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Boomer-angst

“Boomer-angst
or
Trust No-one Over 90!”

Trust no-one over 30, was the early Boomer cry…
they’re too old, and do not get us and they couldn’t if they try
but we were pretty stoned and somewhat coked and pretty spent…
and that’s why we got it wrong,…cause it was 90 that we meant!!

See, 90’s text while walking and their falls are pretty gory
(but so do 20 something’s too, but that’s another story!)
and their hearing is quite off and they just do not care to see that you’ve padded up your bras so you can look like you’re a D!

And they aren’t impressed with your resume points
or that you still insist that you roll your own joints
or that you are in touch with the youth of today
(though you don’t understand half the words that they say).

See, those 90’s it seems just don’t get it at all
they just sit there with blank eyes or stare at the wall or they lay in their beds with a mucous filled cough
then say, “I need a nap…so shut up and screw off!”

Yes, we know in those fun days of 20’s it seemed
we would laugh at those 30’s and hope they got creamed
but we should have said 90…cause that’s what we meant
cause our kids are now 30 and paying us rent
and we’re sixty and over and still kicking ass
so we’re happy to give all those 30’s a pass
but the treacherous ones are past 90, I fear…
and we have to remember that
each passing year…
so when we’re getting close, then 100’s the shot
and it may not be fair…

but hey…why the “F” not!

by Cynthia Adler

 

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My Face ~ Oil of Olay

There was a contest for someone to come up with a poem about the face for Oil of Olay. My agents entered me in that contest and I won, and then did the voice-over for the commercial as well…it was lots of fun to do, and luckily, it ran for over a year.

 

“My Face”…by Cynthia Adler

 

My face, oh yeah, I love my face…but space and time have given me a line or more, to score with all the things I have become, and now I am.

And since I still remain nineteen or so inside my head, there’s not a lot I haven’t tried to match the outside to the in…

I’ve peeled and scraped and Retin-A’d…I’ve pumiced, scoured, and often prayed. I’ve sponged and honeyed, slathered, gored. I’ve even used an emery board!

I won’t give up…I’ll never cave, a slave to years is so passé…it doesn’t hang with what I see for me in all these years to come.

I’ll keep ahead of trends and flows…I chose this dance, the rest is left to fate or chance. I’ll fix on love and what’s sublime and kick the stats of father time…

I am whatever age I play, and if they ask…I just don’t say!

 

“My Face” #2

 

I love my life, and yes, I’ve got the years to show…oh no, I don’t go down that road. I fly ahead of all the trends, the bends, and all the hidden curves…

I carry years without the fears of future problems in my mind, I find I’m still nineteen…or often feel in that vicinity. For me it’s all the attitude, forget the number, choose the mood…for age is on the page, my friend, ignore the stats and all the little cliché chats you roll around inside your head…instead go with your gut, your voice, your intuition feeds the choice.

I try to be my own best friend, and open end on things that I’ll invent or try…and flaunt an air of mystery for all that is to come or be…the sum of all that came before, but more…and yes there’s always more….

I love my life, and yes, my face, the grace that years have given me…

If someone asks how old I am?… I stop and let them just assess…and always answer…take a guess!

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The Myth of the Movies and Aging…in America

The Myth of the Movies
and Aging…
in America

by
Cynthia Adler

“Age is on the page, my man,
and because I don’t believe…I
retrieve… any year I want!’
Man D. Kool
“Rapper”

 

Let’s just start with the biggest myth of all: “It ain’t gonna happen to me!”

How many times did we catch ourselves in a mirror and go, “who are you?!” And that’s only when we hit nine years old, after we got so used to our eight year old face which still had some baby fat left on it!

We are a country obsessed with youth.

And that is why in this culture, we cannot bear to see our movie stars age. They are our idols… mirrors of who we are…and mirrors, of where we are going. And this is why so many film stars go through some painful and complicated processes to try to fend off those passing years. Some, have wonderful results. And some… fairly devastating ones. Those, unfortunately, find it hard to get cast in front of a camera anymore.

And often, many of those procedures are not reversible.

So, why is it unacceptable to see our film stars age? Simply because it forces us to see our own progression in years, and in this country, it isn’t fun to do that. So, what kind of a society would make it a crime for our movie stars to be human, to have a certain lifespan, and to change with the years as they progress, with humor, dignity and a sense of acceptance?

America. The United States…

Take a look at France, Italy, and England for instance. As their stars age, they are revered, given many good parts and are never judged by a TMZ or a rag magazine for an uneven jaw line or some creases in the skin. What would Anna Magnani, a long ago Italian iconic movie star, have done if she were thrown off the cinema map because she never had plastic surgery? Magnani remained a star in Italy till the end of her life. (With some sexy roles, by the way…) George Clooney put it so beautifully when he wrote an article about plastic surgery on male movie stars in this country today and said that some of them were “frighteningly unrecognizable”…And what if Maggie Smith were born in this country? Would she remain in the public’s eyes as brilliantly revered as she is today? Does anyone talk about her physical appearance or that she needs plastic surgery to be accepted on a screen? How about Helen Mirrin, Charlotte Rampling? Women allowed to age beautifully without the full knife, without being judged or ending up on the cover of a rag magazine, or worse, becoming the butt end of a bad joke.

Nope…it’s a bit of a wicked double standard here… and women in this country suffer from it the most. It’s no wonder that so many girls are getting surgery at younger and younger ages. They are getting the message fast…”you must not age here…it is a crime”…and if you do, “no one will want to look at you.” So, what are we telling these girls? And what are we telling ourselves.

We are frightened to death of the inevitable! And looking at our idols age, makes us unbearably frightened. Because to us…they are the mirrors of where we are all going. And that, in this country…is just unacceptable!!

Movie stars who are no longer with us, if they have gone at an early age, their image has the best advantage. Marilyn Monroe is still one of the most adored sex symbols of our time. But what if she had lived. Where would she be now? In her late 70’s and wrinkled but perhaps enhanced? And lets face it…would tons of men be drooling over her body parts, looking at her old movies or publicity shots?

Uh uh…I don’t think so.

It’s a bit of a ratty game, and we buy into it to the max.

The beauty of accepting ourselves and the process we call life, might change a lot of things…There’s nothing wrong with a bit of a tuck here and there, but an unrecognizable face can kill more than a career…Just ask some of the movie stars who did it and lost.

Life is inevitable. Moving time is inevitable. But loving yourself and accepting the passage of time…if enough of us did it, it might just give Hollywood a message…”Wake the f—- up, and honor the passage of time in your stars! Talent gets even stronger as the years move on. Talent doesn’t age…the inner spirit and lust for life doesn’t age…it’s just the outer cover that does.

And that is the inevitable…
for everyone.

 

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