Poms

 It was the night of August 9, and we had turned on Netflix. Taking a break from the crime show, "Blacklist", my wife decided to put on the movie "Poms". This was an interesting choice since, on August 11, today, my Land Girl officially moved to the senior citizen category.  As she joins the ranks of seasoned citizens, it is well to recall that a typical 65 year old, say a couple generations ago, looked (and probably felt) much older than a typical 65 year old today.  I may be prejudiced, but Land Girl looks and acts much younger than her age. After all, she eats her corn in a rotational fashion, so does not follow the standard curve. The average age of death for US Citizens had been on the increase, albeit showing a plateau, until the past 12 to 18 months where it decreased due to primarily to two factors, the Covid pandemic and the opioid drug overdose epidemic.

Piers Gorge

What never declines is age.  From the day of birth we all grow older. While watching Poms, I laughed at a few different scenes, mainly those that played on senior stereotypes. My (then) soon to be seasoned citizen, commented that given my issues (feet) I should be careful, as we may headed to a senior citizen community. It did not really stop my laughing at the stereotypes. In the movie a group of older ladies form a pom squad, where they end up competing in a pom competition against a bunch of young girls. They fit into the over eighteen category.  As one woman judge at the competition said, the over eighteen was not meant to mean people that old. The lady who formed the group dies of ovarian cancer and the group continue as a fund raiser for ovarian cancer research.

Stream at Piers Gorge

In any event, the movie was not soft on senior citizen stereotypes, and it did produce varied laughs, at least out of me. Land Girl, of course, made another comment, that in a year and a few months, I too will be a senior citizen.  That does not mean, I can laugh at myself, and if I fit a few senior stereotypes, while I guess I am normal.  After all, stereotypes tend to be based on recurrent observation. 

Piers Gorge

Since Land Girl is now able to compete in a senior pom competition, perhaps the use of the term Girl is outdated. Although, I don't think Land Mam has the same ring as Land Girl, so I will stick to the what has the better ring. In any event, her constant motion, beautiful red hair, and other traits, certainly make her look, at least in my eyes, as much younger than the full fledged senior citizen age which she has now, by sole reason of passing a day, obtained. 

July 2021, Evening

I well know that aches and pains can make one feel older than they should feel, and perhaps that is why the ladies in Poms need to be given credit. Their pains seem to vanish as they did the pom movements. The Rhea Perlman characters shoulder pain appeared to vanish upon lifting the pom. Stereotypes are meant to give us laughs, and Poms did a great job of allowing me to snicker, all the while at least having some semblance of a nice story line.