Posted on 02/14/2021 8:57:18 AM PST by Rummyfan
The term "midlife crisis" was coined by psychoanalyst Elliott Jaques in 1965. The English language somehow made do without that phrase for the previous six hundred years, yet today, could we get along without it?
In 1900, the average American male life expectancy was 47. In 1965, it was 67. An additional two decades of existence: More time to ruminate about your time running out.
In this as in so many instances, art preceded (social) science: The then-nameless male midlife crisis had been explored before, through farce (1955's The Seven Year Itch), then high-brow literature (John Cheever's classic 1964 story "The Swimmer.")
For whatever it's worth, the first movie made after Jaques' "discovery" was John Frankenheimer's Seconds (1966), starring Rock Hudson. (Eventually.)
First we meet Arthur Hamilton as played by John Randolph, an aging banker with a stereotypical mid-20th century American suburban existence: big, well-appointed house; dutiful wife; married-off daughter; a white-collar commuter job for life, until he retires with a gold watch and a pension.
Suburbia: A life and location that's been targeted by smug American satirists since the paint dried on the first tract house. Of course, it's also the kind of safe, clean, comfortable lifestyle that millions of un-smug non-Americans would give almost anything to enjoy.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Wherever you go, there you are. One cannot outrun themselves.
Middle Age Crazy with Bruce Dern cir 1980.
And now we have the “quarter life crisis”, for young adults about age 25, who have angst about where their lives are going, and why they aren’t advancing in their careers, etc.
“Seconds” is an _outstanding_ movie, and it is very relevant to our time.
Everything seems sorta normal as the movie begins, but....
The “hidden” theme is that human beings are _meat_ to the elites—and the use of the meat trucks and the mind-boggling chicken eating scene are two examples of how the movie makes this work.
They suck. That's why. Too many spoiled Millennials. Even with COVID-19 going around, instead of toughening up and returning to normalcy, many office workers are working remotely.
“Falling Down”
.
A laugh riot!
horrible movie. by that I mean nightmarish.
Rock Hudson was gay. A remake today would have him, “transitioning”. Would he delight in his hip new life?
AKA Bruce Jenner?
“John Cheever’s classic 1964 story “The Swimmer.” “
As one who actually read the short story, saw the movie short with Burt Lancaster, wrote a paper about it (now too many years ago to be happy) AND spent lots of time in the same beach community of Cheever reflected in the story, (a groovy little place called “Quogue”), I for one appreciate the ever-thoughtful references shared on Free Republic.
Nice to be around such clever and erudite folk.
The suicide rate has been going up heavily since the turn of the century.
Social media, phones, computers, and a complete lack of discipline is to blame.
When folks only live for themselves, it’s easy to see why depression and “crisis” can mentally hit somebody.
Um ... I'm not sure the girlfriend was part of the deal with Rock.
Seconds sort of got thrown in the same pile of midcentury political thrillers as the Manchurian Candidate or Suddenly or Seven Days in May or Fail-Safe. I guess I'll have to watch it now.
I read The Swimmer back in the day, and just about everything else Cheever wrote. As a more literary friend of mine put it about Cheever, the lessons from all his writing is ... life goes on.
Leave out the gay part and sure!
Either that or wildly successful professional golfer.
My wife and I could drop dead tomorrow or die 2 weeks from now after our 2nd Covid Vaccine.
However, she will be 81 in a few weeks and just had her annual physical. Her lab results, this past week, look like a 20 something female jock would hope for. She still would fit into her wedding dress (60 years coming up this fall.
I'm 82 and thanks to good DNA, pharmacology, a cardiac stent and a good cardio doc and fp. I'm doing fine.
We are still active and most of our brain power is still there.
My wife reads about 3 books a week on her Kindle, has a group of church people to call each week and will be video taping the next quarter's Bible readings for our church. She texts our heirs twice a day and has other relatives she texts and phones or gets phone calls weekly from siblings and in laws.
I'm into Genealogy on line with Ancestor.com with now just under 30,000 documented ancestors.
My other reading is basically Kindle and history. I have several books that stay on the table in front of me on history and are used often when a subject comes up on FR.
Two my wives friends are voracious readers like my wife and they keep me supplied with hardback books by the shopping bag. They are into political history.
I have my own FR family which I keep in contact with and vice versa on a daily/weekly basis.
Two weeks ago, I had my physical and the lab results are normal. Our FP told both of us, see you next year.
I'm part of a large DNA study of old goats like my wife and I.
Actually, the idea that people died much younger is a clever lie. If you were to take out the numbers of people who died before the age of 16, the average life span then, is not so much different than it is today. We have added a decade, but not 3 or 4 of them.
A favorite of mine.
Good point on life span.
Here in New England we have a lot of old cemeteries, and it is surprising to find out how long some of those folks in the 1700s and 1800s lived.
They had to survive tough diseases and poor medical care, but if they were made of stern stuff (and had a little luck) they could live a long time.
My gaydar was never good enough to suss him out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.