Several people recommended the movie COCO as a candidate for this blog. I watched the movie and wondered: should this film be included in this gerontological movie blog? Is it really "about" older persons or aging? For the record - these questions have nothing to do with the film being an animated film or being targeted mostly for young children (and see my review of the movie UP - which is a classic gerotnological movie, but also animated and mostly for children).
Let me begin by saying that this 2017 American computer animated fantasy is a wonderful movie to watch. I love Pixar movies - and this is yet again an outstanding animated film: great music, very colorful, entertaining, and lots of Latin-flavored fun. It mirrors well the cultural context of the Mexican holiday of The Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos).
The story is about a 12 year old boy, Miguel Rivera (narrated by Anthony Gonzalez), who loves to play the guitar - but because of a long family history [his great grand-father, who was a great known guitar player - left/abandoned Miguel's great grand-mother and her 3 years old daughter (Coco - Miguel's grand-mother) to pursue his love to the guitar] - is not allowed to play the guitar . Miguel's story gets a twist when he refuses to obey his family tradition, and is accidentally "transported" to the land of the dead, only to meet his great grand-father, the guitar player.
So, how can a movie, which stars a 12 year-old animated character be a grontological movie? For 2 main reasons:
1. The first reason is Miguel's grand-mother, Coco. The movie portrays a very unique love and care relationships between the young Miguel and the old Coco. It also portrays a very familial elder-care context, in which families take care of their frail older grandparents within a loving multi-generational living conditions. Old age is an integral part of daily life and of family. Much can be said and learnt about such a cultural tradition of caring for the elderly.
2. The second reason is the inter-generational relationships between the "old" and the "young" which receives a whole new twist through the lens of the existence of "the world of the dead". In the world of the dead, the "dead" continue to "live" - only to the extent that some one who is alive, remembers them. Once no living person remembers the "dead" then, and only then, does the "dead" persons truly and finally dies (i.e. "dies" away from the world of the dead. This whole new "understanding" of the meaning of death - totally changes our vision of old age and death. Your life do no end at old age or death. Your life truly ends only when your family forgets you. This totally changes our whole social construction on what it means to be "old".
So yes, Coco is definitely a gerontological movie. However, I must admit that it is not as good as - for example - UP. Not only is the hero not an older person, but the plot and the film itself is bit too long, and has some serious flaws (in my view) around the way the story unfolds, and about the "educational" messages the movie tries to convey (out-side the field of aging). But still - highly recommended for an enjoyable geromovie evening.
USA
2017
Director: Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvr68u6k5sI
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