Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Many senior citizens in fiction believe that the rules of manners and society no longer apply to them once they reach a certain age. Essentially, "I can get away with anything, because I'm [[108]]!" When racist or sexist statements are involved, this may be a case of a person experiencing temporal [[Values Dissonance]] in his own lifetime.

Sadly, this too often is a case of [[Truth in Television]], but it can also be a case of a young person interpreting the reaction to his or her own rudeness as a "rude old person being a jerk to me". Also, [[Reality Is Unrealistic|senility is less common than one has come to expect]], so anyone with wrinkles and gray hair can use this as [[Obfuscating Insanity]]. And often they enjoy it so much they do it all the time. [[When Elders Attack]], you can never tell if it's a crazy one or a [[Retired Badass]] telling you to get the hell off his lawn. [[Mind Screw]].

 

 

When this goes too far, and moves from impoliteness to villainy, see [[Evil Old Folks]].

 

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{{examples}}

== Advertising ==

* ''Wendy's'' memetic ad campaign from the 1980s ([[Slogans|"Where's the Beef?"]]).

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* Occasionally, Genkai from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''

* The Third Tsuchikage of [[Naruto]] often acts this way, especially in the way he shows contempt for the much younger Gaara. It's implied through his own statements that he became stubborn with age.

 

== Film ==

* Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) from ''[[Gran Torino]]''.

* Anne Ramsey as Momma from ''[[Throw Momma from the Train]]''

* Carl Fredricksen from ''[[Up (animation)|Up]]''.

* Deconstructed in ''[[Bubba Ho-Tep]]'', where Elvis is allowed to be as rude as he likes because nobody takes him seriously anymore anyway.

{{quote|'''Elvis:''' Shit! Get old, you can't even cuss someone and have it bother 'em. Everything you do is either worthless or sadly amusing. }}

 

== Literature ==

* ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman'' told the tale of an African-American woman who joined the Civil Rights Movement in 1962 at the age of 110. She used her extreme age ruthlessly (after all, what cop, no matter how redneck, wants to be known as the one who rousted or roughed up a 110-year-old woman?).

* "Gramps" (really great-great-grandpa) from [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s short story ''Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow''. He tortured his descendants by constantly changing his mind about who would receive his fortune. The root of the problem in the story is a medicine called anti-gerasone, which stops aging as long as it is used. This creates relative immortality; the user will live forever unless he or she stops taking it. People put off breaking their addiction to life further and further; the grandfather, for example, was 172, and was described as still in his prime.

** Although it's implied that she's one of the wealthier members of the family, so that might also have something to do with it.

** Speaking of ''[[Harry Potter]]'', this trope is averted with Albus Dumbledore, who's over one hundred years old himself but always infallibly polite, even to [[Big Bad|Voldemort]].

"Depends if I knew were Granny Weatherwax was."'' }}

** Also, Nanny Ogg is the maternal ancestor to a sizable portion of Lancre.

*** Hells, Wizards full stop. Most of the Faculty is past retirement age.

* Grandma Mazur in the ''[[Stephanie Plum]]'' books by Janet Evanovich.

* Elinor from ''[[The Inkworld Trilogy|Inkheart]]'', the old woman who is exceptionally rude and standoffish to most of the other characters. Her actions are generally accepted by the protagonists and either amuse or annoy the antagonists.

* In [[Sandy Mitchell]]'s ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' novel ''[[Dark Heresy|Scourge the Heretic]]'', a teenaged Inquisition operative posing as a noblewoman over a century, intentionally invokes this, explaining her bluntness by saying that at her age, you realize it saves time.

* Philip Marlowe's client, General Sternwood, in ''The Big Sleep'' by [[Raymond Chandler]]. The wheelchair-bound general is very frank about his daughters' outlandish behaviours and reputations, "because my hold on life is too slight to include any Victorian hypocrisy."

* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[John Carter of Mars|The Chessmen of Mars]]'', I-Gos speaks openly and bluntly. Then, he is always deriding the rest of the city for having fallen from the [[Good Old Ways]] of courage.

{{quote|''"What--has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos with broad sarcasm.

* In ''The Island of the Aunts'', Ursala the old mermaid does not make life for her daughter-in-law and grandchildren very pleasant. {{spoiler|She does become [[Cool Old Lady|very awesome]] when she lashes out at the sailors that kidnap herself and Queenie, screaming at them to "stop ogling my granddaughter, you plug-ugly!" and insisting that she doesn't care what they do to her because "[she's] already old!"}}

 

** The family's grandmother, Ida is made of this trope, along with [[Racist Grandma]]. She's a borderline case of [[Evil Old Folks]].

* Oscar Leroy in ''[[Corner Gas]]'' is stubborn, inconsiderate, prone to demanding the RCMP detachment arrest whoever annoys him, and browbeats every public official with, "My taxes pay your salary!" Of course, in his point-of-view jackasses don't deserve respect.

== Music Videos ==

[[Leonard Nimoy]]'s character in the alternative video for [[Bruno Mars|Lazy Song]].

 

== New Media ==

* A ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' comic has Calvin questioning why old people slow down and become more complacent as they get older. In the end, he resolves that when he is old he'll be "going like a maniac." Hobbes immediately states that the world can't possibly wait for such a day, his voice (most likely) dripping with sarcasm.

* Huey and Riley's Grandad from ''[[The Boondocks]]'' is an embodiment of this trope.

 

== Radio ==

* This is part of the reason why ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]'' is able to get away with such filthy humour, thanks to the advanced age of its regulars. The rest of the reason is careful [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] leading to [[Innocent Innuendo]].

 

* [[George Carlin]]'s last special, ''It's Bad For Ya''. He revels in being 70.

{{quote|'''George Carlin:''' The first one is, you never have to carry anything heavy ever again. Everybody wants to help an old fuck. If you've got a big suitcase, or something like that, you know, you just kind of go like this a little bit... And you say "Yeah, can you help me with this?" They say "Yeah, hey, how far are you going?" "Indianapolis." Another nice thing about getting old is you can leave any social event early just by saying you're tired. Works great with family members. Just turn to the person next to you and you say "Gee, I'm getting tired, you know." "Oh, you're tired? Come on, grandpa's tired, grandpa's going to bed." And someone else says "But it's seven thirty in the morning!" There's always one asshole in the family. But the best thing about getting old is you're not responsible for remembering things anymore. Even important things; "But it was your daughter's funeral!" "I forgot!" You can even make believe you have Alzheimer's Disease. That's a lot of fun. You look around the dining room table and you say "Who are you people and where is my horse?" Then you stare at your eldest son and say "Agnes! I haven't seen you since First Communion!" You can even shit in your pants! They expect it! I haven't tried that yet, but I don't rule it out.}}

* Nick Swardson has a bit about him wanting to be old enough to shoplift and get away with it.

* Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham has old man Walter. {{spoiler|"Dumbass."}}

 

== Video Games ==

* Cranky Kong from ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]''. He's exactly as his name says in most of the games (aka always thinking of the good old days of the arcade), and actually sets off the events of Donkey Kong Land one via a bet with King K Rool.

* Wendy Oldbag from [[Ace Attorney]] is just like this. She rambles on and on about insignificant points, and gets pissed when anyone asks her to keep on track. I can't count how many times she calls poor Nick a "whippersnapper".

 

== Web Comics ==

** Mr. Burns might fall into this category [[Evil Old Folks|when he's at his most affable]].

* Cotton Hill in ''[[King of the Hill]]'' takes this trope to sociopathic levels. Although, he was probably always a [[Jerkass]] regardless of age. He does use his age and his status as a veteran to attempt to get away with being a maniac, though. Whenever anybody attempts to call him out on acting like a psychopath, he usually responds with, "I'm old! I gots no shins!"

{{quote|'''Professor:''' You take one nap in a ditch in the park and they start declaring you this and that!}}

* The old people in the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Grey Dawn" who want to drive, despite being mentally slow and having no regard for the safety of anyone else on the road... or on the sidewalk... or in buildings... or... Well, you get the idea. This was inspired by a nasty [[Real Life]] [http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/16/farmers.market.crash/ accident].

* Pakku and Bumi from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. Pakku seems to have grown out of it by the last time we see him, though. Bumi is actually a polite and thoughtful old man making use of [[Obfuscating Insanity]]... except when acting like a loony old man would be more fun. Which is pretty much all the time.

* Grandpa Wolfe from ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'': He definitely hates Wallabies & Kangaroos and he acts hostilly towards Rocko. Even with Grandpa Wolfe's incredibly poor eyesight, Rocko still wasn't safe.

* On ''[[Adventure Time]]'' Marceline the Vampire Queen tries to invoke this (singing "''I'm not mean, I'm a thousand years old, / And I just lost track of my moral code''"), but since she [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|doesn't look]] or [[Immortal Immaturity|act]] like an old person, no one really buys this excuse.

 

* There's a joke floating around the internet which invokes this. An old man is attempting to park his car, but is cut off by a smart-ass teenager, who then shouts, "Sorry, but that's what happens when you're young and fast. The old man, nonplussed, simply backs up, hits the gas, and smashes his car into the back of the young man's. He then turns and says, "Sorry, that's what happens when you're old and insured."

* Walter, one of comedian [[Jeff Dunham]]'s characters, is this trope in ventriloquist puppet form, played for laughs. He's actually one of the more popular ones, mostly because ''everyone knows someone like that.''

* Used in one of Patton Oswalt's comedy bits about how old people should have one law a year no longer apply to them, but partially subverted due to caveats:

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Elders]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]

[[Category:Screw This Index, I Have Tropes]]