Have you seen the new Ted Danson Netflix short series, A Man on the Inside? Danson’s character is hired to move into a senior living community to solve a theft. It’s hilarious, and the characters are stereotyped to the extreme. I’m especially incensed at their view of “corporate” – it hits just a little too close to home!
However, Didi, the executive director, reminds me of many of our LSC teammates. She really has a passion for the work. She’s overworked in a difficult environment, but she is also conscientious, dedicated, and always has the residents’ best interests at heart.
Recently I started watching a new show called Landman. Billy Bob Thornton, who I’ve liked ever since Sling Blade, stars as a guy who strikes deals with West Texas landowners on behalf of an oil company. In one episode, his handful of a wife and daughter visit a nursing home, and it’s as depressing as you’d imagine they would portray it.
Next thing, though, his wife has bought booze and games and livened up the party. Soon she’s driving the residents around town in their new van, drinking and partying. The show is full of profanity and very adult content, so be warned.
But my point is, here are two current examples of senior living on prime-time television. It’s not always a very good look for our profession, but it is a trend – and it reflects reality. The characters’ schemes, needs, and desires prove that life doesn’t stop at 60, 70, 80, or even 90!
I’m just trying to keep up with pop culture. “Pop” used to stand for popular, but these days it seems to stand for Pops, as in Ol’ Pops!
The world keeps spinning.