Intern Movie Reflection

The movie that I chose is The Intern. I find the description of the movie interesting, as I wanted to know what difficulties Ben would run into as an older adult who interned for a fast-paced and technology-based company like an online fashion company. Moreover, I think a more recent movie would have a more positive and accurate portrayal of older adults due to increased awareness. The Intern was about Ben Whittaker, a 70-year-old retired man who became an intern for an online fashion company. He was assigned to be the personal intern for the founder, Jules Ostin. At first, she didn’t want to work with him, because she didn’t know how to deal with older people. However, after Ben driving her to the factory and back home because her driver

Ben was shown as a wise man who gave great advice, from relationships to business and family related problems to clothing advice. Other characters respect his advice greatly: a coworker began communicating openly with his date, Julies dealt with her business, family, and interpersonal relationships problems more effectively, and another coworker started to dress up to leave a better impression. Ben’s wisdom also reveals through his language use and self-conduct which show that he is careful and polite but effective in communicating and getting his points across. It is an accurate portrayal of older adults, because older adults can be more observant and give wiser advice because they are experienced, not only in their work expertise but also in life. On the other hand, this can also be considered as a stereotype, albeit a positive one, because not all older adults are wise, and wisdom does not necessarily depend on age. Nevertheless, this sends a positive message about older adults to society, as it portrays older adults as wise and experienced who can help younger generations not only in their personal but also in their professional life. The younger workers who readily accept Ben’s advice because they believed he was wiser and more experienced than they were is also a realistic portrayal of younger generation, as most people in real life also respect older adults for their wisdom and experience and believe in the

Older adults’ sexuality was not treated as a taboo in the movie, as it is implied that Ben had a one-night stand with a woman in the neighborhood at the beginning of the movie, and at the end he started dating Fiona, a woman at work, after becoming an intern. Ben and Fiona’s relationship has a normal progression like other couples, as they first got interested with one another and flirted, then they went on dates and got to know each other, and lastly stayed overnight at one another’s house. Other characters are positive with their relationship and were not disgusted by it, as the coworkers teased Ben for catching Fiona’s interest, and Julies congratulated him upon knowing about their relationship. This is an accurate and positive portrayal of older adults’ sexuality, because it shows that older adults date and have sex just like younger adults do, they also go through the same stages as younger adults from flirting to dating and having a sexual relationship, and they can have one-night stand relationships as well. This refutes the stereotypes of older adults being incapable of having sex and disinterested in sex, and that sex is only for younger people. Therefore, it sends a positive message to older adults and soon-to-be older adults that they don’t have to worry about not being able to have sex and that for the most part, their sexual life will not be affected significantly by their