This trailer from the HBO documentary If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast (2017), features 95-year-old writer, comedian, and actor Carl Reiner and other famous people over the age of 90 who discuss living exuberant, fulfilling lives well into older age. The documentary features interviews with a range of happy, thriving people in their 90s and 100s, including Betty White, Norman Lear, Iris Apfel, Ida Keeling, Dick Van Dyke, Stan Lee, and Tony Bennett.

discussion

How does this trailer and documentary seek to challenge stereotypes about older people and the kind of lives they can live in their older years?

How does this message about thriving and aging with vitality change when you consider the financial and social privileges the people featured in the documentary have, in comparison with people who have much fewer resources?

What stereotypes do we typically associate with someone in their 90s and 100s? How do these stereotypes differ by gender and race?

How do healthcare opportunities differ depending on how much money you have? How might this impact a person’s longevity and quality of life?