially from working with older people. When you are stressed out, it can get bothersome to have someone taking a long time to figure out what they are trying to say to you. While I understand it, I know that it is wrong to feel this way. The people cannot help that they are forgetful and they are just as frustrated as we are if not more. You also notice that when Mr. Drayton accidentally backs up into a younger man’s car, the young man gets out and begins to yell at Mr. Drayton. He yells very rude things to him as Mr. Drayton tries to remain calm and reasonable - something I think you gain with age. Eventually, Drayton is very angry, throws the money at the kid, and drives away. You can see when he drives away that the younger person yells things like “stupid old man.” and “there outta be a law.” Drayton is very angry and hits the steering wheel while the crowd at the ice cream shop applauds the young man that yelled at this older man. I found it most surprising that the whole audience there applauded and cheered for the man after he yelled at an elder like that. I cannot imagine that and it is sad that we do not have the same respect for our elders that other people around the world do. SAS123
ReplyDeleteThe parents decide to go get ice-cream because Mr. Dayton feels the need to eat some since he is stressed. He asks the waiter about a specific ice-cream that he had that he loved and makes a point to figure out what it is. The waitress is not at all concerned with his persistence but just stays doing her job and listing all her ice-cream flavors. When he eats the ice-cream and realizes that it’s not the flavor he wanted, it symbolized the black man his daughter was going to marry. This is because he might not be the man he originally wanted her to marry but he ends up liking the ice-cream (the guy) just the same. I think this shows that no matter what the age, you’re always learning. When Mr. Dayton runs his car into the young man’s car, the young man calls him stupid and an idiot. I think these words were the first to come to his mind because of his old age and the stereotype that comes with really old people driving cars. They tend to be oblivious to the people around them because they focus on their own driving so intensely. The young man says of course he didn’t see him because he wasn’t looking where he was going. He doesn’t know that Mr. Dayton wasn’t looking where he was going; it was just a hasty generalization to assume that because he is old, he must not pay attention. He clearly did not look to see what was behind him, though. The young man then shouts that some of these old guys are senile. So, even though Mr. Dayton reacted accordingly and even paid the young man up front, which is a generous and extremely kind act, the younger man still assumed he was mentally ill because of his old age. -Kiwi123
ReplyDeleteThe clip from the movie has several points of reference that display ageism. The more obvious was at the end of the clip when Mr. Drayton backed into the black man’s vehicle. The younger fellow displayed signs of anger maybe because he’s a minority and isn’t afforded the same equal rights as other racial groups so to have someone just haul off and hit his car enraged him; but nonetheless, he was very disrespectful towards Mr. Drayton by yelling instead of speaking to him with respect as he would his parents, he also called him senile as if only old people were the cause of all car accidents and he said “he outta be put in a home or something” how belittling is that to say that after all of the hard work you’ve given to society we’re not even partial to elderly people it’s as if he viewed Mr. Drayton as nothing more than an ornament that can be put away after it use was no longer needed, after getting paid that still wasn’t good enough for him because even as Mr. Drayton he yelled out inappropriate comments stating there should be a law. It’s seems that it’s easy for him to impart upon the next person what he may experience daily.
ReplyDeleteThe other scene that was not as obvious but still apparent was the way the waitress treated Mr. Drayton after he called her back to the car to discuss the ice cream as well as when he was paying for the bill. Yes, he may have called her back for a complaint but he decided to change what he was going to say and asked for her help the next time he went there and she looked at him as to say you won’t even remember saying this to me. And again, after it was time to pay she did some eye rolling and made it seem that his precious time impeded upon her time and that he needed to talk less so that she could hurry up and leave. Benoodles123
This humorous scene from Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner starts with Mrs. Drayton stating that they should not have ice-cream because of the fact that it was after five in the afternoon. Although this line is laughable now, I think it still makes a point about the views some elderly people have. Having worked at an ice-cream place for a few years, I can personally relate to the annoyance the waitress who took their order must have certainly felt. Oftentimes, older people would come up to the serving window and not know what they want, but the are certain of the fact that you know what it was they had last time and what it was called. Fortunately, in this movie scene Mr. Drayton thinks that he remembers which type he ordered last time (even though he was mistaken.) The scene then ends with Mr Drayton accidentally hitting a young African-American’s car when pulling out of the ice-cream shoppe. The young black man is furious and repeatedly verbally abuses Mr. Drayton calling his “stupid”, “senile”, and “idiot” among various other names. The amount of anger and disrespect towards someone of an older generation is appalling to me. I have always been taught to respect my elders and, because I am currently employed in a nursing home environment, have learned to empathize with those I take care of. It helps to consider how much the elderly have been through; all of those memories and so much knowledge is in their brains it is often more difficult to find space to fit new ideas or notions into their already jam-packed minds.
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The ice cream shop scene really sums up what ageism is. From the time Matt and Christine entered the parking lot to when they left, I had the feeling that they were being treated like outcasts or even deviants for daring to enter an ice cream shop flooded with young people. The waitress was taking their order and seemed to be bored or impatient at Matt for asking questions and being indecisive. Matt honks his horn before he even tastes the first bite of ice cream, but then realizes he likes it and tells the waitress that when she comes over to see what he wanted. I worked at dairy queen for 3 years and I have experienced the elderly order their ice cream a lot like Matt. However, I can honestly say that I did not get annoyed because I have a lot of respect for the older population. I think that when they get demanding or picky it is our responsibility to be patient and understanding because they did the same for us when they raised us and they have taught us most of what we know. Moving on, when Matt backs out to leave the parking lot and accidently hits a young black man’s shiny new car the man jumps out of his car and starts screaming at Matt. Matt hands him $50 which is more than enough to fix his car, but the man continues screaming at him rather than thanking him. I can feel Matt’s anger as he drives off. He is probably mad at himself for what he did and for how poorly he was treated. Elderly people are not excited about all of the possible physical and mental declines that occur at old age and it does not help when young people are ageist toward them. -Chameleon123
ReplyDeleteI didn't even recognize how Mr. and Mrs. Dayton was approaching the ice cream parlor that the younger generation made them feel as an outcast or even deviants. It was multi-culture at the ice cream parlor. So right then in their evolution is taking place. Based on how this young man reacted to Mr. Dayton he felt as if the disengagement theory needs to occur. The young man yelled out to him you’re a stupid old man should be in a nursing home. He feels that society should function in an orderly way by removing people from positions of responsibility as they reach old age. I can agree with this to a certain extent. Rendezvous123
DeleteMr. Dayton was being nostalgic about the situation while on a drive to the ice cream parlor. Mr. Dayton ordered some ice cream that he thought he had before, but it wasn’t that ice cream. Mr. Dayton ended up accepting the new flavor of ice cream and even liked it. While backing up from the ice cream parlor Mr. Dayton ran into a young African American man. The young man showed ageism by calling Mr. Dayton a stupid old man who should be in a nursing home somewhere. “Ageism is stereotyping and discriminating against individuals or groups based on their age” (Ageism-Wikipedia). This young man basically wanted to commit genocide on a target age group because they were driving at a certain age. Mr. Dayton offered to pay for the cost. The young man did not want to hear that, he felt he should have been paying attention to what he was doing. He called him a stupid idiot and a stupid old man. That was not right for the young man to call Mr. Dayton names. Just because Mr. Dayton is an elder man does not mean that he is not capable of driving. On the other hand, the textbook states on pg. 390 that statistically speaking, older people are more likely than younger people to be mentally and physically impaired. I understand the young man was upset, because he just fixed his car up, but that is not a way to talk to someone. Especially an elder man regardless of his race. I also saw ageism when Joanna father stated that she is 23 years old she can do whatever she likes. He’s basically making a statement that she is of age to make her own decisions. He may not agree with her decisions, but if marrying John is what Joanna wants to do he should respect that. Rendezvous123
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