We have moved away from asking "How does she look for her age?" to "What does she think?" The most exciting characters on screen right now—the ones with the secrets, the regrets, the lust, and the fury—are the ones who have been alive long enough to accumulate them.
Young men may dominate opening weekend box office numbers, but women over 40 buy the majority of movie tickets in the long tail. They subscribe to streaming services. They buy the DVDs. They make the book clubs that turn novels into bestsellers. MilfHunter.23.05.14.Jenna.Starr.Mothers.Day.XXX...
(though often the exception to every rule) used her gravitas to elevate projects like The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia! , proving that women over 50 could still be box office gold. Nicole Kidman , in her forties and fifties, produced and starred in Big Little Lies and The Undoing , stripping away the plastic surgery rumors to reveal raw, vulnerable, powerful performances. Breaking the Tropes: The New Archetypes We are currently witnessing the birth of new archetypes for mature women on screen. These are not "women of a certain age." These are just people of a certain age, with the same depth as any male character. 1. The Sexual Being For a long time, cinema suggested that female sexuality evaporated after menopause. Shows like Grace and Frankie (Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) shattered this myth by treating sex in your 70s as hilarious, joyful, and normal. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel showed seniors flirting and dating. Streaming services have allowed directors like Nancy Meyers and producers like King Size Productions to show that desire does not have a cut-off date. 2. The Action Hero When Red came out, audiences were shocked to see Helen Mirren (then 66) strapped into a tactical vest, firing a machine gun with steely precision. Mission: Impossible – Fallout saw Michelle Monaghan and Vanessa Kirby holding their own against Tom Cruise, but more importantly, Kill Bill ’s Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) had already paved the way. Mature women in action are no longer just "the target." They are the shooters. 3. The Flawed Detective The streaming era has given us the gift of the "grumpy, brilliant, middle-aged woman." Mare of Easttown (Kate Winslet) gave us a grandmother who was a chain-smoking, depressed, flawed philanderer. Happy Valley (Sarah Lancashire) gave us a police sergeant who is gruff, maternal, and traumatized. The Fall (Gillian Anderson) gave us a stoic, sexually assertive investigator. These characters are not "likeable" in the traditional sense, and that is exactly why they are revolutionary. 4. The Monstrous Mother Perhaps the most fascinating development is the "bad mother." Sharp Objects (Amy Adams) and Big Little Lies (Laura Dern) allowed mature women to be neglectful, jealous, or even abusive. This breaks the "Madonna/Whore" complex. Mature women are allowed to be antagonists, not because they are old and bitter, but because they are complicated humans. The Business Case for Mature Women Beyond the artistic merit, there is a massive financial incentive that studios are finally catching onto: the "Grey Dollar." We have moved away from asking "How does
We are seeing the rise of the "silver rom-com." Bros attempted (and partially failed) to break ground, but The Lost City and Ticket to Paradise proved that Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock (both in their 50s) can still open a film with charisma alone. They buy the DVDs
Data from Nielsen and MPAA shows that content targeted at the 40+ female demographic has high engagement and low churn rates. Book Club: The Next Chapter (starring Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen) cost a modest amount to produce and grossed nearly $30 million domestically. Why? Because a 65-year-old woman has disposable income and wants to see herself on screen.
And we are only in the third act.