During middle adulthood, there are many changes that affect the physical, social, and biological elements of an individual. While everyone ages differently, at different times and in different ways, the media portrays aging as exactly the same for everyone. Three media that portray middle adulthood would be movies, commercial advertisements, and magazines. It's extremely rare to sit down and watch a 30-minute TV show without seeing a commercial advertising some type of anti-aging beauty product. Almost every film will have at least one middle-aged adult character. Every magazine contains at least one advertisement for an anti-wrinkle cream, a hair loss technique, or a prostate product. Are all these depictions of middle adulthood true or are they a stereotype created by the media? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Middle adulthood is a critical and somewhat challenging time in an individual's life. There is no way to avoid the side effects of aging, but the media claims that they can reverse aging. The media publicizes middle adulthood behaviors in films that are depicted as unusual, atypical, dramatic, and bizarre behaviors (Gatling, Mills, & Lindsay, 2014). When in reality middle adulthood isn't as crazy as the media makes it seem. Middle adulthood ranges from 45 to 65 years. This stage of life is when most people finish raising their children, retiring, raising grandchildren, etc. While your body goes through notable changes over the course of these twenty years, it's not as dramatic as the media portrays it to be. Wrinkles will develop, hair will change color and texture, joints will ache, vision and hearing will decline, but it won't happen overnight. Aging is not something you can avoid or stop from happening, but movies, advertisements, and magazines can convince someone to delay it. During this twenty year period many things happen. Individuals begin to see changes in the skin, such as decreased pigment, age spots, moles, varicose veins, and wrinkles. Our skin wrinkles due to the four-step process of thinking, loss of connectivity, loss of elasticity, and decrease in underlying fat (Gerst, ch. 3). Hair loss occurs through the destruction of the germinal centers that produce hair follicles, while graying is caused by the cessation of pigment production (Gerst, chapter 3). As you watch movies, television, or read a magazine, you see these people who are between the ages of 45 and 65, but they don't look like one. They don't have wrinkled faces, they don't have gray hair and their skin is flawless, but this is not reality. It seems like you'll see individuals on opposite sides of the spectrum. Some portray the actors or models as young and flawless, while others go overboard in trying to make them look older. One study showed that 73.1% of older adults in advertisements were shown with a limited number of wrinkles, and 97.4% of advertisements showed older adults with good overall health (Robinson & Callister, 2008). According to Gatling, Mills, & Lindsay (2014), “For comedy directors, a middle-aged person's (over)reactions to the realization that they are no longer young provide abundant opportunities for entertaining plots and scenarios” (p. 11) . Filmmakers often choose a male protagonist rather than a woman as the central character because they suggest that middle age for men is more problematic than for women. When they focus on a crisis rather than a transition, directors canportray middle age in a comedic light rather than a “mundane phase of life” (Gatling, Mills, & Lindsay, 2014). This is then presented to the public as middle adulthood in a negative light due to the turbulent emotions and consequences of aging (Batling, Mills, & Lindsay, 2014). Because filmmakers portray middle adulthood in this way, half of human life is shown as full of regrets, misfortunes, and ill health. Although not all of this is completely TRUE. Yes, aging is inevitable. No, aging doesn't ruin the second half of your life. Any type of media has the power to influence and control the discourse around aging and how people view it (Gatling, Mills, & Lindsay, 2014). Zhang et al. (2006) found the following:…content analyzed 1,044 commercials to determine whether older characters were desirable (mentally and physically competent) or undesirable (mentally or physically incompetent). Their results indicated that older models (i.e., those over 65 years old) were shown less favorably than younger models; Advertisements aimed at people over the age of 45 depicted individuals over the age of 65 as helpless, enfeebled, weak, lazy, or less knowledgeable than their younger counterparts. (p. 269). This study also demonstrates that older adults are lonely and less supportive when this is not what middle adulthood actually is. Your balance will change due to changes in white matter in the frontal cortex and occipital cortex (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2019). Your taste, hearing and smell will change, but this in no way implies that you will be lonely or less supportive of those around you. The media portrays middle adulthood in a negative light most of the time in order to sell more products. A high market sector is that of anti-aging products. Anti-aging involves intentional procedures and medications to delay, stop, or delay the aging process (Orbis Research, 2017). The global anti-aging market was worth $250 billion in 2016 and is expected to grow to $331. 41 billion by 2021 (Orbis Research, 2017). The anti-aging market focuses on the demographics of Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y (Orbis Research, 2017). The product base on the market is divided between UV absorbers, anti-wrinkle products, anti-stretch mark products, natural products and hair dyes (Orbis Research, 2017). Based on services, the market is segmented into anti-pigmentation therapy, adult acne therapy, breast augmentation, liposuction services, tummy tuck, chemical peel, eyelid surgery, hair restoration and sclerotherapy, cellulite treatment devices and many others (Orbis Research, 2017). Those listed above are just a preview of all the anti-aging possibilities. Instead of taking aging for what it is and embracing it, people spend thousands and thousands of dollars to stay “young.” Middle adulthood is a time when certain parts of the body begin to change and some feel as if they are no longer beautiful or attractive once such changes occur, although everyone is beautiful in their own way, regardless of body changes that occur with advancing age. Aging is an inevitable part of life, and individuals must be able to wear wrinkles and stretch marks with pride and courage, instead of doing everything in their power to hide them. Our bodies tell the story of our lives. Every wrinkle, scar, stretch mark, birthmark, bruise, bump, mole, vein, etc. has a story behind it about how ours were built.